#77 The Bends by Radiohead
The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time
- 2025 Album Rank
- 77
- 2011 Album Rank
- 53
- Total Points
- 810
- Year Released
- 1995
- Billboard 200 Chart Peak
- 88
- Weeks at #1
- N/A
- RIAA Sales Certification
- 1,000,000 (Platinum)
- Buy Album
- Apple Music Amazon
The Bends Album Details
Released on March 13, 1995, The Bends marked a dramatic creative leap for Radiohead, transitioning them from one-hit-wonder status after Creep to one of the most innovative bands of the 1990s. Where their debut album Pablo Honey leaned into grunge influences, The Bends introduced layered guitar work, abstract lyricism, and a heightened emotional depth. It also began Radiohead's long-term partnership with producer Nigel Godrich, who would shape their evolving sonic landscape in years to come.
The album fuses anthemic rock with melancholic introspection, offering soaring melodies and emotionally charged performances. Tracks like Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, and Street Spirit (Fade Out) revealed Thom Yorke's growing lyrical sophistication and the band's intricate guitar textures. While it received modest commercial attention initially, The Bends became a critical favorite and set the stage for the band's boundary-pushing masterpieces that followed.
Other Radiohead albums on the chart: Kid A and OK Computer
Interesting Facts about The Bends
- Sessions for The Bends began during Radiohead's tour with R.E.M., whose influence looms over the album. Thom Yorke later cited R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People as a touchstone during the writing process.
- Fake Plastic Trees was reportedly recorded immediately after Yorke saw Jeff Buckley perform live. He recorded the vocal in a single emotional take, later saying he nearly cried afterward.
- Just features a famously cryptic music video in which a man lies on the sidewalk for unexplained reasons. The subtitles disappear before revealing his final words, a decision that sparked decades of fan debate.
- Producer John Leckie (who had worked with The Stone Roses and Pink Floyd) initially oversaw the sessions. Nigel Godrich, then just an assistant engineer, earned the band's trust and later became their lead producer.
- Although High and Dry became a hit single, the band was reluctant to include it. Yorke dismissed it as too "Rod Stewart" and was frustrated it became one of their most accessible songs.
- Street Spirit (Fade Out) was the album's closer and a major turning point for the band. Yorke said the song was inspired by the American gothic fiction of Ben Okri and that it was the first song they wrote that felt truly honest.
- The title The Bends refers to decompression sickness experienced by deep-sea divers, symbolizing a sense of disorientation and psychological pressure, a theme that runs through the record.
- The band recorded at several studios including Abbey Road and RAK in London. Sessions were often tense due to label pressure to avoid being seen as a one-hit band.
- Two songs, Maquiladora and India Rubber, were recorded during the album sessions but released only as B-sides. These tracks show the band's interest in more atmospheric and experimental textures.
- The Bends has grown in stature over time and is cited by artists such as Coldplay, Muse, and Travis as a major influence.
The Bends Tracklist
- Planet Telex
- The Bends
- High and Dry
- Fake Plastic Trees
- Bones
- (Nice Dream)
- Just
- My Iron Lung
- Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was
- Black Star
- Sulk
- Street Spirit (Fade Out)
