Pablo Honey<\/i> came around the same time when the revolutionary sound of Nirvana and other bands that formed the alternative sound of the early \u201890s began to feel somewhat familiar. Some bands like Sugar and The Breeders justifiably used this momentum as payback for years of toiling away in dank clubs with their former bands. Other bands formed for the sole purpose of capitalizing on a new sound. But by the time 1995 came along, a lot of these bands were already starting to be forgotten. <\/p>\n
While Radiohead didn\u2019t form for the sole purpose of capitalizing on the grunge movement, \u201cCreep\u201d certainly sounded like they were doing just that. So when The Bends<\/i> came out, listeners in the United States were already tired of the sludgy riffs of grunge and embracing more bar-friendly fare, such as Hootie And The Blowfish and The Dave Matthews Band. The album barely cracked the Top 100 in the What many people didn\u2019t realize was that The Bends<\/i> was an album that represented one of rock\u2019s greatest turnarounds for a band. While Pablo Honey<\/i> had some ear-pleasing moments, nothing could have prepared listeners for the atmospheric roar of The Bends<\/i>\u2019 kickoff track \u201cPlanet Telex.\u201d Much has been said about Thom Yorke\u2019s vocal and lyrical direction of The Bends<\/i>, but the album truly excels at simply being an amazing guitar album, one of the best guitar albums you\u2019ll hear in the \u201890s. And the person at the forefront of Radiohead\u2019s guitar assault is Johnny Greenwood. His confidence is all over the album, from full-on rave ups like \u201cMy Iron Lung\u201d and \u201cSulk\u201d to intensely intimate moments of quiet like \u201cBullet Proof\u2026I Wish I Was.\u201d <\/p>\n It took the release of OK Computer<\/i> for Radiohead to regain the fans initially won with \u201cCreep\u201d as well as an entirely new legion of fans. From that album, people quickly began to discover the band had already released a masterpiece two years before. <\/p>\n Now that the band has left Capitol\/EMI, the record label has reissued the band\u2019s first three albums on Capitol. It\u2019s a crass marketing move, but giving a two-disc deluxe treatment to The Bends<\/i> and OK Computer<\/i> will tempt even casual Radiohead fans to drop another $15-$20 for these two landmark albums. <\/p>\n Fear not, though. EMI\/Capitol knew they are messing with two albums with a fanbase that ranks as one of the most obsessive in rock today. Stuffing an album full of B-side filler would certainly incur some serious wrath from the group\u2019s followers. With The Bends<\/i>, the B-sides include songs that were already popular such as \u201cTalk Show Host\u201d and \u201cKiller Cars.\u201d In other B-sides, you can hear ideas that would later be more fully fleshed out in later releases. The most prevalent is the opening of \u201cLozenge Of Love,\u201d which sounds remarkably close to \u201cBodysnatchers.\u201d <\/p>\n The live songs are less revolutionary. Acoustic versions of \u201cFake Plastic Trees\u201d and \u201cBullet Proof\u2026I Wish I Was\u201d are effective, but don\u2019t do much in terms of making a strong impression. And thanks to the invention of YouTube, you can hear scores of acoustic versions of these songs. It\u2019s the only time in this deluxe release where you can feel Capitol was stretching for material. A possible better choice would have been one of the remarkable remixes of \u201cPlanet Telex.\u201d Another nice touch would have been some narrative in the liner notes about recording the album. Instead, we get almost a virtual reprint of the original liner notes. <\/p>\n Even with a few unnecessary live tracks, the deluxe release of The Bends<\/i> more than justifies the purchase. The beautiful repackaging of the album is almost worth the purchase alone. Thankfully, the B-sides are so good, they could have either been included on the original disc or in an intensely great EP. It\u2019s likely that The Bends<\/i> and OK Computer<\/i> will undergo another release when these albums approach their 25th anniversary, but that\u2019s still more than a decade away. In the meantime, a rerelease of The Bends<\/i> is still a better investment than almost any album released this year.