Track Listing

1. You
2. Creep
3. How Do You?
4. Stop Whispering
5. Thinking About You
6. Anyone Can Play Guitar
7. Ripcord
8. Vegetable
9. Prove Yourself
10. I Can't
11. Lurgee
12. Blow Out

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2050 in Music
• Released on: 1993-02-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's that old story: unknown British band gets an American hit single, gets huge off the back of that one song, and the success ends up destroying them. Fortunately, Oxford quintet Radiohead were the exception that proves the rule. Radiohead's albatross was "Creep"--a titanic anthem to paranoia, self-hatred and self-obsession, utterly huge in every way. Pablo Honey, though, is much more than filler. "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is certainly as good as "Creep"; swathed in walls of feedback, it races blindly into a apocalyptic chorus, frontman Thom Yorke singing "As the world turns and as London burns, I'll be standing on the beach with my guitar." Certainly, indie-rock seldom got better than this, and elsewhere "Vegetable" and "Prove Yourself" pulled similar pyrotechnical tricks. Pablo Honey was later superseded by first The Bends, and later OK Computer, but it's certainly much more than a curious debut. --Louis Pattison

CD Description
Before the breakthrough that was THE BENDS and the colossalOK COMPUTER, there was the quietly magnificent PABLO HONEY."Creep" was the surprise hit single in the UK, but even that gave scant indication of how special this band would become. Benefiting from a raw production, the debut was undoubtedly less slick and accomplished than subsequent work, although Thom Yorke's vulnerable but impressive vocal styling was already in place on songs such as "Stop Whispering". Many of the compositions were somewhat simplistic, but in terms of musical maturity Radiohead were clearly years ahead of their time. An indispensable album, it should not be parted from its two big brothers.

Customer Reviews

Nice debut
Radiohead's debut is sub-par in comparison with their other works. But then again Pablo Honey would have to be a mountain to level up to masterpieces such as The Bends, and Ok Computer.

Pablo Honey is always down, despite cheery introductions from from tracks I Can't, Prove Yourself, Lurgee, Blow Out etc... This album with help from Creep also gave Radiohead the "depressing" label which ignorants use who fail to listen to the true noise of this wonderful band.

For any Radiohead fan, I don't need to tell you to go buy this as you'll already have it. As for any new fan I would suggest OK Computer as a good introduction, and then work backwards.

Start of a legend!!
There is no greater band than radiohead, they are the most brilliant british band since Led Zeppelin and their music is emotional, powerful, and often breath aking and this is where it all began. Pablo Honey sold well on the back of hits single 'Creep' which broke them in the USA also. Personally 'Creep' is a fine song but is overated compared to the genius that they would come up with later. Pablo Honey itself has contains better songs than 'Creep'. 'Anyone Can Play Guitar' and 'Stop Whispering' which were both singles are a much more challenging and enjoyable listen.
Compared to the might of 'The Bends' and the astounding 'OK Computer' this album sounds primative and dated but its a nice album overall, and enjoyable laidback listen and a must for all radiohead fans.

A sign of things to come?
If you love Radiohead like me, and respect them as one of the greatest musical acts of the 1990s, then I think it is essential that you own this, Radiohead's debut album.

There is a general perception that this album is inferior to Radiohead's later work; while this is true, I would add that if you cast from your mind all thoughts of the band's later zenith of musical brilliance, this album on its own is very enjoyable to listen to; a fine advertisement for the musical fashions of the early 1990s, when the world was anxiously searching for an alternative to the prevalent trend of grunge.

Pablo Honey marks the first significant chapter in the musical evolution of Radiohead (serving as a time capsule for a band famed only for producing the hit song 'Creep'), signposting an outfit with immense potential who at the time were struggling to break through the first of many creative glass ceilings they would later effortlessly smash through.

The band dynamic, centred round the much-labelled 'tortured genius' of Thom Yorke, is firmly established with this record; Johnny Greenwood's caustic and inspirational lead guitar work is complemented by the assured bass playing of his brother Colin and the dextrous melodic counterpoints of guitarist Ed O'Brien, while Phil Selway's passionate drumming propels the whole shebang with consummate ease.

Any criticism of Pablo Honey should be counterbalanced with the argument that the beginning of a great journey is never the most memorable part.

Bearing in mind the exceptional overall quality of their musical output down the years, I think Radiohead deserve to be cut some slack for the comparative weakness of this record.