10 Perfect 1990s Rock Albums With No Bad Songs
4. The Bends - Radiohead
As the '90s began, Radiohead were in deep trouble. Before they became the musical cyborgs that we know them as today, the post grunge look of an album like Pablo Honey brought them dangerously close to one hit wonder territory, being stifled by the smash hit Creep. Like all great acts though, Radiohead teamed up with a hot shot producer, took a deep breath, and wrote songs with one defining topic...the darkness within.
Yeah, although the Bends is probably the most anthemic album that Radiohead would ever create, these are the kind of dejected songs that even Morrissey would have scoffed at back in the day. Though the opening sounds of something like High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees are pleasing enough, the pure pain in Thom Yorke's voice can't be ignored, almost sounding like a choir boy if he were being tortured by a demon inside him.
Outside of just the big production, there are bits and pieces of what the more intellectual Radiohead would be like going forward, like the different twists and turns of Just or the borderline punk sounds going on in the back half of My Iron Lung. While this brought Radiohead into the realm of stadium rockers, that didn't have nearly enough time to soak it all in. These guys were already halfway to OK Computer by this point.