Search - Radiohead :: The Bends [SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION- 2 CDs + DVD]

Could have been so much more

Derek T. Forshee | Southern California | 04/05/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As a die hard Radiohead fan, it pains me to see a collector's edition not go the full mile. Now the album itself is a genuine classic and deserves it's place among the great classics of our time. That said, where is the remastered edition (not remixed) that would have been worth it's weight in gold? I mean has anyone heard the re-release of Pearl Jam's "Ten"?! It's incredible! It would have been a true reason to release this as opposed to EMI cashing in on their white knight that has left them behind.



Also, the b-sides... now believe me, they are amazing (outside of maybe a couple of bad seeds). But they are also on itunes for 99 cents each! What's crazy is that the OK Computer set is more half a**ed than this one with lame postcards and a third disc of 3 or 4 music videos!



In the end, I love the band. I feel everything they put out is solid, but this is a lazy attempt at a quick buck EMI... and $35 at that! Twenty bucks maybe but really?!! I guess now that this is out we won't see what really could have been. I give this 3 Stars because it is Radiohead after all and I know they didn't approve this package. They are better to their fans than EMI ever cares to be."

Radiohead's Breakthrough

D. A. Rich | Boston, MA | 04/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some time in 1995, I walked into a music store and heard The Bends, Radiohead's second album, on the store's sound system. I purchased it immediately. The album was a huge breakthrough for Radiohead and it was, in this reviewer's opinion, along with the band's third album, OK Computer, one of the two best albums of the 1990s.



As most of those considering this box set already know, the music on The Bends is nothing short of amazing. It is beautiful and rocking guitar (often acoustic) based music (unlike many later Radiohead efforts), with ethereal and thought provoking vocals, colorful textures, and tasteful guitar leads. Thom Yorke (vocals) and Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar) really shine. It is a great, great album.



So what about this box set? Well, as with the other two recent re-releases of Radiohead's first three albums by the band's now former record company, it contains two audio CDs, one of the original album and one of ep tracks and/or B-sides and "live" tracks (here, from BBC Radio One), and one DVD containing videos and "live" tracks (here concert, studio and television footage). There are also less expensive sets just containing the two audio CDs.



About the sound quality. There has been some griping that the album has not been remastered. Keeping in mind that the album was first made for CD, and not all remastering is an improvement, it seems to me that the sound on these CDs -- although I found this more obvious on the Pablo Honey and OK Computer discs -- sounds better than I recall the original discs sounding. The 2CD/1DVD box sets are manufactured in the EU -- most likely in the UK --and seem to be excellent pressings. I do not know if the same is the case with the 2CD sets, but given the delay in the release of the box sets, I suspect that the 2CD sets are likely domestic.



As great as the first CD (containing The Bends album) is, it is remarkable how fine the second CD is. First, it contains all of the songs (other than the title track, which appears on the first CD) of the "My Iron Lung" ep, which was released in 1994, the year before the Bends was released (and following the Pablo Honey album). The second disc also contains B-sides from the singles released from The Bends album, and these include some of the band's finest B-sides, some really great tunes. Lastly, it includes four live songs from a 1994 BBC Radio One session. While Radiohead fans are likely to have many, or most, of the songs included on this second disc, it is nice to have them all together, and, for those who haven't acquired them already, at a much lower cost than purchasing all of the [import] singles. In response to the reviewer who complained that the same songs are available on-line for 99 cents each, but sorry, the sound quality here is superior to MP3 format.



The third disc is a DVD containing the videos from the album (amazing how young the band members look), concert footage from a 1994 London show (the same show featured on the Pablo Honey DVD) and live footage taken in the studio and from British television. While the video could have been better (the footage does not run consecutively for one thing) it is great to see the band rock out on the tunes, and the sound and video quality is very good. I'm certain that most of this footage can be found on-line, so it is up to the individual as to whether to pony up the extra dough for the box set. Like I said, however, the box set is an import containing some nice pressings of the audio CDs.



Lastly, about the record company cashing in, and that the band is not behind this. Yes, that may be true. But was the band behind the release of all those outrageously expensive import singles/B-sides, that should have been released, as they have been here, on a single CD? The nut of it is, the music is excellent (same of Radiohead's very best), and at the time of the writing of this review, Amazon is selling this thing at a steep discount from the release price (I'm waiting for a refund). Highly recommended."