One at a Time: "The Bends" (1995) by Radiohead

#110 "The Bends" (1995) by Radiohead

 I've never really known anything about Radiohead.

 A couple of years ago when I was in college, I went out and bought "Kid A" because there was always so much hype around that album, but I just wasn't into it. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be. It was too electronic for me, too odd and experimental. I actually had a similar experience with Nirvana and "Nevermind." I'm too young to remember when that came out, so all I ever knew of it was that it was supposed to be the best album ever and all that bullshit. It was the rock and roll album that saved rock and roll, or whatever.

Now, I know that I'm adding an awful lot of context to what is supposed to be an examination of this music without context, but that's only because I wanted to say this: "The Bends" is what I thought "Nevermind" was going to be, and what I expected from Radiohead before I bought "Kid A"; complex, guitar-driven, beautiful at times and loud at others, like a ramped-up REM. And that's what "The Bends" is. It's what I wanted out of the critical darlings of rock and roll critics in the '90s.

Album standouts include "The Bends," "High and Dry," "Just," and "Black Star."

1. "The Bends" (1995) by Radiohead
2. "Honky Chateau" (1972) by Elton John