Is there another band that benefitted as much from their 3rd album as Radiohead did with this one? (Okay, just Googled that question and there's a ton: Born to Run, Dookie, Songs for the Deaf, Slippery When Wet, and so forth. Forget I even brought it up.) Anyway, yeah it still seems strange to me listening to this again for the 9,000th time that *this* is the record that scored higher with critics and audiences than The Bends. Especially on the heels of such a giant hit in "Creep," it makes zero sense in hindsight why The Bends was not more warmly received in the US than it was - and yet OK Computer was hyped beyond belief right out of the gate. I remember Matt Pinfield on MTV talking about how good this album was before it was released and then playing the video for "Paranoid Android." And you know, you hear that song the first time and it's real easy to go "What the hell is this?" Somehow people got it. Next thing you know, Radiohead is goddamn everywhere. The fact that they were the same band that hit with "Creep" became part of the narrative. It was like validation that they weren't just a one hit wonder and everybody was happy about it. BUT... The Bends exists! Why didn't that happen at the same level when "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" were on MTV?? Those are easier songs to digest than "Paranoid Android," right? I. Do. Not. Understand. Society. But hey at least they got behind another good album. Listening now, I could lop off "Electioneering" and "Climbing Up the Walls," and probably be happier with the total package. But the guitars on "Let Down"... I will not ever get tired of that. Sad Radiohead makes me happy.