*Notice some that sentences are copy and paste and please excuse any inaccurate facts. Last years person who did The Bends did a great job and I had a hard time trying to ad anything else*
The Bends
The Bends is the second album by Radiohead, released on March 13th, 1995. The Bends marked the start of a gradual turn in Yorke's songwriting from personal angst to the more cryptic lyrics and social and global themes that would come to dominate the band's later work.
Planet Telex:
This track was originally known as "Plant Xerox" but was changed because Xerox is a trademark for a company which sells color for printers. It is said that Thom Yorke was drunk and improvising when he recorded the vocals. The band came to the studio after drinking a lot of wine, and Yorke lied on the floor and sang without even writing the lyrics beforehand.
The Bends:
"We wrote this song before completing the first album. The sound at the beginning come from the cacophonous rumpus outside an hotel in the US. A guy was dragging 8-year-old kids to parade with all their instruments. This guy had a small mike on his sweater and he kept shouting: 'Yeah, keep it up, keep it up.' So I went outside and recorded him." ~Thom Yorke
The Bends was written long while before it was actually released. In 1993 it was called The Benz. Thom said "It's about knowing who your real friends are and when they're going to come to your gigs."
High and Dry:
High and Dry was recorded during the Pablo Honey sessions but was dismissed by the band. However, during recording sessions for The Bends it was remastered, as it was felt that it worked well with the rest of the album's content.
In an interview, Thom Yorke stated that he did not like the song, saying "It's not bad... it's very bad". He also stated that he was pressured into including the song on The Bends, which is a possible reason he further loathes the song.
Fake Plastic Trees:
"The product of a joke that wasn’t really a joke, a very lonely, drunken evening and, well, a breakdown of sorts". ~Thom Yorke
Ed claims that it Fake Plastic Trees started as a very bombastic song that was full of guitar. They thought it was horrible and it was frustrating to get it just right. Yorke recorded a guide track for "Fake Plastic Trees" featuring only guitar and vocals. Yorke performed three takes of the song and then cried afterward, according to Jonny Greenwood.
Bones:
Bones was recorded at the same day as The Bends. Bones looks at Thom's fear of growing old and becoming physically incapacitated.
"We recorded this about four times before we got it right. The original had the ending going on for about a minute and a half, which was something Jonny got from The Fall." ~Thom Yorke
(Nice Dream):
Nice Dream was written in 1992.
"We all debuted playing acoustic guitar on this in a sort of cosmic Kumbaya outside the studio. There's this awful photograph of us all sitting on a lawn with headphones on. The lyrics came out of a half-drunk dream I had, one of those where you don't really sleep properly. It's about our relationship with people generally." ~Thom Yorke
Just:
"A competition by me and Jonny to get as many chords as possible into a song" ~Thom Yorke on Just
Just is one of the most complex songs on the album and is especially notable for Greenwood's guitar solo. Nobody knows what the man says at the end of the Just music video, and there is no use asking as the band have said that they are never going to reveal the answer. The world may never know.
My Iron Lung:
My Iron Lung was Radiohead's response to the success of Creep. Iron lung is a metaphor, showing how Creep both sustained the band's life and constrained them. My Iron Lung was recorded live, in the same 1994 London concert filmed for Live at the Astoria, with only singer Thom Yorke later overdubbed.
Bullet Proof..I Wish I Was:
Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was is a song that calls for the listener's personal interpretations. There is no clear meaning.
Black Star:
Black Star is about "Sex in the morning. Which is the best time to have it. As long as you've cleaned your teeth beforehand."says Yorke.
Sulk:
Sulk was the last recorded song for the album. It was inspired by the Hungerford Massacre in England.
Street Spirit (Fade Out):
Street Spirit (Fade Out) was written in 1993 at around the same time as My Iron Lung. It was a very big hit in Britain. Inspired by the novel The Famished Road by Ben Okri. Video produced by Jonathan Glazer. Thom says that he didn't write this song; it wrote itself, and Radiohead were just its messengers.
Here are some videos from The Bends era:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JifG4-71vs8]YouTube- Radiohead JUST live[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaA4lXiqClI]YouTube- Radiohead The Bends live 1994[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKWGNX5JFhI&feature=related]YouTube- radiohead - fake plastic trees 1995[/ame]
*Thom's hair^*
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6uaTYjCWvY&feature=related]YouTube- Radiohead - High and Dry (Jools Holland)[/ame]
My very personal Opinion:
Mike's World Famous Survey from the Past:
Favorite song –
Least favorite song –
Most listened to song (iTunes/last.fm) -
Least listened to song (iTunes/last.fm) -
Favorite song musically -
Favorite song lyrically –
Favorite line of the album -
Most overrated song -
Most underrated song -
Current favorite -
Favorite when you first listened to the album -
What song best exemplifies each of the members off the album
Thom -
Jonny -
Ed -
Phil -
Colin –
I'll also be organizing a listening party tonight probably via Tinychat. Check out the Listening Party Thread in the Lounge for details.