Album of the Week: Radiohead - "The Bends"

Rating: 9.6/10

In case it wasn't already clear,  Radiohead are my favorite band. From the overly-maligned Pablo Honey to the band's most recent output The King of Limbs, I love it all. Today marks twenty years since the 1995 release of The Bends, Radiohead's first truly Radiohead-y album, the record that began to display their brilliance and which proved that the band's legacy wouldn't be limited to "Creep." The Bends does this by abandoning the grunge approach of their debut for a more agitated and unusual brand of guitar rock. While I still consider OK Computer to be my favorite Radiohead album, I find myself listening to The Bends more often than any other selection from the group's discography. The more straightforward nature of the songs, which still maintain a pop quality to them despite their weirdness, combined with a generally happier tone ("Street Spirit" notwithstanding) make it the perfect combination of Radiohead's eccentricities and listen-ability. 

The two best examples of Radiohead's pop side on The Bends are, fittingly, the album's two biggest hits - "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees." Both lean on acoustic guitar riffs before exploding into something greater, and both show off Thom Yorke's impressive singing ability. "High and Dry," later revealed to be unliked by Radiohead themselves, centers around a simple two-phrase chorus that works its way into your brain immediately, and boasts a guitar solo that pops out of your speakers every time. "Fake Plastic Trees" focuses on Yorke's vocals and acoustic guitar and a lonely Hammond organ (played by guitarist Jonny Greenwood) for the first half of the track. Once Yorke snarls "it wears him," the song erupts for a few brief yet soaring moments, before dying back down, leaving Yorke to wish he "could be who you wanted."

But where The Bends thrives where Pablo Honey came up short is that this record is incredibly diverse, and not directly derivative of any one genre or band. It's hard to believe album opener "Planet Telex" and closer "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" were written by the same artist, let alone included on the same album. The former is a distorted mess of guitars and drums, in the best way possible. "Street Spirit" is a beautifully morose labyrinth of "cracked eggs, dead birds" and death's "beady eyes," telling a tale of absolute despair only Thom Yorke knows how to deliver. In between the album's bookends, "My Iron Lung" features two separate beserk guitar freak=outs, "Sulk" is a subtly harrowing song about the Hungerford massacre, and "Just" showcases Radiohead at their most strum-happy.



While not as paranoid as OK Computer or Hail to the Thief, jarring as Kid A or Amnesiac, or jaw-droppingly gorgeous as In Rainbows, The Bends remains probably the greatest guitar-rock record of the period between Kurt Cobain's death (and grunge's along with it) and OK Computer's tech-rock revolution. Each and every song is vintage Radiohead, and the album as a whole serves as the perfect bridge between the quintet's grunge phase and their highly-celebrated era of oddity. It may not be the most complex output of Radiohead's career, but it just may be the easiest to just pick up and listen to.

Key tracks: "The Bends," "Fake Plastic Trees," "Just," "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"

Top 10 Indie Love Songs

It's Valentine's Day and, depending on your relationship status, either your favorite or least favorite day of the year. Today we'll be looking at ten of my favorite love-struck songs from the realm of indie music. In the past, we've counted down the top ten songs with the word "love" in the title, but for originality's sake, no repeats from that list will show up here. Instead, today's post takes a less literal approach and focuses on songs about infatuation with a significant other. This means no break-up songs; that's a list for another day. The rankings were determined by a combination of each track's lyrical content and message, and the actual quality of the music. Lastly, as always, these lists are based on my personal tastes, and are in no way supposed to be taken as gospel.

10. Tegan and Sara - "Closer"



For our first entry, we jump to the poppier end of the indie spectrum, with Tegan and Sara's monster 2012 single "Closer." The twin-sister duo released the song ahead of their 2013 album Heartthrob, announcing their departure from their cutesy indie-folk style with billowing synthesizers and a colossal hook. "Closer" describes the complete relationship - one that's "not just all physical," where the speaker recognizes how special her partner is. The chorus will grab you right away and won't let go for a long time afterwards, just like the characters in this excellent depiction of young, uncomplicated love.

Top 10 Radiohead Songs

This week's countdown features a list of my ten favorite songs by my all-time favorite band, Radiohead. With such a large discography and so many varying musical styles, the final shortlist was very eclectic. Let's dive in.

10. "The Bends" - The Bends  (1995)



The title track off Radiohead's second album, which many see as their first truly fantastic output, "The Bends" is a rip-roaring rocker that's just weird enough to let you know this band is special. Thom Yorke's stammered vocals gel nicely with Jonny Greenwood's arena-sized guitar riff.  "Where do we go from here?" asks Yorke earnestly. Little did he know that where Radiohead would "go" would soon be straight up to the top of the indie world. The whole song is big, and remains one of the band's best straightforward rock tracks.

Continue the list by clicking the "read more" button below.

Top 10 "Love" Songs

Love is by far the most common subject a song is written about. It's a universal theme that transcends generations and will never come close to going away. So, naturally, lots of musicians make it the focus of their music.

But this list is not going to countdown songs about love; that's a pretty insurmountable task, considering the volume of songs that would qualify. Instead, today I'm listing my top ten songs with the word "love" (or some variation of it) in the title. Yes, it's a pretty open, loosely-related category, but that just allows for a more eclectic bunch of tunes to be featured. It may only be a trivial shared characteristic, but I still think it'll make for an interesting lineup.

Top 10 Guitar Solos

When I decided to make this week's countdown on my ten favorite guitar solos, I had no idea about the heftiness of the task ahead of me. The preliminary list included nearly 60 songs, and the process of whittling those down to just ten was arduous at best. Before we jump into the list, I want to make a few clarifications. Firstly, these are my top ten favorite guitar solos, meaning this list will probably look different from other lists you've seen. Sure, songs like "Crazy Train" and "Purple Haze" have legendary solos that other artists aspire to match, but those have been analyzed and broken down repeatedly. I didn't want this post to just be a rehash of every other guitar solo countdown you've seen before, so nothing made the list solely based on status. While I took this into account, the list was more or less created based on which guitar solos I enjoy most. This means that I considered everything from how the solo sounds aesthetically, how difficult it was to write and compose, and how it fits into the song, among other points. Also, I limited the list to one song per artist. So without further ado, I present my top ten favorite guitar solos.

10. Grizzly Bear - "Fine For Now"


Solo starts at 4:25

Grizzly Bear is a band not particularly known for its instrumental brilliance, but rather its vocal harmonies and sweeping flourishes of sound. But on this track from 2009's Veckatimest, the group decides to finish with a bang. Guitarist/vocalist Daniel Rossen steps into the spotlight with a flurry of quickly-strummed high notes, accentuated by Christopher Bear's sweeping crash cymbals. In fact, the drums here play as big a part as the guitars by flying around the track and generating a sense of chaos.

9. System of a Down - "Lonely Day"


Solo starts at 1:35

I am by no means a metal head, but SOAD's unique blend of aggressive lyrics, heavy drums, and hypnotizing harmonies has always drawn me in. "Hypnotize" is my favorite SOAD song, thanks to the reasons above, but it's "Lonely Day"'s guitar solo that impresses me most out of their discography. What makes it stand out to me is not only its amazing technical ability (it's a monster of a solo), but that it achieves something very rare in rock music, especially metal: a sad-toned guitar solo that still sounds great. Most solos are either gloriously triumphant-sounding or just to show off, but on "Lonely Day" guitarist Daron Malakian plays in such a way that the solo perfectly complements the song's dreary, hopeless feeling, while still managing to blow you away.

8. Foo Fighters - "Best of You"


Solo starts at 2:00

For a long time, "Best of You" was my favorite song. While it remains in my remarkably nonvolatile top 5, it has dropped behind by the likes of The Joy Formidable, Brand New, and Radiohead (twice).So while sentimental value & personal taste may (probably) be clouding my judgement on this one just a bit, I still feel that "Best of You" deserves a spot on this list. Sure, there's nothing too complicated here, just various power chords being played repeatedly in long strings, really quickly. But, yet again, it's the role of the solo in the song that helps it gain a spot on my top 10. "Best of You," and most Foo Fighters songs in general, relies on raw energy and power to gets its message across and give the listener a pleasurable listening experience. This fast-paced, upbeat solo plays into that idea well, despite not being the most technically or intellectually challenging solo around. And, besides, when it's all said and done, this solo flat-out rocks. And isn't that what Foo Fighters are for?

7. Pavement - "Gold Soundz"


Solo starts at 1:17

I wrote in detail about this song, and particularly its guitar solo, at length in my look back at Pavement's classic Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. And, since pageviews are my friend, I won't go into too much detail here, other than to say the brilliance here is that this guitar solo actually features three different guitar parts overlaying each other, weaving in and out of the mix. One riff will step to the foreground before eagerly making way for another to take center stage. Click the blue text here or above when I referenced the previous article to visit it & read more about "Gold Soundz" and the album as a whole, one of my prouder pieces of writing thus far.

6. Led Zeppelin - "Stairway to Heaven"


Solo starts at 5:50

Yeah, remember when I said that no solo would make the list because of how famous it is? That rule still stands. Though it's truly iconic and is often recognized as one of the greatest of all time, that's not why Jimmy Page's solo on the equally legendary "Stairway to Heaven" made it in my top 10. It made my top 10 because it's a truly amazing piece, and definitely one of my favorites to listen too. "Stairway" is known for its slow build-up, and Page's guitar outburst is the climax of the song. It's only fitting that one of the best songs ever by one of the best bands ever contains one of the best guitar solos (you guessed it) ever. (Lesser songs and less famous solos ranked higher, but  remember, these are my favorites, not the world's favorites. Take it with a grain of salt.)

5. The Strokes - "The Modern Age"


Solo starts at 1:45

The second track on this New York band's debut smash Is This It utilizes eastern influences in its guitar part. The solo starts off unassumingly enough before launching into a full-fledged guitar onslaught. One of the common (yet few) criticisms of The Strokes is that their instrumentals and song structures are too simple. But, after the technically brilliant guitar work on "The Modern Age," that argument gets thrown out the window. The solo catches you off guard, and that's what makes it so much more enjoyable.

4. Dinosaur Jr. - "Watch the Corners"


Solos start at 2:27, 3:25

One of the hardest decisions I had to make when composing this list was choosing between this and "Feel the Pain," in order to follow the one-song-per-artist rule. Thus, I wanted give a quick nod to "Feel the Pain"'s joyful burst of guitar majesty before diving into "Watch the Corners." This track from Dino Jr.'s most recent release, 2012's I Bet on Sky, contains not one but two lengthy, eardrum-exploding, wailing guitar solos. J Mascis has been impressing fans with his skills ever since the group's 1985 debut. Now on their tenth studio album, Dinosaur Jr. brings the good yet again, and this is most noticable in the dual solos in "Watch the Corners." The song is a wash of muddy, low-toned power chords over Mascis' famous droning vocal style. Not only are the technical and aesthetic aspects here astounding, but the production is as well. The way the higher notes are distorted to almost a shriek is tremendously rewarding. The first solo makes way for a short acoustic reprieve, and though technically not a "solo," Mascis free-forms during the final chorus as well before finishing the song with a blazing part. Dinosaur Jr. hasn't lost its sound over its nearly three-decade-spanning career, and that's very apparent on "Watch the Corners."

3. The Joy Formidable - "Maw Maw Song"


Solo starts at 3:49

The Joy Formidable are a band that thrive most when the step back and let the instrumentals take over and ride out the end of the track. Though songs like "Whirring" and "Austere" do it even better, those boisterous, alt-rock freakouts are just as much about the drum parts as the guitar lines, which largely consist of power chords, not really qualifying them as "solos" persay. That is not the case, however, on "Maw Maw Song." The focus here is clearly on frontwoman Ritzy Bryan's magnificient talents as almost half the track is devoted to this epic solo. While the beginning is still great listening and impressive, the real attention-grabbing stuff that makes you recognize Bryan's ability starts about a minute in the solo (around the 4:45 mark in the above video.) This Welsh group's album The Big Roar (not not containing this track, from this year's Wolf's Law) perfectly summarizes their sound, and "Maw Maw" shows you why.

2. Brand New - "Limousine"


Solo starts at 5:42

The solo in this song, like so many others in this list, represents the culmination of all the emotions built up earlier in the track. However, where earlier efforts have been grand, joyful excursions, "Limousine" is a tragic one. A true story about a young girl who was killed by a drunk driver, the 2006 track takes the perspective of several people involved in the wreck, including the drunk driver and the victim's mother. It contains several parts and emotions, varying from sorrow to guilt to fury. The build up to the solo contains a repeated refrain of " I love you so much," with the number preceding the lyric continuing to go up until 7, victim Kate Flynn's age when she was killed. With each repetition, singer Jesse Lacey sounds more desperate and devastated. The final time is the most chaotic of all, with horns blaring as Lacey screams "I can't take it" before the guitar solo is unleashed. It truly is an extremely powerful song, and though the solo doesn't come until the end of the track, I wholeheartedly recommend you watch the entire video to feel the song's full effect.

Rest in peace, Katie Flynn.

1. Radiohead - "Paranoid Android"


Solos start at 3:04, 5:38

What more is there to say? Well, if you haven't read my full-length track-by-track review of OK Computer, I'll tell you pretty much all you need to know. "Paranoid Android" is yet another track with shifting movements, of which the guitar solos are the most energetic and frantic. Jonny Greenwood is a genius on the guitar, and shows it all off on this song. Cool sound effects added post-production are scattered throughout the 1997 record, and the guitar solos here employ them well. Indie rock's "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Paranoid Android" relies on its schizophrenia and Greenwood's performance contributes outstandingly. A true work of art, the solos in "Paranoid Android" are my favorite of all time.

Well, that about does it. A lot of work went into crafting this list and I appreciate anyone who's read this far. Hopefully you enjoyed my list, and maybe learned a thing or two. Feel free to post your own top 10's in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Poll Results 8/02/13-8/09/13: Best 90s Album

Last weeks poll has closed and there was a three way tie for your favorite album of the 1990's, between Radiohead's "OK Computer" (which I reviewed in detail last week), "Siamese Dream" by Smashing Pumpkins" and the "other" option. This week's poll: best front-women in rock.

Album Review of the Week: Radiohead - "OK Computer"

Welcome to the first of many "Album Review of the Week" features on this blog, and man is it a big one. If you've somehow managed to never experience this masterpiece of a record, close this window, go purchase it, listen to it non-stop for a week, then come back and read this review. (Not-so-subtle attempt at increased page views notwithstanding.) For the vast majority of you, you will have listened to and read about this record dozens of times before, so little introduction is needed. Nevertheless, here's a bit of background on the album for those unfamiliar with Radiohead and/or the circumstances surrounding what many consider their finest output to date, 1997's OK Computer.

Radiohead's 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, contained the band's breakthrough hit, "Creep," and remains as one of their most polarizing releases among fans and critics alike due to it's relative musical and lyrical simplicity in comparison to their later works and other relevant albums released in the same year. The group's next album, The Bends, was decidedly weirder and at the same time better, and stands as one of the most original records of the '90's. OK Computer continued down Radiohead's experimental path, and combined unique instrumentation and composition with unforgettable hooks, beautiful melodies, and profound lyrics dealing with the ever-growing presence of technology in our society. This is extremely prescient for 16 years ago in the same way Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's 1984 were in their time period.

OK Computer was the second real indie album I ever owned, after Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, and remains my favorite. Not only that, it marks a turning point in my musical interests. Up until that time, my most-beloved bands were Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Incubus, and the like, with Arcade Fire being the only 'indie' band I listened to. But at 14 years of age I purchased this fine album for a measly $5 on sale from Amazon (which feels like a crime to me - today I can't even place a value on it), and my life was never the same. I quickly purchased the rest of their catalogue, began reading indie blogs online, and delved into historic records like Is This It, Turn on the Bright Lights, and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. This album did for me what getting Guitar Hero for christmas had done for me three years earlier; it revolutionized the way I viewed music, how I listened to it, how I analyzed it, and, most importantly, how I enjoyed it. I suppose the story is similar for those of my age group just as bands like The Cure and The Smiths introduced teens of the '90's to the genre.Nevertheless, this album not only holds great nostalgic value to me, but also contains some of the most celebrated music ever put onto disc.

The album opens with the jittery but steadily driving (no pun intended) "Airbag." The track is notable for its constant start-stop bass line, the fidgety and repetitive-yet-not-tiresome drum beat, and guitar soundscapes. After Hail to the Thief's "2+2=5," "Airbag" is my favorite album-opener in Radiohead's catalogue, and it's not hard to see why. At the end of the song, four short electronic beeps set the tempo for the next track, and perhaps the most well-known and beloved from the album, the colossal "Paranoid Android." Accompanied by its equally bizarre music video, "Paranoid Android" showcases Thom Yorke and the gang at their most schizophrenic. Many bands had made attempts at "their own 'Bohemian Rhapsody,'" and still more have tried since. But no song has ever utilized drastic mid-song changes in tempo, tone, and/or emotion like this one does. The first two minutes or so are comparatively tame; a sugary acoustic guitar riff drives the first two verses as Yorke calmly asks "What's that?" Then, the lyrics and guitars take a more sinister turn, as Yorke scowls, "Ambition makes you look pretty ugly." He then turns violent and calls for a metaphorical beheading before Jonny Greenwood unleashes one of the finest guitar solos known to man, which collapses in a wash of feedback and crash cymbals into the song's morose third section. After some moping on Yorke's part, Greenwood comes back for more with one more freakout before the song gives way. The song reached #3 on the charts in the United Kingdom after being released as the album's lead single, an amazing feat for such a bizarre and seemingly commercially-unfriendly song. "Paranoid Android" is an essential track to own for any fan of 90's alternative rock, and its legacy lives on.

"Subterranean Homesick Alien," a floaty, delicate piece of work, comes next. The atmospheric, space-like guitars during the verses really convey the common literal interpretation of "alien," where the lyrics reflect a more figurative take on the title by describing feelings of loneliness and feeling out-of-place. At first, Yorke describes the people around him as "uptight" and wishes to be swept away to a world as he'd "love to see it." "Exit Music" is one my personal favorites from this album, partially because I love songs that build up towards the end, and partially because it perfectly depicts the thoughts and emotions of famous lovebirds Romeo and Juliet in a way even Shakespeare couldn't do. From the start of an innocent teenage romance to the tragic deaths of two lovers, "Exit Music" does just about as good a job at representing an already legendary story as any piece of media can do."Let Down" remains a fan favorite to this day due to its beautifully contrasted guitar work between Greenwood and O'Brien, and is probably to "poppiest" song Radiohead's ever done. And yet, it achieves this commercial appeal with no observable sacrifice of complexity or beauty; the two aforementioned guitar parts mesh well and at the same time don't mesh at all, and Thom's lyrics retain their deep and dispirited themes. And, my God, that high note.The first time I heard Yorke's wail of "you know where you are" coming out of the instrumental break was also the first time a song gave me chills, and very have since. "Let Down" was the track that made me a Radiohead fan for life. It was the moment I knew this band was special, that there was something different and amazing and beautiful that these five English musicians could achieve something that no one else can or will ever be able to.

"Karma Police" is another example of Radiohead's innate ability to balance weirdness with beauty. The track exemplifies everything critics adore about the quintet, what with its creeping rhythm section, haunting vocals, and emotional transparency. Everytime Yorke croons "This is what you'll get," the lyric sounds more and more like an inescapable punishment than a threat. The piano here is gorgeous and propels the song into another realm.All the way down to the feedback-freakout outro, "Karma Police" is more proof the Radiohead does not just write songs, but meticulously and furiously works to get even the smallest of details perfect.

The album's least musical track is in some ways also its most important."Fitter Happier" is a track containing nothing but an eerie piano piece performed under a robotic computer voice calmly yet ominously delivers disturbing phrases much like those used by George Orwell in 1984. While this "song" barely qualifies as a piece of music, it serves several purposes and its presence is essential to the OK Computer experience. First of all, it is the most direct example lyrically of the album's theme; the fear of modern society's dependence on technology and how it dominates our world.The track also plainly splits the album into two halves; the first half representing paranoia towards technology and its growth in society, and the second half showcasing the results of its presence.(That's just my interpretation, though; this record is open to many different translations.)

The moment "Electioneering" kicks off with tambourine clatters and a chaotic riff, you know you're in for a wild ride. Track number eight off OK Computer is arguably its most energetic. The fast paced drum beat, along with Yorke's rugged singing and a unrelenting and surprisingly effective use of cowbell all race ahead to about two-thirds through, where Jonny Greenwood steps in with another blazing guitar solo. The song is also the most unabashedly political track on the album, calling out the way political campaigns are run in a similar way that Rage Against the Machine's music video for "Testify" would two years later. One of the strangest and most frightening songs Radiohead's ever done, "Climbing Up the Walls," provides an uneasy and startlingly accurate view into the mind of an insane person. While the keyboards loom in the dark background and Yorke's internal monologue set the stage, it's Greenwood's implementation of an orchestra that really drives the creepy factor through the roof.Throw in the desperate screams at the song's apex of intensity, and you get one terrifying, brilliant song.

"No Surprises" is similar to "Let Down" in several ways: happy-sounding music with deceptively dark lyrics ("a handshake of carbon monoxide"); similar guitar tones and arrangements; and the sheer beauty shared by both. The final two tracks, "Lucky" and "The Tourist," are equally as beautiful. "Lucky" relates back to the theme of "Airbag" with its hook, "pull me out of the aircrash," and claims one of Greenwood's most impressive guitar riffs.To finish of the record, "The Tourist" elects to utilize space as an element of song. The slow-jazz feel presented by the drums and lack of intensity are a welcome change and well-suited cooldown after the other 48 minutes of the album. Eventually, though, Yorke and company get back to what they do best with a magnificently-built-up-to outro to the record, before closing with something as simple as one hit of a triangle. This simple end to such a complex record is both out of place and fitting; out of the ordinary, yet perfectly executed.

OK Computer is the album that made Radiohead who they are. They're this generation's Pink Floyd as Nirvana was our Beatles. Their music can be and should always be classified as pre-OK Computer and post-OK Computer. Even when you step back and forget about all of the cultural significance of this record, and view merely musically, there is still no denying how incredible this album truly is.