Vinyl Collection #1: Radiohead - Hail to the Thief

Beginning the walkthrough of my rather small vinyl collection (and pressing forward as it grows), we have my first vinyl record: 

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (2003)

1. 2 + 2 = 5
2. Sit Down. Stand Up
3. Sail to the Moon
4. Backdrifts
5. Go to Sleep
6. Where I End and You Begin
7. We Suck Young Blood
8. The Gloaming
9. There There
10. I Will
11. A Punchup at a Wedding
12. Myxomatosis
13. Scatterbrain
14. A Wolf at the Door


Just a week or so before I found an interest in vinyl, a friend of mine recommended I check this album out. He introduced me to Radiohead a year or so before, via In Rainbows. So after a year when I finally admitted to entirely loving the album [In Rainbows], he told me about Hail to the Thief, claiming it was their best album. So I checked it out. I listened to the HttT during my Las Vegas trip both on the way up there, on the way back (about 5 hours there, and 5 hours back), and even during some down time while I was there.
Needless to say, I thought the album was great. Additionally, I felt the warm music was enough to warrant it for a vinyl purchase once that interest found me.

I have to say this album really set off my interest on vinyl to a very good start. Especially in the presentational aspects of the packaging. First off, it's a gorgeous gatefold. The center art matches that of the cover, but expanded fully across both sides. It was rather amusing to read what was randomly written among the art work. Additionally, it's a double LP. At the time, I didn't really know the difference between a 2LP and a single; I just assumed it was due to the fact that it was a longer album and required multiple disc in order to fit it all into grooves. A small feature I liked, for whatever reason, was that each of the 4 sides had a different color label.
Also, both records are accompanied by some really nice inner sleeves, featuring yet more of the transfixing artwork. On the opposite side of the sleeve one has the track listing and credits, while the other contains the lyrics.
Ultimately, a very impressive package for an already impressive album.

As for the actual album,  every 3rd track is a favorite of mine; with "Where I End and You Begin" [video bellow] being highest among those. I love the multitude of eerie ambient noises used in that track, and some of the others. "Sail to the Moon" feature ear-gasmic vocal highs that sent chills down my spine, "There There" has this unmistakable atmosphere to it, and "Myxomatosis" brings a change of pace just when you think the momentum of the album is coming to an end. This is an album I can enjoy start to finish.

[[all pictures taken off of google images and my instagram (@draggingtheneedle), videos from youtube]]