The Bends
Radiohead
1995
Album Summary
The Bends is the second studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 13 March 1995 by Parlophone. Most tracks were produced by John Leckie, with extra production by Radiohead, Nigel Godrich and Jim Warren. The Bends was the first Radiohead album with cover art by Stanley Donwood, who, with singer Thom Yorke, has produced all of Radiohead's artwork since; it was also Radiohead's first collaboration with Godrich, who has produced all their subsequent albums. The Bends moved away from Radiohead's earlier grunge style, incorporating cryptic lyrics, greater use of keyboards, more abrasive guitar tracks and more restrained arrangements. Radiohead began work at RAK Studios, London, in February 1994. Tensions were high, with pressure from EMI to match sales of their debut single "Creep", and progress was slow. After an international tour in May and June, recording resumed at Abbey Road in London and the Manor in Oxfordshire; recording took around four months in total. The album was mixed by Leckie and by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie, who had produced Radiohead's debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). The Bends produced several singles, backed by music videos: "My Iron Lung" (released as an EP in 1994), the double A-side "Planet Telex / High and Dry", "Fake Plastic Trees", "Just", and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", which became Radiohead's first top-five UK single. "The Bends" was also released as a single in Ireland. A live video, Live at the Astoria, was released on VHS on the same day as the album. Radiohead toured extensively in support of The Bends, including US tours supporting R.E.M. and Alanis Morissette. Though it reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, The Bends failed to build on the success of "Creep" outside the UK, reaching number 88 on the US Billboard 200. It has since been certified platinum in the UK and the US. The Bends received greater acclaim than Pablo Honey, including a nomination for Best British Album at the Brit Awards 1996; it elevated Radiohead from one-hit-wonders to one of the most recognised British bands. It is credited for influencing a generation of post-Britpop acts, such as Coldplay, Muse and Travis, and is frequently named one of the greatest albums of all time; it was included in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000) and all three editions of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
WikipediaI could crywank all night to this behemoth. Blisters on me fingers and on me dick. So much blood and so many tears. Like a recently widowed hedgehog trying to escape from a blender. Welp.
I've been secretly dreading the day we'd get a Radiohead album. Not because I think they're bad, but because I've put them off for so long. Well it's time to pay the piper. I'm enjoying this quite a bit. It's a lot less experimental than I was expecting, and I mean that in a good way. I assumed they would be pretentious artsy music but it's just good solid alt-rock. This album is on countless "best ever" lists, and I don't quite see that, but maybe if I heard it in the '90s when I was barely 2 years old I would see it. It's still great though, plenty to love. Favorite tracks: Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, Bullet Proof, The Bends. Album art: I'd say it's iconic. One of those "have you dreamed this man" sort of ubiquitous images. Which mannequin is getting the best (radio)head? 4/5
No, sorry, don't like Radiohead. Don't understand all the hype at all. Media darling, whiney college kids. Kid A and OK Computer are always in the 'best albums ever' lists but I hate them and think they're shit.
This incarnation of Radiohead is great songwriting before they started to branch out with more experimentation. The songwriting is rock solid and Street Spirit is one of my favourite tracks of theirs
Sorry. I realize a 2 star rating will upset many people, but Radiohead has always been a snooze fest for me.
Everything is broken, am I really sinking this low? I bet you think that's pretty clever, don't you boy? My fake plastic love, I don't want to be crippled and cracked. The sea would electrocute us all and that's what really hurts; a total waste of time. I wish that I was bulletproof, sometimes you sulk, sometimes you burn. Immerse yourself in love.
The whole album is great from start to finish. A true classic in that it has indefinite replay desire.
BABY'S GOT THE BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENDS alright, in all seriousness, The Bends is a very very very good album. as the album that kicks off Radiohead's inhuman 26-year streak of exceptionally good albums, it contains all the nascent elements that make them arguably the best group to ever do it. unfortunately for this album - that position means that it is constantly compared to the albums that followed it, especially its older brother and greatest album of all time (in my Opinion) OK Computer. this tends to be an unfavorable comparison because - while all the things that make Radiohead Radiohead are present in this album, it's still very much bogged down in *genre*. while all the records following itare unique enough in their construction that you basically have to throw in the towel and say something like 'experimental rock' if asked about their genre - for about half of The Bends' tracklist, Radiohead are basically just doing Alternative Rock. to be fair though, The Bends is Radiohead doing alt-rock very very well - the title track is an exemplary britpop tune, with sneering verses and a soaring, anthemic chorus, fake plastic trees still stands as one of the band's best ballads which is *really* saying something, and even less pivotal tracks like bones or black star are still pretty good on the virtue of the instrumentation and vocals alone. the best songs on here however are the ones where radiohead is beginning to do their own thing - the strange, airy atmospheres of planet telex or bulletproof, and the moments on both of these tracks where thom's falsetto really PROPELY comes out. the best song on this entire album though is the closer however, where Radiohead's greatest strength as a band first becomes apparent - the ability to rip a specific feeling out of your psyche and then blast it back at you with twice the strength. street spirit (fade out) embodies the eldritch, existential horror of death & death anxiety so well that it is harrowing and genuinely hard to listen to. i never listen to this album on its own because hearing the end of street spirit fade into complete silence still leaves a pit in my stomach even after god knows how many listens. i'd give this album a 9/10, its closer to a 10 than an 8
Baby’s got the bends. You don’t have any real friends. This is TOTALLY how I feel as we try to re-enter somehow into the world. Our kids have to deal with very metaphorical decompression of going from lockdown or podding or significant isolation to freaking public school, crammed hallways, cramped school buses. But I like what the album conjures for me more. Another album that transports me to college. This one is glued to the membranes of my curious and trepidatious cells. It coaxed the leery adult from the grips of my apprehensive adolescence. It doesn’t hurt that I could figure out how to play most of these on the guitar—back when Radiohead’s simplicity matched my skill. I love the explosiveness of the Bends and Thom Yorke’s unbridled bellows. To playing on the upbeat in the chorus in Bones. “I used to fly like Peter Pan! All the children flew when I touched their hands.” (Nice Dream) sounds just like one to me. The melodic descent of the partial barre chords at the beginning contrasts with the whining riffs toward the end. Just has a cool rock-out start. I often quote this song (and not just nowadays): “You do it to yourself, you do, and that’s why it really hurts.” Ain’t it the truth. #maskupassholes #getthefuckingshot I love the cliffhanger chord that Black Star ends on. But I think my most favorite song is Sulk. I’m a sucker for slow builds. Simple single note motif on the guitar that leads to a more complex and interesting variation in the bass line that descends down the scale as he declares a holiday, falls asleep, drifts away. Radiohead and I kinda parted ways sometime around Kid A. We grew apart. Maybe my grown ass self should revisit the newer stuff and find something new about myself. We’ll see. Solid 5 from me.
there are some pretty cool moments on here but I think they kind of get lost in an overall muddled/aimless feeling album. it's quite mopey (which worked okay on some of the tracks) and the vocals didn't grab my attention. probably would be a 2.5 there's some good stuff but none of it was really compelling or interesting to me.
An all time great. I'm always amazed that this is their second album. When many bands load up their first with songs they've been writing since they formed and the second suffers, this is the opposite. Where "Pablo Honey" had "Creep" and not much else, this is all great to classic songs. Is it their best album? Maybe not. But within the scope of what it sets out to accomplish, it's entirely successful. I know I listen to it much more than "OK Computer" and is in my pantheon of favourite albums.
Missed this album the first time around, a Radiohead album I can dance to! Bloody hell - I might start liking them!
Radiohead's first step beyond being "the Creep band". A stone cold classic. A stone cold classic made even better by having what looks like an Easter Island head in the final flings of ejaculation on the cover.
It may not be their best album, but it is Radiohead's perfect, "no skip" album.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Their best album and the purists can go fuck themselves 🙃 It’s actually a brilliant guitar album and there’s a reason fans still clamour for these songs live - it was before Radiohead got lost up their own arse. It came perfectly after the grunge hangover and was an anecdote to the Brit Pop bullshit
A perfect rock album and the one that introduced me properly to the genre. I know and love every song. Absolutely untouchable (well, apart from the other fantastic Radiohead albums).
I first heard a song from this album, Fake Plastic Trees, in the movie Clueless staring Paul Rudd and some other people. This movie, and the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet (starring Paul Rudd!) which also featured a Radiohead song (Talk Show Host), introduced me to Radiohead and led me to an album that has become one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time. The album starts with a woosh like something is blowing in, then hits you with the guitars, and honestly this might be my second favorite opening to an album (behind the base line for Seven Nation Army). I get excited every time I hear that woosh because I know what is coming next. The layers of sound! The guitars get loud like an arena rock show, then soft again, always layered in a way that is indicative of how experimental they are/will continue to be. At times you get flavors of U2, Oasis, REM, and yet they have a sound that is uniquely their own. The music is always vulnerable, eerie at times, angry at times, and broken in the most hauntingly amazing way. I am a lyric person but despite the fact that I can't tell what Thom Yorke is saying 80% of the time, the combination of his voice and the music transcend the often unintelligible lyrics. The snippets of what come through can be devastating. The rejection of the fame/attention, the futility of life, and the intense longing to belong. The optimism and positivity is cut with cynicism (Nice Dream) but you are quickly brought back up from the nihilism of Fake Plastic Trees by the reverb-y guitars of Bones. They achieve a balance in this album that I can't find in many other works. Case in point is the fade out of Street Spirit which is a perfect contrast to the way the album wooshed in with Planet Telex The Bends would be in my desert island 5-disc CD changer. It perfectly encapsulated my 90s angst while managing, like Paul Rudd himself, to never age.
It's kind of hard to put into words how amazing "The Bends" is. Radiohead, particularly the later stuff post-"OK Computer," can be pretty polarizing. Many are put off by Thom Yorke's wailing or the samples and computer blips or whatever. (I am not in this group.) But on "The Bends" what you get is peak Radiohead. A band that moved past a really solid but not groundbreaking debut to deliver a sophomore album that was a mature and unique example of a band finding their sound. (And then they continued to play with and tweak that sound relentlessly for the next decade. To subvert expectations? Who knows what's in the mind of these guys.) While Yorke's moaning and wailing are more exaggerated on later albums (while still working for me most of the time), on this album the vocals are a perfect instrument to complement the guitars (which do some wailing themselves, in a good way) and percussion. There are some songs where you can actually understand a bunch of the words(!), and Yorke writes some powerful lyrics. There are too many stellar songs to single them all out. It is a complete package, without a dud, from start to finish. I was curious for another perspective on the 1000 greatest albums one day when I was frustrated by another middling English band that never made it big across the pond, and found a list created by Colin Larkin in the late 90s, last updated in 2000. Unlike "1001 Albums You Must Listen to Before You Die," Larkin's list allowed fan voting from around the world. The top 10 is heavy with Beatles, as expected, but #2 is "The Bends." That's how good and influential this album is. While "Pablo Honey" feels fairly 90s, "The Bends" feels timeless. I think I like it even more every time I listen.
The album that got me into Radiohead. So many amazing songs, even deep into the album. I could listen to it every day.
I don’t think I can honestly give this anything lower than a 5. It was an atmospheric, melodic experience that I got lost in and didn’t want to find my way out of.
With screeching guitars and poignant lyrics, sung beautifully by Thom Yorke, Radiohead improve on every single aspect of Pablo Honey. The Bends is an incredibly engaging record with a good variety of rock bangers and blisfully melancholic ballads, and it makes you feel like the world is caving in on you, just when you need it's structure most to support your desperate and delicate mind. It's a masterpiece, and easily worth a 5/5.
Brilliant! Can’t fault any of the tracks. One of the best albums ever.
Radioheads classic 2nd Album. great set of songs from Thom and the boys. I must admit I personally prefer "OK Computer" if I had to chose a favourite Radiohead album. This is great though and justifiably in this list. "High & Dry" "The Bends" "Fake Plastic Trees" and "My Iron Lung" are my favourites on this album. A good choice.
Radiohead - The Bends (1995) Just Put a little pressure on a string down or up in a way to make that note go higher, that's a bend. Welcome to another place where you are the instrument and all of the notes will sound like bends across your whole body, each feeling better than the previous one highly and softly, when even the pain you can control by the gain you receive. But the release is the way back home, they just don't want you to know that so soon in your journey when we all know that the path is greater than the arrival at the finish line or the next station. Hitch the gear up, let the pedal loose and grip the gas out of your tank, racing with your fears, tearing up your ears, as in a radio station your head is way too much tall than you can hardly believe in your own eyes. A
Alternative rock at its best. Strong and catchy songwriting. I love Radiohead. Bye.
I had never heard the whole album- I see why so many of my friends had it
This is maybe the 4th or 5th best Radiohead album and it’s still perfect. That’s how great they are.
A nearly perfect album. One great song after another. The guitar playing throughout is amazing and that includes some of the best accoustic guitar strumming anywhere. This was my introduction to Radiohead and it remains my favorite. OK Computer and Kid A are more ambitious and perhaps greater accomplishments, but for me this is where Radiohead hit their sweet spot 5 🌟
About as straightforward as Radiohead ever got and it’s very good indeed- the boys sure can play and make excellent rock tracks. The production is extraordinarily good; the blend is great- the guitars sound almost like a Co vocalist alongside Yorker’s impulsive yelps and screams. There are hints throughout of the experimentation that was to follow. Here the building blocks.
One of the first alt-rock albums in a long time I’ve listened top to bottom. It’s great if you’re feeling a bit under the weather.
Do you have to British and of a certain age for this to really make sense? It's full of angst and relevance. Come on now kids of the 90's..."don't leave me high"
I've never listened to much Radiohead, so I was very interested going into this. I was not disappointed! This album felt incredibly well crafted, from the production to the music to the lyrics. The album had an overall "sound" to it, but each song stood on its own and was interesting and unique. Thom Yorke's vocals on this album are nothing short of ethereal. His lyrics are not always understandable, but I didn't care; his stylings really lend something extra to the songs, and he knows just what style(s) and vocalizations to use in a given musical scenario to take the track to the next level. I found myself waiting to hear what he was going to do from track to track. Based on what I know about 90s music, I could quickly tell upon hearing this that there was not anyone else quite like Radiohead at the time. Though I was not really aware of who Radiohead had influenced in the music world, it is incredibly obvious upon hearing this album that it was setting standards for where alt rock would go for years to come following the grunge era. Bands like Muse, The Killers, and Coldplay were clearly influenced by this album in their own works, 10+ years after this album came out. This album was a definite win for me!
I think this is absolutely stunning. It's laden with beauty and emotion and meaning. It's even so melodic in certain parts and extremely catchy. A dreamscape kaleidoscope of sounds. However, I wouldn't be able to listen to this full album on a hangover or a sad day because that would be a bit much and I would be spiralling down v quickly. Not exactly cheery is it now.
I really do enjoy their first two albums, it really goes to show that even just starting out, they were really damn good but of course their best material is literally everything after from No Surprises and Exit Music for a Film, to the flawless perfection that is the whole Kid A album, to the rest of their neat electronic albums I don’t think they ever had a low point in their career despite being diverse as fuck, it’s all consistently enjoyable I think that’s why I like Swans, King Crimson, etc. Radiohead is right there with them as one of my favorite bands 10/10
Dang, I forgot how good this album is. Haven't listened to it in years and just played it on repeat for a while. Great stuff.
I'm incapable of separating this from my nostalgia, so...I won't try. 5/5
It was fine? I didn't love it and it got a bit samey but the sounds were nice. I can't decide if it gets points or loses points for the terrifying album art
I had no idea what I was getting into, as I've not really listened to much Radiohead before, but I was pleasantly surprised with this album! Planet Telex's atmosphere was an interesting introduction to this album. I don't have much to say besides that, and that it had a really fun atmosphere - loved the keyboard parts. The Bends is ok. Not a favorite track, just sort of there, reminding me of a lot of other classic rock tracks. High and Dry is another song that reminds me of stuff I'd listen to on the radio as a kid driving through Saskatchewan with my uncle. It's a nice chill song, but I don't see myself revisiting it too much after this. I love the vocals on Fake Plastic Trees. It's got some really interesting stuff happening underneath the vocals too at some points! Bones is a lot more in line with the music I find myself gravitating towards, and as such it's been my favorite so far. I'm a big fan of (Nice Dream), it's really nice and chill with good atmosphere. Which all sound like buzzwords now, but oh well. I'm pretty tired and all I know is that this song is fun and I like the guitar on it. It sounds like a dream, which I assume is the point. Just is fun, but sort of blends into the rest of the album for me? Not sure why. It might be because I'm a tad tired writing this! The funky little guitar bit around 2 minutes in is wonderful. My Iron Lung bangs harder than it has any right to and I have no idea why. It's just fantastic. Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was has some really cool vocal moments, I love Thom Yorke's voice. Black Star is something I could see myself appreciating more at like 3AM. It's a good song, but I'm just not in love at this moment in time. I feel the same about Sulk. Maybe listening to this album in the middle of the day isn't the right time for it! Love the guitar so much on Street Spirit (Fade Out). This song is such a good closer to the album. I really love it. This and My Iron Lung are the highlights of the album for me by far.
1995: Planet Telex, High And Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, My Iron Lung, Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was
Uma beleza, carrega comigo muito saudosismo. Baladas marcantes. produção impecável, como em todos discos deles.
Bueno... Un dels àlbums de la meva vida. Quantes vegades l'hauré escoltat? Des que un company de classe me'l va deixar un dia (crec que va ser Francesc Roca, a 2n de BUP), em va enamorar. Els Radiohead venien amb la càrrega de l'èxit del tema "Creep", i amb aquest segon disc demostraven que no eren flor d'un sol dia, i que tenien molt a dir. L'àlbum comença amb la potent Planet Telex i ja no et solta fins la darrera nota de Street Spirit. Té singles inoblidables com Fake Plastic Trees, The bends o Just, i temes que posen la pell de gallina, com Bullet proof o High and dry. No sobra ni una sola cançó, i encara van deixar temes brutals per a les cares b, com The trickster o Permanent daylight. Aquest disc també representa l'inici de les crucials col·laboracions amb el seu productor Nigel Godrich, i l'artista Stanley Donwood. D'alguna manera, aquí és quan realment Radiohead s'acaba de formar, i ja no pararan d'evolucionar plegats i publicar sense pietat àlbums i més àlbums arriscats i d'enorme qualitat. El so de les guitarres en tot aquest disc és brutal, el punt just de potència i distorsió, i de delicadesa quan es necessita. La producció realment és exquisita, cada cançó té la seva pròpia personalitat i alhora totes juntes formen un tot indisoluble. El seu primer àlbum per a la història, i els que en vindran...
Thom Yorke's weird little talented face. Not as up its own ass as OK Computer and not as revered...but it's better, isn't it? Tweek my nipples.
Love it. The album where Radiohead showed truly how great they are. BT: The Bends, Just, Street Spirit.
One of my favorite albums from this band and from the 90s. Great melodies and beautiful arrangement and production.
I think I like this more than any other Radiohead album. This is actually really good.
Love Radiohead! Very good album start to finish, one of my favourites. Barely any downsides
Great album, nice vibes throughout - so many classic noticeable tunes and also several unheard new favourites.
one of my favorite albums of all time. although maybe not as influential as OK Computer or Kid A, the songwriting and melodies on this project are immaculate. fantastic project that i’ll continue to rotate until the day i die
Great album. Songs such as "High and Dry" and "Bones" remain personal favorites.
I am a fan. First Radiohead I've listened to and liked. It makes me want to listen to their other stuff again. Maybe Kid A and OK Computer are actually good. Can't wait to check them out again. Great songs on this album start to finish.
Una obra de arte. De los mejores discos que he escuchado en mi vida. Lo tengo en mi colección desde hace más de 15 años y estoy totalmente de acuerdo que deba estar en este listado. La mezcla de potencia y melancolía y los cambios en los arreglos son sorprendentes. Definitivamente este disco fue crucial en la historia de la música.
A perfect straight ahead rock album for me. 3 guitars going at it for most of the songs
I've been friends with lots of people with lazy eyes in my life. For example Steph and I spent a whole summer together being Floyds and watching MTV. The summer of '95 was right before I moved to LA. The 'Just' music video played at least twice every hour, but it seemed like more. That was a clever video, it was great. Fake Plastic Trees, notsomuch. In the FPT video, Thom (pronounced 'Tom') turns the drama up to 11 while imitating a baby in a shopping cart. It was disastrous and didn't do the band any favors. Anyone that watched that immediately hated them, him, Thom (Tom). The album Pablo Honey, was good and an easy listen. The Bends, followed PH and was a logical extension of the first with more angsty, artsy-fartsy undertones thrown in. I liked it. Revisiting this album, it's not groundbreaking, but it's held up okay. This is more like a warm wool sweater that smells like home and you put it on when the leaves turn brown at the end of summer. The Bends is one of the quintessential albums of the 90's, and by those terms it's relatively traditional. There's heavy guitar reverb, song builds, and self-consumed lyrics with a tinge of despair. It is also the last album before the band becomes Radiohead. Before Ok Computer. Perhaps all of that self-introspection is authentic, Thom (Tom) isn't as insufferable as we thought. Maybe he was somehow able to see a future with machine learning, crappy politics, overconsumption, etc. and identify change is coming. Ok Computer, the album after The Bends was truly groundbreaking and set the band off in a new direction with intricate arrangements, new instruments, computers, electronica, etc. It's incredible that this is the same band. All good things come to an end. This album The Bends, marks the closing of an era, the end of summer, the end of Floyd and for me at least, the end of the 90's. It is the closing door that goes unnoticed and time moves on. REFERENCES Floyds = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIA-5l4tRyY Just = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIFLtNYI3Ls Fake Plastic Trees = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5h0qHwNrHk
Наверно, единственный альбом Радиобашки, где меня не задолбал ужасный вокал Йорка и где нет конченого IDM.
What an album perhaps Radiohead's best collection of songs. Absolutely no filler. The 123 punch of The Bends, High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees is nonpareil. Maybe it lacks the experimentalism of OK Computer and Kid A, but the songs are so strong that I can forgive the fact that it fits neatly into into the alt-rock formula. Besides you can see the seeds of OK Cokmputer in the closing track. I LOVE THIS ALBUM! 5 🌟