2) Radiohead: 'Hail To The Thief'

I fear I am cheating a little here, when I began this list I only intended to include one album from one artist only. However, Radiohead have to break the mould as they simply are the best band of the past twenty years. I was torn between two albums. Kid A is quite simply a stunning album which was way ahead of its time. It really should be on this list, however, not to include three albums from the same band I forced myself to make a decision. The album which holds more sway and memory for me is the shockingly underrated Hail to the Thief. For any other band this would be their crowning glory; for Radiohead, however, who have set the bar so high for themselves with past releases, this was widely seen as an average album by their standards. It is far from it!

Radiohead's Hail to the Thief bridges the gulf between their early epic progressive rock and their latter skittering electronic theatrics, borrowing equally from each. This is not an album full of optimism, it is a product of the time it was written in 2002. The songs are filled with anger and dissent and clearly reflect the feelings people were feeling at the time, the war on terror, the pending war in Iraq, and heaven forbid, the prospect of a full 8 years of George Bush! Radiohead opt for eloquent metaphors and complicated arrangements to express their fear, uncertainty in the post 9-11 world.

We start with the fantastic prog-rock opener 2+2=5 lifted fittingly straight from Orwell’s 1984. Society have idly sat back and let governments take over and ruin the world. The song starts off with a simple guitar backing Yorke’s vocals which lead into the dreamy mid section before transforming into a manic screaming frenzy repeating the same line over and over in a fit of rage. Next is ‘Sit Down, Stand Up’ starts off in a lesson of vocal harmonies over a drum machine glocks and piano and slowly builds into a heavy drum and bass piece, which is odd even for Radiohead’s standards but works! ‘Sail to the Moon’ is one of the most beautiful ballads Yorke has ever written, appealing to the younger generations to not make the same mistakes the present generation are making. The vocals are perfect, the arrangement intersperses piano and guitar to amazing special effect. Next is ‘Backdrifts’ with its pulsating drum machines and synths driving this number along. ‘Go To Sleep’ is a more accessible number of upbeat acoustic guitar, a great single. Then we have the stunning ‘Where I End and You Again’ which combine sci-fi effects with a traditional rock track. Then there appears to be an attack upon the music industry and the reality TV singers beginning to be turned out by Simon Cowell et al. with ‘We Suck Young Blood’. Following this is the experimental ‘The Gloaming’ which combines odd effects with time signatures, not exactly easy on the ears but stunning musically. ‘There There’ is a laid back drum led piece and is quite phenomenal. ‘I Will’ is a short piece which leads into my favorite track on the album ‘A Punch Up At A Wedding’. This jazz laden track is Radiohead at their best. ‘Myxomatosis’ is the one song on the album I really never connected with, a rather odd inclusion I feel. However, this side step is recovered with the fantastic ‘Scatterbrain’. Finally we have ‘A Wolf At The Door’ with fantastic arpeggiated chord and drums accompanied by Yorke’s confusing lyrical rant. A fantastic end to a much underrated album. Here at number 2 is Radiohead with ‘Hail To The Thief’.