So why exactly are old Radiohead fans still crooning for their favorite band to “return to the way they rocked it out on The Bends?" It probably has a lot to do with tracks like “Go to Sleep” on their new album Hail to the Thief. “Go to Sleep” is a relatively stripped down acoustic guitar driven song that proves that Radiohead still know how to chug out a tightly written song played on guitar and other live instruments. Alongside the more experimental and electronically influenced tracks like “Sit Down. Stand up”, “Go to Sleep” sounds about as stripped down as the new White Stripes cd.

And a stripped down Radiohead seems to be what a lot of old fans want. Both Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief were released to a tide of rumours which claimed that those albums were going to be Radiohead’s “return to rock!” Those rumors, of course, were wrong. And some fans’ desire for Radiohead to “return to rock!” seems odd to me. Were these folks not around for the drastic change between The Bends and OK Computer?

But with tracks like “There There” and “2+2=5” why would you want Radiohead to return to “Creep”? Honestly. Sure Jonny Greenwood can attack a guitar like no one else in the days of yore tracks like “Paranoid Android” but he can also program out a nice synth rhythm behind a drum loop on songs like “Backdrifts”.

The album has a lot of experimentation. Tracks like “The Gloaming” and “Sit Down Stand Up” will certainly remind a listener of some of the blipping and beeping moments of Kid A. Unfortunately most of the tracks on Thief built completely on electronic noodling are much weaker than those cut’n’paste experiments on Kid A and even Amnesiac. The real strength in Thief is its songs that were obviously first written on live instruments. The fact that the band played many of these songs extensively live before even bringing them into the studio for production really shows. Much of the original structure of the songs is intact on the album. Short guitar riffs and live bass lines abound on the album. It’s a good thing.

Thom’s writing isn’t as much a good thing, unfortunately, though it is passable. His melodies on Thief tend to suffer from a lack of thought and even upon repeated listens it is next to impossible to sing along to most tracks on the cd. If you’re listening with friends, though, they probably don’t want to hear you impersonate a fidgeting brit anyway. Many of Thom’s lyrics can be eye opening and brilliant but most are just confusing. I’ll not discuss the confusing ones because, well, I’d rather talk about good stuff.

It’s quite clear that the album’s title refers to the way George W. Bush “stole” the presidential election from Al Gore in 2000 and it seems that many of the albums lyrics deal with Bush and his actions. Although I’m sure Thom understands the 2000 US presidential election about as much as I understand Rugby (hint: I don’t), one can’t deny the poignancy of many of his lyrics in light of recent events. Lyrics like “It is too late now/ because/ you have not been paying attention” hit like a punch in the face, pointing out how apathy to politics can leave you with an unjust war in Iraq. (Yeah so I have an agenda, eat me) Even the simple title line like “sit down. / stand up.” points out the amount of power government has in general. This idea is taken a step further when the song states “we can wipe you out / anytime / anytime”. And They can.

There’s certainly an air of rebellion to the record, but it’s all very bleak. Thief is more like a barometer of the current scary geo-political climate more than it is a protest album. Deep down Thom is not a hippy, he’s just British. He knows that music can’t change the world. But the band can change its sound.

The sound on Hail to the Thief is a culmination of all of Radiohead’s albums. It takes many of the best (and sometimes worst) elements and throws them in a plastic wrapped grab bag. Sometimes it doesn’t work but most of the time it does. If you like the band even a little you’ll probably be perfectly happy with a purchase of Hail to the Thief. But don’t be mad at me if you hate it. I might be wrong.