Radiohead as it exists today is not simply the band composed of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and co., but instead the bands that have started and thrived from their influence. Yorke and Greenwood continue to make music together as The Smile, but the output of that band has proven that the two are a bit past their prime. Their music as The Smile still has that Radiohead je ne sais quoi, but they have certainly lost much of their edge with age.

That being said, there is still a reason why Radiohead are touted as one of the greats, as even their earliest songs have cemented themselves as all-time great rock records, including some that may get less of that limelight – lest we forget that OK Computer does not exist without its predecessor.

Radiohead's sophomore record The Bends turns 30 this week, and it continues to prove that Yorke's observations of the world are more salient now than ever. The product didn't come without a hefty dose of turmoil, though, as the band felt immense pressure to follow up the success of "Creep", which they already grew to resent playing live. Yorke told Billboard in 1996, “No matter what we came up with, we were thinking, ‘My God, people are going to hate us.’ After ‘Creep’ and the fatigue from all the touring, we were scared shitless, really, and people were interfering. We had to claim our creative freedom.”

They channeled that energy into Bends lead single, "My Iron Lung", which acted as a direct response to the popularity of "Creep". The Iron Lung metaphor implied that "Creep" was keeping the band alive financially, but ultimately felt restrictive in terms of how they were allowed to move forward. They were frightened by the fact that they had such a huge hit on their hands right at the start of their career, and the prospect of becoming one hit wonders incited a great deal of angst.

In the third verse, Yorke sings, "This is our new song / Just like the last one / A total waste of time, my iron lung." The unabashed bitterness is thrilling, and it's clear that whatever fans they lost on the back of this song were unwelcome in the first place. "Creep" is their Voldemort – their "20th century bitch."

The grievances explored on The Bends are addressed more definitively with no holds barred throughout the rest of Radiohead's discography. Themes of isolation, disenchantment, and the pitfalls of consumerism are expressed with youthful panache both in Yorke's delivery and the once-in-a-generation band behind him.

"Everything is broken / Everyone is broken," he cries in the chorus of opener "Planet Telex". This functional thesis statement of The Bends is the first taste of Yorke getting a hold of what makes him the celebrated songwriter he is today: succinct and potent declarations of disillusionment. In a vacuum, Yorke is not a terribly interesting man, which is why the shift of subject matter from personal baggage on Pablo Honey (a solid, but largely forgettable debut record) to political/societal grievances on The Bends makes for a timeless, compelling album.

While full of indomitable rock songs, the mellow, acoustic driven "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees" have both stood the test of time as The Bends' quintessential tracks. Yorke cites the latter, specifically, as a breakthrough for him as a songwriter. In a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, he said,  "I remember I recorded 'Fake Plastic Trees' on my own to begin with. Then, when we came together to listen to it, the others said, 'We’ll use that!' and I said, 'No, no, we can’t use that, it’s too vulnerable. That’s too much me.'"

The crescendo of both the song's vulnerability and the music itself is what makes a song like "Fake Plastic Trees" so captivating. The human desire for love is unwavering – so what happens when it feels like there are countless forces trying to prevent the authenticity that fosters it? Misguided instincts draw us to become inauthentic in hopes of becoming desirable – to force the circle into the square hole. The instrumental that builds throughout the song drops out as Yorke is once again accompanied by only acoustic guitar, and he's forced to confront that truth: "If I could be who you wanted / All the time." He's become what he sought to condemn.

The ubiquity of "Fake Plastic Trees" has reverberated through generations, being covered in recent years by Phoebe Bridgers, Frank Ocean, and FINNEAS.

The following track, "Bones", sees Yorke confront the fear of aging atop a chugging, driving bass line (one that, sidebar, is a blast to play as someone learning bass). He continues the theme of yearning for the perceived simplicity of the past. The line “I wish it was the 60s, I wish I could be happy,” from the title track is continued with a sense of arrested development as Yorke sings "I used to fly like Peter Pan / All the children flew when I touched their hands."

If anyone had any doubts, the kids still love Radiohead. I heavily associate The Bends's resident ripper "Just" with my freshman year of college due to both my own self-destructive tendencies and my friend's band covering it at the many gigs they played that year. I was able to ground myself in catharsis dancing in grimy Philly basements as my friend sang the combative chorus: "You do it to yourself, you do / And that's what really hurts / You do it to yourself, just you / you and no one else."

"Just" is a song that was birthed from and sustains because of spite and bitterness, even from the lens of its composition. The song, which lyrically is about a friend that Yorke kind of hated, developed musically through a pissing contest between himself and guitarist Jonny Greenwood to see who could fit the most chords in a song. What resulted is some of Greenwood's best guitar work to date, whether it be the jittery intro riff or the iconic solo that graces the song's final 30 seconds.

The Bends also marks Radiohead's first time working with Nigel Godrich, the man that would go on to produce each of their records thereafter. Godrich produced "Black Star" while chief producer John Leckie was away at a wedding. At the time of its release, The Bends was a make or break moment for Radiohead to prove they were worth their weight beyond "Creep". Today, it's a quintessential rock classic that's influenced countless bands over the three decades since its release. Knowing the excellence that the band would go on to make makes the prequel even sweeter.