Pablo Honey
by Radiohead

Can anyone say 'underrated?' No, no, I get it; critics were not a huge fan of it when it first came out, labeling Radiohead a 'one-hit wonder' for the megahit "Creep," but is that even the best song on the album? I do not think there is really a bad song on this album. No, it is not my favourite Radiohead album by a long shot (if anyone is curious, for me it goes Kid A, In Rainbows, OK Computer, The Bends, Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief, Pablo Honey, and King Of Limbs), but there really are some great songs on here. In particular, I really like "You," "Creep," "Stop Whispering," "Anyone Can Play Guitar," "Ripcord," "I Can't," "Lurgee," and "Blowout." But, hey! That's 8 of the 13 tracks. Now, I understand. You guys are going to be reading this and thinking to yourself, "This dude just really likes Radiohead and wishes that their debut were great for psychological closure, but it is all just hegemony." I know, because that is EXACTLY what I used to think. I promise, give this album a serious listen or two and, if you are anything like me, you will see that this is really an underrated gem.

Well I love Radiohead but this album's really dated.
The moment it came out we all tought "just another grunge one hit wonder". And even so the hit was like The air that I breathe revisited (Creep was overall better but the main hook was the same).
Radiohead fans will rate this somewhat high but really this was just another average grunge album in the 90s. There were hundreds of records sounding the same and the songwriting was completely previsible.

From today's standpoint and having seen the whole picture of what the band would later develop we find that the closer track "Blow up" was the only track announcing the band's future. But in that day it was just another average track on an average record with a hit.

I think this will get a lot of downvotes but whatever. I was there.

Personally, I feel this album does not get the recognition it deserves. Of course, it's not as good as Radiohead's subsequent albums - as the first album should be in contrast with any on-going band's further developments - but it still places high amongst all the other Britpop albums of the early 90's. Truly a diamond in the rough, and certainly interesting to see how far Radiohead have come.

This album has been criminally underrated among Radiohead's discography, and in general. While it may not be their most sophisticated or groundbreaking album, and did seem to cater to the explosion of grunge music of the early 1990s, there are still several high quality cuts off of this album. Many songs here, while paling compared to works on OK Computer or Kid A, stand pretty well on their own by 1993 standards. "Creep" has been overplayed to death and actually is, in my opinion, the worst song on the album, but other than "How Do You?" the others actually stand up pretty well. "You" faces the problems shared by the rest of the album but has a very nice vocal performance by Thom Yorke and serves its purpose as an introduction to the band. "Creep," while somewhat grating, is undeniably relatable and anthemic. "How Do You?" sees the band temporarily devolve into college rock, but this is swiftly remedied. "Stop Whsipering" and "Thinking About You" are both very underrated, particularly the former, while "Anyone Can Play Guitar"'s subpar verses are evened by its great chorus. "Ripcord," "Vegetable," "Prove Yourself," and "I Can't" all are fairly standard early 90s songs of varying quality ("I Can't" is something of a guilty pleasure for me), and "Lurgee" is a nice but forgettable song, but album closer "Blow Out" signals a change. Its manic energy, echoing effects, and clashing chords all point to a more sophisticated band that we would come to see in the future, and is probably the best song on the album. This album is tied for their worst for me along with The King of Limbs but this promised a bright future for the band.

Best tracks: "Blow Out," "I Can't," "Stop Whispering"

Worst tracks: "Creep," "How Do You?"

This album gets a lot of unnecessary hate because it was derivative of the American alt-rock/grunge and because of "Creep". It's a perfectly fine alt-rock album. Nothing mindblowing, but it's completely worthwhile listen. Radiohead made better albums later with a more original sound but this is a fine album. (Edited)