After two 'difficult' albums few could ever accuse Radiohead of compromising but 'Hail To The Thief' represents the closest an anarchic collective such as them can ever get to this state. For this is an album where that ancient instrument referred to as the guitar becomes a dominant part of their set-up again as the opening glum sounds of '2 + 2 = 5' explodes into a rock anthem of old. 'Go To Sleep' too delivers with an inventive riff and 'Where I End And You Begin' includes a superb bass rhythm. Yet there is variety on this latest album too in the form of the elegiac piano ballad 'Sail To The Moon' and the distorted keyboards and staccato drumming on the excellent 'Myxomatosis'. In fact the final four tracks are all fine records: from the misery of 'A Punch Up At A Wedding', Thom Yorke at his most vulnerable on 'Scatterbrain' and the final 'Wolf At A Door' makes up for its unpleasant spoken-word verses with a dreamlike chorus. Only one or two tracks disappoint, including the funereal 'We Suck Young Blood'; a flawed move for the group into mock horror and the confusing anti-everything sleeve art suggests that Thom Yorke is still not quite sure what he is angry about. Yet for all this, 'Hail To The Thief' is a definite return to form after the experimental phase of 'Amnesiac' threatened to outstay its welcome.