Radiohead - The Bends

Pablo Honey in no way was adequate preparation for its epic, sprawling follow-up, The Bends. Building from the sweeping, three-guitar attack that punctuated the best moments of Pablo Honey, Radiohead create a grand and forceful sound that nevertheless resonates with anguish and despair -- it's cerebral anthemic rock. Occasionally, the album displays its influences, whether it's U2, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., or the Pixies, but Radiohead turn clichés inside out, making each song sound bracingly fresh. Thom Yorke's tortured lyrics give the album a melancholy undercurrent, as does the surging, textured music. But what makes The Bends so remarkable is that it marries such ambitious, and often challenging, instrumental soundscapes to songs that are at their cores hauntingly melodic and accessible. It makes the record compelling upon first listen, but it reveals new details with each listen, and soon it becomes apparent that with The Bends, Radiohead have reinvented anthemic rock. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Caroline LaVelle Cello Chris Blair Digital Editing, Mastering Chris Brown Engineer Colin Greenwood Bass Ed O'Brien Vocals, Guitar Guy Massey Assistant Engineer Jim Warren Engineer, Producer John Leckie Engineer, Mixing, Producer John Matthias Violin, Viola Jonny Greenwood Piano, Organ, Guitar, String Arrangements, Recorder, Synthesizer Nigel Godrich Producer, Engineer Paul Q. Kolderie Mixing Phil Selway Drums Radiohead Producer, Mixing Sean Slade Mixing Stanley Donwood Illustrations Thom Yorke String Arrangements, Piano, Vocals, Guitar