Album: The Bends
Released: 1995
Artwork: First and foremost, the cover of this album has to be one of the creepiest album covers of all time. The cover features a picture of what looks like some sort of horrible experiment on the human body. I feel like I've seen this picture before, somewhere other than on this album cover, but I could be wrong. Chances are that my memories of this ghastly image are from seeing it on the shelf at music stores everywhere. If I were to guess what sort of experiment this man was a subject for, I would guess that he's strapped in to one of those centrifuge things that they use to test astronaut's abilities to withstand g-forces without passing out due to the high velocity. You can see two of those round, white sucker-type things that hospitals stick on your chest to monitor your pulse, reinforcing the idea that this is some type of bizarre science experiment. The photograph looks authentic enough to make me believe that it was not staged for the album cover. The image looks grainy and distorted, and might have even been colorized from a black and white photo. It looks like a photograph of a TV screen still-shot. There's no indication how old the photo is, or if it did in fact exist before Radiohead started kicking around ideas for cover art. The black background is striking, as is the red box that the band's name appears over, making it look like some sort of label affixed to the photo, with the album's name in all lower-case letters beneath. Is it a coincidence that the album title is in lower case letters while the band's name is in all caps? It's funny the little details that you notice only when you're really paying attention.
The back cover is mostly a bright red, and looks to be a colorized photo of a digital sign filled with numbers. Stock market figures? Race horse lap times? Computer generated arithmetic solutions? Who knows. It makes a nice counter-point to the cover image, with the black background, but somehow fits in the same color palate as the yellow tinted photograph of the 'experiment man'. It looks like it could be a photograph of another television or computer screen, like the front cover. The numbers could be showing the results of the experiment taking place on the front cover - if this is true, is Radiohead trying to tell us that this is an experimental album?
My copy of The Bends is the two-disc collector's/deluxe edition, so I don't know what the differences are between this version and the first pressing that a fan might have bought in 1995. But if the booklet is the same, and it most likely is, the back cover of the booklet (the first image you would see upon opening the CD jewel case) is a collage of photos showing the five band members looking cool and bored, as is the trend with most 90's bands. In the upper left, we have Thom Yorke posing with an acoustic guitar. I found this interesting only because Radiohead is not known for its songs that feature acoustic guitar as much as its electronic instrumentation today, and also because even back then they must have been known more for their electric guitar thrashing on "Creep" instead of their other acoustic numbers on Pablo Honey, such as "Thinking About You". It's possible that a photo with Thom and an acoustic guitar was simply the most aesthetically pleasing one that the art designer could find, in the same way that whoever compiled the four photos of the members of the Beatles for the Let It Be cover managed to find the only photo in existence that featured a smiling George Harrison. In the bottom middle, there's a picture of a guy behind a drumkit, and we naturally assume that this is drummer Phil Selway. There is no indication which of the other three photographs are Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, or Ed O'Brien, and even though I've already seen some video footage of the band playing together on You Tube, I can't make an accurate guess as to who's who.
There is something interesting at the top middle of the back of the booklet collage, though: the number 50999 6 93914 2 5. If you look at the back cover, you'll see this number below the barcode, the barcode used to ring up the album at the store I bought it. This number is also repeated on the album's spine. Every album is assigned a sort of social security number for the record company's cataloging purposes - when an album goes to the presses for the first time or a re-issue, I'm assuming that the record label uses this number to make sure that they are pressing the right album instead of someone down at the factory figuring out which collection of master tracks is supposed to go on which album. It's interesting to see this number make an appearance on the back of the CD booklet, but even more interesting to see it on the CD's themselves in place of the band's name or even the album title.
The CD's are mostly blank, with just the serial number described and what must have been serving as the band's logo at the time: a lower case 'r' superimposed over a picture of Earth. Around the edge of the CD are the track names and numbers, but it would take someone unfamiliar with the CD a minute or two to figure this out because the print is so small.
Assuming that everything we see is a planned part of the art direction of an album, what statement was the band trying to make? My thinking is that the band did it as a sort of sarcastic joke, that it's not really an album to their record label or even the record buying public, it's just a commodity; an item for sale. By removing the band's name and album title from the CD, it makes the CD appear like a generic product instead of a piece of musical art.
Open up the booklet, and on one side we get to see even more album art, though I can't determine what it is that I'm looking at. There is a lot of purple with some white spots, and at the bottom there is red and yellow, but this must have been added to the album art portfolio on the color aesthetic alone. It's not clear what this is supposed to represent. Look a bit closer, and we see a doodle-like drawing of a sort of frog with teeth, a man who might be an alien, a few stars, and a sort of circle doodle that might be anything at all (as long as that thing is round). There is one interesting thing to note - in the upper right is a superimposed 0% in a digital type font. This also makes me think of that 90's meme that being a loser or coming up short was cool, although I have to say that Beck wins this battle with his song titled 000,000. By the way, I have no idea how to refer to that song other than typing out the title - in conversation, would one call it "zero million"? "zero-zero-zero-comma-zero-zero-zero"? We may never know.
On the other side of the insert fold-out: lyrics! Lots and lots of lyrics. It's always so satisfying to see lyrics included in the CD booklet; now you get to follow along with the singer as you listen!
We're also treated to a collection of sketches. From left to right: an alien wearing a space helmet? A creature with big teeth. A UFO landing between two buildings? A fat and round bird? A plane, with the word 'itch' written directly above it? Three connected dots, that resemble the molecule diagram cover of the Foo Fighter's "The Colour and the Shape". Two ostriches with their heads buried in the sand. Another creature with big teeth. A newly hatched bird (a chick?)
I like the science fiction imagery, and it fits the music quite well. The music seems to point forward into the future by incorporating new guitar sounds and noises. But how do the bizarre animal sketches fit in?
I always read the liner notes to every CD I buy - you can find out all sorts of neat stuff. We see the name Nigel Godrich here and there, and I'm reminded that this was the start of Nigel's prominent career as a record producer. He has since become Radiohead's go-to guy, and worked with other artists like Beck.
Recorded at Abbey Road! I wonder if the band took a picture of themselves crossing the street on their dinner break.
When a fledgling band hits the big time, they usually get a truckload of free gear. The savvy musical instrument manufacturers will find up-and-coming bands to donate free guitars, basses, amplifiers, drumkits, cymbals, guitar strings, picks, and sometimes even clothes to bands who are in desperate need of more road-worthy or studio-worthy gear in exchange for a free mention in the liner notes, in the hopes that those 5% of record buyers are the types like me that actually read the liner notes will be more likely to buy an Ampeg 8x10 bass cab when I start my own band in an attempt to match that Radiohead sound.
Usually, this equipment shout-out isn't that interesting, but in this case, the band thanks Mesa Boogie and Fender. This is noteworthy because they are the same brand of amps that Nirvana used when recording Nevermind and In Utero. Is it possible that Jonny Greenwood is a liner-note-reader like me, and he wanted to incorporate a bit of that Nirvana sound? Kurt Cobain used to run his Fender guitars through both a Mesa Boogie amp and a Fender Bassman amp to get that thick, grunge sound. I wonder if Radiohead (or the producers) knew this, or if they reached their own conclusions on how to get the best sound, and it just so happened that Kurt Cobain and Butch Vig had figured out the same solution four years earlier.
There's also a note that reads: "guitar & amp building and rebuilding by plank". 'plank' is not capitalized. I wonder if 'plank' was a person or a guitar shop. Whatever plank did, it is probably featured the most on the strange sounds of the song "My Iron Lung" - it definitely must have been a custom-made guitar effect.
BUT THE MOST INTERESTING LINER NOTE is down at the bottom: "dedicated to the late Bill Hicks." Bill Hicks was a stand-up comic who passed away in the early/mid 90's, and he was known for his act that criticized commercialism and ignorance. If he was not the best known comic of his time, it is only because he was before the age of Comedy Central and the internet - if you weren't on national television, nobody knew who you were. I can easily understand why Radiohead, a band that even early in their career was concerned with their commercial success, would have identified with Mr. Hicks.
AND NOW, ON TO THE MUSIC.
Planet Telex We start with the sound of... wind? An empty, desolate sound. Have we just landed on a remote planet, Planet Telex? More science fiction imagery. A haunting piano intro... and here comes some of that great, plank created guitar sound... I wish I knew what Telex was. For all I know, it's some British candy or something, and I'm missing the joke. It's such a beautiful reverb effect they have on the piano.
The Bends This song starts with a quiet whisper of, a TV broadcast? A radio show? Then it kicks in with a riff that sounds so 90's... so good. I love the lyric "baby's got the bends..." What are the bends, anyway? If I remember correctly, it's a real bummer of a condition that happens when you're scuba diving and you come up from the depths of the ocean too quickly. Something about air bubbles in your blood. Sounds nasty. "Where do we go from here?" sings Thom. Did this notion of getting the bends come from the band's fear of becoming a huge and popular rock band, that they wanted to eject, but they knew that if they did it too quickly that they'd get bubbles in their blood too? I certainly wouldn't want that to happen to me. To prevent divers from succumbing to the bends, they have to be put in special decompression tanks... I guess this album is their decompression tanks.
High and Dry This song is so unabashedly pretty. A nice, acoustic ballad. But wait, this is no simple puppy dog love song. "You'd kill yourself for recognition, kill yourself to never ever stop/you broke another mirror, you're turning into something you are not." When Thom asks the person he's singing at not to 'leave me high, don't leave me dry', is this his inner self warning his ego not to get too carried away? Perhaps he's coaxing his creativity into continuing to help him out with some new song ideas, so he doesn't hit writer's block at the peak of his band's popularity. And there's such nice distorted guitars providing an edge to the acoustic prettiness.
Fake Plastic Trees Thom busts out the acoustic again... I had heard of this song before I heard what the song sounds like. I'm sure it has been played in coffee houses around the world at least a thousand times by Thom Yorke wannabes. Such a sad and melon-collie song... "it wears her out..." Thom sings. Is he singing about a diorama, or about someone who feels that her life and everything around her is no longer real, but fake stand-ins for what should be there? The line "but gravity always wins, and it wears him out" is a killer. Nice organ sounds in the background.
Bones Starts with another cool guitar sound, but soon turns into what sounds like a U2 song. We hear the pumping bass and the drums, and The Edge-like little guitar notes... then here comes the tidal wave at the chorus. I like how Radiohead is really good at keeping an aggressive undercurrent in even their simplest ballads on this album.
(Nice Dream) An interesting downward chord progression. One thing is for sure, these guys know a thing or two about music theory. This song features some strings in the background, and that touch of distorted guitar. Very well arranged. I especially like Jonny Greenwood's sad string bending guitar parts under the verse. It's hard to believe that these little twinkling noises came from the same guy who added the heavy guitar hits to Creep. And then the bridge takes the song in a different and unpredictable direction... nicely done, lads.
Just I love this song. I had actually heard this one track before when I saw the music video. Awesome video, by the way. I'm not entirely clear on what this person is doing to themselves, but all I know is that Thom thinks that their punishment is 'just'. Another great arrangement, plenty of guitar layers to sift through.
My Iron Lung All the true Radiohead fans who bought the My Iron Lung EP would have already heard this song, obviously, but here it is again. The imagery of an iron lung is such a strong one - they could have said 'my oxygen tank' or 'my wheelchair' or something similar, but refering to an iron lung is so much weirder. It makes me think of the weird, David Lynchian scene in The Big Lebowski. Unclear whether or not the Coen Brothers are Radiohead buffs or not.
I still love that crazy corroded guitar sound. This song and Just are the most rocking songs on the record, and it's seems odd to me that they're stuck together here in the middle; it's sort of a strange sequencing choice.
Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was And, bringing it back down to the ballads... Plenty of atmosphere in this song, even in its sparse arrangement. I like the strange synth or possibly manipulated guitar sounds in the background of the mix. And suddenly, it fades out, and fades into...
Black Star More sci-fi. Stars. Space. Planets. This song seems to have been designed as a sort of sequel to Bullet Proof, the way that Bullet Proof fades out and this one fades in... you don't see many examples of the fade in these days unless it's the first track of the album. This song seems to have a lyrical theme that I've noticed in the other songs that involve the protagonist trying to care for someone who seems to have given up hope or are suffering from depression. There certainly were a lot of 90's songs about depression, weren't there?
Sulk The title sounds like the title of a Smashing Pumpkins song. Something about that word just seems like it would be right at home next to a song named "Mayonnaise" or "Starla". Another song about dealing with someone else's depression. "You'll never change..."
Street Spirit (Fade Out) Again, the final track appears to give us a glimpse into the future of Radiohead... it doesn't fit the same pop song structure that the other songs follow on this album. It seems to be giving us a sign of what's to come.
It's hard to say whether I would have liked this album as much as I do now if I had bought it when it first came out. I was thirteen in 1995, and I was primarily interested in The Beatles and country music at that period in my life. This probably would have been a bit beyond me. But I'm glad that I have it now, and the music is definitely timeless enough to still make an impact.
That photo on the cover still creeps me out.
