Let me get this out of the way first: “Fake Plastic Trees” is easily the worst song on this album. It’s also, as usual, the longest. Why this underwritten piece of whinery has been elevated to the level of all-time classic is astonishing to me. There’s better stuff all around it.

 

Now that that’s finished with: I like this album. I like it a pretty decent amount. It took a little while to grow on me, but that’s why I don’t review stuff after listening to it once. This certainly isn’t the five star masterpiece it’s passed off as – there are just too many mediocre songs for it to be that – but it’s a big leap forward from Pablo Honey.

 

I’ve already remarked on the worst song on the album, so let me talk about the best – “My Iron Lung” is certainly the first truly great song Radiohead ever wrote, and if everything they did were this good they might actually deserve their reputation. It almost veers a little too close to sounding like early 90s Adrian Belew – Yorke sounds uncannily like Belew channeling Lennon and McCartney – but Yorke is way more morose, and it works here. For once the rest of the band sound like they’re having fun, too.

 

The other two standout songs for me are “The Bends” and “Bones,” both of which are powerful rockers built around real riffs and memorable vocal melodies. “Just” almost fits into that same category, but while the band gives it their all and there are a couple of really cool parts, the tune just isn’t very good. The instrumental improvement is the real story here – Colin Greenwood has obviously been listening to a lot of Paul McCartney, or maybe Paul McCartney by way of Mike Mills. I won’t pretend to know who’s doing the guitar playing where, because I have no idea, but it’s a lot more varied than on Pablo Honey. Selway doesn’t really contribute much here, but he isn’t bad.

 

Bad. Let me talk more about that. Actually, besides “Fake Plastic Trees,” nothing here is unlistenable. But there are a bunch of somewhat average songs that don’t contribute much to the whole. “(Nice Dream),” “Bullet Proof…I Wish I Was,” and “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” are just boring, with soundalike guitar parts and listless performances by Yorke. A little better are “Black Star” and “Sulk,” but we’re still dealing with basic rock songs that would’ve fit in on Pablo easily. The bassline to “Sulk” sounds cribbed from “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” but I’m probably the only person that’d bother. And “Planet Telex” and “High and Dry” never feel as good as they should be.

 

But a lot of that is just nitpicking. The Bends ain’t great, but it is a very solid album, and I could see myself listening to at least significant chunks of it just for pleasure. And that’s all I’m looking for. I really want to give this album 4 stars, but I feel like it actually deserves 3.5. I hate ultra-specific grading systems, but this is my personal blog so who gives a shit? Let’s compromise and say that it’s a 3.75 out of 5 for now. Next we’ll be getting into the realm of Radiohead albums I actually have some non-infinitesimal experience with. It’s been some ten years or so since I’ve listened to OK Computer, and I have high hopes for it after developing an appreciation for The Bends.