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| Track list: 1. Planet Telex 2. The Bends 3. High And Dry 4. Fake Plastic Trees 5. Bones 6. (Nice Dream) 7. Just 8. My Iron Lung 9. Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was 10. Black Star 11. Sulk 12. Street Spirit (Fade Out) Running time: 48 minutes Released: 1995 |
A classic now. 20 years old. I caught High and Dry on shuffle on my MP3 player whilst travelling to (or from) Greece and I remember thinking then that the song holds up well, so I suspect the same is true of the album as a whole. Time to find out.
I haven't tagged this as a favourite because, to be honest, I have hardly listened to any of these tracks in a very long time, that chance play above aside, but as soon as I hit play I am reminded that whilst I am always searching for new stuff, or cycling through other artists, there is something here. This is Radiohead at their most accessible, many might say best (personally I am torn on which release I prefer). Yorke's voice, the helicopter-blade like whirr, the rumble... Planet Telex brings everything back. 20 years, eh?
The truth is that I did not immediately get Radiohead, it took the osmosis of hearing my brother's copy of this album from his room next door a lot for the quality to sink in and have me go get my own. I want to say it was the melody of High and Dry that sucked me in, but it could have been the edginess of Just; I don't remember that clearly. The title track is all nasal whine, harder guitars than I remember. It really is a long time since I listened to this. Somehow Radiohead are a group that have never made it into the pile of discs I carry round in the car. Maybe I thought I had moved on, but that's just crazy talk... you don't move on from enduring quality.
It is a bit of a struggle to think what to write on this listen though. What can I say about this disc, these tracks, that hasn't been said before and better by others? High and Dry started just now and its given me goosebumps. Again. Something about this track strikes close to home even now - whilst two decades have passed, I retain some of the same vulnerabilities that I did as a teenager. They are perhaps not on display as much, and more adroitly handled as an adult but some triggers can bring them back and music has always been very good at poking holes in any facade that I might try to put up. The best strikes at you emotionally and I feel some of those strikes very acutely. Nostalgia this ain't - there is no fondness looking back on some of the memories that these tunes stir. Fake Plastic Trees is forever associated with one of the biggest emotional "bangs" that I have ever experienced, a difficult day with an explosive conclusion, pouring rain and an inner turmoil that took me a goodly long time to get over. Its funny to think that this morning, before I sat down to do this, I was trying to remember which track that was and couldn't, yet as soon as it starts playing...
Yeah, I have a lot wrapped up in this one, but its all history - maybe that explains some of why I do not listen to it much anymore though I have certainly never consciously avoided it. Looking back now is weird - for as much as it brings back strong impressions, emotions and feelings I am detached from them, in a better place despite the flaws I share with my younger self.
Ah, Bones. I couldn't hear this track in my head from reading the title - but now its constant rumble is ringing in my ears it is welcome. I like tracks like this that snarl and roll. I never got into all-out noisy thrashing of metal, grunge or any of those harder, rockier movements but crafted loudness like this retains a feral appeal. I think this track appeals to the same part of me that loves the noisier end of Mogwai's output, for instance. For tunes like this, if your ears aren't still hearing the track 5 minutes after it finished then what's the point? I never had much time for (Nice Dream) and had pretty much forgotten the course of the song, which is better than I remembered.
That intro - just so immediately, viscerally, appealing; combine with the self-deprecating/insulting lyric and mix. Just is still a heady cocktail of thoughts, but listening now I hear the composition of the second verse for what feels like the first time. The chorus, the bridge, these sections are the takeaways. The blandness of the accompaniment to that second verse has always been excused by the power of the rest of the track, so intoxicating. Less so this time through, it is not as strong a song as I recalled.
That is not something I would say for My Iron Lung - this song I think has got better with age. Of all the tracks on The Bends this best hints at where the band were going and where they came from all at once - the early career in microcosm. I don't have enough of the reviewers chops to explain why in a way that would convince anyone who did not already hold the opinion, but there is something about the contrasts, the wailing intro, the down and dirty midsection, that give me that impression.
Now this will be more interesting for me; I pretty much always passed on Bulletproof so I come to this track colder. I suspect that 20 years on I will like this more than I used to. The hooks underlying the chorus appeal more now - weird comparison time, they remind me of Microdisney's twee-but-angry 80s constructions. I don't think its a great song, but yes - more time for it now that I did have. I can't write more on that though because it's past and gone, and Black Star is pumping out. This was, I think, my favourite track when this album was contemporary. The chorus is constructed in a way that really appeals, tight, constrained and angsty, whilst the verses are more of a plaintive, open sound. I like the contrast, I have always liked contrasts like this in my music and whilst this is not the most stark of differences, it points to an element that I can trace through much of my collection (one high point being The Phantom Band track Folk Song Oblivion from Checkmate Savage where happy-clappy choruses accompany dark, brooding menace in the verses).
Sulk, how I used to live up to your name. Used as a crutch much? Sure, but no more. This time through I am just enjoying the swell, the pulse of the melody, more than the lyric or the harsher guitar in the midsection. I think this may be Yorke's finest vocal performance on the album, personally. And just like that we are leading out. Well, fading out - the loopy guitar on Street Spirit is an all time classic to the point that if I asked you to recall the song how much of the rest of the arrangement would you be able to describe? Not much, I would imagine - certainly I couldn't. I am hearing things now that I really did not recognise from memory at all. Some of the top end, the structure of the percussion, backing strings. I almost wish Yorke wasn't singing over it, and just as I think that, he isn't because the disc is done.
That's something else worth noting - these songs are all, to a one, in that sub 5 minutes "radio friendly" length bracket. None overstay their welcome and the time has flown by as a result. Not really enough time to write much about any of them as they played, and certainly no time to be bored. The album definitely holds up, though I am surprised that Just is the song that does so the least for me, perhaps because I have since found other tunes that scratch that itch better. My takeaway from this? I am not sure really, but it has left me with the nagging feeling that I should not be so quick to discount some of my older physical discs from doing duty on the commute.
Postscript: after publishing this post I was checking other #Radiohead tagged posts on G+ and found a link to this, which is funny enough that I have to share:
I haven't tagged this as a favourite because, to be honest, I have hardly listened to any of these tracks in a very long time, that chance play above aside, but as soon as I hit play I am reminded that whilst I am always searching for new stuff, or cycling through other artists, there is something here. This is Radiohead at their most accessible, many might say best (personally I am torn on which release I prefer). Yorke's voice, the helicopter-blade like whirr, the rumble... Planet Telex brings everything back. 20 years, eh?
The truth is that I did not immediately get Radiohead, it took the osmosis of hearing my brother's copy of this album from his room next door a lot for the quality to sink in and have me go get my own. I want to say it was the melody of High and Dry that sucked me in, but it could have been the edginess of Just; I don't remember that clearly. The title track is all nasal whine, harder guitars than I remember. It really is a long time since I listened to this. Somehow Radiohead are a group that have never made it into the pile of discs I carry round in the car. Maybe I thought I had moved on, but that's just crazy talk... you don't move on from enduring quality.
It is a bit of a struggle to think what to write on this listen though. What can I say about this disc, these tracks, that hasn't been said before and better by others? High and Dry started just now and its given me goosebumps. Again. Something about this track strikes close to home even now - whilst two decades have passed, I retain some of the same vulnerabilities that I did as a teenager. They are perhaps not on display as much, and more adroitly handled as an adult but some triggers can bring them back and music has always been very good at poking holes in any facade that I might try to put up. The best strikes at you emotionally and I feel some of those strikes very acutely. Nostalgia this ain't - there is no fondness looking back on some of the memories that these tunes stir. Fake Plastic Trees is forever associated with one of the biggest emotional "bangs" that I have ever experienced, a difficult day with an explosive conclusion, pouring rain and an inner turmoil that took me a goodly long time to get over. Its funny to think that this morning, before I sat down to do this, I was trying to remember which track that was and couldn't, yet as soon as it starts playing...
Yeah, I have a lot wrapped up in this one, but its all history - maybe that explains some of why I do not listen to it much anymore though I have certainly never consciously avoided it. Looking back now is weird - for as much as it brings back strong impressions, emotions and feelings I am detached from them, in a better place despite the flaws I share with my younger self.
Ah, Bones. I couldn't hear this track in my head from reading the title - but now its constant rumble is ringing in my ears it is welcome. I like tracks like this that snarl and roll. I never got into all-out noisy thrashing of metal, grunge or any of those harder, rockier movements but crafted loudness like this retains a feral appeal. I think this track appeals to the same part of me that loves the noisier end of Mogwai's output, for instance. For tunes like this, if your ears aren't still hearing the track 5 minutes after it finished then what's the point? I never had much time for (Nice Dream) and had pretty much forgotten the course of the song, which is better than I remembered.
That intro - just so immediately, viscerally, appealing; combine with the self-deprecating/insulting lyric and mix. Just is still a heady cocktail of thoughts, but listening now I hear the composition of the second verse for what feels like the first time. The chorus, the bridge, these sections are the takeaways. The blandness of the accompaniment to that second verse has always been excused by the power of the rest of the track, so intoxicating. Less so this time through, it is not as strong a song as I recalled.
That is not something I would say for My Iron Lung - this song I think has got better with age. Of all the tracks on The Bends this best hints at where the band were going and where they came from all at once - the early career in microcosm. I don't have enough of the reviewers chops to explain why in a way that would convince anyone who did not already hold the opinion, but there is something about the contrasts, the wailing intro, the down and dirty midsection, that give me that impression.
Now this will be more interesting for me; I pretty much always passed on Bulletproof so I come to this track colder. I suspect that 20 years on I will like this more than I used to. The hooks underlying the chorus appeal more now - weird comparison time, they remind me of Microdisney's twee-but-angry 80s constructions. I don't think its a great song, but yes - more time for it now that I did have. I can't write more on that though because it's past and gone, and Black Star is pumping out. This was, I think, my favourite track when this album was contemporary. The chorus is constructed in a way that really appeals, tight, constrained and angsty, whilst the verses are more of a plaintive, open sound. I like the contrast, I have always liked contrasts like this in my music and whilst this is not the most stark of differences, it points to an element that I can trace through much of my collection (one high point being The Phantom Band track Folk Song Oblivion from Checkmate Savage where happy-clappy choruses accompany dark, brooding menace in the verses).
Sulk, how I used to live up to your name. Used as a crutch much? Sure, but no more. This time through I am just enjoying the swell, the pulse of the melody, more than the lyric or the harsher guitar in the midsection. I think this may be Yorke's finest vocal performance on the album, personally. And just like that we are leading out. Well, fading out - the loopy guitar on Street Spirit is an all time classic to the point that if I asked you to recall the song how much of the rest of the arrangement would you be able to describe? Not much, I would imagine - certainly I couldn't. I am hearing things now that I really did not recognise from memory at all. Some of the top end, the structure of the percussion, backing strings. I almost wish Yorke wasn't singing over it, and just as I think that, he isn't because the disc is done.
That's something else worth noting - these songs are all, to a one, in that sub 5 minutes "radio friendly" length bracket. None overstay their welcome and the time has flown by as a result. Not really enough time to write much about any of them as they played, and certainly no time to be bored. The album definitely holds up, though I am surprised that Just is the song that does so the least for me, perhaps because I have since found other tunes that scratch that itch better. My takeaway from this? I am not sure really, but it has left me with the nagging feeling that I should not be so quick to discount some of my older physical discs from doing duty on the commute.
Postscript: after publishing this post I was checking other #Radiohead tagged posts on G+ and found a link to this, which is funny enough that I have to share:
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