Radiohead

The Soundwaves Vinyl of the Week is The Bends by Radiohead. After a long hiatus, the band is back doing live shows, and hopefully ramping up to create some new music. Lead singer Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood did have a cool side project named The Smile and even put out a few great albums, but most people were just waiting for the day when the band would reunite.

 

Radiohead’s 1995 sophomore effort The Bends opened up with the echo-driven “Planet Telex”. The track list rolled into more moody, textured pieces that included the popular hits “High and Dry”, “Just”, and of course, “Fake Plastic Trees”.

 

The Bends isn’t Radiohead’s masterpiece—it’s the bridge to where they were heading. It’s a band that stretched Britpop’s elastic until it snapped into new geometries. Jonny Greenwood’s guitar wasn’t showing off—it translated Yorke’s lyrics into electricity. With this album Radiohead showed their fans how they could properly marry melancholy with melody.......And off they went.