Reviews (page 6 of 15)
Asså radiohead är alltid fire
Es un disco que da placer escucharlo a pesar de que tiene un mood muy depresivo propio de los 90.
This has been one of my favourite albums for a long time
Ughhhhh. Very overrated band and a very meh album.
you cannot pay me to give a flying fuck about this band
Im not an incel no ale buja kurde troszkę :(
Great album. Miles better than the majority of scutter in a bucket albums on this list. Great songs throughout.
“This is the album on which Radiohead FINALLY UNLOCKED THEIR FULL POTENTIAL as the MOST INNOVATIVE AND CLEVER AND CREATIVE ROCK BAND EVER”—incorrect. This is a pleasant-enough, certainly-above-average-but-ultimately-nothing-crazy rock record that happens to have Fake Plastic Trees on it as well. They didn’t get ALL the way out there into the groundbreaking stuff until album #3. That said. Yeah okay it DOES have Fake Plastic Trees on it. Just and My Iron Lung back-to back are a pretty fantastic one-two punch, also. I don’t know maybe from another band I *would* give this 5 stars but I said in a review a few weeks ago that I preferred Amnesiac and I’m going to make a point of sticking to that particular hot take. 4/5, nice work guys, you’re almost there, don’t worry you’ll get it next time
Favorite track(s): Planet Telex, High and Dry, Just Heard before Previous rating: 7/10
Sorry to this man.
Bland
No thanks
Great album - close to a 5 for me - 4 absolutely excellent tracks and the rest strong too
I feel nostalgic for another time, one that is before my time while listening to this album. It feels so familiar, as if I jammed out to this in my youth and am listening to it again for the first time in decades. I was born the year this album was released. It's a little vibey. I enjoyed it but I dont think I'd listen to it again. My favorite track was the albums name sake,The Bends, or High and Dry. Probably a 3.5 star for me.
very chill
🔥
Легко пʼється.
9/10
masterpiece :)
Puke.
Incredibly solid album.
I was pleasantly surprised by this Radiohead album - had a hard edge to it that had me bobbing my head and rocking out. I may have to pick up a copy for my CD collection.
Not their best offering
meh
Kinda boring. "This, this is our new song Just like the last one A total waste of time"
Brandi did a cover of one of these songs at her last Campfire live stream!
I am not exactly certain what it is, but there is just something I don't like about Radiohead music. 2 stars or D+.
väga mellow rokk, kuulasin tartu vahel kõmpides — jalg hakkas valutama. ei ole liiga lärmakas aga pole ka liiga vaikne või igav. solid.
Starts out and I think “oh okay, not bad but maybe not something I’d listen to all the time. By the end of the 3rd song I’ve changed my mind. I’ve found the depth I was seeking. This is when I decided I should pick a favorite song from every album I listen to and make a playlist. We’re now in fake plastic trees and I’m thinking this has to be my favorite song. I’m convinced. I’m only four songs in though. I feel like this album hits a climax mid album and then slopes downward in power and aggression. A good album. I’d listen again. And yeah fake plastic trees is the winner but Bones was a close second for me.
Lyrics are sad but so good, really like the sound.
I definitely need to listen to more radiohead. Very nice album.
I know a lot of people really like Radiohead, it's just never clicked for me.
A classic that has been here with me on by worst days but i don't think i could say that its my favourite
me gustó bastante, es totalmente mi estilo no tan ruidoso, confortante pero con un sonido poderoso, no puedo creer que no escuchara tremendo álbum antes
Very classic, everyone should listen even though it is a bit of a mood downer.
Great pre-OK Computer Radiohead album. You really start to hear the musical experimentation that will blossom into their later work. Far better than Pablo Honey.
Has my favourite Radiohead song on it. I can’t tell if I’ve heard more songs from this one than I thought or they’re kind of just the same 2 different vibes (lyrical melody composition(?), song/verse structure) over and over. But that’s just having an intentional musical style I guess? Either way there are only 2 of 11 songs I’m not really into - My Iron Lung and Just. Great album.
I pretty much lived inside this record for a couple of months when it came out. I remember every note and it's still wonderful to play it right through again. Radiohead's finest, imo. How were these guys so attuned to the weariness of middle age, 20 years ahead of time? Bleakly elegiac and remarkably mature, yet somehow still massively commercial and full of hooks. What an achievement. Gravity always wins.
heard it about 100 times of course it’s a 4.7/5 what else would it be
Pourquoi pas mais pas mon délire
I must not be a big fan of Radiohead's style of music because this album didn't speak to me as I expected. It did do a fantastic job establishing their sound for an early alt rock band.
listened to it on my walk not my first time listening to the album but it is my first time actively listening. the standouts for me where high and dry iron lung and of course fake plastic trees
Awesome album. I've listened to a lot of this album prior to getting it on here and it has some of my favorite songs from Radiohead. This album, like "Station to Station" from Bowie also deals with fame and what happens to artists after they get their big break. This was released following the massive success of Creep, a song that they grew to hate. For the longest time I've had "My Iron Lung" and "Fake Plastic Trees" on my playlist so it was cool to hear the rest of the album that they came from. Definitely a pretty angry and angsty album with a lot of lyrics that are super depressing. The songs that stuck out the most to me were "Bones" and "Just," both are being added to my playlist. Rating: 8.8/10 Favorite song: My Iron Lung
these guys are yearners
I do like this.
even better than i remembered
Pretty fantastic album. A lot of the others sink into dreary self indulgence.
Easy 5 stars. Some of the best guitar tracks of any bands of the 90s appear on this album. For almost all other bands this would be their masterpiece but Radiohead went one better with OK Computer 2 years later (probably the best album ever). This is still incredible though and has held up incredibly well while some other Britpop era albums haven’t. Essential.
I think I've almost gotten through each of the Radiohead albums on this list. Very divisive group to say the least. I've always been fond of "The Bends", however. Radiohead really came into their own and figured out their sound here. And I know "Creep" was their breakthrough single a few years prior, but I personally think Radiohead were at their best here and later in "OK Computer". It's a pretty accessible album, definitely sounding of its time with guitar anthems and ballads alike. It's all a little more mature too, thematically being more personal and critical of modern society (per usual with Radiohead). A solid 8-9/10 in my eyes
Always hits you right in the feels
Very good.
Fave tracks (apart from the obvious): Bones Just Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was Black Star
Det är Radiohead. Det är Thom Yorkes fantastiska röst. Det är ståpäls. Men det saknas något för att det ska vara ett mästerverk. Det är fina melodier och sköna basgångar. Men det finns för lite hookar. En stark fyra
Ok
Excellent album
A little quirky but ok
I really was just put off by the album cover I think. So many great songs here that I'd heard covered/sampled elsewhere that I'm only hearing in their actual form for the first time here. Not my favourite Radiohead but still very good.
This is what it sounds like when a few guys are just starting to get with the idea that they're not just a rock band
Not really my jam but not bad, gave wavy vibes
I already knew this album quite well, this is the second Radiohead album I’ve reviewed so far, and also coincidentally being the second Radiohead album too! It has multiple hits that the world already knows, and probably one of the most iconic album covers of all time. I still didn't fully understand the album cover for a long while which always made the artwork even more intriguing to me, it refers to 'decompression sickness, a potentially fatal condition you can get from resurfacing too quickly during a scuba dive'. All of this makes it already of the greatest albums of all time. This is such a great 90s alternative rock record. Emotional, guitar-driven, and atmospheric in a way that still feels edgy but melodic. Thom Yorke’s vocals are packed with emotion, fragile at times, powerful at others. The band blends melancholy and energy so well, nearly perfect balance. That being said, I don’t think this would be my personal favourite Radiohead album, but it’s still right near the top and I can understand why it's a favourite for many and not for others. Radiohead, especially their work after OK Computer, can be pretty polarizing. Some people are put off by Thom Yorke’s vocal style or the electronic experimentation and glitchy “computer blips.” Overall, I really enjoy their first two albums. It shows that even early on, they were already really good, but of course their most celebrated albums are considered everything after this, starting with OK Computer. My favourite tracks are pretty much all of them: Planet Telex, The Bends, High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Bones, (Nice Dream), Just, My Iron Lung, Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was, Black Star, Sulk, and Street Spirit (Fade Out).
sometimes messy, sometimes glitchy, an album of a band exploring and wondering and trying things on for size. some of it works well, some doesn't, but an interesting listen nonetheless
This was my first Radiohead album that I had listened to, I felt very Intimidated by the band and the album, my opinion on the album on a first listen was mixed, It took a couple different listens but now I consider it a great album. This album is when Radiohead decided to not become another grunge-like band and started a bit of experimenting with unconventional sounds. The album features a couple different styles: There's the noisy anthemic songs such as the title track "Bones" and "Just." The acoustic rock songs like, "High and Dry," "Fake Plastic Trees," "(Nice Dream)." The more experimental-leaning songs featuring new sounds by the band like "Planet Telex" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)." Some lines that are on the album seem to resonate with me: "you've got to feel it in your bones" (Bones) "you do it to yourself, yeah you just do" (Just) "and we are grateful for our iron lung" (My Iron Lung) Some closing remarks from is that "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" are overrated, they're good songs but they are liked by some really loud fanatics. And "Sulk" is just awful. My conclusion is that this is definitely an album you must hear before you die. Highlight Song/s: Planet Telex, High and Dry, Bones, Just and My Iron Lung
On the higher end for Radiohead, but still think they're pretty average.
I've heard this album referenced so many times in discussions regarding great albums and I'm glad to have finally gotten around to listening to it. This was a solid album and I can easily see why Radiohead has the following it does. High and Dry is a song I've heard before but never knew the title to. My Iron Lung was also a standout. A good listen all the way through!
Amazing
One of the best
I had this album at the time, the 90s guitars on first three tracks bring up a wave of nostalgia for a distant past that was better and worse at the same time.
Near perfection.
the best band in history, and an awesome album that started taking radiohead to the next level as a legendary band, and away from their creep tube !!!!!!
A great Radiohead album, but not my favorite one. Although it's a gorgeous rock offering, it doesn't resonate with me the way some of their later works do. It feels both like the culmination and the end of an era. Building on the grunge / noise / indie rock momentum that started in the late 80s and became mainstream in the mid-90s, Radiohead brings this trend to its natural conclusion with an album that feels like a definitive and unsurpassable treaty on the genre. As such, some of the songs are still a bit too close to that typical mid-90s, whiny sound (at times, it almost feels like the Smashing Pumpkins...). The band clearly hasn’t left its comfort zone yet, and is still far from the bleak alien realms they would later come to explore. An album I'll always listen with joy, but not on par with the perfect masterpiece that is OK Computer. 8/10
It's undeniable that in this album—which I'm discovering for the first time now—I feel a particular ambiance, an atmosphere emanating from a mix of emotions made of melancholy, rage, sadness, hope, and sometimes even a touch of happiness, but this album is never boring! It's a bit too rock-oriented for me to fully appreciate the melody and the poetry. To my great surprise, there isn't a single track I recognize, and I don't know if I'll listen to this album again, which is why I'll stick to 3 stars.
The guitarist in this little band I played in after high school swore by The Bends. He’s the one who got me into Radiohead, at a time when the band was getting crushed in sales by the whole Britpop wave. And that’s when I learned something important: the tormented, the introspective, even when it’s a hundred times better and totally accessible, will never beat the simple, the direct, the populist. Radiohead helped me to accept that, and even feel good about my own listening choices. The best stuff is rarely the most accessible. Because honestly, long before they became massive, comparing The Bends to any other British rock record wasn’t even a thing. This album is a landmark, a flawless stroke of greatness, sometimes raging, always vulnerable. For me, a beautiful rock album, often rougher than OK Computer and almost as flawless.
10.0/10 One of my favourite albums.... first perfect score for me.
Other than an album from Ozomatli, I have really hit a nice streak of great albums. This is definitely a great one. 5 stars.
The reverb-soaked, echoey sound of a Memory Man pedal feeding back on itself is the sound that opens The Bends, and ushers in the first proper era of Radiohead. To me, Pablo Honey was more like of a collection of songs to supplement "Creep" than a proper Radiohead album. I always think of The Bends as their first real album. I remember when Radiohead played my hometown of Galway while touring The Bends. I was too young to go, but I could hear most of it drifting over from the venue into my back garden. Since then, I’ve seen them (properly) six more times across Ireland, along with the various side-projects (Jonny’s orchestral work, Junun and The Smile). And now, in less than a week, I’m off to see them for a seventh time in Copenhagen. This is the second Radiohead album 1001 has served me in the last week, so here’s hoping the next six days line up neatly with the remaining six. I've listened to this album so many times that I know it inside out. The underdog of Planet Telex with its echoey riff and Colin's distinct bass holding it together. Jonny's inventive guitar work adding texture to Bullet Proof. High and Dry's bright acoustic riff and solo. Seeing The Bends performed on Jools Holland gave me a whole new appreciation for the song. Jonny pulling the string off his guitar entirely to make the craziest noises, before the whole band comes together in a moment of pure energy towards the end of the song, as Thom sings: "I wanna be part of the human race". Street Spirit was the song that you learned on guitar as a teen to show off to your friends. A gorgeous piece of music. It also had nuns prancing about in slo-mo in the black and white video. Then there's the centerpiece of the album. (Nice Dream) > Just > My Iron Lung. A serious contender for the best consecutive three song run in any album. (Nice Dream) eases you in with some gorgeous verses and chorus before Thom's singing turns to a snarl, signalling in the nightmarish solo. Textured soundscapes build up in the background towards the end, making it feel very ethereal (hello Space Echo!) Then Just's acoustic guitar kicks in, and Johnny's guitar takes off. What can you say about Just except that it's a perfect song from start to finish. What an amazing chorus. Then Jonny's guitar seems to just keep climbing and climbing until all we're left with is that single high pitched note, sounding a bit alien thanks to the Whammy pitch-shifter. Before it all crashes down. A moment of peace before it that epic solo takes over, Thom screaming "You do it to yourself!". Literal goosebumps every single time. Plus, I can't hear that song without getting a visceral mental picture of a load of people lying perfectly still on the footpath. My Iron Lung became another reason to buy a Whammy pedal. Ed's textures in the background create atmosphere while Jonny's alien-sounding riff is distinctive enough to not need any lyrics for the chorus. Jazzy chords that have no business in rock music, make the verse sections complex and interesting. Thom snarls his way through sarcastic and sardonic lyrics. And of course that shift left, when the song takes off. This album reinvented guitar music, something Radiohead would do several times in their career. There really was nothing like it at the time. But it wasn't all music academia - they did it in a way that was a lot of fun to listen to. Radiohead announced themselves as the most interesting and innovative band on the go with this album, and suddenly became a hugely important part of many people's lives, myself included. In My Iron Lung, Thom sings "this is our new song / just like the last one / a total waste of time". You couldn't be more wrong, Thommy boy.
minha vida
I've never listened to this album, but I knew one or two songs (7). It's basic Radiohead, so a bit whiny and bland.
As close to a perfect rock album as you could possibly want. Simply magnificent - brooding, reflective, catchy, varied and it flows spectacularly well. I need more Radiohead on vinyl and this is a glaring priority to address.
Superb
I like this a lot. His face is my face. Easy listening at it's finest. 4.4 outta 5
A classic.
Not yet their peak, but still very very good
Already was a favourite of mine
😘😘😘🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍😍
nenhuma música ruim. excepcional e brilhante
Excellent. Not quite as solid as later stuff but pretty flawless
This is a brilliant album, So deep i both lyrics and music. A real classic
amazing - it's radiohead.
I liked this one more than the last Radiohead album. Possibly just because I knew more of the songs. I really enjoyed it, but I think I do have to be in the right mood for it. Or at least for the ones I’m less familiar with, I think the songs I know well I could maybe listen to at any time. Fav song: High and Dry Least fav: Planet Telex
It’s an iconic album cover but looking again at it I’m not a huge fan. Liked this album a lot but it’s not my favourite Radiohead. Some absolute bangers though. Specific rating - 4.3 Fav song- just Least fav- bones
Think I have to be in the right mood for the whininess of Radiohead. Definitely warmed me to them that they named the album The Bends because it felt like they "came up too fast" getting famous so quickly from Creep. They have such a distinctively Radiohead sound and it just happens to really match the mood of re-re-rewriting a proof on a rainy Glasgow day. Favourite: Just Least: My Iron Lung
3.5
3.5/5
Virkelig godt album selvfølgelig! Dejlig Radiohead/depressions energi som altid yay:)) fake plastic trees og (nice dream) !!!
Jaaa, godt album, 4.5
Next to the rest of the Radiohead discography, The Bends is not one of my first picks. However, next to the soundscape of the 1,001 albums I will listen to before dying, it is a welcome respite. I wrote Radiohead off after "Creep." On reflection, it was Thom Yorke's blonde hair that did it. So I did not dive into the Radiohead discography until 2003. However, had I bought The Bends in March of 1995, I know it would have been on heavy, heavy rotation.
god i feel like i'm going to be taken out back and shot for not liking this. i keep on relistening with the hope that i've knocked out the earwax-build up that's prevented me from REALLY liking the best of the best of the best of the WHATEVER!! it doesn't have that je ne sais quoi that other radiohead albums have for me, and i feel like i have to attribute that to this album being a stylistic stepping stone to that je ne sais quoi vs. fully embodying it. it has like, half of a je ne sais quoi for me. a quarter. some indeterminate fraction of je-ne-sais-quoi-ness that did not confer to precious, precious stars. highlights - planet telex, high and dry, (nice dream), street spirit (fade out)
i think i'm slowly understanding why two of my closest friends REALLY enjoy radiohead, it's very good alt rock being so retrospective and like... IT HAS JUST ON it which is such a banger
Never really been much of a fan of alternative rock, but my goodness, this album is great. Yorke really delivers in placing himself well with some experimental but polished music arrangements. Definitely a genre-defining album.
good album, enjoyed every song. 5
Yes
Amazing album. One of my favourites from my teenage years. Bit weird, as i am in now way a Radiohead fan, and put almost all the blame for the demise of guitar music in the mainstream media squarely on their shoulders. Planet Telex, The Bends, Bones, and Fake Plastic Trees are all brilliant songs.
A solid rock album. Not particularly nostalgic for me, but quite solid.
Радиоголовый чувак. Пока странно, ничего не понятно. Но песня fake plastic trees действительно чудесна. Конечно, где-то она попсовая, но все равно, действительно грустно. Ну емае, нужно действительно проникнутся группой Radiohead, ибо ребята создали нечто очень непохожее на остальную музыку.
My favorite Radiohead.
Not my fav radiohead and tbh I like the more britpoppy stuff compared to the sorta prog/art rock stuff, low 3 for me Fav song: Bones
5 star album without shadow of a doubt and it's not even my favourite Radiohead record. Utterly superb from start to finish, no weak links in sight and a clear step up from Pablo Honey, defining what was to come for the band. To top it off, Street Spirit (Fade Out) has to be one of the best closing tracks of all time.
Planet Telex - Very strong opener - 8.7/10 The Bends - Great title track. Ahead of its time for sure. Lyricism is good but not like the best I've heard from Radiohead. - 9.6/10 High and Dry - Breathtakingly beautiful. Haunting. But overplayed. - 9.2/10 Fake Plastic Trees - I don't know, I don't really like it as much as the others honestly! Still good, but. Fantastic even. But not as good. - 8.3/10 Bones - Not much to say. Slightly less memorable than the other tracks but not bad by any means. - 8.2/10 (Nice Dream) - Okay actual chills I'm not kidding so like. - 10/10 🥇 Just - I've always kinda thought this was like the most bitter song on the album. A little less experimental I'd say. Reminds me of 90's britpop, like Oasis or Blur. - 9.4/10 🥉 My Iron Lung - Probably the heaviest thing on this list. Feels weird calling a Radiohead song "heavy," but alas. A very good song though. Feels like my ears are disintegrating. - 9.8/10 🥈 Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was - Don't kill me. It's a little boring in my opinion. I started looking through my camera roll like halfway through the song because I got bored. Great production, fine lyrics, good vocals, good instrumental; just boring. - 7.3/10. 🚫 Black Star - Great hook and instrumental. Vocals and lyrics are like... Meh. Not bad. Just again, kinda boring. A bit of a letdown (ha) duo (Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was & Black Star compared to the three best songs (so far) being next to each other. ((Nice Dream), Just, My Iron Lung.) Not bad by any means. Just...... Meh! - 7.5/10. Sulk - Reminds me slightly of "Prostitute" off of Guns n' Roses sixth album, Chinese Democracy. However Sulk is not the ending track on The Bends. Huh. Better than the last two. - 8.2/10. Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Kind of hard to describe how this song makes me feel. A mix of genuine existential dread and just like.... numbness. I think if a song can do that it's pretty good. Great end to an album that starts with "Planet Telex." - 9.6/10. Overall, great album. I see why so many people put it in a list of the greatest albums. However, I wouldn't personally put it in mine. Overall - 8.8/10. 4.4 stars.
This is a pivotal record in the alternative 90s music scene. It definitely inspired many copycats for decades to come. It has aged really well. No skips - at all
Not really the biggest fan of Radiohead, don’t quite get the hype to be honest. Some songs are okay but all a bit bland imo
I unexpectedly knew a lot of the words. So did Olive.
This is a fantastic album with a number of hits - Fake Plastic Trees, Nice Dream, Black Star and Street Spirit are highlights. That said, the over-volume and squelching throughout detracts and keeps me reaching for this when I am in the mood. Ok Computer is the much better album. 4/5
Dystopian art rock done right. Leaps better than their previous album (Pablo Honey) Radiohead would keep the musical innovation going with their next album (OK Computer) not letting up until 2011's slightly disappointing affair The King of Limbs. I hate the cover art even more than the cover art for Pablo Honey at least with Pablo Honey it was just a stupid baby's face in the middle of a cupcake flower (or whatever that dumb thing was) The Bends shows a yellow man having an orgasm or enjoying his morning poop a little too much (no kink shaming) and it's just an all-around big old "ewwwwww..." to my eyes.
Wonderful. This is the moment Radiohead found their sound and paved the way for the (arguably) best album of the 90s. This is like Revolver before Sgt Pepper. It’s very experimental, but it’s so good that it became mainstream.
It's been a while... Radiohead was always that band that “other people” listened to, while I was interested in something more sophisticated. But honestly, they've always been masters of subtle, surprising chord changes and multi-layered lyrics. I've always preferred a more direct approach, but “The Bends” is a very serious alternative rock album from the 90s and, yes, a must-know for any music fan. Personally, I prefer the more in-your-faace tracks like "PLate Telex" or ""My Iron Lung".
LOVE LOVE LOVE... classic Radiohead
Fine..not sure why this is on the list.
Amazing album Their best Bullet proof and black star are amazing
Gearing up to OK Computer, with a lot of good songs
Back when I began getting into listening to music, I started by going through System of a Down's discography, which I quite enjoyed. Once I had sufficiently treaded through that, I had to decide where to go next. I ended up thinking to myself "Well, I've heard that Radiohead is pretty good, I'll listen to them" and started my Radiohead journey with The Bends. It took a few listens, but I eventually realized that this album was special. The first song that really stuck with me from this album was "High and Dry", which is a brilliantly simple song that is executed to perfection, really carried by Thom Yorke's vocals, which I think are at their absolute best on this album. He has this angelic quality that never really shows itself on Radiohead's later albums. The album itself is just rock perfection. The guitar riffs and melodies are jaw-dropping, and well-complemented by the drums/bass as well as those phenomenal vocals. One aspect that I really appreciate about this album is the balance; there's a great balance between more driving rock songs ("The Bends", "Bones", "Just") and more laid-back ones ("High and Dry", "Fake Plastic Trees", "Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was"), as well as balance between more simple and more complex songs. It provides a wholistic rock experience that is executed at the highest level. it's not just Radiohead's best effort. It's the greatest album ever made.
Best Song: Fake Plastic Trees. I would have loved a whole album of just this understated melancholy. Worst Song: My Iron Lung. This felt like U2 trying to play Nirvana. Overall: Obviously this is an album with a lot of history, and maybe it is under the weight of those expectations that it fell a bit flat for me. It's not bad, it's quite nice to listen to, but it also has for me a sort of ordinariness that I hoped it wouldn't have, knowing its importance.
Elevator maxxing
This was a lot more tolerable than I expected and actually interesting at some moments, though my expectations were low at this point. It might indeed be their best album.
Wow - I forgot how good this album is. Every song is a cracker and too many highlights to list. Colin Greenwood’s bass work is great throughout and what about the guitar on Just.
In 2017 I first became aware of Radiohead. Similar to others (and seemingly much to the dismay of the band) my favorite song was Creep. I never really progressed much further into the band, beyond a cursory listen or two of OK Computer. 8 years later, my first album on my 1001 is The Bends. I overall enjoyed my listen of The Bends, and see myself returning to it. Planet Telex, Fake Plastic Trees and Black Star are the songs that stuck out to me the most on this listen. 3/5
This one is also good. 4
Unterhaltungsmusik
9/12 literally. banger
Don't know what to expect here. Planet Telex - 6/10. Interesting. Good singing, mix is a little instrumental heavy. The Bends - 6/10. Similar to the first track. Solid. High and Dry - 6/10. Solid. Fake Plastic Trees - 6/10. It's OK. Bones - 7/10. This is a different sound from anything before it on the album. (Nice Dream) - 6/10. Repetitive, but that was the style of mid-90's navel-gazing pop. Just - 6/10. This was one of the tracks on the album. My Iron Lung - 4/10. Jarring transitions between sections. Not a fan. Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was - 6/10. Back to the mid-90's navel-gazing sound. I'm not a huge fan of it, but Radiohead does it well. Black Star - 7/10. Decent song. Sulk - 6/10. Decent. Street Spirit (Fade Out) - 7/10. Decent to good. Overall Rating - 3.04/5 (6.08/10). A lot of that 90's, navel-gazing sound.
Awesome!
Oh shit..here we go again
Amazing album. You can see the seeds of what they’d become on OK Computer and Kid A. Radiohead has always had an edge and always had a softer more melancholy side. Both are on full display here.
I didn't know I like this album. Probably an unpopular take, but it's kinda like British REM.
Meh. It was rather melancholy and not really matching my mood. I can see a time and a place for this, but I have other music I jam when I am depressed.
I feel like your could copy my Sigur Ros review here, and it lines up exactly. I enjoyed this album more than I thought I would, but still, meh. Radiohead just isnt my thing. They annoy me, but, I can still recognize that this album is good.
Really good album, starts strong with a solid 4 tracks, thins out, then ends on like a 4 tracks flourish. I love the languishing guitars and the drawn out vocals, funny that they became the band oasis was supposed to be
.
bangers
Never liked it
Another album I've heard before and like! Funny enough, I just listened to this album for the first time not too long ago, before starting this challenge. I've liked Radiohead, never been the biggest fan, but I enjoy many songs and some albums. This was fun to listen to again.
10/10 Woo Radiohead
It's not OK Computer but it's still a bop.
Still not sure where this rates in their stuff or in general, but I recognize this album art when people talk about their good music. I guess this is one of Radiohead's stronger albums, because this was much better than OK Computer.
Didn’t leave me high nor dry. More like this, less like that other album & I’ll be happier.
It’s not bad but I don’t get it. People speak about Radiohead like they are one of the top 10 bands of all time but I’m also not sure I’ve ever met anyone passionate about Radiohead.
alto album
Great
Listened in the truck on the way to the field. While I can understand the significance of this album, and its grandiosity and polish give it an otherworldliness lacking in similar rock albums of the time, the lack of bite is too palpable and makes the high points feel more like foothills than peaks. It feels like it’s trying to match grunge aesthetics but instead comes off melodramatic and out of touch. 2/5
The sophomore album from Radiohead is where the band really started to find their identity. Pablo Honey was a solid debut, but The Bends feels like the moment they leveled up, refining their sound, deepening their songwriting, and balancing experimentation with melody. The highs are great, and even the weakest tracks are still “solid” listens. It’s one of those albums that you can throw on repeat and just get lost in, proof that Radiohead were already evolving into something special.
Fantastic. Simply fantastic.
Way better than I remembered.
One of my slightly hot takes on Radiohead has long been that The Bends is a little overrated. Although, I think I can kind of see what its staunchest defenders see. The Bends is a unique transitional album for Radiohead, it captures a moment in time when they still had a foot in alt-rock and Brit-pop, but at the same time, the other foot was drifting into the heady, arty, forward thinking direction they would become known for shortly afterwards. The result is an album which retains accessibility and pop potential at most times, but which also isn't afraid to annihilate the boundaries of its base genres. And I'm not sure that anyone else has mutated hard-edged Brit-pop so deeply while retaining its core identity since. And this creates some really excellent music at times. The run of the first four songs on this album, from Planet Telex through Fake Plastic Trees is one of the strongest runs in Radiohead's discography. Although, I think Radiohead stumble a little bit on Bones and don't fully regain their footing until Bullet Proof... I wish I Was. But in between we still have some great moments. Like on My Iron Lung, which is one of the most alt-rock songs here. But when we hit Bullet Proof... Radiohead fully lock in and give a fragile, and incredibly beautiful performance. And they keep the momentum up. Black Star and Sulk are also beautiful (and very sad) in their own right. And if it feels like we are kind of building towards something, it's because we are. We close with Street Spirit (Fade Out), a bold and fascinating move that makes The Bends very soundly stick the landing. On an album with so many little positive, accessible streaks, ending with Street Spirit is a *statement*. This is one of Radiohead's coldest, darkest songs *ever*, and it seems to signify that Radiohead have finished their metamorphosis into the band that was about to record Ok Computer. I enjoyed The Bends a lot more than I thought. There is material here that is on par with Radiohead's best, and while they can't keep consistent the *whole* way, the missteps are all at least good songs. Even if you don't like Radiohead, consider giving this a listen, it's just different enough from what is thought of as their regular fare, by capturing a very particular moment in Radiohead's history, that it has something exciting and unique about it.
This is Radiohead's 3rd or 4th best album - don't know why it's on the list. Why do we need so many albums by one artist? Pitchfork: n/a Rolling Stone: Top 500 Albums #276 (2023) Best Songs High and Dry Fake Plastic Trees Black Star Street Spirit (Fade Out)
"Just" is AMAZING!!! Such a great song!!!! This was a great album. I'll give it a 5. Okay Radiohead, you did it! This is great. I love how in a lot of songs they have the guitar and vocals mirroring each other. This is fun. Liked Songs: "Planet Telex" , "The Bends" , "High and Dry" , "Fake Plastic Trees" , "Bones" , "Just" , "Black Star" , "Sulk"
I like Radiohead 4.25
Oh man such a great album! I've always loved Radiohead and this is one of their more underrated albums!
Goated album, ‘Just’ is one of my favourite songs ever. So may good songs, not one bad song imo. Fake plastic trees a bit overrated but still great song.
One of the greatest British albums of the 90s that still sounds just as good today. Not a truly bad song on it. 5/5
Best Radiohead by a mile out of the 3 (so far?) that have been on this list. I'm being petty and docking a star because they simply do not need to have three albums listed. Very few bands are *that good!*
It's a great album. Each song is different but also uniquely Radiohead. This being their first album (I think), you can see this album being a foreshadowing of things they flush out more completely on later albums. For me, this is a thoroughly enjoyable album, but perhaps 3rd or 4th in their catalog.
Haven't listened to radiohead aside from a few songs. This is pretty sweet!
I'd heard about this album for almost my entire life and I'm very glad to have listened to it now. Utterly fantastic alt-rock.
Good for sad times.
fav tracks: The Bends, High and Dry
This album was full of what I think of as movie soundtracks. I'm sure many of the songs were in movies but I didn't actually recognize any of them.
Scott Tenorman would be proud. Album seemed reminiscent of psychedelic rock, some spacey sound scapes mixed with hard rock guitar solos. It didn’t take off for me until about halfway through. I’m assuming Tenacious D’s “Wonderboy” took heavy inspiration from “My Iron Lung”
It's a 10/10 existential crises.
Perfect.
I try very, very hard to respect Radiohead; I'll never like them. I just cannot understand what all the fuss is about. They were a mid indie-rock band that went full prog-rock, pompous pouters. I'm probably more upset at what this album did as vanguard of the late 90's Brit pop shitstorm than anything else. But end of day, this has all the Radiohead hits that I don't immediately switch off, is the seminal representative of the aforementioned shitstorm, and there should be a Radiohead album on the list even if they're just the seccond-most pretentious charactitures of Brit-pop (***literally everyone side-eyes Oasis***). Influence 4. Quality 3. Hits 3. Seriously, if they weren't billed as the seccond coming I would be able to relax and actually enjoy it 2.
Look at the album cover. That's going to be you when you listen to this. Favourite Songs: High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, Just, Black Star, Street Spirit (Fade Out). Least Favourite Songs: Sulk.
Not my thing
Album No. 0047 on my list. Radiohead's second album "The Bends" is one of my favorite albums of all time, possibly the greatest album of all time to me and its high up on the list of albums I've listened to the most (No. 4 on my all time spotify stats). Kicked of with "Planet Telex" and followed by "The Bends" as the title track, it is already of to a good start. "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" follow, which are not my personal favorites of this album, but they are certainly its biggest hits. "Bones" is a hidden gem I think, one that deserves much more recognition hat it has gotten, whereas "(Nice Dream)" is a nice introspective song, before "Just" and "My Iron Lung" kick in, serving as the album's most aggressive, still grunge-influenced songs. "Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was" is another introspective song, followed by "Black Star" and "Sulk". Those are two hidden gems as well, and actually the ones that - in conjunction with the title track - capture the whole vibe of this album best. The album concludes with "Street Spirit (Fate Out), another Radiohead classic. "The Bends" is more than a collection of 12 incredible songs. It is a perfect mixture of guitar-driven brit rock and incredible, angsty, introspective lyrics. The influence of this album cannot be overstated - it preceded a lot of developments that should come at the turn of the 21st century in British rock. It may have been published at the height of Britpop, but it is much larger than that genre, and hat much more long-lasting impacts. Besides, it already foreshadows OK Computer, Radiohead's even larger, more important next album. Timeless classic, one of the greatest of all time - of course: 5/5 stars!
Alright, three out of my last four albums on here have been Radiohead, but man, THIS is what I was waiting for. There isn’t a single bad song on here, no overly eccentric tracks, but still a perfect encapsulation of how this band blends such melodic and somber tones with angst and distortion. Best Track: High and Dry
best album ever idgaf about ok computer. i couldn’t pick a favorite or least favorite off this one if you held me at gun point
album die ik heb op CD, klassiekertje, obsessed mee toen ik 15-16 was, ik ken vrijwel ieder nummer hierop, Planet Telex, fk goeie intro voor het album, The Bends, eentje die ik was vergeten totdat ik het weer opnieuw luisterde, echt een dikke dikke schijf, High n dry, banger, Fake plastic trees, geinspireerd op Jeff Buckley's concert, Just, omd, Just is gewoon zoooo destroying, zo self sabotage, Black star, top 3 voor mij, eentje waar ik in die tijd echt geobsedeerd mee was. Een top album, maar niet eens dé beste van Radiohead naar mijn mening, zegt al veel, wel degene met de meest bekende nummers
Enjoyable. 3.5/5
Good one
No my favorite Radiohead album but still a great one
Solid '90's sound. One of Radiohead's best
Chulada de álbum de principio a fin.
4.0
Za bend k ga poslušam čez 20 let, nekako do tega albuma nism prišla, razen tko, dveh komadov. Mi je pa naslovnica albuma in sam pomen "the bends" horrifying. "Planet Telex" odpre album in zveni k zgodnji Radiohead - k a rock band & ne še tok weird. So far, par komadov kasneje, je to še kar moje mišljenje. Zvenijo k oni, sj ne morjo drgač s tok prepoznavnim vokalom, ampak bl k a traditional rock band. "Fake Plastic Trees" je en teh, k jih od prej poznam, slišala ga pa nism pomoje od najstniških let. Še zmer čudovit komad. "Bones" mi je ful všeč in nepoznan. "Just" je mogu bit en moj bl predvajanih komadov v najstniških letih, tko da mi vzbuja nek nostalgičen gnev. (Ne vem kva je blo, a je blo to zarad torrentov takrat, ampak, če nism dejansko mela prav cdja od nekega albuma, sm sam poznala random komade od izvajalca iz cele diskografije. Šele na faksu me je nekdo navdihnil, da sm začela poslušat albume od začetka do konca, kakor je največkrat tudi mišljeno od samih izvajalcev.) Anyway, kul komad, še kr. "My Iron Lung" je zanimiv - preide iz nežnih v kar grating za ušesa, noisy dele in nazaj skoz cel komad. Naslednji, "Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was", je chill, lep. "Black Star" je žalosten, lep. In nekak v tem vajbu se zame zaključuje ta album. Čudoviti komadi, s haunting vokali od Thoma in rahlo žalostnimi besedili in melodijami.
Some of this is really good, and some sounds like "90s alt rock" to me.
A fascinating sophomore release. A combined production effort by Leckie and Godrich, due to Yorke and the Oxford lad’s unhappiness with the initial mixes. Years later they’ve openly criticized some of the final mixes and showed a public disdain for EMI’s rush to release. However, the album is filled with iconic tracks that have become concert mainstays and have stood the test of time against the rest of their catalog and the entirety of 90’s alt rock.
enjoyed this album so much from start to finish. beautiful blend of acoustic and electric guitars. feel like i've not heard this side of radiohead yet but i loved it. great songwriting and so much emotion in the intrumentation. will definitely be coming back to it.
I mean this is where they started to find that sound. It’s a beautiful album. The rad thing about Radiohead for me is that my favorite album of theirs constantly shifts. While this has never been my favorite it’s fucking gorgrous
I had to keep reminding myself to listen to this critically because I just found myself singing along to the whole thing. I mean, what an album. Not only is there not a bad track, there's SO many very strong ones. Just a few of these tracks on a single album would elevate it, but all on the same one? Phew. This is more 'jangly guitar' Radiohead, but still the production and musicality on this album is really interesting. Lots of layers of instruments and melodies and sounds going through the songs. I like the build up of instruments and atmosphere, and his singing is really on point. There's a real sense of feeling running through it. Some of the songs are just stunning. You wouldn't always expect to end an album on one of the best songs, but wow, what a way to sign this off. Street Spirit is such a beautiful song.
Again, there were good songs. There weren't many, but there were a few good ones. Most of the album was boring. I almost fell asleep driving home from work listening to it.
This is the first Radiohead album I've listened to. I really do not have any complaints at all. Fake Plastic Trees is probably my favorite on the album, but so many come close. There is not a single song that is bad here. I am excited to hear more from Radiohead.
A rock staple for good reason. Not all the songs are my type, but you can feel the emotion and intent in each.
1. telez - 1 2. bendz - 1.5 3. high - 2.5 4. Fake -1.5 5. Bones -1 6. Dream - 1.5 7. Just - 1 8. Lung - 1.5 9. Bullet -1.5 10. Star -1 11. Sulk - 1.5 12. Spirit -1.5
This is my favorite Radiohead album (close to OK Computer) because it perfectly combines the weirdness of Radiohead with actual music that isn't just navel gazing. This is a perfect album in nearly every way and I wish Radiohead would revisit the sound they had here at least once in the next decade or so. Great album and this is a band before they discovered beeps and bloops could be created and fans would still think it's pure brilliance. Love this one and it is a must-hear for people who were bored with Brit-pop.
Peak Incredible Love this Amazing vocals Amazing sound Iconic songs
I usually joke on Radiohead reviews that "It feels like another Radiohead album I'm supposed to like... And I mostly do, but sometimes I'd rather listen to The Bends, you know?" FINALLY MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! This is a sweeping epic album, I'd like to say it a revelation amidst the samey Britpop dross that was being shat out by bands not names Oasis or Blur, but no, I was painfully wrong about this when it was released. I wrote it off as depressing music, and don't get me wrong, it bloody well is, but its layered like an onion, and then you peel back the emotions and tears and find something so beautiful and fragile and pure, orgasmic... Was this really that weird band who did "Creep"?? No skips on this album, one of the best guitar albums of the 90’s, they're all great songs in their own right but listening to "Fake Plastic Trees" still gives me chills.
Amazing! I've been listening to this album for 20+ years and it never gets old. Thom Yorke's voice is incredible and the band is so in tune with each other. Truly a classic album.
Radiohead often depressed me and this one has its moments, but there are also a bunch of good hits here. This album still has a more rock feel, with some reverb and sound effects but not as much of the electronica infusion as their next album. I used to hate on these guys but it's not a bad album. I recognized three hits here. Not sure I'll listen again but I can appreciate its worth. 4/5
MORE Radiohead?! This is the SIXTH Radiohead album I have had on this list. THIS IS TOO MUCH RADIOHEAD. I HATE RADIOHEAD. STOP MAKING ME LISTEN TO FUCKING RADIOHEAD. If was going to get anything out of a band or not, three albums of theirs would be more than sufficient for anyone to know if they had heard enough of them. More than that would be pushing any band, even someone like The Beatles I think you could have heard enough to form an opinion after two or three albums. SO WHAT ARE RADIOHEAD DOING WITH SIX ALBUMS?! Oh my God, I am so sick of this shit. Take a moment to think of three or four other albums you would like, personally, to put on this list, and then think that The Bends, Amnesiac, In Rainbows, Kid A, Hail To The Thief, and OK Computer are taking up six fucking places. Forget Elvis Costello, Radiohead are for my money the most overrepresented artist on this list. Anyway, after all that, my opinion of this album is actually pretty mellow: This is a lot more rocky and mainstream than anything else I have listened to from them. I still didn't especially like it, but it didn't grate on me in the same way as the rest of the albums above, and Thom Yorke is actually singing instead of doing the weird falsetto moans he usually does. Maybe if I listened to the albums in release order I would hear the progression to the more avant-garde and for me unlistenable style. But I'm not putting myself through that, no way. The last few tracks on this album (from Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was) seem to be going in the direction of the now-classic Radiohead sound anyway. Please, please, please... no more Radiohead.
Faixa The Bends - Muito boa, um rock clássico, bons instrumentais, letra, tudo. 10/10. Adorei.
Solid rock album. Sure.
High and Dry is a beautiful song. The arrangement. Yorke's voice. Beautiful. The album, for me, has touches of Smashing Pumpkins and feels like it could have inspired Muse in parts. That said, not my favourite listen.
A classic that a full listen through made me a radio head fan.
Enjoyed most of it, would definitely listen more
First song almost turned me off completely but the rest of the album was much better. I liked this more than I thought I would.
Some of the best melodies radiohead have ever made, and just generally some of the best songs they have ever written on here. I don't think the sound of this album is as good interesting or cool as any of their albums after this. The lyrics are generally the weakest part of this album for me.
There was a time when this was my favourite Radiohead album, but it's since been overtaken by In Rainbows, Kid A and OK Computer. It still has some great songs on it, even though I think High & Dry and Fake Plastic Trees were chronically overplayed, to the point where I don't even hear them anymore. Enjoyed listening to the deep cuts again though, like Black Star and Bulletproof. Street Spirit is probably one of my favourite songs of all time - still always gives me chills. Its not perfect, and a little dated, but I still love it. 9/10
I've been on a Brit-Pop kick lately and am pleasantly surprised to have The Bends come up as my 2nd album. This is an album I've been listening to on and off for 20 years. It's a true classic to me. Radiohead would have been an influential band even if their career ended here.
One of the best rock albums ever?
While listening I forgot how many great tracks were on this album (and not later albums like I originally thought). Its still not peak radiohead for me, but pretty damn close. Favorites for me are "Fake plastic trees", "High and Dry", "Street Spirit", and "Just". And all of these have amazing videos that I still remember to this day. Phenomenal!
lov. mg todas.
I don’t consider myself a Radiohead fan. But I’m Gen X so they were a part of my formative years. And of all of their albums this one is my favorite. That said, other than “The Bends”, “High & Dry” and “Fake Plastic Trees” the albums is just blah.
This is my favorite Radiohead album so far. A lot of interesting instrumentals anchored in great songs.
What’s interesting is that I think the Radiohead albums get worse as they release more… based on the current listening trend… because I really liked this album! But looking back at others I didn’t like them so much!
Couple great songs on here.
Buen álbum, lo escuché muchas veces a los 16/17. Creo que me resultó un poquito cliché pero las canciones son bastante digeribles si buscas escuchar a radiohead por primera vez.
Instant classic
Certified fresh!
This is not an unbiased review. This was one of my first albums. This is always who Radiohead has been to me and probably had a disproportionate effect on my music tastes in general. I love this album. Every track.
Very different from Kid A I don’t think I knew that High and Dry was by Radiohead Just the standout track Some filler but a good rocky/indie album
My second favourite Radiohead after OK Computer. Still a guitar album but you can hear the strangeness creeping in at the margins. Say what you want about them but their first 5 or so albums show such a clear path of movement before things level out a bit after that. I meant to say about Kid A that I think I've tried enough and don't rate it massively. Finally made my peace with it. As for The Bends the usual suspects are great but Bones sounded great to me on this listen
Instropective and sad, so not one I return to often. Having said that, "Just" and "My Iron Lung" are probably my favourite Radiohead songs.
I've just started listening but obviously it's a 5, You might argue it's better than OK Computer. YOU might I said. I didn't say it. Glorious, innovative, and sad in equal measure. And it has one of my favourite RH songs in High and Dry. Everything is also fun to play on guitar and bass. Planet Telex is a great morning song.
This is better than 5/5. Every track is incredible. It's so much more than a rock album, it's unpredictable, the tune choices are fascinating the instruments are incredible, the vocals are out of this world. Too good.
cool rock en musique de fond
Un des meilleurs albums de Radiohead, encore plus que les récents.
Now we’re talking! Un album parfait
Even my daughter who enjoys Radiohead is not a fan of this album…
FUCK. On a Friday? I have to listen to more of this terrible band? No, I'm not going to do it. Skipping thru songs, I find it's less art pretention and more sounds like what other bands were doing in 1995. BUT, it's still this stupid band and I've been tortured enough by their stupid fucking catalogue on this website. I really can't even be slightly objective anymore. They're a trash band with a trash front man and they'll continue to be trash as long as I have to rate their trash albums. (only one star because I can't give 0)
a little sub-par for me, not all that listenable but I did make it through the album without saying, "Jesus, what is that" If I could give it a 1.5 I would.
One of my favorite albums
5.5/10
Day 60 Not my favourite Radiohead album but still some classics on here 7/10 Highlights Planet Telex Just Street Spirit
Awesome. A lot more “straightforward” than their later stuff, but still a great piece of music.
That wasn't genius but, God, it definitely WAS awesome and beautiful work! Like this Radiohead's one, have a lot of songs from it in my playlist.
Planet Telex is a swirling opener of crushed digital guitar sounds. The Bends is oddly life-affirming with one cautious eye on the world. High and Dry is a 90s angst anthem with gentle acoustic verses and soaring, desperate choruses. Fake Plastic Trees is scared and vulnerable. Bones is existential dread locked in a broken body. Nice Dream is a cry for help screaming in to a pillow. Just condenses everything on this record and has a hissy fit then smashes the plates. My Iron Lung is claustrophobic and threatens to flip the switch. Bulletproof is a reminder you are anything but. Black Star is curled up in a fetal ball sucking it's thumb. Sulk kicks out at its parents and blames them for everything. Street Spirit is one of the bleakest album closers I can think of. I can understand why the world weary vocals and introspective tone of the record can be a turn-off. But that's it purpose, and it it does it very, very well. This is a record that is times stamped to a specific era but does the rare thing of being wholly listenable now. The bass and drums are unsung heroes on this album. The guitars already showing signs of expiremantal ideas beyond normal indie rock playing. It is a record that is threatening to do more. And then came OK computer...
Brit pop? Ha ha ha
Still amazing. Some peak radiohead songs here.
Have listened to the Radiohead albums that came after but never The Bends for whatever reason. Solid album but it's hard to not compare to what came after.
My favourite band, this is such an underrate album in their discography. It doesn’t have the super genre bending elements of future albums that are so revered, but damn if this isn’t some of the best rock of the 90s. Love it
Sublime. Perfect. Amazing.
According to the stats on here, Indie is apparently my least favourite genre. Yet this one, labelled Rock/Indie, is absolutely awesome. Go figure. Standout tracks: not to sound too banal, but basically all the singles.
Haunting melodies over jagged riffs and arpeggios. The first indications of the Radiohead to come. Sometimes clean and intimate. Other times loud distorted and chaotic. Reverb. Delay. Always that feeling - something between hope and dread. Nobody goes from fragile beauty to aggressive explosiveness quite like this band. Fake Plastic Trees is a masterpiece, Just is epic, Street Spirit is something else entirely. Overall an awesome album. Favourite track - Street Spirit or Fake Plastic Trees. 9/10
Not Radiohead's best but it's a classic and better than 99% of other music.
I remember being in college in the early 2000s and having a talk with my boomer dad about music. He was lamenting that they don't make albums like they used to, and that nothing coming out today would stand the test of time like so many of the classic acts from the 60s and 70s. I begged to disagree, to which he challenged me to "name one artist that people would still be listening to fifty years from now." I said Radiohead. As someone who has listened to Radiohead since Pablo Honey, I came in fully prepared to give this one 4 stars since it one that I don't return to as much of the others. I feel like OK Computer is the album that really got me into them, and it was also the one that completely changed their sound from what was a fairly straightforward 90s alt rock band to something more...electronic? Not to mention Kid A through In Rainbows are all easily 5 stars in my book, so I was a bit let down that this was my first Radiohead on this list. But what a fool I am! This may be Radiohead before they truly defined themselves, but it is 90s alt rock at its absolute peak. Literally every track is good. I can't believe I had kind of forgotten about The Bends over the years. Yes, Pablo Honey started it all, and as the Wikipedia entry for this points out, The Bends was not able to reproduce the commercial success that came from "Creep". But to me, this is where Radiohead truly begins to take off. They'll reinvent their sound with OK Computer and refine it with each album that follows, but The Bends is undeniably Radiohead to it's very core. In fact, it's probably the most accessible Radiohead album out there. Now, it's only been 25 years or so since that conversation with my dad, but with [spoiler: I looked it up] six albums on this list from them, I don't think I need to wait another 25 to be proven right. Maybe my dad should start with The Bends.
Wow my favorite Radiohead album on my wedding day. It’s just great top to bottom. This era probably has my favorite B-sides of theirs as well. Greenwood goes berserk on this one. They just drop a perfect alt-rock album and then move on to another world. 24th perfect album, 825 albums in. Rating: 5.0
Well this just might be my favorite radiohead record so far. Its still not amazing as much as the internet tells me it is. At least its not buried in production like alot of the others ive heard, that being kid a and in rainbows. Kid a might not be my favorite but at least its forward thinking. In rainbows can suck a fart. That one is the most average thing ive ever heard. But back to this one. Its less robotic and just some instruments going at it and i appreciate that. And ive never liked the vocal styles but black star for some reason it works fully. High and dry is pretty good. Its the big song I guess. Fake plastic trees for some reason is worth it. And then everything else is fine. Maybe after this site makes me listen to every single record they ever put out ill get it but even if this is my favorite i still dont get it. Its fine and that's kinda it
Of course I like this & am familiar with it 😍
Ah Radiohead. My 16 year old son's favorite band. This is their last rock album before they really took a deep dive into electronic experimentation. Of course, OK Computer was probably a little more rock than electronic, but they certainly were heading in that direction. Anyway, Radiohead is a rare band where I prefer the electronic stuff to their more rock oriented output. And The Bends, while a perfectly competent album, seems rather pedestrian and straightforward compared to everything that follows. Nevertheless, it's enjoyable enough and songs like Fake Plastic Trees rank with some of their best. I'll generously give it 3.5/5 (rounded to 4). But honestly, when I have a hankering for Radiohead, this is never where I start. 3.5/5 #205
Good
Amazing from start to finish. Unique and challenging. Radiohead always delivers.
Fake Plastic Trees is one of my favourites
5 STARS NO NOTES
Was hoping I’d like this better then i did when it came out. Nope
One of their best albums! Strong writing from start to finish.
Give me all of that you got
It's good. It's better the second and third listen through, the first time I didn't pick up on all the subtleties, it's only a bit arena rock, underneath the hood there is alot more going on. I need to hear more from these guys.
A phenomenal album, no complaints. 'Just' hurts too much to listen to, I can't be bringing that energy into my life right now. All other songs are masterpieces.
10/10 i love radiohead
Not their best by any stretch, but an essential 90s indie album.
influential music by an a**. Thom Yorke singing ‚I want to be part of humanity‘ is rich. I love ‚Just‘, thank goodness for the Mark Ronson version.
Solid album. Never been a huge fan of Radiohead, but this was a good listen.
This is between the two greatest Radiohead albums, and in retrospect you can hear them bridging their identity from one to the other. This still has the 90s alt-rock snarl of Pablo Honey but they play with rhythms and instruaments that will ultimately get them to Ok Computer, one of my favorite, most innovate albums of all time. I truly love this album and reminds me of my early college year dorms.
A great nostalgic college throwback. I forget how much I like about half of the songs on this album.
For reasons known only to me I was a big early Radiohead fan in the Pablo Honey era then really went off them - even to the point where I was one of the few people at Glastonbury in 97 and 2003 not to see their seminal gigs. Have grown to appreciate them more in the years since - and whilst I prefer their later albums this is still packed with classics - that I think have aged well.
Remember not being fussed at the time. In retrospect, its a good album: not just another grunge album and more accessible than their later experimental albums. Forgot how good High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees, and Street Spirit are.
I don't think I can describe how much I love this album. It has been with me for 30 plus years and I never grow tired of listening to it all the way through.
L’ho ascolto ma mi sono dimenticato di dare il voto Lo do ora ma non ho voglia di riascoltarlo, quindi non era troppo iconico Tiè in 3 politico
Listenable.
Definitely understand the Radiohead hype after listening to this album. Solid songs and felt cohesive, but I did find my interest level fluctuating between some songs. Still really solid though.
Not quite at the level of OK Computer/Kid A/In Rainbows but still a 90s classic. And the songs straight-up Rock unlike some of their later albums. Fake Plastic Trees is a beautiful song and my other favorites include High and Dry, Bones, and Just.
Schönes Album eigentlich, Radiohead halt.
I feel like I pray to not get more Radiohead and I keep getting them. Any previous statement I’ve made about Thom Yorke’s annoying voice, the boring music, etc is still true. But this is easily the best album of theirs I’ve gotten so far. It’s decent I really like “Bones”, and especially “High And Dry” and other songs like the title track “(Nice Dream)” and “Fake Plastic Trees” are decent I hate the song Creep (which isn’t on this record) but this album sounds like it’s what Creep was supposed to be, like the same style but not awful
Another solid album. Definitely fits the mid-90's alt rock feeling more than what they apparently grow into, though I like their later vibes more. I'm starting to think I missed a lot by not getting into Radiohead earlier. Planet Telex, The Bends, Fake Plastic Trees, Nice Dream, Black Star and Street Spirit are all bangers. Once again, Thom Yorke is a cock.
Büro, Heidenheim, Deutschland. Radiohead einfach overrated.
People really listen to Radiohead on purpose? Of course they do. Just about every piece of art out there appeals to someone or other. Still, I'm looking forward to getting the remaining three Radiohead albums from the generator so I can be done with them. I've seen a lot of people say it took repeat listening to start appreciating them, but I think I'm going to be okay going the rest of my life without giving myself some kind of sad British guitar Stockholm Syndrome.
easy listen.
The most straightforward, plain ol' rocking album that Thom and the boys put together. Excellent songs, musicianship, etc. If you're into alternative rock at all -- then this is an utter banger. The best entry point for introducing someone to Radiohead, in my opinion.
Great
At the time I thought Radiohead was all hype. I do believe I was wrong, though this album doesn't make it to five stars for me.
Mais uma vez fui surpreendido com um disco do Radiohead, banda que eu não dei a mínima em grande parte da minha vida. Dessa vez eu não apenas gostei do disco, eu achei excelente! Roseselsa Quietsea II.
Love the hit "High and Dry", but other songs are in comparison just meh.
Heavenly masterpiece. Like honestly actually inspired work. What a wonderful opportunity to give this another spin today. I love this album.
This may be the perfect Radiohead album. It's got a perfect balance of heavy and soft. I think the dynamics of alternating between these intense, guitar driven rock epics and then subtle acoustic songs create the contrast that makes this album so great. I also think it's amazing that Radiohead can make an album like this,a 90's rock record, but also produce some of the most mesmerizing electronic influenced music only a couple years later. I tend to judge albums on a "cornyness factor" , I hate music that panders to a radio audience or uses overly simple hooks and lyrics. I think Radiohead is the opposite of that. There is so much depth and artistic integrity to everything that they do and The Bends is a perfect example of that. You could listen to this album 100 times and not get bored, hearing something a little different every time.
I've long considered the Bends as one of my least favourite Radiohead albums, but I honestly haven't spent a lot of time with it or Pablo Honey, so I'd be hard pressed to actually choose a least favourite between those two albums. That said, I think I may have been overlooking the Bends quite a bit because this is pretty damned good! I can totally see how some fans would prefer the earlier guitar driven songwriting over the sonic experimentation that came with the later albums. Their sound on the Bends almost sounds like a different band compared to what comes after Kid A. I definitely still prefer their later work (Kid A in particular is one of my all time favourite albums), but I have a much, much better appreciation for this album now.
More radiohead! Probably in my top 3 radiohead albums - up there with all the big ones. Another 5 likely
One of the greatest guitar rock albums of all time. Every song feels like a classic. The album is packed with catchy melodies and big hooks, which makes it a ton of fun to sing along to, or just jam out. But the music is layered too. These tracks are more complex than your average rock song. The band also absolutely rocks on this one. There are moments where their sound gets close to grunge. I love the mix of beautiful melodies and scuzzy feedback. Great album and a personal favorite. The emotions are so big! And the music is so easy to listen to.
Radiohead is becoming one of the more prevalent bands on this list, and for good reason. It seems like just about every album they've released has a handful of stunning and legendary tracks on it. This one has "High and Dry", "Fake Plastic Trees", and some other solid ones like "Just", and "My Iron Lung". "High and Dry" really makes me feel something. The kick drum intro is so warm and thuddy. The acoustic guitar tone and composition is inviting. It almost doesn't feel like a traditional Radiohead song until you hear Thom Yorke's croon come in. I also love how the song hangs around the E major tonality so much.. it almost feels weirdly too optimistic for a Radiohead tune. I love how much acoustic guitar there is on this record. I'm stumping myself now though and thinking "does Radiohead always have this much acoustic on it?", but I don't think so. Maybe this record is kind of unique in that. It's a really solid one. 4/5 for me, maybe like a 4.7. I think "Kid A", "In Rainbows", and "Ok Computer" are 5's, so this one is a little bit short of them.
Bien mais sans plus, un peu toujours pareil. J'ai bien aimé "(Nice Dream)" qui ressortait un peu du lot, et l'instru guitare de "Just" que j'ai trouvé sympa.
Album au top, plus dynamique que d’autres de Radiohead ! Un bon 4,5
Très sympa, mais un peu badant alors que j'étais déjà en train de bader ahah 4/5
Not as terrible as I thought, like Muse meets U2
Great album
Not bad
Again, Radiohead was better than I expected. Vocals are a bit tiresome after a while but musicianship is great.
banger album
Me siento mal poniéndole un 4 a un disco de Radiohead porque me gustan harto. Pero hay algo de la onda de este disco (es como más "Creep-like") que no encajó tan bien conmigo.
One of my favourite albums of all time. Obvious 5 stars
Not my favorite Radiohead era but so many classics tracks on this one. They really hit their stride from OK Computer through Hail to the Thief imo
Masterpiece. Formative record for me. I used to record high and dry off the radio in grade 7 I was obsessed with how it sounded so big and spacious…the chorus of black star - incredible. The video for Just! Key 90’s album that still hits for me.
It's good but spotty at times
I like the singles, except Just..I dunno the rest is ok. It's a 3 record.