Additional personnel: John Matthias (violin, viola); Caroline Lavelle (cello).

Producers: John Leckie, Radiohead, Jim Warren, Nigel Godrich.

Engineers include: John Leckie, Nigel Godrich, Chris Brown.

Recorded at Rak, The Manor and Abbey Road, London, England.

Personnel: Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano); Ed O'Brien (vocals, guitar); Jonny Greenwood (guitar, recorder, piano, organ, synthesizer); John Matthias (violin, viola); Caroline LaVelle (cello); Phil Selway (drums).

Audio Mixers: John Leckie; Paul Q. Kolderie; Radiohead; Sean Slade.

Recording information: EMI Abbey Road Studios, London, England; RAK; Rak, the Manor, Abbey Road; Rock City, Nottingham, England; The Manor.

Illustrator: Stanley Donwood.

Radiohead rebound from one-hit wonder status with this sophomore classic--the first to blueprint their operatic sonics.

Pablo Honey in no way was adequate preparation for its epic, sprawling follow-up, The Bends. Building from the sweeping, three-guitar attack that punctuated the best moments of Pablo Honey, Radiohead create a grand and forceful sound that nevertheless resonates with anguish and despair -- it's cerebral anthemic rock. Occasionally, the album displays its influences, whether it's U2, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., or the Pixies, but Radiohead turn clichés inside out, making each song sound bracingly fresh. Thom Yorke's tortured lyrics give the album a melancholy undercurrent, as does the surging, textured music. But what makes The Bends so remarkable is that it marries such ambitious, and often challenging, instrumental soundscapes to songs that are at their cores hauntingly melodic and accessible. It makes the record compelling upon first listen, but it reveals new details with each listen, and soon it becomes apparent that with The Bends, Radiohead have reinvented anthemic rock. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

On only their second outing Oxford's Radiohead fulfilled their huge potential, fashioning an album whose relentlessly downbeat tone was offset by an ability to formulate consistently winning melodies. The title track and "Just" throw some customary rock poses, but for the most part the band displayed a far more expansive approach. Thom Yorke emerged from the woodwork with a new-found vocal confidence, revealing a striking falsetto on two of the album's strongest tracks, "Fake Plastic Trees" and "High & Dry." The last three songs build inexorably to the stunning emotional climax of "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" with a control and poise that showcased the band's new maturity.