Throughout the 1990s in British music, Britain has churned out a plethora of bands that all attained a sort of greatness through the decade. From the early 90s Madchester scene of the Stone Roses, Charlatans UK, and the Happy Mondays to its noise-driven shoegazing scene of bands like My Bloody Valentines, Boo Radleys, Ride, and Lush, to even the mid-90s Brit-pop craze led by bands like Blur and Oasis with Elastica, Supergrass, London Suede, Sleeper, and Pulp. The 1990s did bring a resurgence of British rock music as it made invaded America for a brief period of time but today, many of those bands (except for Supergrass who are, surprisingly, making great music) have either broken up or in decline. Throughout all those British trends and superstar bands, there was one British rock band that stood out between all those music scenes and today is still one of the most beloved British rock bands that continue to make great music. That band is now known as the Best Band in the World, Radiohead.
Formed in the early 1990s as a quintet with singer/guitarist Thom Yorke, guitarist Ed O’ Brien, guitarist Jonny Greenwood and his older brother Colin on bass, and Phil Selway on drums, Radiohead changed the face of not just British music but all forms of rock and pop music from their 1993 debut “Pablo Honey” through landmark albums like 1995’s “The Bends” and 1997’s masterpiece “OK Computer” to experimental tour-de-force albums like 2000’s “Kid A” and 2001’s “Amnesiac”. Radiohead brought 80s American post-punk and alt-rock, mixed with early 90s Brit-rock and 70s art-rock to create a bold sound that changed the face of popular music as each album continues to stretch musical boundaries while attaining a massive acclaim from fans and critics. Along with British contemporaries like Primal Scream and American counterparts like Wilco, Nine Inch Nails, and the Flaming Lips, Radiohead are one of the last few art-rock bands that continue to break any musical territory while trying to make it accessible in the realm of pop music. With their sixth album “Hail to the Thief” approaching for a June release, we now go back in time to Radiohead’s path of greatness and we begin with the band’s 1993 debut “Pablo Honey”.
With many debut albums, some tend to be great as it showcased the promise of some bands while others don’t start out great but that band or artist will eventually evolve through the years to come. Radiohead’s 1993 debut for “Pablo Honey” is a bit in between since some of the songs album at the time showed that the band had some promise while others thought it would become a forgettable album. In comparison to their later recordings, “Pablo Honey” shows a young band trying to standout in the world of British rock but have some trouble along the way into their evolution. While the art-rock influences don’t come later on, “Pablo Honey” is mostly rooted in the American alternative rock sounds of bands like R.E.M. the Talking Heads (the band named themselves after an old Talking Head song), and the Pixies as well as Irish rockers U2 and British bands like the Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, and the Stone Roses.
Though Thom Yorke’s lyrics would later become greater and more obtuse, the lyrics in “Pablo Honey” are filled with angst-ridden subjects and heartwarming ballads that have their moments in some spots but are also a bit sophomoric since the songs Yorke was singing was something everyone else was singing about in the American alternative rock scene. Musically, the American influences does give the band a chance to standout more against their British contemporaries but it had some American rock fans wonder if they were a British band trying to sound American which did hurt them at the time. Filled with grunge riffs, melodic jangle-pop, lush arrangements, and high-powered rhythms, Radiohead’s debut is a spotty one but does have its great moments. While it’s not a great debut, it’s one debut album that should be listened to after analyzing their evolution into later albums. “Pablo Honey” marks the beginning of one of the 1990s greatest rock bands of all-time from five young guys from Oxford.
The album’s opener is the melodic “You” as it opens with Ed O’ Brien’s melodic guitar jangle as the song goes into full, mid-tempo, grunge-like mode with the blazing guitars of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood backed by bass-throbbing rhythm of bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway as Yorke sings, “You are the sun and moon and stars, are you/And I could never run away from you” as the song then goes into a full blast of a three-guitar assault from O’ Brien’s, Yorke’s and Greenwood’s guitar as Yorke sings this strange love song as Yorke belts out high-pitched, wailing vocals during the song that shows his impressive range.
Next is the classic angst-ridden single for “Creep” (Note: The American version contains both a dirty and clean version of the song, the clean version is the last track on “Pablo Honey”) with its throbbing bass lines, smooth drumming, and Ed O’ Brien’s melodic guitar jangle as Yorke begins to sing his self-loathing lyrics of “When you were here before/Couldn’t look you in the eye/You’re just like an angel/Your skin makes me cry/You float like a feather/In a beautiful world/I wish I was special/So f*cking special (“So very special” in the clean version)” as Jonny Greenwood belts out this scratchy, menacing riff as it leads to the chorus of “I’m a creep/I’m a weirdo/What the hell am I doing here/I don’t belong here” which was the perfect song for the dreary, angst-ridden world of American alternative rock as Yorke’s self-loathing lyrics go into full-power with its grunge-driven guitars and powerful rhythms as it makes the perfect teen-angst song, at that time in 1993.
“How Do You?” is a fast-paced rocker with blazing grunge guitar riffs from Yorke, O’Brien, and Greenwood with bass-pounding rhythms as Yorke sings his angry lyrics with his snarling vocals as he sings, “He lives with his mother/But we showed him respect/He’s a dangerous bigot, but we always forget/And he’s like his daddy because he cheats on his friends/And he steals and he bullies anyway that he can” as it leads to the chorus of “But how do you/how do you/how do you” as it ends with Greenwood’s scratchy guitars and feedback textures mixed with warbling pianos behind the feedback. Next is the somber, jangle-rock ballad of “Stop Whispering” with its smooth, washy guitars, pulsating drum fills from Selway, and Yorke’s somber vocals as he sings the opening verse of “And the wise man says I don’t want to hear your voice/And the thin man says I don’t want to hear your voice/And they’re cursing me, and they won’t let me be/And there’s nothing to say, and there’s nothing to do” as it leads to the sweeping chorus of “Stop whispering, start shouting/(repeat line)” as Yorke goes into his somber tone until after the second chorus when Jonny Greenwood belts out a menacing guitar solo as Yorke sings, “Dear sir, I have a complaint/Can’t remember what it is/It doesn’t matter anyway” as the song then leads to a rocking coda where Yorke sings the coda and the tempo speeds up a bit with its wailing guitars and Colin Greenwood’s throbbing bass lines.
Next is the lovely, acoustic ballad of “Thinking About You” as Yorke plays a fast, washy acoustic guitar as he sings, “Been thinking about you, you’re record’s a hit/Your eyes on my wall, your teeth are over there/But I’m still no-one, and you’re not a star/What do you care?” as Yorke sings about being stardom while conflicting with people he’s leaving behind. “Thinking About You” is easily the album’s best track with its soft percussion and a sweet, melodic jangle guitar track from Ed O’ Brien as the song shows the promise of Radiohead in their early days.
We go from the best track on the album to the worst track, which is the lame, anthemic rocker of “Anyone Can Play Guitar” which for me is still the band’s worst song. I never liked it when I first heard it, didn’t like it when they were big and probably never will to this day. With its squealing, grunge feedback guitars and shoegazing guitar textures, the band tries too much as the song sort of slows down into a bass-throbbing rhythm that is then ruined by Yorke’s sophomoric lyrics as he later sings, “Grow my hair, grow my hair/I am Jim Morrison/Grow my hair/I wanna be, wanna be, wanna be Jim Morrison” (thank God he decided not to be, Jim’s dead and Thom’s still here) that is later followed by the chorus of “And if the world does turn/And if London burns, I’ll be standing on a beach with my guitar/I wanna be in a band when I get to heaven/Anyone can play guitar/And they won’t be anything anymore”. Don’t worry folks, they made better anthemic rockers on the next album but that’s another review.
We now go to “Ripcord”, with its slow, throbbing tone that then briefly leads to a crashing rocking tone with Thom Yorke’s and Jonny Greenwood’s guitars as Yorke sings his weird, metaphorical lyrics (that seems to be in its early stages before he evolved into the great lyricist he is) as he sings in the second verse, “Aeroplane, do you know what I mean? It’s inevitable, inevitable, oh aeroplane/A thousand miles an hour/And politics in power/That you don’t understand” that leads to the pounding rock chorus of “You’ve no ripcord, no ripcord, no ripcord, no ripcord” with its bass-pounding beats from Phil Selway’s drums and its accompanying, heavy bass lines from Colin Greenwood as his brother Jonny, Yorke, and Ed O’ Brien rock out with their blazing guitars.
“Vegetable” is a smooth, jangle-pop inspired track led by O’ Brien’s jangly, melodic guitar riffs and the smooth, paced rhythm of Selway and Colin Greenwood as Yorke begins to sing his strange lyrics (that to this day, is never explained to Radiohead fans) as he sings, “I never wanted any broken bones/Scarred face, no home/Your words surround me and I asphyxiate/And I burn all the hate” as the song then goes into a rocking chorus with its blasting power chords from Yorke, O’ Brien, and Jonny Greenwood as Yorke sings, “Every time, you’re running out of me/Every time, you’re running I can see/I’m not a vegetable/I will not control myself/I spit on the hand that feels me/I will not control myself” as it is later followed by a warbling guitar solo from Jonny Greenwood who shines in this song as the band’s most prominent guitarist. Next is the song “Prove Yourself” as Yorke begins to sing bleak lyrics of “I can’t afford to breathe in this time/Nowhere to sit without a gun in my hand/Hooked back up to the cathode ray/I’m better off dead (repeat 2 more times) as the song begins as a quiet track until it leads to the rocking chorus line of “Prove Yourself” as Yorke then sings more of his bleak lyrics that seems to be a bit overdone except in the band’s performance from its high-powered rhythm section and its layers of wailing guitars.
“I Can’t” is a smooth, mid-tempo song where Yorke sings about his lack of confidence as it opens with Greenwood and O’Brien’s U2-inspired guitar vibrato as it leads to a more lush, complex track of washy and wailing guitars and throbbing rhythms from Phil Selway’s drums and Colin Greenwood’s throbbing bass lines as Yorke sings the chorus line of “Even thought I might, even though I try, I can’t” that is preceded with “If you give up on me now, I’ll be gutted like I’ve been never before” as it melodic bass lines and layers of guitar riffs shows more of Radiohead’s promise. “Lurgee” is a smooth, bass-throbbing ballad accompanied with its layers of melodic and sliding guitars as Yorke sings his lyrics of love lost where Yorke feels relieved in the first verse of “I feel better, I feel better now you’ve gone/I feel better, I feel strong” as Greenwood later plays an evocative guitar solo that is impressive with each riff as he continues to impress everyone.
The album closer (if you don’t count the clean version of “Creep”) is “Blow Out” as it opens with a washy guitar riffs from Ed O’ Brien and a throbbing rhythm from Colin Greenwood’s melodic bass lines and Phil Selway’s drumming. Yorke then sings, in his smooth, high-pitched vocals, as he strums his guitar with its dreamy textures while singing, “And everything I touch (all wrapped up in cotton wool)/(All wrapped up in sugar-coated pills) turn to stone/Everything I touch, turn to stone” as it is followed by Jonny Greenwood’s wailing guitar solo as Yorke then sings “I am fused/Just in case I blow out/I am glued/Just in case I crack out” as it leads to the chorus and a rocking coda filled with droning, feedback-driven guitars from Jonny Greenwood and O’ Brien as it closes the album.
Upon its release in early 1993, Radiohead received a bit of acclaim from British rock fans but critics at first, weren’t really impressed as the band had a bit of success releasing singles for “Creep”, “Stop Whispering”, “Anyone Can Play Guitar” and the non-LP gem “Pop Is Dead”. Then sometime in the late spring/early summer of 1993, “Creep” became a big alternative rock hit in America as the band was getting some exposure both in the U.S. and in the U.K. Radiohead was suddenly appearing on TV including the Arsenio Hall show and (who could forget, I wish a lot of us fans would) the MTV Beach House during the summer where Thom Yorke took a dive on the house pool during their performance of “Anyone Can Play Guitar”. Sadly, like many one-hit wonder songs in the 1990s, “Creep” began to get overplayed and Radiohead was in danger of becoming one of those bands who would end up in being the “Where Are They Now” section. Fortunately, they would overcome that in the months to come.
While it’s easily the band’s weakest release, “Pablo Honey” is still worth a listen to since the album contains some fine moments and the band’s promise prior to the masterworks of “The Bends and “OK Computer”. Though some might feel the album sounds a bit dated since some of those songs sound like a lot of stuff on the American alternative rock scene, the band do show some fine musicianship in those records. “OK Computer” and “The Bends” are easily the best introduction to Radiohead but “Pablo Honey” is still a very good debut. In the end, “Pablo Honey” was a shaky starting point for the Oxford quintet but you could hear some fine moments that would pave their way to greatness.
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