release date: Mar. 13, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]
producer: John Leckie
label: EMI Japan - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Planet Telex" - 2. "The Bends" - 3. "High and Dry" (4 / 5) - 8. "My Iron Lung" - 9. "Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was" - 12. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"
2nd studio album by British britpop and alt. rock band Radiohead (originally released on Parlophone / Capitol Records) introducing a style and sound, which may be seen as a move from what was primarily britpop to a stronger alt. rock, but what is more striking with this, compared to the weaker debut, is clearly the much more obvious original material. Also, the band comes out as something other than the ordinary, a strong unit of skilled instrumentalists. The album doesn't include evident hit singles but it's more the whole album and the complex compositions as such, which makes this a much stronger release than the debut.
I never saw myself as a big Radiohead fan and must admit that I have never listened much to this particular album, although, it's definitely 'interesting'. In retrospect the album has been lauded as a source of inspiration for many subsequent artists of [especially] softer predominantly British alt. rock and indie pop artists like Coldplay, James Blunt, Keane and contemporaries like Pulp, Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, and Travis. The album is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Record Collector 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone (retrospect) 4 / 5, Spin 2,5 / 5 stars ]
