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Is "The Bends" Radiohead's best album?

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Is "The Bends" Radiohead's best album?

Old 01-28-02, 08:11 PM
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Is "The Bends" Radiohead's best album?

OK, so I'm a little late. I've been listening to Radiohead for a few years and just now got The Bends as a gift.

And you know, despite my undying love for Kid A (and to a slightly lesser extent, the others) this album really impresses the hell out of me.

Just because it was from an earlier phase in their musical development, is no excuse to put it down.

Do you still think this is the best thing they ever did?
Old 01-28-02, 08:18 PM
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That all depends on in which way you mean best. Of course, I am a bit biased as my user name comes from that album(FANBOY!), but I think it is the most listenable album, purely in terms of listenability-in a noncritical sense. Is it their most sophisticated album? No. Is it the most enjoyable to listen to? IMO very much so, with OK Computer a close second (I like every song on The Bends, whereas a few on OK Computer I could live without). The amazing thing about Radiohead for me is that you can see their progression as a band- album by album.
Old 01-28-02, 09:37 PM
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Definitely their best.
Old 01-28-02, 09:50 PM
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Originally posted by raithen
Definitely their best.
...album before OK Computer! The Bends is an album with great songs and OK Computer is a great album. The individual songs on the Bends are better than OK Computer, but OK Computer is better as a whole album.
Old 01-28-02, 09:55 PM
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I enjoy the Bends the most. It's more commercial than OK Computer and more adventurous than Pablo Honey. I think it's the most satisfying of their releases. I do love OK Computer, but resent it a bit too. After all, OK Computer made them think it was okay to release Kid A and Amnesiac, which (to me) represent the greatest and quickest decline of any excellent band ever. I really dislike the new direction and feel free to flame me as much as you want for saying that.
Old 01-28-02, 09:59 PM
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yes, the bends is the best - Kid A and Amnesiac were such a disappointment after their first 3 albums
Old 01-28-02, 10:03 PM
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The Bends is my favorite Radiohead album.
Old 01-28-02, 10:33 PM
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Originally posted by Gdrlv
I enjoy the Bends the most. It's more commercial than OK Computer and more adventurous than Pablo Honey. I think it's the most satisfying of their releases. I do love OK Computer, but resent it a bit too. After all, OK Computer made them think it was okay to release Kid A and Amnesiac, which (to me) represent the greatest and quickest decline of any excellent band ever. I really dislike the new direction and feel free to flame me as much as you want for saying that.
No flames here

I would rate The Bends as their best, followed by OK computer with the other 3 being far back in the pack.
Old 01-28-02, 10:52 PM
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I definitely prefer OK Computer the most (perhaps because it was the album that made me a Radiohead fan), followed by The Bends. I simply cannot like Kid A and Amnesiac for some reason.
Old 01-28-02, 11:37 PM
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The Bends is the best, no question.

Kid A and Amnesiac are just painfull to this longtime Radiohead fan.
Old 01-29-02, 11:24 AM
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Kid A and Amnesiac are sick jokes done by the band on an unsuspecting audience.

Bends and OK Computer are their pinnacles...
Old 01-29-02, 11:26 AM
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I'm also a longtime fan, but my in my opinion, Kid A is their best. I haven't ever really been able to get into Amnesiac.
Old 01-29-02, 11:39 AM
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I like OK Computer the best, with the Bends as a distant second. The others are pretty much all crap.
Old 01-29-02, 11:47 AM
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Originally posted by AtlDVD
Kid A and Amnesiac are sick jokes done by the band on an unsuspecting audience.

I cannot agree with this even though I'm aware a significant (but perhaps small) portion of the Radiohead fanbase feels this way. I like the fact that the group's sound has become more adventurous, it's just that as I said, an earlier album by a band can be just as vital if not more so.

I love The Bends and repeated listenings are bearing this out.
Old 01-29-02, 12:08 PM
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Originally posted by AtlDVD
Kid A and Amnesiac are sick jokes done by the band on an unsuspecting audience.

Bends and OK Computer are their pinnacles...
Unsuspecting? Yes. Unappreciated? No. You can't predict these guys, which is why I love Kid A. I just happen to think Amnesiac is inferior.

OK Computer is, in my opinion, their best. I say this after listening to every album countless times and seeing them peform songs from each album live. The Bends is certainly good, Kid A is certainly great. But you know what? My opinion changes with each subsequent listen to the albums, which is why I love this band.
Old 01-29-02, 12:32 PM
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Originally posted by AtlDVD
Kid A and Amnesiac are sick jokes done by the band on an unsuspecting audience.

Bends and OK Computer are their pinnacles...
THANK YOU! I don't know what happened. I think both
"The Bends" and "O.K. Computer" are both equally brilliant.
And felt "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" were misfires. They get
an A for effort. But why completely change your style?
O.K., they did the experimental "electronic" thing. Let's
get back to what made everyone love them in the first
place. Hope they will. If not, I'll just stick with the two.
Old 01-29-02, 12:52 PM
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The Bends is their best "collection of songs" that are interchangeable.

OK Computer is definitely their "best album" wherein the songs gel very well together and don't sound as good apart from each other.

Kid A is good album but all of its b-sides make up Amnesiac which really should never have been released.

I don't even listen to Radiohead right now very much cuz they've turned into a bunch of money-hungry whores.

I mean anybody that would pay full price for an 8-song live album is out of his/her mind. (granted the songs are good but still crazy)

Shame on you Radiohead.
Old 01-29-02, 01:20 PM
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Whoops - looks like Radiohead just reached the next level.

Much of the current hip backlash against Radiohead sounds disturbingly enough like the criticisms levelled against U2 during their "Rattle and Hum" period. Coincidence?

Personally I thought "Kid A" was the perfect antidote to the overblown prog-rock of "Ok Computer". And live - pretty much all of the songs blend into a very recognizable "Bends" sound. It's simply that after "The Bends" the band became a little obsessed with twiddling the knobs on the studio board.

And hey TJ - I paid full price (a whopping $8.99) for that 8 song EP - not for the live cuts, but for the inclusion of "True Love Waits," a B-side that I'd only had on poorly recorded bootlegs up to that point.
Old 01-29-02, 01:25 PM
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These posts are funny to me. I remember listening to both "Pablo Honey" and "The Bends" the years they were released and didn't care for them. Just didn't do anything for me.
So, I never listened to "OK Computer" or "Kid A". Wasn't interested. Then I heard "Kid A" a year after its release and THIS is what turned me onto this band. And I like "Amnesiac" very much, too. And "OK Computer" is good. But I don't like the Bends nearly as much.
Old 01-29-02, 02:22 PM
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I've been a fan since 95, and I think Kid A is excellent (although I don't care for Amnesiac either). People who say that "longtime fans must hate Kid A/Amnesiac" are pushing an agenda. And Pablo Honey is just a terrible album.
Old 01-29-02, 02:26 PM
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Originally posted by Daytripper
...And felt "Kid A" and "Amnesiac" were misfires. They get
an A for effort. But why completely change your style?
Not to start some dumb argument here, but the styles between Pablo Honey, The Bends, and OK Computer are vastly different from each other. Radiohead seemingly progresses the music on each subsequent album, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Old 01-29-02, 03:13 PM
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Originally posted by grunter


Personally I thought "Kid A" was the perfect antidote to the overblown prog-rock of "Ok Computer".
Whoops! Out come the 'prog rock' knives.

That's funny, because it's precisely that dreaded label that got pegged on Kid A when it had its debut, and the clueless rock scribes shouted "Emperor Yorke is naked!"
Old 01-29-02, 03:51 PM
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one answer: yes, IMO "The Bends" best display's Thom's voice and memorable tunes.
Old 01-29-02, 04:37 PM
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Kid A is my favorite, their most original and I think the purest distillation of what they're trying to do -- but it's not a CD for everyone's tastes.
Old 01-29-02, 04:43 PM
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I didnt use to think it was, but I do now.

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