Reviews (page 5 of 15)
Radiohead är ett band jag tycker är overrated. Inte för att deras musik är dålig, den är bara underwhelming med tanke på hur alla pratar om den. Jag tycker att album liknar The Verve som jag personligen gillar mer. Jag skulle nog inte sätta på Radiohead själv, men skulle inte bli arg om någon satte på det. Favoritlåtar: High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees. Minst favorit: My Iron Lung
Good stuff 👍 not bad songs, only one was grating but nothing really stood out to me either.
I wouldn't call it "underrated" but I feel like The Bends is often overshadowed by OK Computer and Kid A (and probably even In Rainbows). While all those albums have different styles, I really enjoy the alt-rock, guitar-focused sound of this album (and the more experimental moments like on "My Iron Lung"). Lots of cool instrumentation and guitar work here (all very good to listen to)! Favorites: Planet Telex, The Bends, High and Dry, Bones, Just, My Iron Lung
I grew up with this record and the songs are embedded into my bones, so I can't pretend to be subjective about it. But fuck, it's fantastic. Still my favorite Radiohead, no skips, perfect album, etc. etc.
So many singles! Forgetting the track running would have you worried the second half will fade. The title track really sets the standard for the album and although I don't normally like a single being in position 1, I think this would have suited it (instead of 2).
90s britpop indie , but better. This album would still be big even if Radiohead never recorded another thing
The first of a remarkable run of albums, the most successful since the Beatles. They are all brilliant and show different aspects of their developing talent.
If Radiohead had never released another album, I believe this would be considered one of the very best albums of the 1990s. Similar to how The Strokes’ debut sits among the pantheon of 2000s indie music, The Bends is better than many of the most popular 90s group’s ‘best of’ compilations - it's absolutely packed out with singles and has an incredible flow. The title track does an excellent job of encapsulating most people’s main take away from the record. Those beautifully panned, panoramic opening guitar chords, making the most of stereo, with the chorus pedal turned up to max draws a clear line in the sand between the average 1990s rock group who gave us Pablo Honey and this new band who were of a totally different order. Bones pulls a similar trick when the guitars open out in the choruses and create a series of triumphant, euphoric uplifts. These grand moments are offset by creeping, anxious ones like the eerie verses of (nice dream) which make it impossible to write off The Bends as “Just” being for stadiums. The Bends has of course been eclipsed by the band on multiple occasions since. The multi-layered outro of My Iron Lung prefigures the even more multi-layered outro of Paranoid Android. The tender and gut wrenching Bullet Proof prefigures the even more tender and gut wrenching True Love Waits. But what The Bends does better than any of Radiohead’s other albums is prove that they could make a record for the masses. Something which cuts straight through equally to avid fans and the everyman. Radiohead fans like to think that it's OK Computer and In Rainbows that immortalised the group among the general public, but that’s not the case. There is no Radiohead album more pleasing to more people than The Bends. Not only is it one of Radiohead’s perfect albums, it is generally considered their best.
So I’ve been between a high 4 and low 5 on The Bends forever and today I’m going low 5, the second half really escalates it, there are loads of tunes and it just sounds damn good, even if the rock is a bit rocky for me
I only enjoyed listening to Fake Plastic Trees and Bullet Proof…I Wish I Was. Too punky for me.
Expansive without feeling bloated, this album refines alternative rock into something both accessible and emotionally layered. The dynamics between quieter passages and louder climaxes are carefully controlled, giving the songs a strong internal momentum. It’s a record that feels complete and deliberate.
Not Radiohead's best album, but definitely in the top four or five.
One of my favourote albums of all time. All killer no filler.
I have listened to a few tracks of Radiohead before this, and a few of them come from this album. I don't typically engage in music of this genre but Radiohead has been explained to me as one of the best bands ever. I do not have anything good or bad to say about this album but I do enjoy the vocals and the instruments. The first song is a really good opening and I think it definitely has me hooked going into this album.
LOVE RADIOHEAD. Great guitar throughout the entire album Thom Yorkes voice speaks for it self Love the title meaning, says something about their self-concept at the time MY BABYS GOT THE BENDS!!!
Omg this is where High and Dry is from!! BRILLIANT ALBUM. I totally see why people are obsessed with Radiohead now lol. And it's super interesting to read about the influence of R.E.M. on their sound... i love R.E.M. and can totally hear it. Im loving almost every song on here tbh and the whole vibe of the album -- love it as much as Turnstile's Never Enough maybeeeee. Gosh. What a (late) find!!
strong. i still prefer their later work
I've inadvertently heard this album against my will for the majority of the 90s and yes, there are some bops put out by some sad bois. It's ok!
probably my second least favorite Radiohead album. depending on how i feel about The King of Limbs on that day. still pretty decent though. Fake Plastic Trees is a show stopper and Just is the best alt rock banger they've made probably ever. deserves to be one of the 1001? i mean i guess. it's a really huge step forward for the band and is no doubt a big moment for 90s rock, even if i think it's kinda middling for Radiohead
Superb!
Hey, we found a Radiohead album that I actually enjoyed! All things are possible! For my personal tastes, this was the perfect blend of Radiohead experimental sounds and alternative 90s rock. Favorites included ‘Planet Telex’, ‘The Bends’, ‘Just’, ‘My Iron Lung’, and ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’. A few songs didn’t hit for me, but the positives far outweighed the negatives. A very solid 4/5, good album.
Fantastic album! One of my very favorites!
Not my favorite Radiohead album but still a good one
Radiohead is my favorite band, and this album has a ton of great songs and I enjoy every one of them. 15+ years ago I’d consider this one of my top albums of all time, but listening to it today it hasn’t aged as well and has definitely been surpassed by some of the band’s other work.
Jeg er mest til deres ballader, ellers bliver noget af det lige rocket nok for mig. Et par af sangene som fake plastic trees gør meget for mig
The Bends marca um momento importante de transição para o grupo Radiohead. É aqui que a banda verdadeiramente achou seu piso, deixou para trás as ambições mesquinhas de ser Nirvana 2.0, e foram pioneiros na sonoridade comum dos próximos anos no âmbito do Rock Melodramático, com bandas inteiras devendo todo seu repertório à este disco. Embora não seja o magnum opus do grupo, é possível ver as sementes que germinarão em trabalhos futuros. Enquanto as canções do LP predecessor da banda raramente mostravam uma profundidade temática ou sonora (com exceção da magnífica Blow Out), quase toda faixa em The Bends possui camadas mais desenvolvidas e texturas mais requintadas. I wanna live… breathe… I wanna be part of the human race. Quando a banda quer fazer barulho, ela têm imenso sucesso na tarefa. Canções como The Bends, Just, My Iron Lung e a ótima introdução Planet Telex são prova disso. Radiohead se fosse uma banda de Rock tradicional ainda assim seria fantástica. Mas eles vão além. Os cortes mais lentos do disco mostram um lado da banda que seria infinitamente copiado por outros atos que vieram depois, com canções melosas repletas de ternura e melifluidade como High and Dry e a arrepiante Street Spirit (Fade Out). Mas há uma coisa que devo admitir: A hiper-melação quase grudenta de canções como Fake Plastic Trees, (Nice Dream) e Sulk nem sempre me satisfazem. Na verdade, às vezes essas faixas específicas me irritam, sendo econômico com a língua portuguesa. Nem sempre você está no estado mental correto para esse tipo de canção – o estado de coitadinho. Outras faixas como Black Star ou Bullet Proof conseguem tocar nas cordas do coração sem precisar martelar a melancolia insípida na sua cabeça. De todo modo, é um disco quase perfeito, que definiu os anos seguintes não só da banda mas de todo um nicho específico da música popular. Suas imperfeições vão além da pegajosidade dos hinos pomposos, mas também está em algumas faixas francamente redundantes (olhando diretamente pra Sulk). E também acho meio maluca a exclusão de alguns dos B-Sides brilhantes deste disco, como The Trickster, Talk Show Host, Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong, e uma das minhas faixas favoritas da banda, India Rubber. Cogitei a nota 4.5 pra este magnânimo e histórico álbum… Mas percebi que isso era apenas eu refletindo o dia ruim que tive no inocente disco. Seus momentos mais chatos não deduzem a grandeza dos seus melhores momentos, como sua incrível introdução e fantástico final.
See Katy Perry? This is a better pick for making out. Ill always be marked by the fact she picked Kid A. Ill never be able to move on. Damn I forgot Street Spirit was on this album. I got flashbacks to Natalies death. WHY DID SHE HAVE TO GO WHY? FUCK U Yellowjackets writers and your love to pairing deaths with Radiohead songs. Nothing else of substance to add. Incredible album. I dont care what anyone else says we are all entitled to an opinion and mine is that this is one of the best albums of all time.
3.0 - Ok
One of my favorite albums!
Prob one of the better radiohead albums I've listen to fav songs: fake plastic trees, black star
IT'S THE BENDS
A most beautiful double shot depresso.
Nostalgia+++ I've been returning to this regularly for 30 years and I don't see myself stopping.
Perfect, obviously.
Near perfect album and easily my favorite Radiohead (not sure why that opinion isn’t more widely held). The only misstep is Bulletproof but otherwise every track is awesome.
"800 Albums and 500 Singles You Must Hear Before You Die" would be a better book.
7/10
After the pre-Britpop straightforwardness of 𝘗𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 is where Radiohead finally lock into the sound that would later strike some listeners as strange and others as quietly revolutionary. The guitars turn atmospheric, the emotions sharpen, and the songwriting becomes far more confident. It’s the first record where the band truly steps into its own identity. A strong 4/5 — not because it lacks anything, but because Radiohead’s most transformative work is still to come.
Favorite: Just
This was already a fav of mine so I loved it duhhhhh ❤️👅❤️ those rolling stone guys rly know what they’re talking abt -Ruby I guess I’m just cursed to never like this band. —Noah
Ok, this album never struck me as great
Not my favorite Radiohead album, but still really strong and solid early-era Radiohead.
Their best album imo
A great album by an exceptional band. I had almost forgotten how much I loved this album. 5 stars. Fave track - fake plastic trees.
I didn't hate this one, unlike other radio head albums.
A classic album that, after a long time since i last played it, is even better than i would remember it The vocals sublime, each track has something new to offer
Solid album underpinned by Just, High & Dry, the title track. A bit of filler in-between but I guess us time to be prepared for the next masterpiece. Street Spirit is just a perfect way to end an album
10/10 – Masterpiece
Masterpiece. Can't understand why it took me so long to listened to this. Glad I did.
From the Bends to Hail to the Thief is one of the best 5 album streaks ever. I'd rate the Bends probably at the bottom of them, but still a solid 5 stars (9/10)
Man I forgot how good Radiohead is, I liked this quite a bit.
Man they’re just a good band aren’t they? Probably my favorite band that I didn’t get into before the list, maybe Fugazi as well but Radiohead definitely has the deeper discography. Everything on here is good even though it’s pretty devoid of hits. There’s not a single track on here that I would be upset to have to hear. On top of that, songs like high and dry, iron lung, the bends, bulletproof, silk, fade out all getting added to the rotation. I can’t afford the complete Radiohead box set but I guess I should start saving up.
A really well paced cohesive album with no skips for me, solid songwriting throughout, great music and some all time great songs that I regularly play, again I feel this album has highs maybe not as high as ok computer which also has amazing songs on it, but I felt this album was more consistent and did not have a song I would actively skip while ok computer does
Coolt men tråkigt
This has always been my favorite Radiohead album.
Great album! Many fantastic songs on this album, and it’s well rounded.
i liked it but i don't see myself jamming out to on the regular
A nice album for the background
the opener is actually pretty good! My Iron Lung and Sulk are also fun. elsewise it's not nearly as interminable as Amnesiac since the vocals aren't distressingly flat to nearly the same degree. this album sounds like i imagine living in a long-faded former industrial city in 1990s england feels.
Great album
The best
Amazing album. This era of Radiohead is like the opposite of the album I listened to yesterday. It's primarily artsy alternative rock, but is starting to bring in experimental effects and is a clear first step towards what they'll become. The difference is that these are still pop songs with choruses, so they actually have payoff and are enjoyable to listen to.
Perdy damn good, I'd never heard this one.
Still not really getting why Radiohead is considered the best ever by so many people. Still, I really like the album ok. Will have to dig into more reviews to see what I am missing
Good. But is Radiohead the most overrated band in history?
No entiendo ingles, así que me guio por lo que me haga sentir la musica y si me llega al corazon.
His voice kinda gets on my nerves a little but the actual music is amazing. I love the cinematic aspect of the songs too. I really like “fake plastic trees” and “just”
Gotta revisit later
Excellent would buy on vinyl definitely. And also way more upbeat than expected!
Actually a 6. One of the best albums of all time. A perfect album.
4.21
So I had this preformed opinion from my teens that I hate Radiohead. I remember one of my friends being obsessed with them and trying desperately to get me to listen to them, and I just didn't get along with their music at all. Slightly embarrassed to admit I enjoyed this quite a lot, to the point I'd happily listen to most of it again. Vocals are decent, largely quite tuneful, not overly whiny. There's the typical indie/alt fuzz, but it's not done to excess. The guitar riffs aren't overly droney or repetitive (in fact, some of them are pretty enjoyable). I definitely preferred the heavier tracks, but even the more atmospheric ones like "Street Spirit" were OK. Gives me Stereophonics x Muse vibes. Highlights: - "Planet Telex" - First track on the album, immediately broke my expectations and preconceptions. - "The Bends" - "High and Dry" - classic. Have to admit I didn't realise this one was Radiohead... Oops. - "Black Star" - "Sulk" - I liked the emotion in this one. It built up really nicely to quite a powerful rock track. Slightly-disgusted-with-myself 4.
Maybe I need to relisten to Ok Computer but I found myself much more enticed by the melodies and soundscapes on this one. Particularly love Planet Talex, Just, Black Star and the title track.
I love it!
Radiohead, et band jeg aldri har lært meg å like ordentlig. Sangene deres er ofte vakre, med Thom Yorke sine myke vokaler, men de gir aldri noe mersmak. Det er nok et problem jeg har med art rock generelt; det engasjerer ikke nevneverdig. Dette albumet er mer rocka enn Radiohead sine senere prosjekter, og det er for så vidt positivt. Til tross for den innledende tiraden, er det mange smakfulle sanger her. Et ålreit album å lytte til når man trenger å slappe av. Top 3: The Bends, Bones, Black Star
I mean… it’s fantastic. Just banger after banger. Fourth best Radiohead album for me.
i really liked this album
Absolute classic my favourite Radiohead album so many great songs
This album just keeps on giving, wall to walk hits 5 - a near-perfect album
Hello my 90s teen years 👋 I remember this teen depression
So beloved to me, and only gets better. I need a sixth star. I want to see them live - missed a 2025 tour!
7/10
Fajne brzmienie, ale to tyle. Bez rewolucji.
The Radiohead album I know best. Flawless, lyricism, the nihilism and fragility. Songs sound so layered, contains so many ballads. Saved the uk from britpop
Best: Black Star God I love this album. As usual Radiohead have hit the nail on the head with this one, for me there isn’t a single track I would skip. This album is so thematically cohesive in terms of lyrics and emotion, conveying such a strong sense of malaise beautifully. One of my favourite albums of all time, probably my favourite RH album and what to me, truly captures their sound. Yorkes vocals are emotional and gritty throughout but the vocals on Planet Telex are just so good, the breathiness and the hazy delivery have such an attractive draw. The production as a whole was great, instruments played beautifully adding texture to every track.
Wonderful album, my favorite songs are Black Star, Bulletproof...I wish I was, and Fake Plastic Trees. Nice dream and High and Dry are HM
んほー
I often complain about music in which too little happens. So let me offer the opposite as an example, to make my point clear. Take one of the less immediately obvious tracks on this album: the title track, “The Bends.” Just listen to it. How many genuinely brilliant ideas are packed into this single song? No, it’s not a cluttered prog-rock mess where everything happens at once. Everything here is focused. Every element belongs. And then, just over three minutes in, the song suddenly shifts direction. The tempo goes up, the guitar gain goes up, and against that wall of sound comes a surprisingly melodic vocal line, almost functioning as counterpoint. Just when you’re about to start headbanging, the track collapses into a moment of calm — and ends with a cracked-voice farewell. This is music. Dear musicians: this is why we buy albums. And the kicker is that this isn’t even one of the best songs on the record. By now I’ve worked my way through 148 albums from the list, plus two additions of my own. And then the random generator throws up one of my all-time favourites. I can hum practically every note on this album — though any other enthusiastic attempts at sound production are strongly discouraged, for reasons I’ll come back to shortly. No need for five to eight careful listening sessions this time. I’ll admit I was slightly nervous. Over the past nine months I’ve learned a lot, changed the way I listen, opened myself up to music I’d long dismissed — sometimes to my own surprise. So the question was fair: how would an album that dominated my student years and early adulthood hold up? I don’t listen to it that often anymore, mostly just individual tracks. Would it still stand? Or would I suddenly discover weaknesses I’d previously ignored? It stands. Completely. There are no weak tracks here — only songs that are more or less spectacular. This isn’t just music, it’s Music. It’s outrageously good. Yes, that’s hyperbole. But so is the album. The exquisitely built “High and Dry.” The even more beautifully constructed “Fake Plastic Trees” — one of the greatest songs ever written. The ferociously propulsive “Sulk,” in which Thom Yorke increasingly starts squealing like a pig (and I mean that as a compliment). And so on, and so on. It’s a 48-minute journey through Valhalla. And it feels shorter than that, even though 48 minutes is already pushing the upper limit of ideal album length. Then, just when you think you’ve reached the end, there’s the closer: “Street Spirit (Fade Out).” Mon dieu. Mein Gott. Dear Lord. Dio mio. Goosebumps. Possibly tears. Or simply singing — shouting — screaming along with Yorke’s anguished wails. The poor (now deceased) neighbours of my parents were surely not the only victims of students in the second half of the 1990s who couldn’t resist singing along to this album at full volume — especially during the fortissimo passages. Or worse, the falsetto sections, like those in “High and Dry.” If you can listen to this music without feeling compelled to do that, then frankly this album isn’t for you. Then music isn’t for you. Unlike many critics, I find this album clearly superior to its successor, OK Computer. It’s rougher, less calculated, less overtly produced. Speaking of production: this album sounds absolutely phenomenal. Everything is perfectly placed. You hear every instrument, every detail. The balance between vocals and music is flawless. Special praise is due to the rhythm section. Drummer Philip Selway seems to have invented the concept of effectiveness, while bassist Colin Greenwood plays superb lines throughout. No one here is individually “brilliant” in the flashy sense. There are hardly any guitar solos. But the music is brilliant. It’s like a football team without a Cristiano Ronaldo — a side that excels through collective intelligence, flawless execution, and ninety minutes (or rather: 48) of perfectly applied tactics. Is there nothing to criticise? Yes. The album cover is hideous. Truly awful. And yes, I’ll once again weep openly over the fact that after OK Computer this band decided to make Commodore 64 game soundtracks instead of continuing to create the most brilliant alternative rock ever recorded. Or almost the most brilliant — I still have about 900 albums left to go, and at least one of them might yet surpass this. But that will come. For now, I’m going to sit here and enjoy the music, filling the room at an entirely irresponsible volume.
I think I like this version of Radiohead more than what came later. The Bends feels rawer, more direct, and ultimately more accessible to me. The songs are still emotionally charged, but they’re anchored in guitars and melody rather than abstraction and icy distance. There’s an immediacy here that I miss in a lot of their later work. The angst feels human rather than conceptual, and while Thom Yorke’s voice is still very much that voice, it works better for me in this context. It sounds less mannered, more urgent, and more tied to the songs themselves. That’s not to say this is a perfect album or that it reinvents the genre, but it consistently holds my attention in a way later Radiohead often doesn’t. I can hear why people view this as a transitional record, but for my tastes, it lands in a sweet spot: ambitious without being alienating, expressive without feeling self-consciously clever. This is Radiohead when I actually want to keep listening, not just admire from a distance.
First 5/5 album of this listening experience. A truly perfect album. No misses
When I think back on Radiohead's discography, I never consider The Bends to be one of their very best. In my memory this record will always be outshined by the radical change in sound they brought to Kid A, or the infectious rhythms of The King Of Limbs (yes this is a top 5 Radiohead album IMHO), or the sheer perfection of In Rainbows. But anytime I return to actually listen to The Bends in full again I am forced to reconsider that opinion. Every song on this album is memorable on its own, with beautiful melodies and dense guitar parts over an understated rhythm section with underrated bass lines. The production is consistent between tracks and crystal clear, allowing the strength of the songwriting and performances to shine through. But the album as a whole also has a greater arch, slowly building to a peak just past the midway point, only to fall off a cliff, and then sort of coast to the finish line in a beautiful way. It is album storytelling at its best. The Bends is probably one of the greatest rock albums ever made.
Meh, a lot of the same
This is the album that made me like Radiohead as a band. This fantastic, mellow, dour album features some breathtaking melodies and melancholy. I was between a four and five star but realized this album is great throughout with great in-between tracks. Top tracks: "(Nice Dream)," "My Iron Lung," "Fake Plastic Trees," "Just," "High and Dry"
A classic of the genre.
--Planet Telex...standard britpop --The Bends...it's a decent song but it would eventually lead to Coldplay --High and Dry...I feel like this song used to hit harder. now seems like a generic radio hit. I might be falling victim to the classic Seinfeld-Isn't-Funny/Simpsons-Did-It problem --Fake Plastic Trees...perhaps slightly overdramatic but still a classic. Thom shines here --Bones...nice, chunky bass. feels like a band with songwriting abilities that exceed their musicianship at this point in their careers. I think that's a compliment --(Nice Dream)...enjoyable --Just...see "Bones" --My Iron Lung...see "Planet Telex" --Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was...I like the arpeggiated guitar and Thom's voice but otherwise meh --Black Star...we return the "the Bends" momentarily --Sulk...I feel like Thom does a lot of the heavy lifting on this record --Street Spirit (Fade Out)...haunting. classic
It's become my favorite of theirs. Great guitar work. It rocks.
I mean it’s ok but not worth all the crazy rave reviews
Radiohead is more mellow than I think they are. It's rock but soft rock. English rock. It's great. Songs I know but didn't know I knew.
already listenend to it in 2021 (emo phase)...goated album.
Masterpiece
Hard to not appreciate this when it came out during my time in high school. And it still holds up.
Hadn't actually listened to this start to finish, ohhhhhh man that gave me some room to be a sad boy in these sad times
Ya I like Radiohead. What're you gonna do about it
this is a-okay! is it a perfect album for me? no! that’s ok computer!
Good album, great artist.
There are people who don’t like Radiohead. And I suppose there are people who don’t like food or sex either. Excellent album.
I like this album a LOT. Much better than "In Rainbows" imo
This is tricky for me to grade. This album is choke full of incredible songs - High and Dry, Blackstar, Street Spirit, Just, Planet Telex, Fake Plastic Trees. If this wasn’t a Radiohead album then it’s an easy five stars. But this is Radiohead and we have to grade them on the Radiohead curve. This album shows the band really maturing from their first album, songwriting, soundscapes, everything. Thing is they really find one formula that works really well for them, this slow build up to a climax. And it’s fabulous it really is it’s just that they needed to expand their vocabulary some more to be really great. They did just that in their next album. Four stars.
didn't feel sad today tbh but the last song really got to me (fadeeeee outttttt)
Another slice of life from the thinking mans Coldplay. Highly probable i will not listen to this again although it wss ok to listen to. Didnt knock my socks off.
Hits the sweet spot between "just another rockband" and "avante garde tosser" Full of experimental moments that don't overwhelm the basic listenability of the music. There is something genuinely magnificent about it.
Palabras mayores. Parachutes, pero bien hecho. 9/10
Immerse your soul in love.
I think I just liked a Radiohead album. I wonder what my life would have been like if I heard this album as my intro to them instead of Hail to the Thief.
So good.
I love this album so very much
Good stuff!!
Not bad for Radiohead
Solid 3.5 4
Not my favourite by radiohead but still 10/10 album. Love everything about it. Songs like Street spirit Fade out, Fake plastic trees, Black star andJast are biggest standouts and absolute bangers.
Felt like a waitress working in a dingy cafe, hates my job and life. Pack of cigarettes a day and a terrible diet
Love a 45 minute album. Have a feeling this whole thing is gonna be 1000 white boy albums but it had 1 or 2 songs I would go back to.
I didn't really like it. Felt like something is sucking my energy out of me.
It's all been said before. Tremendous album and not even their best It's on my shelves... Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️ ★★★★★ (9/10) Total reviewed : 205 Already owned : 46 Purchased : 8 To buy list : 6 Nope : 145
a reluctant 4
Penultimate Radiohead. Guess that means Amnesiac is gonna be the last album I roll from these guys. I suppose it's better to get this one out of the way sooner - I have more things to say about this album by a landslide. I'm pretty sure The Bends has held it's position as my favourite Radiohead album for the longest period of time. In my timeline of favourites, I'm pretty sure I went from The Bends (*) -> OK Computer (***) -> The Bends (*****) -> Long, murky period where I wasn't listening to the band or thinking about them that much -> The Bends (*) -> Hail to the Thief (*) -> Kid A (** -> present), where the asterisks are a vague measure of time that doesn't really mean anything. The Bends worked hard to wrestle its way to the top, but Kid A is just too good, sadly. OKC and HTTT correspond with the times where I felt the most social alienation and when I began to ritualistically distrust Western governance, for the record. I still hold HTTT dearly, but I've kind of soured on OKC in what can only be described as an act of musical sacrilege. So, The Bends. There are many people within the Radiohead fanbase that are locked in a perpetual bleak-measuring competition, where the involved parties desperate to assert their album of choice as the saddest and, therefore, the most emotionally mature. You see it a lot with the In Rainbows crowd, who are despondent about having their album typecast as the happy one. The Bends has always filled that niche for me. I really enjoy the recurring theme of persistence and how the songs are adequately linked under the decompression sickness moniker. Plus, it just helps that the music is incredibly solid. There aren't any moments on here which chafe, unlike with their bigger and better offerings. Anyways, time to hit play. Planet Telex is my favourite song from the album, and it has been for most of the time that I've been a fan. It just kicks so much ass. Obviously, the aspect I'm most in favour of is the guitar reverb. It's interesting how the backing guitars wrap around and engulf the piece, from the echoey verses to the more distorted sound they adopt during the chorus. Standing against the chaos are the resolute piano chords, which go a long way in giving the album a sense of balance and momentum. The drums accomplish this adequately as well. Thom's performance on this track is among his most unique. I struggle to think of another track that has this level of life or energy. Overall, it's one of those rare songs which are all build-up and all pay off, making for one of the best album openers ever. After the incredible first track, the title track comes as a bit of a let down. Initially alienating to me, I've come to appreciate it for the very reason that it's more stripped-back and unambitious. The Bends does a pretty good job of encapsulating decompression sickness, from the lyrics, to the songwriting, to the placement on the album. I don't have much to say about the two biggies, truth be told. I used to really like them when I was just getting into Radiohead, but my aged, more discerning ears don't get as much from listening to these songs anymore. They're pretty formulaic, even if the songs are built on an incredibly strong foundation. Anyways, enough with the cynicism. "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" feature Thom's most beautiful vocal performances. The acoustic guitar on "High and Dry" is uplifting and is underscored nicely by the growling guitars. The guitar solo is the best aspect of an incredibly tight song, with the thudding, muted percussion and clashing cymbals guiding the song delicately. "Fake Plastic Trees" is functionally the same track, albeit slower and more melancholic. The acoustic guitar has a deeper, more emotional sound and is underscored once again by those great, growling guitars. The parts of the song where the strings assume the role of the growling guitars trump it, however. Those moments are among my favourites of the song. Some of the background elements are good, too. The backing ambience is very nice, and so are the organs. The highlight of the song is, obviously, the "If I could be who you wanted" segment. Gorgeous vocals. For the longest time I used to mishear the chorus of "Bones" as "When you get to feel like alien bones", which I've always preferred to the actual lyric. I do be feeling like alien bones sometimes. Anyways, the song's good. I enjoyed the glorious return of those reverbed guitars, but the best aspects of the song are captured more effectively in the tracks which precede it. "Nice Dream" is equally nice, but is in the same boat as Bones. It does have the benefit of those fantastic leading strings, however. The chaotic second half is pretty cool, too. "Just" is solid. I know I'm sounding a little disaffected by these past few tracks, but it's glowing praise by my standards, trust me. Few albums have this level of consistency. The spiralling guitars work nicely with the subject matter of the song, and I like the balance between the aggression and sadism in Thom's vocals - they segue between one another in a very impressive way. The solo near the end of the track is pretty great, and I've always liked the music video, too. "My Iron Lung" was the first favourite song of mine on this album. I was desperate for daddy Thom's affection at the time, I'll be honest. I recall walking into the living room one time when my mum was watching television and hearing this song in the background of a program she was watching, which is among the more surreal music-related experiences I've had in my life. I was not expecting to encounter this song in the wild. Granted, it isn't even the strangest Radiohead song I've encountered outside of a music-listening context. That story can wait for the Amnesiac review. Anyways, great song. I've always enjoyed how this song takes the general theme of persistence and applies it to something more niche and specific. While it is an incredibly cynical and dour listen, what I enjoy most about it is the passion which shines through. It's cool to hear the general sound of Pablo Honey stomped, mangled and flogged into whatever freak show this song is. The second half of the track is my favourite part because of this. The raw, warbling, distorted sound is really cool. It almost sounds like a precursor to the sound of Paranoid Android, which I think is neat and contextually relevant. I've only vaguely touched on it to this point, but the lyrics are great, too. "Bullet Proof" is pretty good. My only gripe is it's placement on the album. While the material is solid, the second half of this album has an odd track listing. I've always thought Nice Dream was a better lead-in to Iron Lung, and that this song would have been a good lead-in to Street Spirit. In a perfect world, my Bends second half would go Just -> Nice Dream -> Iron Lung -> Sulk -> Black Star -> Bullet Proof -> Street Spirit. "Black Star" is a fantastic late-album track and my second favourite on the album. It's not as ambitious as Planet Telex, but it succeeds greatly at being tried and true, much like the rest of this album. Those thundering, all-encompassing guitars are really great, and the vocal delivery during the chorus is terrific. The stripped back, muted guitars during the verses are no slouch, either. The way that they blend and morph into the chorus is very impressive. Once again, the lyrics and songwriting are great. Nothing like a little vulnerable Radiohead every now and then. The "This is killing me" section is my favourite part of the song. "Sulk" is a bit of a swing and a miss in comparison to the rest of this album, but it's pretty good nonetheless. The vocals are among the most ambitious on the album, and admirably so. I just don't think the songwriting is as strong, and the instrumental doesn't stand out much in comparison to the rest of the album. In any case, it's still good. I think it would benefit greatly from being a lead-in to Black Star - those two songs go hand in hand. Since we're all gonna die, there's one more secret I feel I have to share with you. I did not care for "Street Spirit". Did not care for Street Spirit. Didn'-didn't like it. I-I. I-this is what everyone always says whenever it's-it's all-. I. Listen. I kn- I know- I. Fine. Fine lyrics. Did not like the song. Did not-couldn't get into it. It-it insists upon itself, hapless reader. It insists upon itself. It takes. It ta-. It takes forever getting in. You spend-you spend like two-and-a-half minutes, and then. You know, I can't even- I can't even get through it. I can't even finish the song. I have tried on three separate occasions to get through it and I-I get to the verse with the cracked eggs and the dead birds and- I- but it's not a great lyri- I have no idea what Thom's talking about. It's like he's speaking a different language. That's where I lose interest and hit skip. I love Treefingers. That is my answer to that statement. It's time for my favourite part of these belaboured reviews, and that's the B-sides. They've always been interesting to me as someone who grew up in the digital age of music. I first listened to The Bendsides about a year and a half ago, so these songs are relatively fresh to me. Thom was going nuts during this period of the band. Radiohead generally know what their best material is and appropriately relegate the weaker stuff to the B-sides, but their Bends catalogue is remarkably consistent - easily their best showing, which is made even more impressive by the fact that the Bends is their largest body of music. I'll start with my favourite of the B-sides - "Permanent Daylight", a B-side from My Iron Lung. Fantastic song, and the only one capable of dethroning Planet Telex as my favourite song of the era Those guitars are sublime and kick so much ass. I can't single out a single great moment of the song, as the momentum of the track is its strongest aspect. The way the song transitions from a sombre, atmospheric sound to something more aggressive and harsh is pretty cool, too. Thom's brief vocal section is neat. I like the effect on his voice, and this song marks one of the rare moments in Radiohead history where the percussion stands tall with the guitars. A great song through-and-through. "India Rubber" is the next stand-out B-side, this time a deep cut from the Fake Plastic Trees single. The song ties in excellently with the A-side, and I honestly think it supersedes it in quality. The bittersweet feel is what makes it an exceptional tune. The dour atmosphere which hangs over the track is contrasted nicely with the bouncy guitars and intricate percussion. Great lyrics, too. They add to the song in their own self-pitying way. The laughing at the end of the track bugged me at first, but I'm used to it now. That was from Johnny, if I'm not mistaken. "How Can You Be Sure?" is another great cut, once again from Fake Plastic Trees. It sounds like the lovechild of High and Dry/Fake Platic Trees, albeit stripped-back and unpretentious. For whatever reason, it took a few listens for me to notice that there's a female vocalist on this track. I was too used to Radiohead being a sausagefest, which I guess made my mind block out every instance of womanhood with surgical precision. It didn't stop me from holding the song up as one of my favourites from the Bends, but damn if Dianne Swann doesn't take it to the next level. The way that Thom and Dianne harmonise and overlap with one another during the chorus is gorgeous. The instrumental is by-the-numbers as far as Bends tracks go, but those numbers are primo. The acoustic guitar is especially nice. The last outstanding B-side is Talk Show Host from Street Spirit. One of the rare Radiohead songs with profanity. I'm dancing, fucker. I'm dancing, fucker. I dare. I dare. I dare. Flan at the table. There are fewer things to say about this track in comparison to the rest. It's just a cool tune. I like the nocturnal, low-energy feel of the track, and the drum breaks, distorted guitars and echoey ambience which is added to the song in the latter half is badass. I also like the venomous way that Thom Yorke lays down those accursed words. The Nellee Hooper remix of this song is pretty cool too, from what I recall. Truth be told, I was surprised at first to see that this album made the list. What makes this album great is one of the words I've been using at great length - consistency. There aren't any loose ends on here aside from Sulk, which is still pretty good. The formulaic nature of The Bends is what made me warm to it so early on, and is what made me initially downplay its importance within music history. I can see the merit now that I've been given a lot more time to reflect. There are few albums which get it right as regularly as this one does, and it's notable within Radiohead's discography for how vastly superior it is to their debut, and how it leads in to the greatness the band would achieve just one album later. I cosign this inclusion.
Girl esto es muy diferente a amnesiac y me encanta THIS is what I’m talking about! Y estoy muy feliz de que escuche este álbum! Tuve el día más horrible de mi vida y este álbum me hizo sentir escuchada 👍 Es la perfecta combinación de música y letra! Creo que es uno de mis nuevos álbumes favoritos de toda la vida :D Gracias Radiohead
Brilliant but not their best
I like the guitars on this one.
This is the album that made me fall in love with Radiohead. (I Guess the World fell too) They moved away from the grunge of their earlier album and moved into Britpop. Some flashes of the themes and sounds of later albums but not quite there. There's a couple songs at the end that kind of drag for me, but this is solid for most of it's runtime.
high and dry is my fav. iconic album
I wish I could like radiohead but this is the second album I just don't really care for.
listened to this a lot in college, often because Nate played it on repeat, but its a great album. High and Dry is probably my favorite Radiohead song. but i also like black star and planet telex
While I'm a Radiohead fan and would consider them somewhere in my list of favorite bands of all time, I don't think this is quite an S-tier album. Some great songs to be sure - Fake Plastic Trees, Street Spirit, High and Dry (haters be damned) - but I just think I like Radiohead more in their "weird experimental" mode rather than "more straighforward rock" mode. This is starting to hint at where they'd start to take things on OK Computer, but I just don't think it's quite a masterpiece. Still a very good album, maybe just not a great one for me.
I personally expected it to be better and more interesting, knowing how many people praise radiohead and their music i had pretty high expectations from their music. Well, it didn't pay out, although there are several great songs (the bends, just, sulk). I also hate Yorke's vocals, sounds high pitched(most of the time) and whiny. So overall I rate this album a solid 2/5
I've never been a fan of Radiohead and listening to this entire album did not change my mind. It's not for me.
Still a good album even though they’ve become insufferable prog bores
Very emotional album
Very good but only a stepping stone to better works. Still several classic songs.
Overall: 10/10 Hey, so I'm so glad I got over my Radiohead hate a couple years ago. I never checked them out fully until after I started this project, but something clicked a while ago and I decided that they're alright. Now I'm fully on the hype train. I love the guitar work on this album, it's pretty stellar. I also, surprisingly, think Thom sounds incredible here. He's usually my least favourite element of any Radiohead song, so it's great that he doesn't ruin these songs in any way for me. This is my favourite of their albums so far, and I can't wait to hear even more. Fav Songs: Just OR Fake Plastic Trees, I can't decide
I previously complained about the amount of Radiohead on this list. Album 5/6 and I can see why this one is here.
Caveat that I love Radiohead and they are one of my favorite bands so there isn't an unbiased thing I can say. In regards to this list I'm not seeking out what is on it ahead of time so I'm not sure what Radiohead albums are on here. If I had to pick only one of theirs for some reason to put on this list it would not be The Bends. The albums they did starting with OK Computer and ending with In Rainbows are where I would insist people spend time listening if they weren't already fans. The first two albums are good but they're fairly straight forward rock albums from that era
Radiohead's first signs of their later greatness. This is the first album in the project that I've heard before. Really love their touch on Britpop/90s alt rock.
10#1001 🇬🇧 Already on to my second Radiohead album of this project. I saw them touring their first album supporting Kingmaker and also reviewed their first album Pablo Honey for our college magazine - i remember giving it 6/10 and saying that whilst it was a bit of a duffer they might go on and be as big as U2 or The Pixies. Fast forward and they released this massive album. I listened to it to death at the time, but that has faded over time so it's been great to revisit it - i've gone through it 3 times today. Its a big fat 4, only because i've made a vow only to give 5s to those albums that blow my minds on a first listen or ones that stand the test of time and continue be my favourites. Best Tracks: Black Star, Just, High and Dry.
Enjoyable with a few stand out tracks
2026.01.15.
I get that Radiohead are a generational band. They're brilliant. I don't really love them. I really like individual songs. This album contains several of those. It's a good album for me and a great album for others.
I expected it to be sad because that's what I know Radiohead for, but it's a very chill album. Very outside of what I normally listen to but I could 100% see myself listening to it again Alt rock/slowish vibe at time but not necessarily a sad emotional album but definitely a few slower songs
Чудесный альбом. Хочется прыгать под него... Из окна
I think middle school me may have appreciated this a bit more, it's moody like her lol
One helluva a record here. Damn near not a bad song on the whole thing. Hate me if you want, but this album is better than Ok Computer. Far more human. Far more positive. There are some amazing anthems here and the instrumentation behind the lyrics is fantastic. I'd take it to the grave that this is a top 3 albums made in the 1990s and one of the greatest of all time. Certainly makes my list. 9/10
classic ive listened to this album before but never all the way through its ok a few skips
Wow, okay. This was fantastic. Just listened to In Rainbows and thought that was my favorite from Radiohead, but this made me think again. Highlights were Fake Plastic Trees, (Nice Dream), Street Spirit (Fade Out), Sulk, Bulletproof... I wish I was. And the rest were all great listens as well. Another solid 5 from Radiohead for me!
The equal best Radiohead album along with OK Computer
It is easy to forget that this album was a bold move from a relatively unknown band at the time. It sounded like nothing else around at the time. This album swoops and soars, and leaves a vaguely haunting impression. One of my all time favourite albums.
One of my fave albums …..I know Radiohead are “depressing” but this album never fails to cheer me up and I enjoy to sing badly throughout….with high and dry being my fave Enjoyed 5 stars for me
Good album, but only the start of what Radiohead can do.
Esse álbum e meio termo pra min,tem músicas que eu gostei,tem umas que eu nem liguei,e tem my iron lung.Eu vou querer escuta essa música depois,pq nem sempre gostamos da música de primeira.Tem muita música que eu adoro que quando conheci odiei.mas bem,gostei um pouco do álbum.
Another album that I know inside out. This is peak 1995. It's a massive level-up from Pablo Honey and the band just went to see Jeff Buckley in concert. The Bends is a good album. There's a reason why it catapulted Radiohead from "That Band That Did Creep" into the upper echelons. But, as you can probably tell, I don't entirely vibe with this album. I lived this whole 1990s British guitar-driven scene. The Manics had just released The Holy Bible and Suede's Dog Man Star was still fresh. Two behemoths in the 'what is this genre capable of"' category. By comparison The Bends is a good, solid album but it's still derivative and middle-of-the-road. Heck, Radiohead themselves kicked themselves into a completely different gear with their next album. I'm grading on a scale here, so this is a 3 for me. I think if I didn't know the era so well, I'd have a different reaction but here we are.
As much as I dislike Radiohead, I actually like this one. I remember the first time I listened to this album, I was at the 9/11 memorial museum in New York City. Everyone around me was crying but I was more focused on this album than anything around me. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but 9/11 happened too long ago for me to really care about it. In all, this album was pretty good. Those Zionist freaks haven't topped it since.
I really don't like Radiohead. There, I said it.
This is a re-listen, it’s a classic
boring af.performances and production were really hollow. While there weren't many bad songs, what was there left me unimpressed.it had typical Radiohead lyrics but other aspects were significantly worse than other albums. Songs were often Samey and bland. Good album to help fall asleep Tho lol strong 5 to light 6
Great instruments but too whiny
Ok. Well yeah. Obvi bussin. High & Dry and Nice Dream and Fake Plastic Trees are like the soundtrack to my 15 year old wannabe struggling emo girl history. HERstory. The bends also be SLAPPPINNNNN
It's like when Radiohead still enjoyed a solid guitar? I might like this one more than later albums. Less ether, more music. But still Radiohead.
I like his voice. Different than what I thought their other songs would sound like based on Creep. Had heard High and Dry before.
Listened while driving and cleaning the house. What a treat it was to revisit this one. I'm completely biased because Radiohead is my favourite band but I really enjoyed listening to their Brit rock roots again.
Meu álbum favorito do Radiohead. Canções belíssimas, arranjos primorosos e interpretações incríveis, que dão ao disco um clima soturno e belo.
Wonderful, inventive, magnificent range, just amazingly talented and musical.
ok
It was good. Impactful, interesting lyrics. Favs were High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, and (Nice Dream). Personally the more heavy rock elements are not always my cup of tea. I like the sounds of the lead singers voice. He makes lyrics about fake boobs sounds soulful and sad.
For some reason I assumed this album was a lot worse than the Radiohead albums I love; it’s actually great!
Very good
This is a great album. My dad would say it's Radiohead's best, but I still think it's OK Computer.
4/5 Radiohead are amazing! Favorite Songs were Fake Plastic Trees, Just and Street Spirit (Fade Out)
I love the early Radiohead era, and the Bends is great. The songs have structure and direction, but have some depth and take some sometimes unorthodox directions, which keeps the songs interesting. 4.3/5
4.7
Their first perfect album with several more to come.
I liked it a lot more than I was expecting, given I've listened to OK Computer and Kid A a couple of times each and thought they were pretty good albums but not as transformative as other people thought. Anyway, I really got into this one, I listened twice in a row and finally feel I got a taste of why for some Radiohead is the greatest band of their era.
6/10
not gonna lie the album cover is lowkey terrifying but the music is okay ig
Täytyy myöntää että mulla on kohtuu tyhjiö tän orkan kohdalla. Ilmeisen arvostettua kamaa ja täytyy yrittää sisäistää. Tullee lisää näitä.
Ei ole tämäkään bändi kaikesta hypetyksestä huolimatta uponnut meikäläiseen. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tämån tai minkään nuunkaan bändin riehumisrokki ei säväytä mutta Radioheadin rockballadit on kyllä jotain ihan omaa laatuaan. Street Spirittiä soitin junnuna viikkoja putkeen.
an okay album. I can see why it's praised but just not my style
RADIOHEADDDD
Great
Man, maybe I like Radiohead...
4.5
Vibes, περιεργες συγχορδίες
Hmmmm I was really excited for this! But....it was just okay. Better than some albums I've gotten recently for sure, & I think that's skewing my opinion.
😭😭😭😭
Thom, for the love of god. Shut up. 2/5
Not really my vibe. I like songs that emit a certain power and that resonate with me deep inside. Aside from the bends and “Fake plastic trees” that’s already very popular on TikTok, no song struck with me. I’m going to put Radiohead back in the shelf for a while.
The best Radiohead album. I will not be taking questions.
Det var okay, men bliver nok aldrig helt noget, der rører mig. Gode hits indimellem.
Beautiful album, full of classics.
Got alot of good songs
3/5 - This album listen just confirmed that my Lexapro has officially kicked in, because this doesn't hit. For my first ever Radiohead album, not too shabby. Beautiful musicality, and I love the pure utter agony of the singer. But, there's this emotional distance between each song and I, and I got a little bored after My Iron Lung. It's beautiful, but also a drag, maybe I will relisten when I am more depressed and pretentious.
jan 8, 2926. not a new listen. already like this album
god i loved this fucking album
Not really my thing anymore although I enjoyed more melodic tunes from the album.
Very hard to decide 4 or 5, but very nice winter album. Amazing first half, falls off
3/5 - gets catchier the more I listened but some had v repetitive lyrics
I see why they are considered the blueprint for shogaze, alt/indie rock. Saved one song, would not personally listen to whole album again but I "get it"
I’ve heard some of the songs before but It was my first time listening to the whole album. it was a nice album overall but the songs were too repetitive and some were too long for no reason (in my opinion.) All of the songs got me either swinging side to side or bopping my head I really loved it but the lyrics weren’t relatable for me at all so I wasn’t really feeling it when I focused on them. “Just” became my favorite track in this album. I kind of get the hype after listening to it but I find some songs that doesn’t suit my taste so I would rate it a 4/5
Radiohead’s "The Bends" is a great record, and revisiting it after a long time was a real pleasure. I owned the original CD back in the day and still have a digital copy, which made returning to it especially enjoyable. Compared to their debut "Pablo Honey", it’s less grungy and far more refined, and you can clearly hear how it went on to influence bands like Coldplay and, in particular, Muse. I really enjoyed listening to it again.
Estoy confundidoRR… se repite Radiohead? Oye, que si, muy buen album, peró andan uds. cortos de música?
I just don’t get it. The amount of praise this band and album gets eclipses probably any other band and I just don’t hear it.
One of my all time favorite Radiohead albums
I’ve never heard this before because I assumed it was hipster music. This is a masterpiece of an album. Can’t wait to hear their other stuff.
Wow, has this album aged well. Pretty much every song is a banger in its own way, and the band is as tight as can be. Awesome!
Merde j’avais écris tout un truc. Planet télex, j’aimais pas au début mais je crois que c’est la pref maintenant. Les accords m’ont juste pris par surprise.
i’ve liked this it’s very nice
Found this pretty generic, especially because what I have listened to from Radiohead is their later stuff which is much more experimental and interesting. Cool to see where they came from however
This is still my favorite Radiohead album. Just is an all time favorite song and the whole thing is just a great listen. Bumping to 5 for nostalgia, maybe, but I think this is a just above 4.5 for me.
Excellent especially fake plastic trees
I never gave Radiohead much thought, but I really enjoyed my time with this album. Would absolutely give Radiohead more time.
10/10 one of the best albums Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, The Bends, and Just are perfect.
Not a fan
I love indie rock
2.4/5 A couple of good songs but I've never understood the fascination with Radiohead.
radiohead is overrated and fucking sucks
ei kuuland lopuni
My favorite radiohead album RAAAHHHHG
I was prepared to hate this album because I was sure I didn't like Radiohead. To my surprise, I enjoyed it. "High and Dry" was the only song I knew. This album will be added to my rotation because I want to learn the other songs also. I'm glad I got over myself and started appreciating Radiohead.
very emotional and melancholy I would listen to this if I was in a sad mood best songs in album street spirit,bullterproof I wish I was and high and dry.My least favorites would probably be bone or (nice dream)
"Its good if you want to be depressed quote from momma its not really my thing too sad I want more energy added one song for momma because its her favorite one that is it the playlist does have some variety not my tea
I like it l added most songs to playlist
Moi aussi c'est l'album qui m'a fait découvrir Radiohead. Ça reste celui que j'écoute le plus souvent.
S'il y a un album qui est associé au teenage angst pour moi c'est bien celui-là ! L'album qui m'a fait adorer Radiohead. Je le connais par coeur. Ben oui je me prenais pour Thom Yorke, parce que sa voix cassait exactement à la même place que la mienne pis que ça l'air qu'on peut être une rockstar internationale avec une voix assez "mid". Quand je le réécoute avec une oreille un peu plus "critique", je suis vachement étonné de l'originalité des riffs de Greenwood, y'a même quelques accords de 9eme. Je vais dire comme jeanjean, on est dans un début d'année costaud (3 en 3)
Mon préféré de Radiohead à date? C’est peut être In Rainbows sinon. Mais c’est vraiment excellent
love it
So the music itself aint bad it's actually pretty good but its the style of the songs that i dont really like that much. It the kind of music i dread. Its giving summer vibes without anything really that special. But some songs from this album actually do go hard
there's the occasional bit that stops it from a 5 but otherwise it's definitely a high 4 (9/10 if it existed)
Very much surprised I found a new Radiohead song to enjoy: nice dream. Otherwise, there are some real classics in here: High & Dry, Just, Street Spirit. Solid entry even if there are some duds here and there.
The Coo of a Mourning Dove. Thom Yorke just can’t help but sound like he is slowly dying with his whiny lyrics. A precursor to future sad sap bands like Coldplay. It’s a formula for sure. Peak pretentious College Rock. Young minds inspired by mediocrity. To each their own. I’ll pass.
One of the best all time album
Good stuff!!!
One of those albums, at the time, I didn’t ‘get’ but definitely have over time!
• The Bends is a good song, I love the way the instrumental built up throughout • I've heard High and Dry performed live before, though that was a very different arrangement of it. Both versions have sounded really nice • I really like the instrumental for Bones • My brother is a big fan of Just, and I've heard it a ton because of that (though I didn't know its name until now). I see why he likes it so much • It's interesting how Black Star starts with a fade-in while the band's already in full swing. The section they're playing honestly feels more like a bridge than an intro Favourite song: High and Dry
This album is one that I already love, particularly High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Bullet Proof (Wish I Was), Black Star, and Street Spirit (Fade Out). I really like the whole album though. I would likely rate it 4.5 stars because it isn’t as good as In Rainbows or Ok Computer, but I think I’ll still give it a big five stars. I love the melancholy feel to this album and it’s good to listen to while feeling introspective.
We start in familiar territory. Not their finest work, but definitely a leap forward in their sound and stood out from the crowd when released, standing out in the UK from their Britpop peers by bringing in elements of US alt-rock and post-grunge, building dynamic contrast with walls of sound and melodic intrigue. Early experimentation deep in the layers would come further into the foreground on later releases, but this is an extremely solid sophomore album, and went a long way to influencing the sound of the late 1990s and beyond.
did laundry to this. Pretty good but not life changing. i like iron lung.
very angsty and lots of moody guitar. made me want to stand on a cliff edge in the wind and rain.
First ever album served to me by the generator on the First Day of 2026, and… well… where do we go from here? A classic album from a classic year (1995) in which the UK was going crazy with Oasis (as in 2025) and other swaggering laddish Britpop, this album, Radiohead’s guitar album, was going in its own direction entirely. Full of angst, rage, and despair, this album feels immediate from the first shimmering notes through to its final guitar-picked outro, with not a single track letting it down. It feels amazing now to think this was a band struggling with the idea of being defined by Creep and possibly a one-hit wonder band. I say it feels immediate, but I remember in the heady days of discounted singles buying My Iron Lung and the High and Dry/Planet Telex singles and struggling to get into them before plumping for the album and subsequent singles. Like many, it took me a while to grow into this album. This might be, as I said, because 1995 was an exceptionally great albums year, but it wasn’t really until the end of ‘ 96 and beginning of ‘ 97 that I was playing this end to end and really appreciating the musicianship and creativity on the record. Then immediately came OK Computer and that Glastonbury performance I was lucky enough to be at. But that’s another story. Thom Yorke really found his voice on this record and has probably never sounded better. Ironically, in building this album to distance themselves from Creep, they created a kind of post-grunge rock sound that was taken up and amplified, IMHO, in a poor way by bands like Muse and from that another sound to distance themselves from (for a while anyway). A classic. Best songs - All of them. Sequenced brilliantly as well.
Jedinica iz principa. // Bila bi trica na street spirit i još par pjesama za koje čak i ja, kao najveći hejter radioheada i na muzičkoj i na etičkoj osnovi, moram reći da su dobre ali tu ocjenu balansira činjenica da je dobar dio ostatka albuma doslovno fejk plastični RATNI ZLOČIN! Najgora stvar koju je Jeff Buckley ikad uradio: dao samopouzdanje ovom antitalentovanom friku da pjeva "falseto".
First time listening. Enjoyed it.
The whole album is great from start to finish. A true classic. Also for me the first Radiohead album I bought and listened to on repeat for forever. In many ways I like this more than later Radiohead where they got more electronic and experimental. 5⭐️
Like a lot of people, I thought Radiohead might be a one-hit wonder. I adored "Creep" and liked the first side of Pablo Honey but didn't expect them to have a lot of staying power. I suspect if I had accepted a friend's invitation to go see them at a bar in Atlanta 1993 (and hadn't decided to play Sega hockey instead,) I might have had a better idea of what they could be. But I doubt I could have seen THIS coming from them. This album is fantastic and somewhat overshadowed now because of how amazingly they continued to change and expand on their sound. I would probably give this 4.5 or more but not quite 5.
this is one of my all time favorite albums
Radiohead.
In a bad mood and nothing cut through my thoughts except the acerbic stuff. Dads favorite album.
i love radiohead but not quite a 5/5 i think
nahhhhhhh planet telex- 4 the bends- 3 high and dry- 4 fake plastic trees- 4 bones- 4 nice dream- 3 just- ...7 don't look at me. first time I heard this song was in a fight club edit lol my iron lung- 3 bulletproof I wish I was- 3 black star- 3 sulk- 3 street spirit- 3 idk what to do with this. i mostly just don't care
Perfect
Big, emotional and full of beaut guitar noises. Easy to love and still hits hard
Radiohead always gets 5 stars. It's not their best album but still has some of their best songs. Thoms voice is incredible in this. Bones is underrated.
I feel sorry for cunts that don't like Radiohead. The Bends is a belter of an album, 4.7
One of my favorite albums of all time. Perhaps my favorite. I love this record and know all the ins and outs about the recordings and the producer and the head space the band was in when they recorded this opus of a record. It was truly more rock than the subsequent OK Computer and the end of a time where you can say Radiohead was going through it's teenage or early college days. Really helped me through some tough times listening to this record. My favorites on the record are "The Bends" and "Black Star". These songs soar through the atmosphere and into space.
Nearly a 5!
J'ai bien aimé Black star et overall l'album est cool mais c'est pas une ambiance que j'aime écouter.
Попали… Началось
The album that I most associate with Radiohead. It must have come out at the right time in my life. Given the above it is my favorite of their albums and a solid all around album.
Rating 8:10 I LOVE RADIOHEAD!! soo I’ve listened to this album before !! my favourite song song of all time is fake plastic trees AAH
The experimental production, different kind of energy but it all fits so well together. Lead vocals fit perfectly with the production and guitar. Build up is great, not every single hits as hard, but Generally a great album.
Fucking phenomenal -- love that unique emotional ghostly Thom Yorke singing, the wailing guitars. Love Radiohead, so glad I got to listen to this album
Top album, fake plastic trees and street spirit are absolutely brilliant. Some class tunes that pointed to a more experimental future for the band
Solid album, it starts off so strong. I know they’re popular but this feels like very mediocre Brit pop rock. Maybe I need to give it more time but it didn’t hit for me.
Thom Yorke sounds the best vocally here across their entire discography, and the songwriting is still grasping at a bit of a Britpop sound to provide this record a very clear identity. Obviously many classics here to speak of: "Fake Plastic Trees," "Street Spirit" "Nice Dream" and "High & Dry"
meh
Läuft im radio oder? ganz ok
7/10
This album has always been one of the tops for me, every song is above a 7/10 and contain some of my favourite songs of all time such as just and fake plastic trees
This could be your favorite Radiohead album… Not as experimental as later releases, just 90s rock at its finest. The guitar tone here is thick and beautiful. Also, the title track doesn’t get enough love. In a stack of great RH songs it’s somewhere in the Top 5. Plus you get High & Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Iron Lung, Street Spirit… This is an all timer.
Radiohead is pretty much 'S' Tier from this album and up.
Fantastic Album. Uniquely Radiohead, and their first very good album.
3rd best radio album? 2nd best? 4th best? It's hard to say but its one of the peaks by them for sure.
I loved every song on this album. 10/10 Favorite songs: Fake Plastic Trees and Black Star
8/10
Slightly less irritating than the Radiohead album I got, oh, four days ago.
Not really my style but I do think it’s a good album if you’re into this kind of thing (sad boys who resent life and society). Personal favorite is Just, and the video is a masterpiece. My Iron Lung is also top 3
sigh. another radiohead
92
I was dreading listening to this record. To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. This record somehow manages to be really interesting and experimental and also conveys a strong sense of emotion and melody. The production is clean and excellent. This record is by far the biggest gap between expectation and reality that I’ve had so far. 4.6/5
This is my favorite Radiohead album. Guitar based and so strong. Perfect for a day of painting.
Aight not the best
Listening to The Bends after listening to Supergrass and having recently listened to Hail to the Thief as well. Going into listening, I feel like I typically am not a huge fan of Radiohead compared to what their hype is. The Bends is a jam. Solid jam band sound. I don't always love Yorke's whiny, drawn out vocals. High and Dry is of course one of Radiohead's most famous songs. Its good, its fine, its solid. A good song. Nothing special. Enjoyed Bones! Saved to my rock playlist (Nice Dream) was boring Just is good! Brings back some energy Bullet Proof again just kind of boring - I don't think the spacey, electronic post-grunge sound on a lot of the songs on this record is for me Overall, not terrible. Just has moments that are really boring imo. Still a few jams mixed in there but not consistent enough for me.
I enjoyed this so much that I actually listened to the entire thing. A very solid 4+ stars.
Great album
Ei mitään sellaista, mitä haluaisin kuulla uudelleen. Kiitos moi.
Highlights for me are Just and My iron lung. Popular songs like high and dry which I loved 20 years ago kind of bother me now. The album overall is a bit too pop for what I like about Radiohead. I had forgotten how much I love Street Spirit (Fade out). What a great way to close out an album.
Great album
One of the best alt rock albums ever, and for me one of the most beautifull albums in history. Absolute perfection!
Really good album. Wish I could share more nuance, but suffice to say I listened twice for the review and have dipped back in since. Excellent slow and deep cuts mixed in with generally great alt rock. Was borderline on a 5.
Having raved about other Radiohead albums I was not sure how to rate this one as its unique in the RH line up so far to my ears. More typical of the time, more rock orientated. Maybe a little less atmospheric. However on balance I then didnt know how to wrap it up into a conclusion. Clearly a influential band, though this one might have been a little closer to the norms of the time. I was constantly thinking I was hearing other bands (even crap ones) and not in a lesser capacity as they still owned the space with great rock polish and variety. I guess it probably boils down to how much you prefer the dark well of synth / rock fusion or the more traditional 90s rock alt band. Having listened numerous times I had to score it but was uneasy throughout on what I should land on.
The Bends was an album I came to appreciate quite late in my exploration of Radiohead and it took me a while to appreciate it's brilliance. I now think this was the first truly great album that the band produced. When you put it into it's context of 1995, it really stands a head and shoulders above every other guitar band at that time. It still has hint of grunginess and Brit-pop, but it marks the point that Radiohead start to reach further into the abstract and experimental to create something unique. The album still has the early, track by track, listening experience and songs like "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" offer enjoyers of singles some absolute gems. I am more of a concept album man, which is why I rank this slightly below their later albums. The Bends is a cohesive listening experience, though, and I love that you can hear hints of the band's later excellence. For transparency: I will be giving 5 stars to every Radiohead album on this list. Not only do I think they are technically brilliant and culturally significant, they are like a perfect distillation of my musical taste. I will jump at any chance I have to dive back into their music which continues to move me with every relisten.
Asså radiohead är alltid fire