The Bends
Radiohead
Capitol,
1995
Reviewed by
Troy Carpenter
Radiohead catapulted out of its early stages of successful normalcy to create
a masterwork of a sophomore album that belongs in the upper echelon of anthemic rock. From
the sound of wind blowing inside an amplifier that introduces the record, to the somber
fingerpicking of its fade out, The Bends shines with imagination, innovation, and
verve.
The pretentious "Planet Telex" opens the album in an uplifting fashion, followed
by the majestic, severe title track, which juxtaposes modern imagery ("alone on an
aeroplane / fall asleep against the window pane") alongside universal longing
("i wanna live, breathe / i wanna be part of the human race") in the context of
a smashing rock hook.
Singles "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" bring the album into
its meaty middle, displaying Radiohead's sudden mastery of the pop song. Not made of
otherworldly chords or wholly unfamiliar melodies, the tunes somehow capture what's good
about everyone else's pop singles and present them through a maverick paradigm. Oddly,
although both songs made inroads on U.S. rock radio, neither are particularly indicative
of the album's true scope.
Indeed,
the real heart of The Bends can be found in the two songs at its center:
"Just," and "My Iron Lung." The latter provided a real turning point
in Radiohead's sound and ambition when it was issued as the lead track of a seven-song EP prior to The
Bends' release.
Both
tracks feature energetic rock hooks with reserved verses and biting choruses. But when
they really step up, both travel into overwhelming vortexes of sound, where Ed O'Brien and
Jonny Greenwood's careening guitar lines mesh with Thom Yorke's anguished wails to create
a pointed epiphany. Deep inside these rockers lie some of the most invigorating moments of
'90s music.
Luckily for the listener, the pair is buffered by the meditative ballads "(nice
dream)" and "Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was." But The Bends doesn't
fade away that easily. "Black Star" and "Sulk" lead the album down its
slide with hues of experience and reminiscence blended with soaring hooks, involved guitar
interplay, and some of Yorke's most inspiring vocals.
The melancholy endgame of The Bends is its topper. "Street Spirit (fade
out)" is the coolest album closer to come along in a long while, with its somber
minor-key fingerpicked progression supporting Yorke's exquisitely wistful moan. The song
treads a perilous edge of melody before slipping off into a current of strings and
floating into the slipstream. The record ends with Yorke intoning one last poignant
statement: "IMMersE your soUL in LOVE."
