While building new arrangements for the 2025 theater production Hamlet Hail to the Thief,
Radiohead
frontman
Thom Yorke
dug into the archives for live recordings of songs from the band's politically charged return to guitars, 2003's
Hail to the Thief
. "Shocked" by the intensity of those performances,
Yorke
and the band decided to officially release these selections, captured between 2003 and 2009 in London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dublin. Mixed by
Ben Baptie
and mastered by
Matt Colton
,
Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009)
is an energized, visceral reimagining of the original album, with the urgency of the band's performances and
's uninhibited live vocals elevating these songs into a brand-new beast. "Backdrifts" and "A Punchup at a Wedding" are noticeably absent, but everything else follows the original track listing. Somehow managing to amplify the already unbearable paranoia and dread, these dozen tracks ferociously careen from frenzied fury (the ends of "2+2=5" and "Sit Down. Stand Up") to breathless urgency ("Where I End and You Begin," "Myxomatosis") to haunted paranoia ("The Gloaming," "We Suck Young Blood"). Even by itself, the glorious highlight "There, There" -- the audience's pure joy and excitement practically leap from the speakers -- is enough to warrant checking this out. For any critics who complained that
was just too long, bloated, and disjointed, this is the course correction that'll give that album the justice it has always deserved. Yet another reminder of their power and prowess as a live entity,
is a stunning addition to the
catalog that most fans didn't realize they needed. ~ Neil Z. Yeung