The Bends  by Radiohead

The song High And Dry had remained in demo form from the recordings of Pablo Honey in 1993. Radiohead rework it, record several more songs between February and November 1994, and by March 1995, the second studio album of the British band is released and wins over the audience and critics.

The Bends seems to be the ideal continuation of the first album. Radiohead appear much more mature in their compositions, and their sound seems to be the epitome of British indie rock in the mid-1990s. With this album, Radiohead make it clear they did not intend to get involved with britpop, which was experiencing its golden age at that time. The album is a complex puzzle of sounds and dark lyrics, while Thom Yorke delivers some of his best performances. The cover is the work of Stanley Donwood, who initially photographed a human mannequin used for resuscitation training. He then photographed the reflection of this photo on the blank screen of a television (!)

The Bends reached No.4 in the United Kingdom, and in terms of sales, the album went four times platinum.