IDS CLASSIC ALBUMS:

I hate listening to 40-year-olds constantly tell me that there is no such thing as good music anymore. Part of the reason is, unfortunately, I kind of agree with them. \nAlthough modern music still shows glimmers of hope, more often than not, every time I turn on the radio (which is increasingly rare) all I hear is generic rip-offs and cookie-cutter bands that completely lack any artistic creativity or integrity. \nBut there is still hope. There are still a select group of bands today that are "artists" in the true sense of the word. And one band that is leading the charge is Radiohead.\nIf I wanted to explain to someone what art sounded like today, I would play them OK Computer. So when discussing the importance of this band, who have been deemed "Rock's Best Live Band" by Rolling Stone Magazine and are No.1 in SPIN magazine's 40 most influential artists, one would expect me to dissect OK Computer or perhaps the ambitious Kid A. \nHowever, the album from which the rest of Radiohead's work finds its roots, is 1995's The Bends. \nThe Bends, Radiohead's second album, was released in the spring of 1995, at a time when the band was being labeled as possible one-hit-wonders by media cynics after the massive success of the single "Creep" (a song whose popularity the band would eventually grow to hate). \nThe record is a perfect combination of pop friendly hooks and guitar heavy rock sprinkled with light traces of the experimental art rock, which would become the staple of their later albums. Considered the most rock-orientated album the band has ever released, it is probably the most pop accessible as well. \nThe first three tracks, "Planet Telex, "The Bends" and "High and Dry," are all solid cuts and build up to the album's apex, "Fake Plastic Trees." A chilling and moving song, "Trees" is rumored to have brought lead singer Thom Yorke to tears upon the recording of the vocals in the studio. \nThe tracks continue strong, leading up to the album's response to Pablo Honey's "Creep," "My Iron Lung." Other highlights are the guitar driven "Just," "Black Star" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)," which the band often uses as a closer for their live shows.