@@theeJAYBUDshowI mean, the Bends also came out before OK Computer. But I still thing you should follow cronological order, so you can really experience the evolution of their music. Also, don't skip Hail To The Thief. It might not be on the same level as some of their other works, but contains some of their best songs like 2+2=5, Sail To The Moon, There There and A Wolf At The Door
@@theeJAYBUDshow I would say the order for next albums should be Kid A, (amnesiac if you want, it hits for some people and doesn't for others), I don't think you should skip Hail To the Thief, some of the best tracks from the band are there, In Rainbows, and A Moon Shaped Pool. Some people argue AMSP is the best RH album, but it's extremely emotional.
"Just" was originally an experiment between frontman Thom Yorke and lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood to see how many chords they could fit in a song. Made the final product fascinating! "My Iron Lung" is actually about their breakthrough hit, Creep. They are thankful for Creep, because they have a chance to share their music with the world, but as soon as they earned fame, their friends started to stray away, and they didn't like being controlled by the industry. They're referring to Creep as an iron lung for them. As for the chorus that you weren't sure about, the "headshrinkers" they refer to are producers who wanted to take the money that they earned as soon as fame hit. "My uncle Bill" probably isn't literal. My interpretation of the line is that he's referring to dollar bills, but being so delusional that you think they're a need and a part of you, hence the "uncle" part. Then the next lyric, "My Belisha beacon", refers to the bills as a source of visibility in life and a guide. If you're not sure what a Belisha beacon is, it's something in Britain that's similar to a lamp post here in the United States. Don't even get me started on the two-song run between "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees". Two incredibly emotional pieces that are just beautiful.
The popularity of their first album sent them to the top, quickly, and maybe they and their friends all got the bends, and where do they go from here (their first albums success)?
Black Star is about being in love with someone with mental problems…..where he really does love the person, and is drawn to her, but knows he needs to leave….that the dysfunction’s “killing me”…..by definition, a black star has a heavy gravitational pull….and in the song it’s the heavy weight of the relationship that’s pulling you in further and further….getting pulled further and further into someone else’s problems/ issues …in an unhealthy way
Living through it, "Fake Plastic Trees" was the song that made everyone realize Radiohead was going to be an important band that was going to be in our lives for awhile.
This is my favorite album of theirs. I don't think it's their best album, but this album is my happy place. I've listened to this one straight through more times than any other album from any band. I still love their newer stuff, and their first album; I'm a fan of their entire discography, even the albums some Radiohead fans tend to dismiss, plus their oddball EPs, singles, B-sides, and a lot of the work they've put out in solo projects and other bands some of them have formed. But this album will always just be special to me.
@@ladrac198 Preferences of course are very personal. I think In Rainbows is their best, so I certainly can't blame anyone for calling that their favorite. OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows, and A Moon Shaped Pool should all probably be in the discussion of best album, not just for Radiohead but for any band. Most musicians would die happy knowing they made just one of those four albums.
@@MuAlexJSaccording to Wikipedia, Stanley Donwood, the photographer for the album, thought the CPR mannequin had "a facial expression like that of an android discovering for the first time the sensations of ecstasy and agony, simultaneously"
Radiohead album ranked : 1. OK Computer (10) 2. In Rainbow (10) 3. Kid A (10) 4. A Moon Shaped Pool (9) 5. The Bends (9) 6. Hail To The Thief (8.5) 7. Amnesiac (8.5) 8. The King of Limbs (8) 9. Pablo Honey (8) You should definitely listen to their entire discography! the rest of the albums definitely worth to check too. Thom Yorke (frontman) is Lyrical Genius and Jonny Greenwood (lead guitarist) is Musical Genius, these two combined creates many crazy stuffs. Also, great reaction guys!
“Decompression sickness, also called generalized barotrauma or the bends, refers to injuries caused by a rapid decrease in the pressure that surrounds you, of either air or water. It occurs most commonly in scuba or deep-sea divers, although it also can occur during high-altitude or unpressurized air travel.” Also, the guy on the album cover art is a crash test dummy
I love it but it still doesn't feel like the band they'll turn into. This is mainly a straightforward rock album while going forward they'll be Rock-Electronica with a lot of more different types of sounds, instrument, effects. It's what you into I guess, I like the more experimentation.
The Bends is a common term used to describe decompression sickness, something that divers will get if they resurface too quickly; the rapid change in pressure causes nitrogen build-up in your blood which is incredibly painful. It is being used as a metaphor to discuss the painful side-effects of Radiohead's meteroic rise to fame (particularly due to Creep); they literally rose too quickly and were dealing with some of the negative aspects of being famous
nice dream is a favourite of mine. always will be. just connected 1st listen, then would play it on repeat. great album. love your reaction guys. btw, its 2am here in the UK now, watching you 2 discover this album 😁
Nice dream is perfect. My interpretation is, he talk about a daydreamer that think is "stronger enought but when the real challenge comes, he simple can't do (Sorry If was difficult to understand, I'm in development to learn english😅)
I feel like “My Iron Lung” is the song on this record that signified Radioheads growth and where they were going from here. “If you are frightened you can be frightened. It’ll be okay. “
Very correct about the iron lung. It was symbolic of their breakout hit “Creep”. It was what kept them alive in their early days, even though within the band, they grew to hate it. But the line “we’re grateful/for our iron lung” near the end is them telling us that they realize without a “cheesy” “simple” massive hit song, they wouldn’t have gotten propelled to where they got to, making a fairly high (at the time; now legendary) anticipated follow up album.
loving your guys work with radiohead. they happen to one them bands that get people out of dark places all the time. keep up the good work. From Syracuse New York!
Enjoyed listening along with you guys and listening to what you thought each song was about. For me i just listen and float away into thought and reflection without actually analysing the lyrics. The Bends was the first RH album I got so is very sentimental and nostalgic, reminds me of my first share house and exciting times. In Rainbows is probably the album of theirs i listen to most these days.
You say they blew up after OKC... maybe critically, but not commercially. "Pablo Honey" was their best selling album and I believe it still is today by a far margin, and that's all because of the popularity of "Creep." I think it's fair to say the rest of their career has been about not only improving as a band but also playing the kind of music that typically appeals more to critics than your average listener the way "Creep" does. They've worked very hard at moving away from "Creep," hardly ever playing it live ever since. Imagine a band that would dare to never play its biggest hit at concerts and you get some insight into what RH are all about.
@@brodowksi2819 "In Rainbows" did not do particularly well from what I understand. A LOT of people paid zero for it. I paid zero because I wanted to buy the CD (which I did when it came out months later) and didn't want to pay twice, but I don't know how common that scenario was.
if you guys want some newer rock music that’s still pushing boundaries, you GOTTA check out car seat headrest. started as just one guy making music in his bedroom and recording vocals in his car so his parents wouldn’t hear him, but he blew up on bandcamp in the early 2010’s and later signed a record deal which gave him studio access. i’d listen to their album twin fantasy, it was his breakout hit and he rerecorded the entire album in 2018 once he was signed to a label (i’d recommended the newer version, it’s an absolute masterpiece with a lot of depth)
I’m not trying to be mean, everyone can like what they want, but car seat headrest is so so so so far away from a band like Radiohead, Radiohead is amongst the greatest innovators/songwriters of all time
Planet Telex is exactly about what the chorus says. Everything is broken. Everyone is broken. The verse is basically saying; you can do this, you can do that, but it won't work anyway. The chorus then explains why. The ending then asks you "why can't you forget?". Which admittedly can mean different things depending on the context you look at the song in, from the self, for the self, from the writer, for the listener. It can be sarcastic, teasing, or a brutal self reminder.
Like that you've recorded outside with the torches in the background. I get the feeling you should have had a few beers, or a few joints (depending on your pleasure) on hand to partake of as you contemplated the music.
Amazing you guys hearing this for the first time in 2024..listening to this again and I can confirm Radiohead is a great band. Their music is timeless and they were ahead of their time. These songs would all be hits today.
I was a senior in high school when this album came out. Saw them for the first time live the next year on this tour. First off, you hit the nail on the head on what this album is about. Its about the band dealing with becoming famous with Creep. And they were under a lot of pressure making this album. My Iron Lung is about creep. An iron lung is a machine they used to hook you up to to breathe for you. They grew to resent Creep but at the same time it was what made them huge. Hope this helped. Was fun watching you guys enjoy this album as much as i did around the same age.
Enjoying your reaction. I highly recommend listening to Radiohead live at the Astoria. It's from 1994 and it's a mixture of Pablo Honey and the Bends. It shows that they are great musicians. I think most songs from the Bends were played for the first time. Another fact: The band wasn't happy with the studio version of My Iron Lung and used the recording (or parts of it) from the Astoria gig.
Telex literally means old school text messaging through land line phone networks using special text-conversion machines. So I dunno, Planet Telex could mean a look ahead (dial-up modems with a SUPER SLOW download speed were still the norm in 1995) to the internet age where we can't live without instant communication. But I could be way off.
The bends is when you dive too deep underwater, and the pressure kinda pushes your eyes out of the sockets. They probably meant it as some sort of allegory for intoxication. One of their best tunes for sure, love the drums built up to the second verse and later the solo! :)
Great reaction!! You guys should check out a song called Rabbit in your Headlights by Unkle - song features Radiohead’s lead singer and it’s phenomenal. Total trip.
Loving the radiohead album reviews so far. Yes it is crazy that people are sitting here watching them in their entirety. I friggin love Radiohead and i love watching over people appreciate them so this is my background noise at work. All that being said, you guys gotta check out queens of the stone age- songs for the deaf. Its a crazy album and one i think you can get into if you like radiohead, pink floyd, tool ane nirvana
But of a long comment ahead: The Bends is actually a nickname for decompression sickness, which is a very dangerous, sometimes fatal sickness that one can get from going too quickly from a high pressure environment to a low pressure one, like deep to shallow water. It is a common misconception that this is used as a metaphor in the song The Bends for Radiohead’s quick rise to fame after making Creep. However, the singer, Thom Yorke, has said in interviews that the lyrics in the song are very satirical and are meant to be a joke (“I wish it was the 60s, I wish we could be happy” and “I want to live, breathe, I want to be part of the human race”) AND that the band actually wrote the song The Bends before Creep. Therefore, while it is a pretty good analogy and makes sense, the idea that The Bends was made as a response to Creep’s success cannot be true.
I would appreciate if you reacted to the song from Radiohead which was slated to be a James Bond intro song, but was snubbed for a Sam Smith song last minute. The song name is SPECTRE, by Radiohead 😊
Another great album of theirs. Not as good as OK Computer but that's one of the greatest albums of all-time. Love to hear their evolution from Pablo Honey just getting ready to metamorphosize into something amazing. Plenty of great songs on here as well. Fade Out (Street Spirit) is one of their best.
Bends is when divers rise to quick from deep water, and the change in pressure can cause bubbles in your brain that can kill you. My take is that the band was having a tough time with their sudden rise to fame due to the success of their song Creep. I loved hearing what yall thought too!
Being a Radiohead fan back then (I was 18 when The Bends was released), it was in heavy rotation with my other favorite albums at the time (Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Blood Sugar Sex Majik", Jeff Buckley's "Grace", Tool's "Undertow", Soundgarden's "SuperUnknown", Temple of the Dog's self titled, Smashing Pumpkins "Siamese Dream"). When OK Computer came out, it was immediately one of the best albums I owned. I still feel that way. It's on a pedestal with Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", Tool's "Lateralus" (most of Tool's albums, to be honest), and other perfect albums like Prince's "Purple Rain" and Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust"
Love your reactions and what you have to say…I’m telling you, check out the Mollusk by Ween…or Quebec by Ween, or hell, even Chocolate and Cheese. And no, I’m not in Ween, I just have the same name as one of the two main guys.
My number three RH album. Even though this album sounds dated, it sounds like the 90's, it is still a favorite. If Pablo Honey gave us glimpses of how great RHbwas going to be, this album showed us for sure how phenomenal they would become.
The Bends is a condition when deep sea divers return to the surface too quickly before their pressure have been equalised, It causes all sorts of problems for the person, sickness, nausea, all sorts. I think Yorke uses it here to describe the fame of the band shooting up so fast, particularly after the success of Creep, and their lives been changed so dramatically in such a short time.
Just a comment, but I noticed you guys have one ear open to hear the other talk. In Rainbows has a lot of panning (different sounds in the right and left ear) so I highly recommend you keep both ears covered during that listen :)
y’all were kinda looking too deep into Nice dream lmao. it’s simply about fake friends. it's about feeling like you belong with someone, whether it's a person or a group or whatever ("They loved me like I was their brother. They protect me, listen to me.") and then realizing that you didn't really belong, you just thought you did, when they actually couldn't care less about you. Hence, the next line where Thom talks about his friend, who he sees as a "good angel" even though she constantly makes ridiculous excuses ("The sea would electrocute us..") to not see him. So, in short - feeling like you belong even when you're just as alone as before. Aka, waking up from a nice dream.
A lot of good melodies and musical transitions on this album. The guitars were used to maximum effect. They took that as far as they could, and Thom’s voice blended perfectly with them. An extremely well executed album, not a weak song on there. The musical expression was unique and on the verge of something really new. OK Computer was them leaping off from here.
“The Bends” is what divers refer to as not being fully decompressed while floating further down the depths. Air bubbles get in your bloodstream and the effects kill you,I believe 😊
The cover art is inspired by a painting (in the Tate Modern Gallery in London) of the dead Red Brigade leader, Ulrika Meinhoff. The idea Radiohead is playing with is, is it reflecting sexual ecstasy, or death.
You should react to musician RENs album "SICK BOI" it is AMAZING!. I guarantee you have never EVER heard anything like it before! Especially "Hi Ren" and "The Tale of Jenny and Screech" if you can watch the videos as you are listening/reacting it will make the experience SO MUCH better and it will help you understand the songs better.He is a phenomenal artist. 😮😮😮😮😊❤
You guys need to listen to Tool. I'd suggest starting at the "Undertow" album and progressing forward. Mix in their "Opiate" EP whenever. Either way, it's the best band your generation had zero exposure to (they entire catalogue wasn't on streaming services until recently)
You need to start googling the terms you haven't heard before while listening so you understand them while listening. Like 'Belisha beacon' and 'The Bends'.
No comments on the music?? Its not rap where the music is irrelevant and whatever shit they spouting is what you analyse, this is about music, the lyrics are secondary.
@@theeJAYBUDshow VERDY channel does full album reactions of Zeppelin who are notorious blockers. She pauses once in a while, but it’s much better than cutting up the songs. Outside of that, good luck to you.
@@alabasterdisaster Whatever reason. If you’re going to mutilate the songs like that, what’s the point? It certainly doesn’t involve respecting the music. Don’t give me the copyright excuse, they could pause the music and achieve the same effect, but it really doesn’t matter because I’ve already moved on.
