I used to be born on October 19, 1996, which implies I used to be launched 19 months after The Bends was. It’s not an album I’m nostalgic for: I grew up in households the place New Wave Of British Heavy Steel bands and 70s prog rock had been near-constant soundtracks. I began discovering the trendy acts in these genres and, as my tastes began increasing in the direction of their extra avant-garde fringes, I observed increasingly of my favourites citing affect from Radiohead.
I’d heard of Radiohead earlier than, however solely by way of the memes. I knew the jokes about their fan-base being pretentious grownup virgins lengthy earlier than I knew even certainly one of their lyrics. Finally, although, this mysterious band’s affect on the music I beloved – acknowledged by everybody from Leprous to Detest – grew to become too intense to disregard.
I began with OK Pc, accustomed to its frequent anointment as among the finest albums ever made, and I appreciated it. Not as nice as Gothic by Paradise Misplaced, I believed, however nonetheless superb. So then I caught on The Bends and… fucking hell. That was the revelation.
As a junior-millennial rock fanatic, listening to The Bends felt tantamount to digging up the primary fish who grew legs. So lots of the bands who blew up throughout my youth – Muse, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Kings Of Leon, even the bloody Darkness – out of the blue had a typical ancestor. And none of them did The Bends higher than Radiohead did The Bends.
I’ve two enduring reminiscences of my first listens. One is being stunned by simply how unhappy it was. Like, I knew that Radiohead had been a tragic band, however this was unhappy. This album’s simply pushed dwelling from having its pet put down solely to by chance hit its toddler within the driveway.
Though unhappy music’s at all times appealed to me (be aware the above Paradise Misplaced reference), the sheer desperation of Road Spirit (Fade Out) nonetheless stood out. By some means, the track’s microscopic glimmer of hope made it all of the extra heart-rending, ending 4 minutes of arpeggiated chords, down-trodden wailing and ruminations on the pointlessness of life with one last-resort command: ‘Immerse your soul in love.’
There was an analogous, dying flicker within the black gap of Bullet Proof… I Want I Was. Thom Yorke conveyed his need to be stronger emotionally, but did so in defeated solemnity, loosely strumming an acoustic guitar and half-singing/half-whispering as if he already knew that his dream was inconceivable. My Iron Lung additionally soundtracked positivity drowning in a quagmire, likening Radiohead’s breakthrough single Creep and the following demand for an additional hit to a life-support machine: for all it did to maintain them, it vastly constrained their capabilities.
The second reminiscence is of how, for all that sorrow, The Bends refused to easily stoop down and sit nonetheless. There was an influence and quantity to the album that every one these memes I noticed by no means as a lot as hinted at. The title monitor was a cacophonously loud expression of stagnation, with even Yorke’s mightiest vocal cries getting overwhelmed by the distortion of Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien’s guitars. Black Star – behind a refrain that so, so lots of Radiohead’s acolytes have tried to duplicate – constructed a wall of riffing that was simply as impervious.
Different songs reserved their noise for crescendos, and these included a number of the album’s greatest singles, Excessive And Dry and Faux Plastic Bushes. Their buzzing bridges and solos felt like climaxes to grand classical actions, a tactic that solid whole careers for This Will Destroy You, Maybeshewill and myriad others as soon as the 2000s’ post-rock scene reached full steam. On the threat of sounding as wanky as I used to be as soon as led to consider Radiohead’s fan-base was, it was an ingenious stability of freeness, energy and management.
In 2025, it’s virtually tempting to snort at how despondent Radiohead had been 30 years in the past. Oh, you thought life again then was dangerous? Attempt dolloping a local weather disaster and the West’s growing embrace of fascism on prime of your issues! Nonetheless, The Bends represents each a refined assortment of music and a whole temper that has transcended its time. Irrespective of while you hearken to it, it’s going to give your blues essentially the most dynamic soundtrack.
OK Pc could also be extra acclaimed, Child A could also be extra rebellious… however, with regards to era-defining cues and versatile track craft, nothing Radiohead have performed will ever beat The Bands for me.
