The Bends – china Optical Ethernet Switch – Optical Video Encoder/Decoder
Background
By the time Radiohead began their first United States tour in early 1993, their single “Creep” (1992) was in heavy rotation on MTV and had achieved top ten chart positions in the UK and the US when reissued in 1993. The grunge sound of their debut album Pablo Honey (1993) had led to the band being described as “Nirvana-lite”, and neither the album nor the singles “Stop Whispering” and “Anyone Can Play Guitar” matched the chart success of “Creep”.
Radiohead nearly broke up due to the pressure of sudden success as the tour extended into its second year. The band described the tour as a miserable experience, as towards its end they were “still playing the same songs that [they had] recorded two years previously… almost like being held in a time warp.” Tensions were high, as the band felt smothered by both the success of “Creep” and the mounting expectations for a superior follow-up. The band sought a change of scenery, touring Australasia and the Far East in an attempt to reduce the pressure. However, confronted again by their popularity, Yorke became disenchanted at being “right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle” he felt he was helping to sell to the world. The 1994 EP My Iron Lung, featuring the single of the same title, was Radiohead’s reaction, marking a transition towards the greater depth they aimed for on their second album.
Recording and production
At the start of 1994, Radiohead began working on song arrangements for The Bends. They were encouraged by both the material and their producer of choice, John Leckie, who had agreed to work with them on the album. Sessions were due to begin at London’s RAK Studio in January; however, fellow Oxford band Ride asked Leckie to perform some last-minute emergency work on their forthcoming album Carnival of Light. Radiohead agreed to postpone the start of the album’s sessions to 24 February to accommodate Leckie. The band used the extra time to practise their songs, but this later proved unsatisfactory to them Yorke said, “We had all of these songs and we really liked them, but we knew them almost too well . . . so we had to sort of learn to like them again before we could record them, which is odd.”
The band found the first two months of work on the album difficult. While they were pleased with Leckie and engineer Nigel Godrich, they felt pressured to follow up the success of Pablo Honey. The band’s record label, EMI, had set an October 1994 release date for the record, which later proved unrealistic. EMI also suggested Radiohead should record the album’s lead single first. No one could agree on what the lead single should be, so the band worked on four tracks they considered candidates: “Sulk”, “The Bends”, “Just”, and “Nice Dream”. The approach proved counter-productive; Leckie recalled, “Everyone was pulling their hair out saying, ‘It’s not good enough!’ [. . .] We were trying too hard”. The recording process slowed down further as guitarist Jonny Greenwood experimented with several rented guitars and amplifiers in order to discover “a really special sound” for his instrument, despite Leckie’s belief that Greenwood already had one. According to Leckie, whenever a record company representative or the group’s management came to check on the album’s progress, all the band would have to show them was “a drum sound or something”.
In an attempt to defuse tensions between Yorke and the rest of the band, which had begun over whether or not they should take a break from the sessions that April, Leckie suggested to Yorke that he record some songs by himself on guitar. The group had a tour lined up for May until mid-June, which meant that the album would not be completed by October as planned. By the end of the sessions at RAK, Radiohead had recorded several songs that would appear on the album, as well as most of the tracks that would appear on My Iron Lung extended play (EP). They resumed recording on 16 June at businessman Richard Branson’s rural studio complex the Manor. Unlike the sessions at RAK, the group recorded material quickly; Leckie felt the break for the tour gave the group “confidence’ in the songs again. The band completed recording the album at Abbey Road Studios in London, where Leckie also mixed some of the songs.
Due to the poor commercial performance of the My Iron Lung EP, EMI decided Pablo Honey producers Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie would remix the album tracks in the United States. Leckie did not realise what was happening until EMI asked him for copies of the multi-track tapes. Leckie said EMI “had been going on about trying to get an American sound for the record from the minute I got involved”. Kolderie insisted he and Slade did not lobby to remix the album, but EMI made the decision and the band supported it after hearing Pablo Honey play over a sound system during an in-store appearance. Leckie did not always like what Slade and Kolderie produced, but he has since stated that it was a sound decision to have others approach the music with a fresh approach.
Music
“Just”
“Just”, Radiohead’s fourth single from The Bends, reached number 19 in the UK charts in 1995.
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According to the band, The Bends marked the start of a gradual turn in Yorke’s songwriting from personal angst to the more cryptic lyrics and social and global themes that would come to dominate the band’s later work. Most of the album was seen to continue the lyrical concerns of Pablo Honey, although in more mature fashion. The songs “Fake Plastic Trees” and, in particular, “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” and its b-side “Talk Show Host”, are often seen as a precursor to their next album OK Computer (1997).[citation needed] “Fake Plastic Trees” was partly inspired by the commercial development of Canary Wharf, while “Sulk” was written as a response to the Hungerford massacre. According to Yorke, “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” was inspired by the book The Famished Road by Ben Okri.
The lyrics to the songs on The Bends, particularly those of “My Iron Lung”, were cited in the British music press as an example of Yorke’s alleged depression. Melody Maker ran an article during The Bends period which suggested Yorke would be the next “rock ‘n roll martyr” or suicide.
Artwork
The Bends was the first of the band’s full-length records with artwork by Stanley Donwood, in collaboration with Yorke, who went under the name “The White Chocolate Farm” (later shortened to Tchock). Originally Yorke had wanted to use an image of an iron lung as the cover, but he lost it.[citation needed] The eventual album cover was created at the last minute by morphing a photograph taken by Donwood of a medical dummy with Yorke’s own face. It is also the last Radiohead album whose liner notes and artwork include pictures of the band members.
Reception
Professional ratings
Source
Rating
Blender
Alternative Press
(favourable) 4/1995, p. 71
Yahoo! Music
Robert Christgau
(C)
The Independent
(favourable)
Pitchfork Media
(10.0/10)
Allmusic
Entertainment Weekly
(B+) 7/4/1995, p. 92
Rolling Stone
(favourable)
BBC
(favourable)
The Bends met with much greater critical acclaim than Pablo Honey, appearing on many end-of-year lists in 1995. Within the UK, it assured Radiohead’s role as a standard-bearer of “indie” Brit-rock bands. The album was released during the height of the ’90s Britpop movement, benefiting from renewed press attention to British guitar music; however, in the band’s home country, Radiohead’s music was rarely grouped with Blur, Pulp and other so-called “Britpop” acts, instead receiving some acclaim for diverging from the fashionable aspects of the scene.
In the United States, the album eventually reached number 88 on the Billboard 200 in 1996, while the single “High and Dry” reached number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, The Bends reached number 4 and remains a bestseller. In mid-1995 Radiohead toured as an opening act for R.E.M., playing songs from The Bends and extending their popularity with a mass audience.
The Bends had an influence on the subsequent generation of British pop bands. In 2006, The Observer listed it as one of “the 50 albums that changed music”, saying, “Radiohead’s Thom Yorke popularised the angst-laden falsetto, a thoughtful opposite to the chest-beating lad-rock personified by Oasis’s Liam Gallagher. Singing in a higher octave-range and falsetto voice to a backdrop of churning guitars became a much-copied idea, however, one that eventually coalesced into an entire decade of sound. Without this, Coldplay would not exist, nor Keane, nor James Blunt.” Radiohead members said they later distanced themselves from their mid ’90s sound partly because they felt little affinity for those that adopted the sound.
The Bends took second place behind Radiohead’s OK Computer in both 1998 and 2006 reader polls of Q magazine for the best album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 110 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone initially gave the album an average rating. In 2000, Virgin’s Top 1000 Albums of All Time ranked The Bends at number two, second only to Revolver by The Beatles.
Track listing
All songs written by Radiohead.
#
Title
Length
1.
“Planet Telex”
4:19
2.
“The Bends”
4:06
3.
“High and Dry”
4:17
4.
“Fake Plastic Trees”
4:50
5.
“Bones”
3:09
6.
“(Nice Dream)”
3:53
7.
“Just”
3:54
8.
“My Iron Lung”
4:36
9.
“Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was”
3:28
10.
“Black Star”
4:07
11.
“Sulk”
3:42
12.
“Street Spirit (Fade Out)”
4:12
13.
“How Can You Be Sure? (Japanese bonus tracks)”
4:20
14.
“Killer Cars (Japanese bonus tracks)”
3:02
Collector’s edition CD 2 tracks
#
Title
Length
1.
“The Trickster”
4:40
2.
“Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong”
4:38
3.
“Lozenge of Love”
2:14
4.
“Lewis (Mistreated)”
3:17
5.
“Permanent Daylight”
2:47
6.
“You Never Wash Up After Yourself”
1:42
7.
“Maquiladora”
3:25
8.
“Killer Cars (full band version)”
3:02
9.
“India Rubber”
3:24
10.
“How Can You Be Sure?”
4:20
11.
“Fake Plastic Trees (live acoustic)”
4:41
12.
“Bullet Proof.. I Wish I Was (live acoustic)”
3:34
13.
“Street Spirit (Fade Out) (live acoustic)”
4:26
14.
“Talk Show Host”
4:39
15.
“Bones (BBC Radio One session, 14 September 1994)”
3:01
Personnel
Thom Yorke vocals, guitar, piano, string arrangements
Jonny Greenwood guitar, organ, synthesiser, piano, recorder, string arrangements
Colin Greenwood bass guitar
Ed O’Brien guitar, vocals
Phil Selway drums
Caroline LaVelle cello
John Matthias violin, viola
Nigel Godrich Production, engineering
Chris Blair mastering
Chris Brown engineering
Stanley Donwood illustrations
Paul Q. Kolderie mixing
John Leckie production, engineering, mixing
Guy Massey engineering (assistant)
Sean Slade mixing
Jim Warren production, engineering
Chart history
Chart (1995)
Peak
position
Australian ARIA Charts
23
Austrian Albums Chart
37
German Albums Chart
73
Swedish Albums Chart
26
Chart (1996)
Peak
position
Belgian (Flanders) Ultratop 50 Albums
8
Belgian (Wallonian) Ultratop 50 Albums
26
Netherlands Mega Album Top 100
20
New Zealand Albums Chart
8
UK Albums Chart
4
US Billboard 200
88
Canadian Albums Chart
21
References
Randall, Mac. Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. Delta, 2000. ISBN 0-385-33393-5
Notes
^ a b Roberts, David, ed. (June 2006), British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.), London: HiT Entertainment, p. 447, ISBN 1-90499-410-5
^ a b “Radiohead > Charts & Awards”, Allmusic, Santa Clara, California: Macrovision, retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Creepshow”, Melody Maker, 1992-12-19
^ Smith, Andrew (2000-10-01), “Sound and Fury”, The Observer, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/life/story/0,6903,375564,00.html, retrieved 2007-03-17
^ Richardson, Andy (1995-12-09), “Boom! Shake The Gloom!”, NME
^ Harding, Nigel (1995-05-08), “Radiohead’s Phil Selway”, Consumable Online, http://www.westnet.com/consumable/1995/May08.1995/revradio.html, retrieved 2008-10-05
^ Black, Johnny (2003-06-01), “The Greatest Songs Ever! Fake Plastic Trees”, Blender, http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=824, retrieved 2007-04-15
^ Reynolds, Simon (June 2001), “Walking on Thin Ice”, The Wire
^ Mallins, Steve (1995-04-01), “Scuba Do”, Vox magazine
^ Randall, p. 124
^ Randall, p. 125
^ a b Randall, p. 126
^ Randall, pp. 127-28
^ Randall, pp. 129-30
^ Randall, p. 133
^ Randall, p. 139
^ Randall, p. 140
^ Fake Plastic Trees Lyrics, 3-1995, http://www.greenplastic.com/lyrics/fakeplastictrees.php
^ – Mac Randall (September 1, 2004). Exit Music: The Radiohead Story, 119. Google Print. ISBN 1-84449-183-8 (accessed October 28, 2005). Also available in print from Omnibus Press.
^ “Headcases”, Melody Maker, June 1995
^ Blender Review
^ Yahoo! Music Review
^ Robert Christgau Review
^ The Independent Review
^ Pitchfork Media Review
^ Allmusic Review
^ Rolling Stone Review
^ BBC Review
^ Sullivan, Caroline (1997-06-13), “Aching Heads”, Guardian
^ “The 50 albums that changed music”, The Observer, 2006-07-16, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1821230,00.html, retrieved 2008-10-05
^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6598668/110_the_bends
^ ([dead link]) Beatles, Radiohead albums voted best ever, 2000-09-04, http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/04/britain.albums/, retrieved 2008-10-08
^ “Radiohead – The Bends (Album)”, Australian-charts.com, retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Radiohead – The Bends (Album)”, Austriancharts.at, retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Chartverfolgung: Radiohead: The Bends”, Musicline.de (in German), retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Radiohead – The Bends (Album)”, Swedishcharts.com, retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Radiohead – The Bends (Album)”, Ultratop.be (in Dutch), retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Radiohead – The Bends (Album)”, Ultratop.be (in French), retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Radiohead – The Bends (Album)”, Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch), retrieved on 2009-05-05
^ “Radiohead – The Bends (Album)”, Charts.org.nz, retrieved on 2009-05-05
v d e
Radiohead
Colin Greenwood Jonny Greenwood Ed O’Brien Phil Selway Thom Yorke
Studio albums
Pablo Honey The Bends OK Computer Kid A Amnesiac Hail to the Thief In Rainbows
EPs
Drill Itch My Iron Lung No Surprises/Running from Demons Airbag / How Am I Driving? I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings COM LAG (2plus2isfive)
Demos
Woodworm Demo Shindig Demo Dungeon Demo Manic Hedgehog
Compilations
Radiohead Box Set Radiohead: The Best Of
Singles
“Creep” “Anyone Can Play Guitar” “Pop Is Dead” “Stop Whispering” “My Iron Lung” “High and Dry”/”Planet Telex” “Fake Plastic Trees” “Just” “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” “Paranoid Android” “Karma Police” “No Surprises” “Pyramid Song” “Knives Out” “There There” “Go to Sleep” “2 + 2 = 5” “Jigsaw Falling into Place” “Nude” “Reckoner” “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” “These Are My Twisted Words”
Other songs
“Exit Music (For a Film)” “Everything in Its Right Place” “The National Anthem” “Optimistic” “Idioteque” “I Might Be Wrong” “Like Spinning Plates” “Life in a Glasshouse” “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” “House of Cards” “Bodysnatchers”
DVDs
Live at the Astoria 7 Television Commercials Meeting People Is Easy The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time Radiohead: The Best Of In Rainbows From the Basement
Related articles
Discography Live performances Awards and nominations List of Radiohead songs Nigel Godrich Stanley Donwood The Help Album The Eraser Atoms for Peace “Scott Tenorman Must Die”
Categories: 1995 albums | Radiohead albums | Parlophone albums | Albums produced by John Leckie | Albums produced by Nigel GodrichHidden categories: All articles with dead external links | Articles with dead external links from May 2009 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007
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