The sixth studio album by Radiohead, released in 2003, Hail to the Thief was seen as a return to alternative rock, drawing its sound from every era of the band’s existence. Band members described the album as having a more “swaggering” sound and a relaxed recording process, in contrast to previous tense sessions.
At nearly an hour in length, the album is the band’s longest, with many of its songs within the two-to-three-minute range, shorter than the band’s average. Thom Yorke said he was inspired by Beatles songs of that length which he thought felt much longer.
