Great alternative 90s rock tunes. "Fake Plastic Trees", "Just" and "Street Spirit Fade Out" are winners, "High and Dry" is exceptionally a good ballad-acoustic guitar piece and "Planet Telex" is a song that I could draw to. It doesn't have any of the complex themes and arrangements as OK Computer and Kid A, but it proves that Radiohead was getting to that stage.

Radiohead says they hate High & Dry, I believe them due to it's placement before Fake Plastic Trees because no one in their right mind would sit through it knowing their first masterpiece was < 4 1/2 minutes away. I don't, but even track 3 isn't terrible. Every song a whirlwind of guitars, beautiful melodies, poetic lyrics, rhythmic bliss, with Thom Yorke's vocals at the forefront. Alas, Listening to Street Spirit after 11 amazing tracks (12 on a day where the skip button is too far) leaves you with The Bends, wanting to dive deeper with Radiohead into the 'subgenre' that spawned from this. The Hydrogen Bomb of Alternative Rock, not the first, and not the biggest bang, but a game-changer nonetheless. Forewarned this masterpiece is bitter-sweet as the album that leaves you wondering what-would-be is never followed up by another like it, a single beautiful stroke and a couple of B-Side dashes on the canvas of Radiohead's career, but..
Oh... what a stroke.

Radiohead's first masterpiece, probably their most accessible album.

An angst-driven guitar rock classic. The lyrics seem trivial and even puerile when taken out of context, but gain added meaning when set against the incredible music.

A lot of rock anthems clearly influenced by Jeff Buckley.

I kinda like how this how is so differnet from kid a and ok computer but still realy good.

I think Radiohead is definitely overrated, but this, OK Computer, and Kid A all-time classics. I would put those 3 up against any album and they sound just as good. I am critical of one of my friend's music choices saying it all sounds the same and none of that type of music blows me away.

You could make that argument with the Bends that it largely sounds like much of the music coming out in the mid 90's like Oasis, Third Eye Blind, etc. But this album is phenomenal. There's a real sadness on The Bends that makes it more emotional of an album than OK Computer. While OK Computer is largely an album about social isolation, technology and more, I find The Bends to be more about personal relationships and how they dissipate on tracks such as The Bends and High and Dry. Those themes hit home more for me.

It's funny. I had been familiar with some of Radiohead's material like Kid A and OK Computer, but only became familiar with The Bends recently. And upon listening to it, I knew a bunch of these songs without realizing it was Radiohead. I definitely remember hearing The Bends, My Iron Lung, and Just when I was younger and loved those songs.

Radiohead's arguable best song is on this album with Fake Plastic Trees, a great ballad that once again talks about personal relationships. That is such a beautiful yet sad song that is definitely amongst the best 90's songs.

The last couple tracks are weaker but the first 8 or 9 songs make The Bends a hell of an album and one of the defining albums of the 90's, much like Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness or Nirvana's Nevermind.To me a big reason why Radiohead is overrated is because they try a little too hard to be different and go out of their way to be experimental. I would've loved another album similar to this which was just plain 90's alt rock, but I think Radiohead probably decided they made an album you could put up against any similar album of the 90's and it would hold its own. As a band, they wanted to go in a different direction which obviously wound up being a huge success in OK Computer, but it was certainly nice for them to leave behind an absolute gem of the 90's, in The Bends.

While it seems more people prefer the more experimental sound of OK Computer or Kid A, I think this is modern rock at its finest. Radiohead took the styles of the early 90s - grunge, alternative, britpop - and perfected them. By far, has the best songs of any Radiohead album, even if not as many risks were taken in making this record.

Great album, this is what got me into radiohead

The album that got me into music and made me an album buyer. It also got me through revising for exams at school. At one time it was my favourite record, its still in my top 10 and i dont see that changing in the future. The album is a perfect balance of rock guitar music and emotional sounds helped by Thom Yorke's unique voice. Great songs often overlooked are Planet Telex, Bulletproof, and Nice Dream.