Track Listing

1. Planet Telex
2. The Bends
3. High & Dry
4. Fake Plastic Trees
5. Bones
6. (Nice Dream)
7. Just (You Do It To Yourself)
8. My Iron Lung
9. Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was
10. Black Star
11. Sulk
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #645 in Music
• Published on: 1995
• Released on: 1995-04-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
While Radiohead saw its stock rising in 1994, it wasn't until 1995's The Bends that it really became a blue chip band. And for good reason. The quintet honed its talent for bombastic Brit Rock, yet still preserved an edge of unpredictability. Even singles like the title track didn't give in to the kind of swooning guitar clichés usually embraced by commercial radio. If the CD proved anything, it was that Radiohead could find solid ground between pop experimentation and the tradition of born-in-the-bone, balls-out rock. --Nick Heil

Amazon.com

Radiohead Photos

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Customer Reviews

The Beginning of Radiohead...
... as we know them today.

As a longtime Radiohead fan (one of my 3 favorite groups), I thought I'd finally start reviewing some of their albums. Looking at them comparatively with each other and as albums on their own right.

I start with the Bends because this is the album that really made Radiohead who they are. Previous to this album, Radiohead was going to be a one-hit wonder. Thom Yorke didn't want that, so they put out what is probably one of the best albums of the 90's. Unlike later Radiohead albums, The Bends is a straight out rock/alternative album. There isn't anything terribly complex about it in terms of accessibility, although the song writing does show the greatness that has evolved over the years. I think the accessibility of this album is what really made Radiohead a popular band. It is also what is responsible for the loss of fans that followed with the release of albums like Kid A and Amnesiac later on down the road.

Songs like The Bends, My Iron Lung, and Black Star are rockers not unlike Creep. High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees are ballad like rock songs that were stereotypical of the genre. What made the Bends stand out though was the creativity in the lyrics, the symbolism that isn't always present in the stereotypical rock album. Add to that the musicianship that while not unlike the popular alternative and rock albums of the time, started to demonstrate the talents of the musicians, especially Johnny Greenwood (whom has only become better with time).

The Bends really is a great album. It's a great album for the fan of the 90's alternative rock as it has almost a grunge like sound (although by a British band) that stretches beyond that sub-genre. It's a great album if you are a newer fan of Radiohead and you want to see where they came from. Again, it is probably Radiohead's most accessible album, so it is really an album that almost any fan of rock or alternative rock music would enjoy even if they are not a fan of the Radiohead of today.

Radiohead's finest hour
I am guessing millions of more people will buy this album in the coming decades.The sound of this album explains just the basis of Radiohead's sound structure.What is amazing about Radiohead and often overlooked is how unyielding the sound truly is if you try to mimic it. I cannot think of one cover of any song on this album I'd give a second listen. It is just too difficult to gain inspiration from and procreate. Getting on now. Fake Plastic Trees. It is my favourite song by this band. I don't know how he does it. It is very difficult to sing when the song isn't playing and there is such "major key tonality" and a driven rock structure approach that the band and the vocalist assume that it truly owns the record. The Bends, title track, keeps your faith vested but isn't an instant classic. "High and Dry" is sometimes the "best thing to happen to you" My Iron Lung, you will love. "I wish I was" is the "how to disappear completely" of this record, excellent shower alone music. "Bones" makes me miss the 90's with a precussion.

Disclaimer - I don't understand what they are singing about 100% of the time and I don't want to because the guitar obstructs any possity to reign on the bends.

This Is The Best Radiohead Album!
There...I've said it. The Radiohead-heads are going to come after me for this but this is far better than "OK Computer". I've never quite been able to get into that one aside from a few songs. Maybe it's because it's not very accessible that the diehard fans foam at the mouth over "OK Computer". Enough about that CD though. "The Bends" is fantastic. "High and Dry" is the hit but the title track, "Fake Plastic Trees", "Planet Telex" and "Just" are all simply fantastic. Thom Yorke's vocals are so much stronger on here than on...oops! I forgot I was through talking about that other CD. Anyway if you are new to Radiohead start here and if you like then give that other CD a try.