Considering what a fully-formed masterpiece it turned out to be, it’s ironic to think of the piecemeal creation of The Bends, an album that was made bit by bit over the course of a year. Radiohead’s second record turns 30 this month and it still sounds as startling as it did upon release in March 1995, an inventive and vital release that established the Oxford five-piece as one of the world’s most forward-thinking, dynamically talented guitar bands. But there was a time when Thom Yorke, brothers Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway wondered if they’d get there. The creation of The Bends was one of fits and starts, doubts and uncertainty.
There was pressure coming from every angle. They’d had a huge worldwide hit with their moping classic Creep, the success of which masked a below-par debut album in 1993’s Pablo Honey. “If we hadn’t had that success with Creep,” bassist Colin Greenwood told this writer last year, “we wouldn’t have made The Bends and we would have been dropped by EMI. Isn’t that crazy?”
