Track Listing

1. Planet Telex
2. The Bends
3. High and Dry
4. Fake Plastic Trees
5. Bones
6. Nice Dream
7. Just
8. My Iron Lung
9. Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was
10. Black Star
11. Sulk
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #672 in Music
• Released on: 1995-03-01
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
After the massive success of Pablo Honey--or, more specifically, the single "Creep"--had made them a household name, most had written Radiohead off as one-hit wonders. That they could return with an album as awesome and monumental as The Bends, therefore, must have been particularly unexpected. Not that Pablo Honey is a bad album, but rather, when compared to the epic grandeur of The Bends, it's obvious that the five Oxford-based boys had matured immensely since the release of their debut. "High And Dry", "Just", "Street Spirit", "Fake Plastic Trees": nary a pop song among them, yet it's testament to their greatness that they all were hit singles. And really, it's easy to see why: Thom Yorke's falsetto crying over a wall of acoustic and electric guitars, as lyrics and music blend to create a masterpiece of melancholy beauty. The Bends is one of the most essential albums of the 1990s, and a spectacular indicator of further greatness to come. --Robert Burrow

CD Description
On only their second outing Oxford's Radiohead fulfilled their huge potential, fashioning an album whose relentlessly downbeat tone was offset by an ability to formulate consistently winning melodies. The title track and "Just" throw some customary rock poses, but for the most part the band displayed a far more expansive approach. Thom Yorke emerged from the woodwork with a new-found vocal confidence, revealing a striking falsetto on two of the album's strongest tracks, "Fake Plastic Trees" and "High & Dry." The last three songs build inexorably to the stunning emotional climax of "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" with a control and poise that showcased the band's new maturity.

Customer Reviews

How to convey the brilliance?
Still pretty much speechless about the magnificence of this record, even after the amount of time it has spent in my CD player. Quite literally no other piece of music in my not small collection has a guaranteed play at least once a week. In particularly emotional periods of my life that turns into constant play, with the album constantly swinging me through emotions of thoughtful melancholia to purest bliss (prime examples being the sweet crescendo building Fake Plastic Trees followed by Bones, the lovely understated Nice Dream followed by the quick fix and suprisingly deep Just, and then the divine Bullet Proof followed by the heartbreakingly wonderful Black Star). This truly is an album that can seemingly bring meaning back to anyone's life, that anything can be so awe ispiringly beautiful is reason enough to carry on living - even heaven can't offer this perfection. I could easily write a 1000 word review about any song on this album, and when I have the time I likely will, in the singles reviews. No other album can so accurately drill a whole into the psyche than the Bends. It feels as if Thom Yorke knows me, knows exactly how I'm feeling all the time. Black Star has become my anthem for life, despite my originally believing it to bew one of the weaker songs on the album. Each and every song is a work of art, and this album will never be supersceded, even Radiohead at their peak weren't this good, the album transcends them. It transcends all of us, and anyone without it has a hole in their life.

Its the best thing that you ever had
This is the greatest radiohead album and the greatest album of the 90's. If you don't own this album you are missing out. The only other album which comes close is 'Ok Computer', however I think 'the bends' is better, only because it has a warmer feel to the cold mechanical,(but also brilliant) 'ok computer'. There isn't a weak song on the entire album. Thom Yorke's voice is at his best. At times the later albums, he can sound winey but it is stretched to perfection here. To thoughs who write off radiohead as 'depressing'. Are you emotionally dead? At times the songs can be sad, but they are always a joy to listen to. Songs are both about personal relationships and relationships between someone and the world. It expresses the the confusion of life in all its forms, that everyone must feel to some degree. However this album lifts you out of the choas and sweeps you across harmonies and melodies. The balance of songs on the album work really well, just as the album begins to flag, after the slow 'high and dry' and 'fake plasic trees', 'just' is thrashed out.'Just' is a stright out excellent rock song, nothing more nothing less. The best is saved to last, with 'street spirit (fade out)', about life, death and love. Thank god a band like this are still around.

An absolute classic
I only received my copy this morning, and already I'm going on record saying it's one of my all-time favourite albums. It is quite simply awesome. Every song has its place on the album and there is not a single filler track to be heard.

This is my first Radiohead purchase and I will admit, before listening to this, I wrote them off as depressing. Well, one listen to The Bends has changed my mind forever. If you think the same as I did, then waste no time in snapping this up. I guarantee it will convert you.