Radiohead -- The Bends

8/10

I didn't get into Radiohead until Kid A and Amnesiac, which came out, respectively, when I was in college. I loved the experimentation and atmosphere of those two albums, but was amused by comments from many long-term fans, and several fellow college DJ's who wished Radiohead "would get back to the three-guitar rock of The Bends." Surely, I thought, The Bends can't be as good as Kid A and Amnesiac.
I won't bury the lead: I do not think The Bends is as good as 2000's Kid A and 2001's Amnesiac. My favorite albums flow organically as albums, don't drag on too long, and finish exactly when they should. The Bends is a really good album. It is full of great alternative rock songs, with some great singing from Thom Yorke, who uses his falsetto to full affect. The band utilizes three guitars, and while the multiple guitar parts aren't always distinct, they form a warm, full sound, amplified by Johnny Greenwood's pursuit of interesting effects. The rhythm section are solid, though firmly relegated to supporting players, though this would become less and less true with each subsequent album. The songwriting is solid, and each track sounds like it could be coming out of a football stadium's speakers. Yorke, in particular here, really has a flair for the dramatic, as songs like the weepy ballad, "Fake Plastic Trees," feature impressive levels of emotion. In fact, you can easily visualize a hyper-emotional late 90's British tele-drama starring a young James McAvoy, as he stares out a rainy dorm room window, sulking about a girl, while many of these songs are playing--and I don't mean that as a negative. The Bends does go on too long, though, and I do mean that as a negative--somewhere around "Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was," The Bends' ninth track, I generally check out. Checking out would be a mistake, though, as album closer, "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" is one of the band's greatest songs, and an all-time great song, period. It is an unbelievably stark portrait of despair, and it hints at what's to come from this great band.

However, at the end of the day, Radiohead's subsequent albums feature a culturally transcendent, timeless quality, and The Bends, outside of "Street Spirit," is just a great bit of fun.

1995 Parlophone/Capitol
1. Planet Telex 4:19
2. The Bends 4:06
3. High and Dry 4:17
4. Fake Plastic Trees 4:50
5. Bones 3:09
6. (Nice Dream) 3:53
7. Just 3:54
8. My Iron Lung 4:36
9. Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was 3:28
10. Black Star 4:07
11. Sulk 3:42
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out) 4:12