BMRA-Round 1-The Bends vs. Doolittle

[PlayingWithFire]

Radiohead's The Bends


Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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.


Pixies' Doolittle

Review by Heather Phares

After 1988's brilliant but abrasive Surfer Rosa, the Pixies' sound couldn't get much more extreme. Their Elektra debut, Doolittle, reins in the noise in favor of pop songcraft and accessibility. Producer Gil Norton's sonic sheen adds some polish, but Black Francis' tighter songwriting focuses the group's attack. Doolittle's most ferocious moments, like "Dead," a visceral retelling of David and Bathsheba's affair -- are more stylized than the group's past outbursts. Meanwhile, their poppy side surfaces on the irresistible single "Here Comes Your Man" and the sweetly surreal love song "La La Love You." The Pixies' arty, noisy weirdness mix with just enough hooks to produce gleefully demented singles like "Debaser," -- inspired by Bunuel's classic surrealist short Un Chien Andalou -- and "Wave of Mutilation," their surfy ode to driving a car into the sea. Though Doolittle's sound is cleaner and smoother than the Pixies' earlier albums, there are still plenty of weird, abrasive vignettes: the blankly psychotic "There Goes My Gun," "Crackity Jones," a song about a crazy roommate Francis had in Puerto Rico, and the nihilistic finale "Gouge Away." Meanwhile, "Tame," and "I Bleed" continue the Pixies' penchant for cryptic kink. But the album doesn't just refine the Pixies' sound; they also expand their range on the brooding, wannabe spaghetti western theme "Silver" and the strangely theatrical "Mr. Grieves." "Hey" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven," on the other hand, stretch Francis' lyrical horizons: "Monkey"'s elliptical environmentalism and "Hey"'s twisted longing are the Pixies' versions of message songs and romantic ballads. Their most accessible album, Doolittle's wide-ranging moods and sounds make it one of their most eclectic and ambitious. A fun, freaky alternative to most other late-'80s college rock, it's easy to see why the album made the Pixies into underground rock stars.

[acsguitar]

Radiohead

[Old_Style]

i honestly never heard of the pixies until i started going out with this chick, a couple years ago, who was into them. so, because of that, i starting listening to them. despite all that, the bend's wins this one.

[Coppermine]

Tough one, since I like both bands, and the Pixies are probably more influential... but Radiohead is awesome and The Bends is my favorite album of theirs.

[BritSox]

Aaargh....ummmm....ooooh.... both great albums, but I'm pushing The Bends to go a long way. I listen to it most days, and learnt half the songs on guitar. Radiohead.

[Omaha Red Sox]

Radiohead.

[PlayingWithFire]

Aaargh....ummmm....ooooh.... both great albums, but I'm pushing The Bends to go a long way. I listen to it most days, and learnt half the songs on guitar. Radiohead.

didn't you thought it would be close?

but I'm a creep....

oh, wrong album?

[ThatDude]

Since both of these albums and bands are pretty much completely off my radar, I'll throw my vote with the underdog. Not that it matters.

[Pogotheostrich]

Radiohead is going to run away with this so I've got to give Pixies my vote. If you haven't heard them go give them a listen.

You might have even heard them before. "Where is My Mind" from Surfer Rosa plays at the end of Fight Club.

[ironman]

This sucks. Both these albums destroy half the stuff in this battle and they face off in the first round.

Hey, it's nice to be the one that gets to complain about this stuff for a change.