User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info
Hail To The Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009) Image
Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Be the first to review!

  • Summary: The second full-length live release from Radiohead features 12 live recordings from Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Dublin, and London of the songs from 2003's Hail to the Thief (except for Backdrifts and A Punchup At A Wedding).

    Thom Yorke listened to some of the tracks as part of his work on
    The second full-length live release from Radiohead features 12 live recordings from Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Dublin, and London of the songs from 2003's Hail to the Thief (except for Backdrifts and A Punchup At A Wedding).

    Thom Yorke listened to some of the tracks as part of his work on Hamlet Hail to the Thief, a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet featuring music from the 2003 album.
    [Released digitally on 13 Aug 2025 and on CD/vinyl on 31 Oct 2025]

    Expand
Buy Now
Buy on
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Sep 16, 2025
    81
    Though the band more or less commits to replicating their studio arrangements, their attention to detail (the whining synth harmonies on “Where I End and You Begin,” the melodramatic backing chords of “Sail to the Moon”) feels grandly ambitious, rather than stodgily clinical. At least several songs feel greater than the sum of their already formidable parts.
  2. Uncut
    Sep 16, 2025
    80
    Their selection is most impressive during climactic moments - the opening double whammy of an explosive "2=2+5" and impatient "Sit Down. Stand Up" a frantic "Where I End And You Begin", a thunderous, almost unhinged "Myxomatosis" - but quieter moments like the skittish "The Gloaming also flourish. [Nov 2025, p.50]
  3. Sep 16, 2025
    80
    It’s no surprise the performances are across-the-board great, taken from Dublin, Amsterdam, London, and Buenos Aires.
  4. Sep 16, 2025
    80
    For any critics who complained that Hail to the Thief was just too long, bloated, and disjointed, this is the course correction that'll give that album the justice it has always deserved.
  5. Mojo
    Sep 17, 2025
    80
    Captures Radiohead during their majestic 2000s, delivering muscular, meticulously detailed material to an audience eager for rousing, off killer anthems (There, There) and piano-led laments (We Suck Young Blood) alike. [Nov 2025, p.101]
  6. Record Collector
    Oct 3, 2025
    80
    Even if stronger records would follow, the fuel that energised them is on often glorious show here. [Nov 2025, p.95]
  7. Classic Rock Magazine
    Nov 13, 2025
    70
    It can't and shouldn't replace the original, but this is a fascinating insight into the band's creative process and latter-day regrets. [Dec 2025, p.79]

Awards & Rankings