In praise of: The Bends

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In 1995, when I was 16, The Bends was barely on my radar. I had bought Pablo Honey when it came out, but found it to be little more than padding around the single and quickly forgot it. When I saw the video for "Fake Plastic Trees," it didn't make much impression on me other than, "Oh, it's the 'Creep' band giving things one last try."

It wasn't until a few years later, when I was in college and OK Computer was making waves (though, again, I didn't have much interest), that a good friend and dorm-mate of mine lent me a copy of The Bends, and even then the album took a while to sink in as I kept it over a winter break, before I was able to tell my friend that I thought it was "a really good straightforward rock album" (I was a total jazz nerd at the time, so I'm not even sure how much of a complement this was)

Those were days of smuggled Everclear clandestinely added to coke bottles and pot smoke blown out the window through "sploofs" (dryer sheets stretched over toilet paper tubes), of staying up until 4am playing Bond or talking agitatedly about what we believed to be "philosophy".

Wish You Were Here or High and Dry or Fade Out were guaranteed dorm singalong hits and we'd bang them out on our guitars in the lounge for the 40th time, laughing along with everyone while scowling at them inside for being such suckers.

Seven years later I've matured somewhat and Radiohead hasn't, and neither has my friend, who is basically "lost" to drugs and self-abuse.

But The Bends, inexplicably, remains standing, has grown in stature for me. It's my favorite Radiohead album by a mile, and one of my favorite albums period.

I want to live and breathe
I want to be part of the human race.

I sometimes think that journalists were so quick to declare the "death of irony" because they were already longing for its death. It was the End of History and a college student's biggest worry, more than ever, seemed to be ennui.

I'm lying in a bar with my drip feed on
talking to my girlfriend waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties
I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen.

And something did happen - hard not to think of that event as the drums and guitars build after the word "happen".

I don't know if I can take this "theme" any further, but I listened to The Bends on a bad cassette today for the first time in a long time, and it was as incredible as ever, and then got really sad when I couldn't find my CD copy and then got sad to think about the friend that I've essentially let go, who's become more or less dead to me, especially after I found out that he beat up his (now ex) girlfriend, who is a friend of mine.

The Bends is relentlessly good, at least until the last song (which is usually where I fade out as well.) And strangely, it manages to be so relying heavily on songs with similar chord progressions (The Bends, Bones, Black Star, and Sulk are all variations on the classic D-C-G combo) and stylistic similarities -- never through out the album, in spite of this, do I ever feel like any song is just a rehash of the idea on another song.

Indeed, any of the first five songs sound like they'd make great album openers. And by song #10, it's almost baffling to hear a song as great as Black Star, not to mention that it's followed up by Sulk

You're so pretty
When you're on your knees
Disaffected and eager to please

In fact two of the album's best-known songs (High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees) are more or less overshadowed by the rest of the album, and even those are pretty good.

Jonny Greenwood's noisy noodling is given its place yet still kept in check enough to keep the album palatable (and believe me, I'm not entirely against bloat and pretension - I'm a Yes fan, for crying out loud!) And may I add that the drumming is sick.

Why, oh why, have I written such a long, rambling paean to The Bends? Being stuck at home with a sixpack of Anchor Steam probably helps to explain it. I raise an Anchor Steam to you, Radiohead-of-1995. May you remain frozen in time forever!

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 18 September 2005 03:11 (twenty years ago)

lovely, i think approaching music emotionally and attempting to convey the visceral reactions is much braver and more honest than some silly attempt to objectively analyze music into it's parts and remain in some false state of detachment.

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 18 September 2005 03:36 (twenty years ago)

Nicely done, Hurting. :-)

My not-so-secret fave on the album is "Nice Dream."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 18 September 2005 03:50 (twenty years ago)

The Bends more like The Bend Over If You A Rumb Fag Who Likes The Radioheads

Oh and Radiohead more like Turn Your Radio Off!

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Sunday, 18 September 2005 03:52 (twenty years ago)

Easily my favorite of theirs, if only for "Just" and "My Iron Lung".

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 18 September 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

glad to see this album finally getting some props. hopefully more people who discovered it in college will have the courage to eventually say so. also, i never really thought of it this way, but i guess pablo honey IS just a few good songs padded out by filler!!

― mark p (Mark P), Sunday, 18 September 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

will have the courage to eventually say so.

The courage? Is The Bends considered embarassing or something?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 18 September 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Radiohead is considered embarassing.

By the way, my second favorite Radiohead album is Amnesiac, so I'm hardly a purist regarding the "straight ahead rock" thing. Kid A bores me a little, and OK Computer is pretty good but no Bends. Still not that familiar with Hail to the Thief.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 18 September 2005 12:56 (twenty years ago)

If Radiohead is considered embarassing, they must be the critics' guiltiest pleasure of all-time. Let's keep things in persepective, shall we?

Anyway, The Bends sort of sucks compared to all other RH albums (yeah, including Pablo Honey), but it's still pretty great. The singles are among my favorite Radiohead songs ever (including FPT, my all-time fav) but there's a ton of shit like "Sulk," "Bones," "Black Star" and to a much lesser extent, "The Bends". "Nice Dream," "Planet Telex" and "Bulletproof" are the only pretty good album tracks on that thing.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 18 September 2005 13:11 (twenty years ago)

"Just", "My Iron Lung" and "Fake Plastic Trees" are my favourite Bends tracks, followed by "Nice Dream" and "Bulletproof".

I used to like "Street Spirit" until it became the "Wonderwall" of Radiohead songs i.e. the one most likely to be sung-along badly to by obnoxious, drunk fans (as I witnessed at one Radiohead gig).

― Roz (Roz), Sunday, 18 September 2005 13:28 (twenty years ago)

No! "Street Spirit" fractured my tiny 13 year old mind and I will persist in my stubborn sentimental attachment to it.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 18 September 2005 13:32 (twenty years ago)

One of the marvels of Radiohead, I think, is that they're able to fill entire arenas with people who drunkenly sing along to songs almost entirely about alienation, disaffection, etc. Even frat boys get the blues, I guess.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 18 September 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

Of course Pink Floyd did it too, and as cliched as the comparison is, I think it's apt.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 18 September 2005 13:38 (twenty years ago)

I was surprised that some songs from this seemed to translate the best when they played the SkyDome last tour. The hit ballads still don't do a ton for me but I like some of the rockier and/or weirder tracks a lot more than I used to. "Street Spirit" is probably my favourite though, and I can't imagine how that could be Radiohead's "Wonderwall" rather than "Creep" or "Fake Plastic Trees". OK Computer is still where they really start to happen for me.

(Clever but brutal, mark.)

― Sundar (sundar), Sunday, 18 September 2005 14:01 (twenty years ago)

"Street Spirit" is probably my favourite though, and I can't imagine how that could be Radiohead's "Wonderwall" rather than "Creep" or "Fake Plastic Trees".

Yeah, "Creep" is probably the better candidate. I was just still thinking of those idiots who ruined "Street Spirit" for me.

Plus, Radiohead don't play "Creep" all that much. Didn't really notice anyone singing along to "Fake Plastic Trees" and if they did, they never went "Fayyyyyyyyyyyyyy-douuuuuuuuttttt-AGGAAAAAIIIIIINNNNNN!!!!!" I just can't listen to those arpeggios anymore without hearing this in my head. :(

― Roz (Roz), Sunday, 18 September 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

-- mark p (mark.p****...), September 18th, 2005.

Is there some unwritten rule that you can't do an "In Praise Of" on an album that's already highly regarded?

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 18 September 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

I think, as Sundar notes, one should read Mark's comment with tongue piercing cheek...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 18 September 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

Ack, I seem to remember a stadium singing along and waving lighters to "Fake Plastic Trees". (Maybe it was "High and Dry", they sort of blur together for me).

I like his flow on "Where do we go from here?/The words are coming out all weirdwhere are you nowwwwhen I neeed you".

2xpost

― Sundar (sundar), Sunday, 18 September 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

six years pass...

Better than I thought...I hated it the first time around. I was too cool for it, but I sure got my comeuppance.

― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka It's My Fucking Ferrari (Mount Cleaners), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:24 (thirteen years ago)

three years pass...

http://i.imgur.com/Kqhxiv6.gif

― 龜, Sunday, 13 March 2016 13:00 (nine years ago)

one month passes...

Man, all the surrounding material from this album is totally ace. All the b-sides, officially released live stuff, etc. Basically disc two of the deluxe edition just completely rules.

'Talk Show Host' and 'Bishop's Robes' are just about perfect.

― Austin, Sunday, 24 April 2016 23:31 (nine years ago)

yep. the b sides are great but even more morose than the album material I'd say.

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Monday, 25 April 2016 12:09 (nine years ago)

really dislike the album, think it might be worse than pablo honey

― And the cry rang out all o'er the town / Good Heavens! Tay is down (imago), Monday, 25 April 2016 12:24 (nine years ago)

This is one album I thought was totally brilliant at one point, think is STILL probably brilliant, but I can't bring myself to listen to it ever again.

― Sam Weller, Monday, 25 April 2016 13:25 (nine years ago)

sames. I've played it to death - basically learnt to play guitar through the tablature book. same thing with okc so now I just reach for the Easy Star version
imago what the fuck?

― TARANTINO! (dog latin), Monday, 25 April 2016 19:54 (nine years ago)

Yeah, every time eye'm reminded 'o' The Bends, eye always think 2 myself "Eye haven't heard that 4 a while", but then eye find myself not wanting to really listen 2 it. Like many, eye thought this was an amazing album at the time, and eye recall many fond times listening 2 the album. At this stage, eye'm sure eye don't really need 2 hear it again, but eye agree about the B-sides being strong. 'Killer Cars' in particular was always a favourite 'o' mine.

― WHERE'S JIM!? (Turrican), Monday, 25 April 2016 20:07 (nine years ago)

Radiohead is a band I don't have much use for in my life these days, but I'm sure I'd still enjoy this record if it was on.

― JWoww Gilberto (man alive), Monday, 25 April 2016 20:27 (nine years ago)

I think part of what makes this one more enjoyable for me than what followed is that it was just *alienated* and not like *I am so alienated that I am on a different plane of existence* the way OK and subsequent records were.

― JWoww Gilberto (man alive), Monday, 25 April 2016 20:28 (nine years ago)

"And by song #10, it's almost baffling to hear a song as great as Black Star,"
xpost
I so agree with this

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Monday, 25 April 2016 21:33 (nine years ago)

> the b sides are great but even more morose than the album material I'd say.

Absolutely, especially the 6 b-sides from the "My Iron Lung" singles. They came out before the album and, frankly, the album was a bit of a letdown in comparison. I really should queue it up, it's been at least 15 years since I've heard it. As others have said, it was overplayed initially by me and then it became inescapable in certain circles.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 26 April 2016 00:28 (nine years ago)

eight years pass...

This album came out 30 years ago today

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Thursday, 13 March 2025 22:21 (ten months ago)

Gillian Welch does a great cover of “Black Star.”

― Cow_Art, Friday, 14 March 2025 00:30 (ten months ago)

Just posted to YouTube by Radiohead - Thom solo acoustic in a bar in Toronto 30 years ago doing some Bends songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRRGudcVMCE

― nate woolls, Friday, 14 March 2025 20:30 (ten months ago)

I enjoyed that a lot. Liking the low-key some-block-in-some-band vibes.

― cajunsunday, Saturday, 15 March 2025 15:46 (ten months ago)

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