After the success of their first single Creep, a self-loathing elegy of lead singer Thom Yorke’s feelings as a young man, in not only the UK but also America, and the near-constant touring the band had to undertake, this album seems to be a reaction to the pressures of producing a superior follow up and being at the sharp end of a the sexy MTV lifestyle which was emerging at the time. These feelings manifest themselves most lucidly in lead single My Iron Lung which contain the lyrics ‘this is our new song / just like the last one / a total w.a.s.t.e of time’. After starting with an alluring guitar melody, the song begins to breakdown with thrashes of Jon Greenwood’s guitar seemingly expressing the band’s frustration at the Iron Lung which once gave them life as a band but is now leaves them suffocating after its success.
The album also seems to mark the beginning of a change in style immediately noticeable from the atmospheric keyboard sounds on the first track, Planet Telex. The subsequent piano chords instantly indicate this is something different from the band’s debut and Yorke’s cryptic lyrics and Greenwood’s psychedelic, broken guitar sounds leave the listener ravenous for more. However what follows is not a continuation of the euphoric, soaring electronic sounds of Telex, but a much more Pablo Honey-esque, guitar dominated track, in The Bends. This eponymous track continues the band’s exploration of the quiet / loud dynamic but marks a progression both lyrically and musically leaving the listener wondering whether this can be the same band that produced the largely bromidic collection of rock songs that is Pablo Honey.
Other highlights on the album include the simple but beautiful ballad High & Dry which again deals with the disillusionment after success, Just with its addictive, ascending riff and also sees Greenwood showcase all his (considerable) talents with an astounding guitar solo, and Bullet Proof…I Wish I Was, probably the most beautiful song on the album.
The Bends, then, seems to defy belief after the modesty of Pablo Honey. There is so much to say about each song not only about its composition, but also about the lyrics in each. While they all might not carry the weight of meaning of Fake Plastic Trees or in particular the album’s culmination Street Spirit (Fade Out), there is something about each song which will provoke thought and contemplation. This is what makes the album so special; not only is it the quality of music that makes you what to replay it, but also the tremendous meaning each song has, and this power continues to grow with every listen.
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