I remember studying at Berklee College of Music in 1999 and EVERYONE was listening to OK Computer... the instrumentalists were trying to understand what they were playing/how things were arranged and the tech guys were trying to figure out the recording/production techniques. It was incredibly influential.
What excited me about early Radiohead was that each album represented a degree of artistic growth not seen since The Beatles. It only took 4 albums to go from Pablo Honey to Kid A. Remarkable.
Exactly! I've been saying that for years. Pablo Honey to The Bends to OK Computer feels like A Hard Day's Night to Rubber Soul to Revolver! You could argue that Kid A would be Sgt. Pepper's, but I think Revolver is a better, more influential album.
We supplied Radiohead with a fully restored mellotron for OK Computer. We took 18 Tangerine Dream tape frames for Johnny and Thom to choose their three for the album. One of those had the Eight Choir and after we left they recorded Exit Music that evening! As a result I have always loved the album which I consider seminal.
My dad borrowed my copy of OK Computer and was blown away so much I didn’t see it again for year! 😂 Of course I’d bought myself another copy within a few months. Felt lost without the best album in my collection and didn’t mind letting my dad keep my original copy. He was a guitarist and professional recording musician who taught me so much about music. Rest In Peace dad ❤
I leant OK Computer to the kid sister of one of my friends (along with a couple of other amazing albums). Obviously never got it back.. but it's fine, I was happy to save a friend's sister from the boy bands.
"Let Down" is one of my favorite songs of all time, any artist, any genre. Fortunate to see them on the OK Computer tour. Most of OK, lots of Bends. Still one of the best shows I've ever seen.
Let Down transports me to a brisk weekday morning, driving to class at my community college, smoking a cigarette as cold air rushed in through the window of my 2001 Saturn. It's not a particularly exciting moment in my life, but the memory is more vivid than any other that I can recall.
The final line of the final song really did it for me. I loved the album the very first time I heard it but it’s quite a sad record, it’s not very upbeat and cheerful, but the “immerse you’re soul in love” at the very end actually flipped it on its head for me and left me incredibly uplifted. I listen to The Bends in full at night sometimes like a meditation app, it calms me but makes me feel great, helping me relax into sleep. OK Computer is my favourite album of all time but there is no other album in the world that does what The Bends does to/for me.
For me, choosing the best Radiohead album is like choosing between my kids. I love them all, for different reasons. I have grown up with them and they've changed as I've changed. Everything in its right place.
Let Down and Lucky are songs that sound like they're from another dimension. I remember my friends introducing me to Radiohead in 99 and I was obsessed. The bends and ok computer are life changing albums when you listen to them. Like Zeppelin 1 and 2, Rubber Soul, etc...
I loved every second of this. Got goosebumps when you played airbag. That song’s like “get ready to hear one of the greatest albums of music history”. Thank you for sharing our passion for this great music and reminding us how we felt the very first time we listened to it.
“Let Down” is probably one of the best songs ever recorded, not just by Radiohead. The subject matter, the delivery, it really resonated with me when it was new and still does. Despondent, melancholy with enough spunk to metaphorically represent those of us hiding demons… it’s something I could listen to 100 times in a row and not get sick of
Let Down seems to be one of those archetypal Radiohead songs where they could write a song that sounds happy and cheerful, until you read the lyrics and you want to kill yourself.
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 Yes!!! This and No Surprises are basically resigning yourself to your fate - and following through. It’s a masterpiece in disturbed, desperate despondence.
OK Computer was the first album I ever owned. My parents let me pick out a CD at best buy, they didnt know Radiohead. A coworker fron my mom work, was there so they asked for his opinion on if they should allow me to have it. He said "yes, great album". Whoever you were... thank you! I always listen to this album when on a plane for some reason
I’ve got some airplane albums, that’s really interesting. Music at the airport and on a flight seem to mean a lot paired with the transitioning character of the travel.
I'm 66 these days... I can remember getting this album (The Bends) within a year of its release, literally never having heard Radiohead. I know, I know.. but this album just dominated my listening for over a year. I'd be hard pressed to name another album that so ingrained itself into my mind, heart and soul as this one. Just phenomenal.
I'm 47 now, I was 20 when the album was released. The Bends was a revelation. I still remember sitting at my computer in the corner of my basement, popping the disc into my computer. It puts a smile on my face that somebody else had a similar experience :)
My father is a little older and I remember visiting him around 2004? I brought their first 4 albums and told him and he said, “maybe tomorrow”. We had some beers and I went to sleep. Slept in the next day and woke up to him BBQ’n and blasting Radiohead on the patio. He yelled at me, “Why did you never introduce me to these guys before”?! Hahahaha. Was too funny. I was glad he loved it so much I didn’t ask why he went in my bag lol
Yep. I’m 61. Same with me. I will say, after listening to it, I would always introduce others to it and say, “ you need to listen to it six times. Don’t give up. And you will thank me.”
I bought this album before leaving on a fishing trip by myself into the Jemez Mountains in NM in 1995 after doing a 5 minute headphone sampling at the record store. I had selected several albums to try simply from looking at the album art and figuring what type of musicians they would be. I popped it into my cd changer in my car and listened to it for 3 days. I thought the band had 2 singers, a male and a female. I didn't realize until I got home and read through the notes any of the guys names. From that trip and to this day, Radiohead are my favorite band and I old them in the same stead as the Beatles.
Eventually, one comes to realize, it's "In Rainbows". Them doing it live "From the basement" remains one of the best things on the youtubes (really, maybe better than the actual record). All the sonics they learned from Leckie (the bends), all the musical freedom they learned with Godrich, all the song writing experience they learned together by doing it all for a while. So. Good.
I still have to echo that, "From the Basement" is as good as The Beatles playing their final concert on the roof of the Apple studio, or wherever it was. For The Beatles, it was ending, for Radiohead, they were Just getting started good, and are still going strong.
but for me some songs like all i need weren't as powerful as original plus had less density in instruments so i personally prefer original... yet live version is really good
Severely underrated B-Sides adds to their legacy. Most bands would sacrifice their first-born child for songs like Staircase, Spectre, The Daily Mail, Palo Alto, Lull, Talk Show Host, plus many others. The Radiohead rabbit hole is very deep.
Personally i love "The Bends" the most but i have to acknowledge the GIANT leaps forward that they took with "Ok Computer" and "Kid A". Almost unprecedented in rock history. Probably only The Beatles developed so much in such a short time.
@@callum6224 Thats actually quite subjective. Some may consider inclusion and use of the synthesiser by bands like Pink Floyd pretty groundbreaking relative to the other bands of that time. IMO I feel a lot of people just say its groundbreaking because a lot of other people say so. Not because they genuinely love it to an extent where they know how to articulate it without resorting to buzzwords like "revolutionary" "groundbreaking" etc. with no further explanation. I love the album don't get me wrong. But I don't pretend that I understand the musical landscape prior to OKC's release and how the album was special in that context. There are a lot of videos on the internet explaining that properly. I just admit I love the music and I move on - none of that "I was born after 1998 and flabbergasted by the impact this album had on music industry!!1! That's why I like it more than the Bends!!".
Street Spirit (Fade Out) is my favourite song by Radiohead. The song just hits in so many places. One of the few songs I close my eyes to every single time. So I have to give the nod to 'The Bends'.
I saw them in Belfast a month after OK Computer came out - they played a relatively small venue as a warm up for an arena tour. It’s still probably the best gig I’ve ever been to. I don’t mind admitting I burst into tears more than once during it.
Every Radiohead album is listenable in my opinion. These two definitely stand out. My favorite Radihead listening experience(besides seeing them live at Coachella) was when Kid A came out. I finished work around 11 o'clock and started driving home. The DJ at KTRU Rice Radio played the album in its entirety that first night it dropped. I got home and couldn't get out of the car - I HAD to keep listening! Once the album finished the DJ got on and said something to the effect of "I'm just going to press play again" and then he played it through once more! It was incredible, and I still long for listening experiences like that.
Man do I ever wish they still did radio the old way. Like you mentioned how the DJ could influence the music over the airwaves and people would call and comment I just recently got sick of tv and I just signed up for free month or two then you pay so I'm listening to the best stuff over time. These were good albums.
Kid A for me is the greatest album of all time, it takes me to a different planet, nothing like it, I still can't get over that album. It''s a very powerful album, make you depressed and suicidal or make your trip out completely. Most powerful album for me
Both albums are excellent start to finish. "Subterranean homesick alien" is one tune that makes me feel outside of myself, light headed. It's amazing how the songs put you in different states of mind.
To all of you : Listen to Radiohead discography from the beginning. Your mind will explode from the excitement. It's ridiculous how amazing this band is. So much creativity. I remember every release of Radiohead's new album. It's like a time capsule
For me, Ok Computer is a masterpiece. I love the bends too. However, don't forget in rainbows. A complete sound marvel (actually i think it has been the most inspiring album when writting my songs)
Ive always considered the Bends as them using the studio to record the band in that moment in time whereas Ok Computer, they are using the Studio as another instrument, its become a member of the band contributing what it can to the overall sound instead of merely time stamping them as they were on The Bends
I'm delighted to hear 'Let Down' get the love it deserves. It's light and beautiful yet also dark and hopeless. It's everything great about the sound of Radiohead.
Ah. Totally agree. I’ve always loved the build up to the final sequence which begins with “you know, you know where you are with”. Such an emotional and beautifully rendered piece of music making. The zenith of radioheads rock period. Saw them at Manchester arena in 1998 and it was so amazing. A real spiritual experience.
Yep. One of the best songs on album by my opinion. To be honest, I often like it more then karma police. (of course, karma police is also awesome as all song in album)
Totally agree. It’s one of those songs that defines Radiohead. Beautiful yet heart wrenching at the same time. One of Thom’s best vocal performances as well
Radiohead had an amazing run with The Bends, Ok Computer and Kid A. Three totally different sounding albums and all of them amazing. They are all perfect 10 in my book but OKC is that highest peak what comes to an album experience. It's still my all time favorite album. I was 20 when it came out and still remember where I bought it and how I couldn't get over it for a long time. I probably listened to it daily for a year. I totally agree with Rick when he talks about how sophisticated their songs are (although seemingly simple) compared to many of their peers.
The Bends is a desert island disc for me. Completely changed my view of Radiohead which I had just written off as a one-hit wonder. Sublime album, definitely dark which appealed to my young dark brooding at the time. One of my old bands used to do a slightly higher energy cover of Fake Plastic Trees. Ok Computer may be more diverse and experimental but The Bends does it for me.
I just had the same exact conversation on reddit about the bends. I, too, wrote them off as a one hit wonder and didn't listen to the bends. After being mesmerized by ok computer. I checked it out and was floored how great it was
@@everythingsgoneorang Similar for me, it was well after OK Computer rocketed up the charts and was everywhere. I was on a roadtrip and my buddy put it on. I couldn't believe it.
Let Down is absolutely beautiful and lyrically so powerful, but for me, Lucky is absolute perfection & the heart of the album. The cool kids at the time latched onto 'climbing', but it really hasn't aged well, unfortunately.
I actually loved "Creep", the one that is called their "pedestrian" song. so i guess i'm not sophisticated enough to appreciate their more complex, high brow stuff. most people I hear like their music say they listen to it when they are going through hard times. Word of advice folks - if you want music that makes you feel good just buy a cheap guitar and learn three chords you can play yourself in this order, G, C, D or any order really. its always gonna sound upbeat and will always cheer you up. You don't need to hear C#9 dim and A aug sus 4 and all that complexity to feel special.
@@johnthecreative Sorry pal, at a certain point a I-IV-V progression is going to drive you insane. It makes you 'feel good' only if you haven't heard much music and don't realise it's been done to death. Not everyone's listening brain is the same as yours - they may need different things.
I think, perhaps, people are misunderstanding the "pedestrian" reference. It's like so many bands where that "most popular song" is one of their most basic crapped-out songs, I mean, yeah, Creep is fine and all, but it's nothing that a hundred far lesser bands couldn't have easily done, whereas Radiohead is, obviously, capable of making music that literally redefined the genre. Here's an example, Judas Priest _You've Got Another Thing Coming_ is, while perfectly fine, one of their most basic boneheaded songs, far FAR down the list of their best tunes, yet it's one of thier most famous. Creep is basically Radiohead going "Okay, so we need a teen-angst radio ditty," and they did it welll! It's just not representative of their abilities.
@H H there are a million artists in history that could have written "she loves you" or screenprinted Banksy. Both works are not pedestrian. Art is not only or always a technical act. If you watch the Paris live performance of creep, you'll see a crowd touched by a lyric and harmonic structure that has literally changed and saved lives. Nothin pedestrian about that in my view.
I was a junior in high school when I first heard "Creep" and immediately went out and bought the album. I had virtually the same reaction the you did Rick. When the "The Bends" came out 2 years later, I was forward deployed to Europe and begged the base exchange to get me a copy. When I got it, I wasn't in the right headspace to truly understand and appreciate what it was. For some reason though, Radiohead just stuck with me. I was in Chicago at some late night diner or restaurant when I heard "Paranoid Android" and I couldn't' even comprehend that it was the same band. When I sat down and listened to "OK Computer" for the first time with my discman, I just understood that this band will be a part of the soundtrack of the rest of my life. It wasn't until later that I really went back and listened to "The Bends" and understood that Radiohead music is about the evolution. Similar to TOOL, they have carte blanche to do whatever they want in the studio. Thank you for doing this comparative Rick.
I’m a massive Radiohead fan Rick, so thank you for making this video! In my opinion, The Bends is a great album but Ok Computer is a masterpiece, and a timeless classic! Would love to see a video on Kid A and In Rainbows, which are also masterpiece albums! Radiohead is truly one of the greatest bands of all time!
Honestly, it probably my favorite song ever, and i like a lot of music. Its in the pink floyd realm with the rhodes just an amazing relaxing spacey sound.
To me, The Bends is like Revolver. There's such a great turn, yet so much music to come. Two of my favorite songs are "Bones" and "Fake Plastic Trees." The Bends is when all the magic begins. It's also one reason why for me, despite so much argument to the contrary, it's the Beatles, then Radiohead.
Rick - great breakdown. Loved every second of it. I’m a big Radiohead fan, too. It’d be cool if you had the chance to do a breakdown like this with “Siamese Dream” and “Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness” with the Smashing Pumpkins - two great albums back to back, kind of like Radiohead here. Awesome video, loved it!
I love both those records I like their first album as well. The amazing thing is that Radiohead kept making great records just like the Beatles that is why I compare the two of them.
While I love Ok Computer and know that it is doing more artistically, perhaps technically the "better" album, I prefer The Bends. The Bends is far more listenable and I find I come back to it over and over again, it is one of my all time favorite albums.
The Bends grew on me, took a long time, but they kept releasing singles, that were on the radio a lot, and I ended up hooked. Definitely my favourite Radiohead album
Indeed. Those would be my 4 favorite Radiohead albums as well. I'll give a shout out though for the oft-forgotten and underrated "Hail to the Thief" album as well.
I'm heartened to see all the love for "Let Down." That song was my entry point to Radiohead's music, in general. It's a bit of a story, and I'll spare you. But jeez, is that an unbelievably great song; for me, it's something of a standout on an album full of stand outs. Complex, gorgeous, and immediately accessible. A miraculous album, all around. And Radiohead is my favorite band, and has been for twenty years now. It all began with "Let Down," basically.
The Bends makes me nostalgic for a decade where I wasn’t even born yet, and OK Computer was released in 1997 yet it’s arguably the most relevant album to 2022 going, so far ahead of it’s time its unbelievable
When The Bends came out it took you to another planet. It was one of those CDs that you could listen to from beginning to end over and over. Such beautiful songs. It has a vibe that is pure magic that I don't think they captured on any of their other albums.
I saw them in concert on the day that The Bends came out. Not having heard the new album I remember being absolutely blown away over and over again with the new tracks which is not an experience I had had before or since at any other concert. It was obvious from the show that the album was going to be incredible.
I remember about 15 years ago I was in a very dark place and struggling with life. The Bends album was incredibly helpful for me at that time and I still love it.
I was at a concert of Radiohead OK Computer tour in Offenbach Germany. I was a fan already but the concert shook me really. I invited my now wife and it was one of our all time moments. We remember this until today with real joy. Thank you for this review as I feel until today not very much people realize how great they are.
I will always have a closer emotional connection to "The Bends" on a personal level. "OK Computer" was an epic album !! You gotta give "In Rainbows" some props though. That album was a masterpiece too !!! "Reckoner," "Body Snatchers", "Jigsaws Falling into Place", "Weird Fishes".... All epic pieces in their own right !!!
Yep. I remember Q magazine writing something similar and I hadn't heard it yet. Then I heard it and was like "WTF is that, it's amazing but so different to pretty much everything Ive heard before". The more I listened and started learning the songs the more I could appreciate how sophisticated it was musically, lyrically and the production. Even my sister's musicologist friends were really into it. I use it and Kid A to test hifi equipment now 😁
In 1994 I was in a band that was the opening band for The Bends tour of the UK …14 shows. They were incredible. I never got tired of watching them, they got better and better every night . The Bends is a fantastic album…. but I gotta say I think Ok Computer is even better .
“Let Down” was a game changer for me personally. Will always be the #1 song. Still that being said, I would put “The Bends” as my overall favorite album.
I attended a festival in The Bronx that MCA from the Beastie Boys organized as a benefit for Tibetan monks and Radiohead was one of the bands performing. I was there primarily to see Porno For Pyros, Perry Farrell’s band after Jane’s Addiction. Sonic Youth also performed, as well as a couple of other big bands of the era. At the time, I only knew Creep and Just. A friend of mine asked me if I had heard the new Radiohead record, which I still hadn’t. He told me it was great, so we moved up front in General Admission to watch them. I’m a huge fan of everything Perry Farrell was involved with musically, but that day, Radiohead owned the stage. I was blown away. The friend asked me if I wanted to go see them at Radio City Music Hall a few weeks later and of course, I did. It was one of the greatest rock shows of my life, at one of the greatest worlds greatest live event venues. As you said, it was an equal mix of OK Computer, The Bends and a couple of songs from Pablo Honey. Since then, The Bends has become a close second favorite of mine from Radiohead. Thank you for making this video. It really made my day to see it in my feed!
The Bends was a great, great 1990s Alternative Rock album. OK Computer was a for real revolutionary music moment that transcended rock. What's more, OK Computer was tuned into the political undercurrents of the day like no other mainstream entertainment product of its time. It was remarkable just how aware these Oxford lads were of the political discontent of ordinary working people the world over. Much of what OK Computer warned against the world eventually would come to wholeheartedly embrace, and thus we have the destabilized world we have today. OK Computer changed my life and in profound ways changed the way I looked at the world.
There's an argument for either and in the end it comes down to personal taste. But in terms of "revolutionary" I don't think it was. Who did it really influence? And karma police is a bigger Beatles rip off than anything oasis ever did (not to say that it or sexy Sadie aren't great songs) it's the Bends all day every day and twice on a sunday
For me, I love the warmth of The Bends, OK Computer is a masterpiece, How to Disappear Completely is my favorite song so Kid A is in the running, but when In Rainbows came out I thought, “well, Radiohead has had its day in the sun, but let’s see if there’s anything relevant here.” Just blew me away. I must have watched the Scotch Mist and From The Basement vids a dozen or more times each in early 2008. I just couldn’t believe they still had this in the tank.
As a huge fan of Radiohead, The Cure, Nirvana and NIN, I have to find ways to sprinkle in positive / happier songs into the cauldron of woe. Its tough, I get why I listened to those bands when they came out...they matched how I felt. But now, I'm not really feeling like I did then, but I still love and appreciate the sound of the songs from those bands. This line from the movie High Fidelity says it all... "Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"
The Bends is my favorite, “Just” is a song that never gets old to me and such a rocking song. That climbing up part and the solo, you have to be dead to hate that song. It fires me up no matter how many times I hear it.
@@goesjem when you say very Lennon are you referring to “Sexy Sadie”? Or which Lennon track(s)? I believe musically they were inspired by “Sexy Sadie” but of course lyrically it’s a nod to “Instant Karma’s gonna get you” from John’s solo career
Word of advice folks - if you want music that makes you feel good just buy a cheap guitar and learn three chords you can play yourself in this order, G, C, D or any order really. its always gonna sound upbeat and will always cheer you up. You don't need to hear C#9 dim and A aug sus 4 and all that complexity to feel special.
@@michaelharrington75 Interesting, though I can't agree at all. AMSP has the band playing many different styles of music, like art rock, krautrock, chamber, ambient, etc. It shows how the bands sound continues to evolve, and it's just a beautiful album. Pablo Honey is a straight rock album, by a band that were just playing what was popular at the time. It wasn't innovative, or captivating, and was just an above average debut album. But hey, we all have opinions, and music hits us in different ways.
@@stephencrowley3939 Pablo Honey has meaning to me. It's an album I listened to a lot back in 93-94. I was anticipating the release of the Bends, and it absolutely blew my mind! It was 10 times better than I expected, and immediately made them a top band for me. Then OK Computer came out and blew my mind even more. I couldn't wait for their next album, and was disappointed when Kid A came out. I think they took a step backwards for it, and Amnesiac. There are some good songs on them, but they are not filled with great songs like the previous two albums. Seems like they were more concerned with making strange (still brilliant) sounds than recording great songs. I thought Hail to the thief was better, but still nothing close to the bends or OK Computer. I didn't expect them to ever make another album that I would enjoy all the way through, and then In Rainbows came out! They were back to their A game! Brilliant album filled with great songs. Even the bonus tracks were awesome! Lotus Flower and A moon shaped pool didn't the same for me. There are some good tracks on both, but not on par with their best albums. This is all just my own personal opinion. The Bends, OK Computer, and In Rainbows are the albums I consider their best work. Pablo Honey has sentimental nostalgia to me because I was a teenager when it came out, and I enjoyed the album. That's why I would rate it higher than A moon shaped pool. But, that could change? It might begin to grow on me, and I end up loving it?
I love that Rick says that his thought after The Bends was, “where do they go from here?” and a lyric in the song The Bends is, “where do we go from here”. Love it!
These two records are absolutely incredible but I find myself listening to "In Rainbows" on repeat all the time. I've probably listened to it 3x more than any other Radiohead album. But really. All of them are amazing. The world is better because Radiohead is in it.
Man im one of the few that puts in rainbows in the same level as ok comp and the bends. I know it's not as popular but i agree with you, in rainbows for me personally was so magnetic that ive kept coming back to hear thar album many many times
Hey Rick, just wanted to say I'm thoroughly enjoying your content and takes and just your general approach to music, popular and otherwise. Keep it coming
I've heard some revisionist nonsense about The Bends, some people opining that it's overrated and has dated badly. To this I say, compare this album to any released by a British band that year, and tell me it's not still staggeringly brilliant from start to finish. If you also listen to it alongside their first album, then you get the feeling that something truly, truly special had started to happen with this band around 1994. Their Astoria gig is still a fine starting point for this whole period, and essential viewing for any Radiohead fan.
Their best? Undoubtedly “Ok Computer” but “The Bends” would have to be my favourite from start through to finish. “Just” at the time was a great song and btw the video clip for it was also great and different
The Bends is the better album from cover to cover, but OK Computer has better, stronger songs and better arrangement work, but isn't as complete an album as The Bends in some ways. Yet OK Computer is much more musically sophisticated.
The opening chord progression of "Just" has always reminded me of the Love & Rockets song "No New Tale to Tell", check it out. Another fantastic Rick episode! I love hearing his take on anything musical, especially when it is about one of the greatest bands like Radiohead. He always conveys his technical knowledge of music in an everyman kind of way that makes all of us better music fans for having heard it.
I love these vs. video's! On this one I stand with The Bends, mostly because it resonated more with my personal twenty-something life at the time. Some suggestions for future episodes: U2 - The Joshua Tree vs. Achtung Baby Beach Boys - Surfin' USA vs. Pet Sounds Fleetwood Mac - Rumours vs. Tango in the Night Bruce Springsteen: Born To Run vs. Darkness On The Edge Of Town Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward vs. Violator ...
I remember listening to OK computer with some really great headphones and had to pick my jaw up off the floor. It was nothing like I’d ever heard. I remember thinking when certain music parts would come in and I’d go, “Whoa, that was so loud in the mix” but it was perfectly imperfect and ethereal. The grooves were so different and cool. It was a masterpiece.
I had an amazing experience when 2 of my best friends who’s musical tastes I completely trusted brought me OK Computer and a 1/2 ounce of mushrooms. I only knew “Creep” and thought we might be wasting the fungus, I lived a lifetime before “Paranoid Android” was over. I still have an amazing connection to that album!
"Just" was the song that converted me! prior to that, for me, they were just another rock band. Johnny's simple solo at the end is also genius! I think that chord progression was inspired by Magazine's "shot by both sides"
Pyramid Song for me is the greatest song they have ever wrote it has it all. Frightening psychological emotional lyrics against unexpected music. Straight to Number 1 in the UK which frankly astonished me for a song straight out of the dark left field.
Amidst all of the masterpieces they have written and recorded, I think Pyramid Song is their greatest. Still surprises when I listen to it today for the 5,000th time.
I love how many Radiohead songs have a breakdown and then crescendo leading to a climax, usually in the final verse leading to the chorus. Works so damn well.
I worked for Radiohead at one of their first live performances of Ok Computer. I don’t think the album had been released yet. The local crowd didn’t know what to think. 😂. The crew shirts were really cool. I still have it in a box of work shirts.
I can listen to The Bends from start to end, enjoying almost every song. Very pop-ish and enjoyable for more people. I love the heavier songs like Just and My Iron Lung, but also love the softer songs like Black Star and High and Dry. OK Computer is way more unorthodox, but hits you with Paranoid Android which is the beginning of their experimental phase. I also love the story telling of the whole album itself. If you haven't looked into that theory of the album, it's really cool. The Bends is easier to listen to, but OK Computer is the beginning of what Radiohead would be known for.
The Bends was simply just a fantastic rock album. Pablo honey X 10. OKC was extremely influential, it was a fever dream, and it helped so much music that came after get to another level. But the Bends will always hold a special place in my heart.
I second In Rainbows as their greatest album, but Moonshaped pool keeps growing on me. The opening strings and synth combo on burn the witch blows me away!! Plus desert disks…
honestly it's hard to compare Radiohead albums because they're all so different and all basically 10/10 other than PH/KoL, which you prefer will depend on how much you like melody vs. ambience, whether you favor electronic or rock, or what mood you're in that day
What band has ever put out five albums as perfect as The Bends, OK Computer, Kid A, In Rainbows, and Moon Shaped Pool? The last may not be for everyone, as it seems to be an ambient album by intention--but such ambience!!!!
The Bends is one of the best album of the 90s! it’s a rare album where not only is EVERY song great on its own, but there is flow and continuity front-to-back. I need to get the vinyl !
Exactly Rick. I've always thought of the first 3 albums as being made by 3 different bands; loved them all in their own right. the raw alt Englishness of Pablo H., then the evolutionary masterpiece of the Bends, and the next level concept production of OK P.
Where is music like this today? I know it probably exists, but bands like this aren't promoted anymore, it's insane. This was fantastic, complex music. Radiohead was huge but I still think they are underrated to this day.
Check out a band called Wand. Their albums Plum (2017) Laughing Matter from (2019) are phenomenal, and various tracks can draw some parallels with Radiohead e.g., vocals, interesting arrangements and rhythm, tone etc.,
The Bends. Each of the songs means so much to my soul. Huge nostalgia and goosebumps. OK Computer was amazing, goosebumps here too. But it has musical 'places' which just don't speak to me in the same way, strange and experimental.
Love love love the channel, Rick! The F major (modal borrowing of the flat VI harmony from a-minor) to A major on the opening to 'Airbag' is like a shifting between A major and a-minor (the A-C-natural of the F chord sounds like a substitution for a-minor); and the guitar line on top (^5-4-3-4-3) stays in the major mode, so it's like minor-major blended sonority. In the second verse there's also a minor iv chord (d-minor), along with a descending guitar counter-melody from scale-degree ^1-7-6-7-b6, again oscillating between the major and minor mode. I've used this tune to teach modal borrowing for years in theory classes :) Thank you for another great video.
The 7 song 'My Iron Lung' EP is a hidden masterpiece from the John Leckie produced Bends era. Non LP tracks like 'The Trickster' & 'Permanent Daylight' are incredible. All those Leckie produced B-sides are great.
@@skythemusic Yeah like I can probably walk a decade just using "rock". For me it's Franz Ferdinand in 2004 - oh good music didn't die. I saw In Rainbows live and well I re-became a Radiohead fiend in that space and time. I won't share my short list of albums but yes! Once in a decade is the real gold.
One of the best, most unique and weird bands ever. The production is amazing. It's great that Rick does retro-reviews of creative works like this. Keep up the great work!
So fun to re-live the exhilaration that came with hearing these albums for the first time with you, Rick! I appreciate your videos so much. I was a freshman in college in 2000, when Kid A came out. That's when I got turned onto Radiohead and went back to their earlier albums. I'll never forget lying on my dorm room loveseat, headphones on, turned up loud, listening to OK Computer straight through for the first time, tears streaming down my face because it was so damn beautiful and meant so much. The liner notes added to the power of it--the desperation of the lyrics and the beauty of the orchestration... It was so much of what I was feeling at the time, and they expressed it for me. Totally agree with you on "Let Down." That was for sure the high point. One of the most breathtaking, complex, and perfectly arranged rock songs ever recorded, in my opinion.
Saw them in London (Kentish Town Forum) the same week The Bends was released, we had a couple of days with the cassette before seeing them. The tickets were £6.50! Also caught them at Brixton for OK Computer. Aside from the records being incredible, they are one of the absolute best bands live
I took two of my sons 12 and 14 to see Radiohead just weeks before 9/11 in 2001 at a dog track outside Boston. We’d been listening to them a lot in the car, and they’d listened a lot in their rooms so they were even more familiar than I was. It was the best show I’d been to and I saw Zep at Madison Square Garden in the 70s. They started on time, so no rock star attitude keeping us waiting, but best of all was clarity of the sound system. Thom’s vocals and the instruments were perfect: not ear-splitting, pleasantly loud, and we could make out the lyrics. Such a memorable evening for all those reasons! (Plus I’ve always loved Oxford anyway …)
Heck, I would have played Planet Telex for you first. One of my all time faves. The word I would use for OK Computer is 'esoteric'. Did you know In Rainbows was a follow-up to OK Computer? I love their albums like some say they love their children - I don't have a 'favorite', I just love them all differently. Except Pablo Honey - the runt of the litter.
Absolutely agree! Planet Telex is my favorite song on the record, followed by Let Down. I’d have played Telex first too. That arpeggio on guitar in the outro gives me chills every time.
This is fantastic, Rick. You realize you can't just stop at the Bends and OK Computer, right? You have to do Kid A, Amnesiac, In Rainbows, Hail to the Thief, King of Limbs, AND A Moon Shaped Pool (which is my least favorite Radiohead album and it's still excellent). Kid A, Amnesiac, and In Rainbows - alone - are worthy of a 2 hour stream. Please make this happen! You are an invaluable resource of knowledge breaking down all these albums, sir.
The Bends is a straight up rock album! One of the best of the entire 90s. I saw Radiohead during The Bends tour. They opened for REM and absolutely blew them away. REM didn't even turn the house lights down for them, but it didn't matter. They stole the show.
The Bends is an amazing album and definitely my favorite by Radiohead. For me, the best 3 bands of the 90s were Radiohead, Soundgarden and Tool. Radiohead was like an extension of Pink Floyd. Very experimental and spacey futuristic music.
The only reason I went to the REM show in the UK in 1995 was to see Radiohead for the first time. Sorry REM but Radiohead stole the show before it had even started.
I really love The Bends but I rarely listen to it all the way through. I listen to OK Computer start to finish all the time. I'd say IMHO it is the most complete album ever. There isn't a single track I wouldn't listen to at high volume in the car.
Rick, when you talk about Radiohead, I’m so happy. I was late to the Radiohead party, only really delving in deep about 5 years ago, and now they’re just about all I listen to, except for ancient Neil Young recordings. So real.
Changed my life. I think The Bends taught me how to write catchy hooks, OK Comp taught me how to not be afraid to step outside the box as long as it is interesting, and still intelligently hooky. This was my fav segment. My opinions exactly!! 🔥🎶
