Waking Ear

Radiohead/"Myxomatosis" -- The fire is gone, and that's what's disturbing about Hail to the Thief. Oh, sure, there's flashes of it, like the vengeful "2+2=5" and that little wail Thom Yorke releases in "Punch Up at a Wedding." But mostly, it's resigned fury, sitting in a corner and bitching, muttering, no longer screaming at the darkness like OK Computer did.

It doesn't make your heart beat. It doesn't make you feel alone and scared. It really doesn't even make you feel. It's like one of those massive peace protests a few months back -- saying all the things you're supposed to say, but emptily, ultimately futile, because it just didn't matter. The guitar can no longer change anything or touch anything. The laptop is rendered useless.

"Myxomatosis" has that swooping guitar that made OK's "Airbag" great, but it's like it's in reverse, hurtling back toward earth and burying itself under ground. Yorke sounds like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. And then there's this long, lame, single-note keyboard sound that just peters out at the end. It doesn't even come crashing down. Whimper, not bang.

That's why Hail to the Thief disappoints on first listen, and second, and maybe even third. But there will be nights when it will be perfect, nights when you need a quiet little album to cower in the dark with you.