Radiohead’s The Bends: Overrated, Underrated, or Perfect?

Is the bends radioheads best album?

If you’ve ever researched music on Youtube, chances are you’ve run into Anthony Fantano.

Anthony Fantano is an online music critic and has made album reviews on essentially every artist and genre you could think of. Your favorite artist? Chances are there's a Fantano video about it. 

In this Anthony Fantano video clip from a live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOtMtK316MQ

He suggested that The Bends isn’t Radiohead’s best album, best produced or most sonically impressive album. He argues that on a technical level, that is studio production or sonic innovation, it lacks compared to Radiohead’s other albums. 

One thing to know about me is… I eat, sleep, and breathe Radiohead.

That might be a tad melodramatic but they have been on my top Spotify artists every year for the past 5 years. Arguing if this album is perfect compared to the other Radiohead albums misses the whole point of it. Lets talk about why…

The album’s name comes from a diving term "The bends”.  This is a decompression sickness caused by rapid pressure changes. If a diver ascends too quickly, nitrogen bubbles form and may lead to joint pain, paralysis, and even death. The Bends was released right after the rapid popularity of Radiohead’s song “Creep”. The record label began pressuring Radiohead to release more music similar to this song to continue climbing the charts. Radiohead then released the bends as a response to this rapid pressure change and the effects of it. This album isn’t about perfection, what the record label was demanding, but rather it’s about emotional honesty, raw storytelling, and capturing the anxieties of life with unflinching clarity.

The Bends resonates because of its emotional depth, raw lyricism, and compelling instrumentals. Every song feels intentional, full of personality and relatability. Tracks like “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Just” are more than just catchy guitar lines-they’re confessional, resonant, and intensely human. The album captures the struggle of trying to fit in, navigate expectations, and make sense of personal and social pressures. In other words, it tells a story about growing up, coping, and figuring out one’s place in the world. 

Its not meant to be perfect and thats whats so beautiful about it. 

In the album, the song “Fake Plastic Trees” captures just that:

The song talks about society and its materialistic expectations. It's showing that we are constantly trying to fit where we don’t belong, and in doing that, we grow tired. We are tired of pretending to be these Fake Plastic Trees.

Instead, we must show our real selves, grow real trees instead of attempting to fit in and look good to conform to society’s expectations. Why strive to be perfect when you can just be yourself? 

So yes, Fantano may critique the album’s production values, but that overlooks why The Bends continues to matter. It’s not something that can be technically picked at because as the songs say, there is no point to being perfect, it drains you, makes you unhappy. Why would an album that argues against being perfect conform to what music listeners, critics, the label and society want to be what they deem “perfect”.  This album’s emotional resonance and storytelling matter far more than technical perfection, making it an album that deserves recognition not just as a milestone in Radiohead’s discography, but also as a testament to music’s power to reflect our society, our thoughts, our experiences, and our life 

P.S. I would also like to point out that comparing Radiohead albums directly is almost impossible. They’re so incredibly different in style, tone, and intent.