The Bends

Baby's Got the Bends
by: bill aicher

It's amazing - how much a band can grow. Following up what some people thought was just a fluke, a flash in the pan - Radiohead released The Bends. And entered the history books.

Filled with soaring vocals, innovative guitar playing, and boatloads of emotion, The Bends has since been hailed as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Less experimental than their latter albums, The Bends is easily the most accessible release from Radiohead to date. When it was released in 1995 alternative rock was all the rage - grunge had died and pop had yet to take over. The melodies and inspiration found therein were nowhere else to be heard on pop radio, and far beyond what anyone expected from this "one-hit wonder."

Songs such as "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" soon captured the hearts music fans everywhere. People began to realize Radiohead was more than "Creep." Lyrics like "If I could be who you wanted all the time" sung in Yorke's sad yet dominant voice brought people to tears.

The Bends is a musical journey never matched by another band since. Radiohead have since moved on, packing up the guitar crunch for an aural landscape and electronic forays. Still, the album moves you and will continue to move generations.

It represented a certain moment in time. Certain albums capture that moment and hold on to it forever. When you listen to them they take you back. You feel what you felt, you dream what you dreamt.

And words can't describe it.