The Smile "Cutouts" (2024)

Cutouts

release date: Oct. 4, 2024

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]

producer: Sam Petts-Davies

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Foreign Spies" - 2. "Instant Psalm" (4 / 5) - 3. "Zero Sum" - 4. "Colours Fly" - 8. "The Slip" - 9. "No Words" - 10. "Bodies Laughing" (live)

3rd full lenght from The Smile follows only 9 months after Wall of Eyes (Jan. 2024) and it's a collection of outtakes - 'cutouts' from the same recording sessions that led to the predecessor. It's a total of ten tracks with a running length of approx. 44 mins.

Not surprisingly, this new album sounds much like the former, and at a first listen it doesn't bring out new sensational singles but given some time, it may actually fall out as the better of the two. It's not that Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke have neglected the experimental side in their many former releases, and Radiohead wasn't exactly famous for their standard rhythm section but it appears that with the inclusion of drummer Tom Skinner (Sons of Kemet), there has been a valuable addition of jazz vibe to Yorke and Greenwood's drafts. Skinner has an exploring nature where syncopation adds up on the natural weirdness of Greenwood and Yorke compositions, which turns everything into synchronised improvs with a strong sense of creative coherence, and the jazz element makes it extremely vibrant. Just as some critics suggest, I think the bottom-line of Cutouts is that it represents more free improvs thus making it more experimental, and yet the selection of compositions make a fine coherent whole where you really get to hear what great musicians they all are. Which of these two releases you prefer is a matter of taste, and in the long run, they may be regarded much more on par.

For the time being, I prefer this one. I think, i's a fine grower - but gosh, imagine they had originally released it as a double album!

Recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Slant 3,5, The Guardian, NME, 👉Pitchfork 8 / 10, 😲MusicOMH 5 / 5 stars ]

The Smile "Wall of Eyes" (2024)

Wall of Eyes

release date: Jan. 26, 2024

format: digital (8 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]

producer: Sam Petts-Davies

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wall of Eyes" (4 / 5) - 2. "Teleharmonic" - 3. "Read the Room" - 4. "Under Our Pillows" - 7. "Bending Hectic"

2nd studio album by The Smile following nearly two years after A Light for Attracting Attention (May 2022) with Petts-Davis as producer - he previously produced Thom Yorke's solo soundtrack Suspiria (2018) for Luca Guadagnino's remake of a Dario Argento horror classic.

Although, the album has been made with a new producer, it really doesn't fall far from the trio's first album and you could also argue that the project here doesn't expose a tone that essentially differs from that of Radiohead, perhaps because that band's musical centre is constituted by Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood who are 2/3 of The Smile. And although, many compositions were nearly finished by Greenwood and Yorke in the Summer of '23, all songs and music here is credited the band only.

The now two studio albums by The Smile are so much alike that it's tempting to regard them as two chapters of the same book, or two sides of the same coin, and that's the only snag to a otherwise fine follow-up. On the positive side, you could add that it's really nice to have renowned artists like Yorke, Greenwood, and Skinner, who choose to make an album with focus on musical experimentation instead of going mainstream pop, and in that regard, the trio still offers a refreshing and challenging side-step to the Grammy Awards' self-centrered spotlight of make-believe where everything is about performance.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, 😮Pitchfork 8,5 / 10, 👎Exclaim! 3 / 5 stars ]

The Smile "A Light for Attracting Attention" (2022)

A Light for Attracting Attention [debut]

release date: May 13, 2022

format: digital (13 x File, FLAC - XL1196DA

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]

producer: Nigel Godrich

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Same" - 2. "The Opposite" - 3. "You Will Never Work in Television Again" (live on KEXP) - 6. "Speech Bubbles" (live) - 7. "Thin Thing" - 9. "Free in the Knowledge" - 11. "Waving a White Flag" - 13. "Skrting on the Surface" (live)

[ full KEXP live performance, Dec. 2022 ]

Studio debut by project-trio The Smile consisting of the two Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood together with Sons of Kemet-drummer Tom Skinner. The project is one of many offspring-projects during the COVID-19 lockdown. The album counts 13 tracks with a total running time of 53 mins.

Sonically, it appears as another take on the Radiohead / Atoms for Peace musical universe founded on experimental progressive (art) rock - and here with stronger focus on the electric guitar as opposed to Yorke's solo works and the music Yorke made with Atoms for Peace, where electronic equipment takes up a more present role, but it's also music where the rhythm section really unfolds thanks to Tom Skinner's sense for jazz drumming. In that regard, The Smile offers more room for Greenwood and Skinner - and then, it doesn't fall far from later albums by Radiohead except for being more loose.

Thom Yorke is credited as vocalist and for other instrumentation, he's songwriter and together with Greenwood, Skinner and producer Godrich they're all credited as composers.

The album was met by critical acclaim - several critics noting that there's not much new going on but also answering that it doesn't matter too much because the songs feel new and it just sounds great.

Recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian 4 / 5, Pitchfork 8,6 / 10 stars ]

Thom Yorke "Anima" (2019)

Anima
release date: Jun. 27, 2019
format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Traffic" - 2. "Last I Heard (...He Was Circling the Drain)" - 4. "Dawn Chorus" (live at Montreux) - 6. "Not the News" - 8. "Impossible Knots" - 9. "Runwayaway" (live at Montreux)

3rd solo studio album by Thom Yorke is very much 'business as usual' by being produced by Nigel Godrich. Apparently, Yorke found inspiration to the songs in readings about dreams and the subconscious, and the entire album was recorded partly through live studio recordings, Godrich's collaborative takes on Yorke's musical drafts, and eventually Yorke writing lyrics to pieces they came up with along the way.
Stylistically, the result is not far from his two previous solos, The Eraser from 2006 and Tomorrow's Modern Boxes from 2014, as well as drawing on similar elements from the Radiohead album A Moon Shaped Pool from 2016 with a clear glitch pop twist and the usage of musical loops.
The album release was followed by American film director Paul Thomas Anderson's 15 mins. short "Anima" featuring Yorke and his partner, actress Dajana Roncione as choreographed dancers with music from the album [excerpt from the film].
The album has generally been met by positive reviews with The Guardian and its 3 out of 5 stars review presenting the perhaps most luke-warm reception, and the Telegraph and a 5 out of 5 stars review as probably one of the most positive responds.
I find it quite fascinating and clearly bettering his second solo Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, and it took me quite a long time wondering whether the album, as some critics suggest, is his best. I finally settled with a similar judgement and rate it close to his solo debut from 2006, and I can only say that it's a very fine and originally sounding album, which is worth a great many spins.
[ 👎The Guardian 3 / 5, The Independent, 👍NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, The Telegraph 5 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "A Moon Shaped Pool" (2016)

A Moon Shaped Pool
release date: May 8, 2016
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: Nigel Godrich, Radiohead
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Burn the Witch" - 2. "Daydreaming" - 4. "Desert Island Disk" (4 / 5) (live) - 5. "Ful Stop" - 7. "Identikit" (4 / 5) - 8. "The Numbers" - 11. "True Love Waits"

9th studio album by Radiohead is a self-released album originally issued as a digital download album and a month later released on vinyl and cd through XL Recordings. The album follows more than five years after The King of Limbs (Feb. 2011). The sound is more like a combo of things they have already explored: The fine art rock of In Rainbows combined with a freer music, which both points to Kid A, Amnesiac, and The King of Limbs with its loops and sampling technique; however, here much more refined to match the characteristics of single compositions and with the addition of strings.
I really enjoy this album and have come to see it as a real grower where tracks also point to the solo works by Yorke, and I basically think of it as no less than Radiohead's alltime second best album.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, The Guardian, NME 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, Spin 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Thom Yorke "Tomorrow's Modern Boxes" (2014)

Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
release date: Sep. 26, 2014
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,48]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: Landgrab - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "A Brain in a Bottle" - 8. "Nose Grows Some"

Second solo album by Thom Yorke released 8 years after his acclaimed solo debut The Eraser from 2006. Again, Yorke works with producer Nigel Godrich and the music is much the debut in the electronic and glitch pop genre. Since the 1st solo album, Yorke has rejoined forces with Radiohead and released two studio albums, and the track "Atoms for Peace" from the solo debut gave name to the eponymous project-band featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, Flea and producer Godrich on keyboards, together with Yorke and several other well-established musicians - initially, just to perform tracks from Yorke's debut album live, but in 2013 this project released the album Amok. From the early Radiohead albums, Yorke has moved from musical styles built on post-rock and alt. rock references, via experimental and art rock to embrace the electronic genre. The interesting aspect about Yorke's turn on electronics is the inclusion and combination of what appears as more piano-based singer / songwriter compositions. Tomorrow's Modern Boxes contains many of the same elements as his first solo album, but I don't find it neither refreshing or really original. It appears both more coherent, and more meditative, but I must admit that I find it somewhat boring. Yorke is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and gifted musicians on this side of the new millennium, and I'm sure he will release great music again.
After this Yorke worked with Robert Del Naja (from Massive Attack) and together they made the music for the Mark Donne documentary "The UK Gold" (2015) (aka "Offshore Incorporated"), which was Yorke's first attempt with soundtrack music.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Atoms for Peace "Amok" (2013)

Amok [debut]
release date: Feb. 25, 2013
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Before Your Very Eyes" - 2. "Default" - 3. "Ingenue" - 7. "Judge, Jury and Executioner" - 9. "Amok"

Studio album debut by project-band Atoms for Peace consisting of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke on vocals and guitar, and that band's most frequently used producer Nigel Godrich on programming, Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea on bass, Joey Waronker of Beck and R.E.M. on drums, and with Mauro Refosco of Forro in the Dark (and David Byrne backing band) on percussion.
According to various magazines the band intended a sound and style, which took its inspiration in African funk, and drum and percussion-based music as exemplified by Fela Kuti; however, to me, this mostly falls in a much closer relation to the works by Radiohead and Thom Yorke with a supplement of a more advanced rhythm section... at times. More than the mutual work of a super-group, it mostly turns out as a [Radiohead] Yorke and Godrich project with what is quite familiar to that. Now, it's not bad - it's just really really close to the solo debut album Eraser by Yorke and e.g. Amnesiac by Radiohead, and in that way I don't feel it brings much new to the table. "Ingenue" is THE highlight here and the rest somewhat appears a bit anonymous.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, Slant 3,5 / 5, Sputnikmusic 3 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "The King of Limbs" (2011)

The King of Limbs
release date: Feb. 18, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: TBD Records - nationality: England, UK

8th studio album by Radiohead is an originally self-released album produced by Nigel Godrich following 3½ years after the acclaimed In Rainbows (Oct. 2007). The album marks a turn to a stronger experimental composing process with recordings of studio sessions as is without having written down chords or lyrics prior to the sessions - pure improvs, that is, and with additional post-production of sampling and (other) programming.
I really enjoyed In Rainbows and consider it the band's best, and perhaps therefore I find it hard to really embrace this one. The album appears to continue in a similar lane, but they're not the same. It's simply too much of the same: compositions going on and on without a clear aim other than to dwell at a sudden impulse but lacking sufficient framework to call it distinct compositions to my liking. As all good improvs, the album reflect good ideas and moments of synergy but it sort of drowns in a following moment. Yes, these guys are truly talented musicians, but this is not... I mean... I may aso write stuff with a beginning, not sure where it takes me... was that a middle section? Here's a new statement, and here comes an end! Did that make much sense?
The King of Limbs sounds like Radiohead, and it sure is, I guess, but I like 'em so much more when they pursue fully structured ideas. Best track here is "Lotus Flower", which sounds like an outtake from In Rainbows.
[ allmusic.com, 👉NME 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "In Rainbows" (2007)

reissue cover

In Rainbows
release date: Oct. 10, 2007
format: digital (18 x File, FLAC) / vinyl (2016 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,04]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: self-released / XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "15 Step" (4 / 5) - 3. "Nude" (4 / 5) - 4. "Weird Fishes / Arpeggi" (4 / 5) - 5. "All I Need" - 6. "Faust Arp" - 7. "Reckoner" ( 4 / 5) - 8. "House of Cards" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "Jigsaw Falling Into Place"
[ Live from the Basement 2008 (includes other tracks) ]

7th studio album by Radiohead is the first studio album after the record contract with EMI had ended, and the band initially made the album accessible for download only to the prize of 'what-you-want-to-pay'. Three months later it was issued on the British label XL Recordings (the American label ATO Records for the North American market).

Style-wise, it's a combination of what may be found on OK Computer and the band's later releases with more experimental compositions. In addition to that, the band successfully incorporates strings on most of the tracks.

The album seems quite homogeneous but it's hard to narrow down an overall genre or style. It's somewhere in alternative rock-land. It's experimental without being strange and yet almost impossible to label as it explores stylistic elements taken from jazz, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and ambient elements as well - but is it post rock? It sort of breaks stylistic boundaries and just... is. And what that 'is', is fascinating and truly exquisite music.

Even without including sales based on the download distribution, the album topped the UK album charts list, as it also did in Ireland, Canada, and France, and making it to #2 in Australia, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand, and in Switzerland, and it generally faired more than just well. According to Thom Yorke, the album is the band's best-selling album.

In Rainbows is the fourth and so far final studio album [as of 2016] by Radiohead to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In my mind it's the most deserved Radiohead album on that list - and it's generally considered a major work by the music critics.

I find this particular album, the band's easily strongest and most fascinating release.

[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, NME 4,5 / 5, Spin 4 / 5, The Guardian 5 / 5 stars ]

Thom Yorke "The Eraser" (2006)

The Eraser [debut]
release date: Jul. 10, 2006
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Nigel Godrich
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "The Eraser" - 2. "Analyse" - 3. "The Clock" - 4. "Black Swan" (4 / 5) - 6. "Atoms for Peace" (5 / 5) (live) - 8. "Harrowdown Hill"

Studio solo album debut by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, who has worked with the 'usual' Radiohead producer, Nigel Godrich, also credited 'extra instrumentation'. Yorke's associate from the band, multi-instrumentalist, Jonny Greenwood also features on piano on the album's title track. Aside from these two, most tracks only have music composed, programmed, played and sung by Yorke himself. The style is electronic glitch pop with hints of post-rock. It took me more than a few listens to fully appreciate the album, but I kept returning to it 'cause it just had something highly original and insisting. However, the track "Atoms for Peace" immediately caught my attention. It's a haunting and utmost beautiful composition, which needs full volume. The album was nominated the Mercury Prize in 2006 (won by Arctic Monkeys for the debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not). Great music for driving.
[ allmusic.com, Uncut, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "Hail to the Thief" (2003)

Hail to the Thief
release date: Jun. 9, 2003
format: cd (2008 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Nigel Godrich & his magic boxes
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "2 + 2 = 5 [The Lukewarm.]" - 3. "Sail to the Moon. [Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky.]" - 9. "There There. [The Boney King of Nowhere.]"

6th studio album by Radiohead (fourth to be co-produced by Nigel Godrich) is the band's continued journey into new territory. It's the band's so far final studio album released on the EMI-owned label, Parlophone. The band has moved away from the jazz rock influence, which is heard on the two previous albums and instead they combine an acoustic-founded base of soft rock with a more electronic sound by incorporating synths and programming in addition to piano and guitar-based compositions, thus making a particular spacial and sometimes almost ambient sound.
Almost as usual the new album, the new style, made way for critical acclaim, and the album was like its predecessors nominated several prizes and [as could easily have been predicted] it topped the national album charts list as well as selling more than just well in a number of countries.
I have never really enjoyed this particular album much. I have tried to listen to it many times but mostly I just find myself in desperate search of 'that thing' I do not grasp, and each time it simply eludes me. I have come across some positive reviews referring to the album's strong lyrics, as comments to Western society, American politics, etc., which is to say: strong narrative qualities. However, I never have and never will be able to use the lyrical aspect of music alone as an argument for critical acclaim. In music, there has to be good music. Point taken, 'cause I think it lacks here. I consider it a low point only exceeded by the debut in the band's discography.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4 / 5, Spin, Uncut 4,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "Amnesiac" (2001)

Amnesiac
release date: Jun. 4, 2001
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Nigel Godrich, Radiohead
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Pyramid Song" - 6. "Knives Out" - 8. "Dollars and Cents"

5th studio album by Radiohead are in fact compositions recorded at the same sessions as Kid A. Thom Yorke has also described it as "another take on Kid A, a form of explanation." Or, one could argue that these recordings are much as the other disc of what could have been a double cd release, only this is even more experimental in style. The album was met by positive reviews and it also topped the albums chart list in the UK and making it to top-3 in many countries around the world. This is also included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

I like it and find it one of the band's better albums but I don't quite see it on par with Kid A.

[ allmusic.com, Slant, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, NME, Sputnikmusic 4 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "Kid A" (2000)

Kid A
release date: Oct. 3, 2000
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Nigel Godrich, Radiohead
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Kid A" - 3. "The National Anthem" - 4. "How to Disappear Completely" - 6. "Optimistic" - 8. "Idioteque" - 9. "Morning Bell"

4th studio album by Radiohead released nearly three and half years after the band's acclaimed OK Computer (Jun. '97).

On this new album they really step into new musical territory within art rock and the alt. rock genre, and it showcases a completely different sound, which incorporates jazz-rock elements and perhaps doesn't have the same immediate appeal by challenging traditional song structure. The album was initially met by luke-warm reviews but these were somehow silenced as the album was nominated for and won several prestigious musical prizes.
My initial thoughts about it told me that the predecessor contains some great compositions that are unmatched on this, however, I have come to understand the importance of Radiohead as a band of a new era. Undoubtedly, the '97 album contains more classic hit material and familiar songs, but as an overall verdict, there's no doubt that I enjoy this album much more for its stronger experimental approach and also for placing Radiohead alongside other great post-rock artists. Kid A is a musical statement and a natural source to inspiration, which I find is traceable to the music by Talk Talk and that band's last two albums. To me, this is where Radiohead becomes one of the most fascinating British bands of modern times. Kid A is also the third Radiohead album to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

[ allmusic.com, Drowned in Sound 5 / 5, Spin 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "OK Computer" (1997)

OK Computer
release date: Jun. 16, 1997
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Radiohead, Nigel Godrich
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Airbag" - 2. "Paranoid Android" - 6. "Karma Police" - 10. "No Surprises" (4 / 5) - 1. "Lucky"

3rd studio album by Radiohead introducing a long-time relationship with producer Nigel Godrich, who helped shaping the band's stylistic profile in the aftermath of britpop. It's still alt. rock but comparing this to The Bends (1995) the band takes on a more atmospheric and melancholic style, which could be described as art rock. At the time of the release the style was referred to as post-britpop, which basically signalled a move away from simpler guitar- and chorus-based songs to more complex compositions with bonds to prog rock bands of the 1970s.
The album became the band's so far biggest success, and the appraisal of the album seemed endless. Years later it's a natural element on countless best of lists and quite often found among the top 3 most important albums of all time.
It's the second Radiohead album to be enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and it was the band's first to reach number #1 on the albums chart list in the UK.
Nowadays, I do acknowledge its qualities, and the originality of both album and band but it just doesn't (and never did) appeal a great deal to me, and in many years I found it more than difficult to accept as more than another so-so soft rock album that I found it difficult to listen to. One day I may even find it truly great, but for now I like it, although, I don't consider it the band's best nor an album I often return to.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, NME 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Spin 4 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "The Bends" (1995)

The Bends
release date: Mar. 13, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
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 bolder alt. rock, but what is more striking with this, compared to the weak debut, is clearly that the music here is obviously of more original material. This is simply where the band finds its own sound. Also, the band comes out as something other than the ordinary, a strong unit of skilled instrumentalists, and although critics labelled it britpop, it's clar that radiohead is something very different from Blur, Oasis, Pulp, and other examples of typical britpop. The album doesn't include evident hit singles but it's much more the whole album and the complexity of the compositions as such, which makes this a much welcomed release.

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 more than ordinarily '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, Manic Street Preachers, and Travis. The album is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and imho, it's quite understandable why so many regard the band as renewers of popular music in the 1990s.

[ allmusic.com, Blender, Record Collector 5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone (retrospect) 4 / 5, Spin 2,5 / 5 stars ]

Radiohead "Pablo Honey" (1993)

Pablo Honey [debut]
release date: Apr. 20, 1993
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,62]
producer: Sean Slade, Paul Q. Kolderie
label: Parlophone / EMI - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Creep" - 3. "How Do You?" - 6. "Anyone Can Play Guitar" - 12. "Blow Out"

Studio debut album by British 5-piece britpop and guitar-band Radiohead consisting of Thom Yorke on vocals, guitar, tape loops, the two brothers Greenwood: Jonny on guitar, piano and organ, and with Colin on bass. The last two members are Ed O'Brien, also on guitar and backing vocals, and lastly Phil Selway handling drums. In Britain, Radiohead was compared to the bands of the American grunge rock scene, under influence of the quiet-loud school exemplified by Pixies, and Radiohead was referred to as the British Nirvana, but mostly the debut wasn't an overwhelming success and many critics found - what I think of it - that there are so many references to other bands that it's difficult to talk about a highly original release. Not so much alone because of the many sources of inspiration but simply because it either sounds as The Smiths, as U2, as Nirvana, as Red Hot Chili Peppers, or whatever band associated with or in the outskirts of grunge rock, britpop or pop / rock... and never really as something representing an original mix. Despite not knowing anything of the band back then, I find this very album a wee bit boring and of little interest, although, the above-mentioned songs are all clearly above mediocre.
The single track "Creep" became a monster hit in a slow process which involved the song going big in Israel after which it was reissued in the US, however, it brought the band a sore experience as it turned out that it's a song that shares similarities with "The Air I Breathe" by The Hollies from 1973 and Radiohead was sued for plagiarism, and lost the case, which is why Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood from The Holies are credited as co-composers of "Creep". Comparing the two songs, the case against Radiohead and the verdict only seems like an unjust court decision.
Pablo Honey is best known for the inclusion of "Creep" and only for being the band's debut album but in the band's discography the album is only for hardcore fans as you wont find many similarities with the band's later efforts.
[ allmusic.com (retrospect), Q Magazine, Rolling Stone (retrospect), Uncut (retrospect) 3 / 5, Blender 2 / 5 stars ]