Planet Telex
The Bends
High and Dry
Fake Plastic Trees
Bones
Nice Dream
Just
My Iron Lung
Bulletproof... I Wish I Was
Black Star
Sulk
Street Spirit (fade out)
The
Bends
Released: 04/04/95
Produced by John Leckie, Radiohead, Jim Warren, Nigel Godrich.
Recorded at Rak, The Manor and Abbey Road, London, England.
Notes:
Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone 5/13/99, pp.58-59
Included in Q's 50 Best Albums of 1995 - "...THE BENDS' lasting
mightiness is confirmed--as is the scary impression that they'll
only get better..." Q Magazine 2/96, p.63
Ranked #6 on Melody Maker's list of 1995's `Albums Of The Year'
- "Rock as self-evisceration....consistently, savagely brilliant..."
Melody Maker 12/23-30/95, pp.66-67
Ranked #4 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995. New
Musical Express 12/23-30/95, pp.22-23
3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...THE BENDS [is] a sonically ambitious
album that offers no easy hits. It's a guitar field day, blending
acoustic strumming with twitches of fuzzy tremolo and eruptions
of amplified paranoia..." Rolling Stone 5/18/95, p.88
"...Sometimes folky, sometimes rocky, the sophomore album from
this English band offers a smorgasbord of guitar flavors, most
of them tasty, The stylistic leaps make for schizoid listening....but
give these boys credit for not standing still..." - Rating:
B+ Entertainment Weekly 4/7/95, p.92
"...THE BENDS' greatest asset is its approximation of London
Suede, all the parody and none of the pomp....THE BENDS proves
that Radiohead didn't shoot their bolt with `Creep.' That there's
a lot more stirring down there than their recent past might
admit..." Alternative Press 4/95, p.71
CMJ review
Three guitars, a driving rhythm section and keyboards, all fronted
by a whiny English bloke on vocals. That's the Radiohead setup,
and believe it or not, it works spectacularly well. Following
up on its hit "Creep" from a few years ago, Radiohead's sophomore
effort ups the ante, delivering renewed vigor in the form of
a happiersounding guitar assault. Shimmering piano notes and
echoing drums immediately pull you into the lead-off track "Planet
Telex," as the guitars unleash a wall of fuzzenhanced bliss.
Vocalist Thom Yorke's delivery is less deadpan and more passionate
than before, giving the tracks a sense of smoldering urgency.
The title track is a brilliant piece of raging guitar-driven
pop, while "Fake Plastic Trees" opts for a subdued acoustic
entrance, beginning with subtle nods to John Denver before cascading
into an intense swirl of guitar, keyboards and drums. The band
specializes in sonic juxtaposition, creating safe, lilting melodies
awash in warmness, before drowining them in a wall of blistercrunch
guitar and chaotic rhythmic interplay right before your ears.
"You Do It To Me" is the group's guitar-infested magnum opus,
releasing a barrage of wail, grind and blitz. The Bends, with
its intoxicating metallic edginess, bits of slashing psychedelia
and calming interludes of acoustic ambience, unveils the perfect
power-pop aesthetic.
