Radiohead is one of the best bands of the 1990s. They came along in 1993 with the album ’’Pablo Honey’’ and the hit single ’’Creep’’. ’’Creep’’ was a massive radio and MTV hit. But the rest of the album didn’t take off. The album was okay overall. But it was only a hint of where the band would go in the future. In 1995 Radiohead released The Bends. The album was a consistent, cohesive body of work that fared well with the critics. It wasn’t as much of a smash as ’’Pablo Honey’’. But it was a far better album that set the stage for further masterworks such as 1997’s ’’OK Computer’’ and 2001’s ’’Amnesiac’’.
On ’’Pablo Honey’’, Radiohead had often been compared to U2. On ’’The Bends’’ they began to show the influence of The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
I first discovered ’’The Bends’’ after hearing ’’OK Computer’’. I bought ’’OK Computer’’ when it first came out and liked it a lot. In fact I gave it my vote as best album of 1997. In 1999 I purchased ’’The Bends’’ and it became another album that has rarely left my stereo.
’’The Bends’’ begins with ’’Planet Telex’’. The song has an ominous backing. Synths mix well with Johnny Greenwood’s guitar. Yorke sings the rather abstract lyrics that include ’’You can push it/But it will not go/You can crush it/But it’s dry as a bone.’’
The title track is next and it’s a hard guitar-driven rocker. The lyrics have a sort of out there vibe to them. ’’Alone on an aero plane/Falling asleep beside the window pane/My blood will thicken/Baby’s got the bends/And we don’t have any real friends/I’m just lying in a bar with my drip feed on.’’
’’High And Dry’’ is an excellent ballad. It is here where the Beatles influence shows; much like the Floyd influence did on the previous two tracks. Yorke sings ’’You’d kill yourself for recognition/You’d kill yourself to never ever stop/You broke another mirror/You’re turning into something you are not/Don’t leave me high/Don’t leave me dry’’. Yorke’s voice sounds beautiful on here and the guitar playing is excellent.
’’Fake Plastic Trees’’ is another great ballad. The lyrics have that sort of Pink Floyd like abstractness to them. ’’Her green plastic watering can for her fake Chinese rubber plant’’. Yorke again sings in an achingly brilliant tone.
’’Bones’’ is another rocker. Yorke delivers the lyrics in an angry tone. The lyrics are apparently written from the perspective of a quadriplegic (’’Shoulders/wrist/knees and back/Ground to dust/Crawling on all fours’’). A great song delivered in a very emotionally affecting way.
’’(Nice Dreams)’’ is another ballad. The lyrics express a feeling of vulnerability and the use of sleep as a method of escape from the problems of the real world. ’’They Love me like I was a brother/They protect me from the world/Nice dreams’’. The Floyd influence is apparent here both musically and lyrically.
’’Just’’ is an angry hard rocker. On here Yorke sings in an angry tone. The lyrics apparently detail a person who is always putting the blame for his/her problems on someone else. ’’You do it to yourself/You do and that’s what really hurts’’.
’’My Iron Lung’’ continues in the hard rocking vein of ’’Just’’. The lyrics are more abstract again. But they also seem particularly angry ’’We’re too young to fall asleep/Too cynical to sleep/We are losing it/Can’t you tell’’.
’’Bullet Proof’’ is a slower song that seems to be a sort of commentary on stardom.
“Street Spirit” closes the album. It’s slower and the lyrics are about some sort of control. The themes of the song point to the themes they would explore in depth on Ok Computer.
With “The Bends” Radiohead delivered one of the classic albums of the 1990s. In fact I would go as far to say that it would be remembered as one of the classics of all time, along with “Dark Side Of The Moon” and “Sgt Pepper”. If you don’t own this album yet, head for the nearest record store and pick up a copy now.