MY IRON LUNG

This EP follows a similar style to Pablo Honey, yet leans more in a direction towards The Bends. "My Iron Lung", which would later appear on The Bends, is a classic Radiohead track. No prog here, just some strict alt rock, but it's very good inventive, creative and unique alt rock. Some of the more interesting tracks on this album are "Lewis (Mistreated)" and "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong". The production is a bit gritty on some of these tracks but it serves as an interesting listen. It's good for an EP and not too overcrowded. The acoustic version of creep is very beautiful and it makes this EP worth buying just for this track (well, in the days before downloading). Pablo Honey may not have aged well but this release remains a lot more listenable.

Great EP, better than 'pablo honey'!!

I think it's really annoying that some of the great tracks on this EP didn't make it to 'the bends'!!

i wud have much prefered 'punch-drunk' in place of 'bullet-proof' or 'trickster' in place of 'black star' and i'm sure they cud hav got 'you never wash up' in their somewhere!!

'creep (acoustic)' is great and 'my iron lung' is a brilliant track (much better than the superb 'just' in my opinion) thank God it made it to 'the bends'!!

overall, a great EP!!

4 stars - 7.5 out of 10!!

The first three tracks are definetly grunge but very good, from punchdrunk lovesong singalong and towards it becomes much more inventive. this album marks the beginning of radiohead as an experimental, inventive, and awesome band.

This is another EP, but different, because it has a new sound, more guitar oriented and more mature and a bit experimental compositions, this was done before The Bends, this is maybe a preamble to that album, all the songs here but the first are b-sides, the first track My Iron Lung, has some prog roots , because it shows some changes in their structure, and i think its a pretty good song, you can hear that song in The Bends album, the 4th sng Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong, its amazing , a very new sound, with great lyrics and a beautiful atmosphere in some places, i think it is the best song here, The Trickster and Lozenge of Love are good songs too, with good guitars both acoustic and electric, and some good drums sound, like Itch EP, the las song here is the always mentioned Creep, again the acoustic version, this album is a very good album, when i listen to it i really enjoy that 28 minutes, in fact i will suggest to you, if you are or not a Radiohead fan, give it a chance, its good, but of course i cant give it more than 3 stars.

An unexpected winner for a passer-by! This is quite a different Radiohead, and - believe it or not - some people, not regular fans of course (myself included) regard this CD as their best. The vocals are not so strained, in fact in a couple of tracks they are buried so low in the mix that it's hard deciphering the lyrics. And accordingly, the accompaniment is not so thick as on the regular albums. And it all works, not as the apocalyptic and histerical statement (Lewis (Mistreated) is the closest to that rubric, but its performance is so laid- back that it sounds a little bit self-ironic) but as a plain beautiful exercise in the atmospheric. The peak of the album is marked by the trilogy of the poignant Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong, the Arctic and remote Permanent Daylight with a surprisingly open structure, and the almost pastoral Lozenge of Love featuring a perfect blend of acoustic and electric guitars with Yorke's slightly operatic singing. You Never Wash Up After Yourself is a nice acoustic breath, followed by a disappointing Yorke's solo nylon-string version of Creep (the sound of the guitar is veeery flat), but as it's the last track on the album you can easily disregard that, and still - it's nothing bad, just a bit dull. Radiohead's non-fans, check this one!

As I was not able to enjoy "The Bends" while many friends recommended that this is a good band, I did manage to purchase the cassette version of "My Iron Lung" and still I could not enjoy the music quite nicely. So this EP experienced the same thing - put it in my cassette shelf. Later when I got the article about how Jonny Greenwood is a great guitar player, I started to listen this again with The Bends as well. Yes, this EP contains guitar-oriented composition but not in a way of long guitar solo like typical classic rock music like Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc. The point is, by the passages of time and after listening to various kinds of music, especially prog, finally I can enjoy this track. And I have to admit that Jonny Greenwood is an excellent guitar player through his virtuosity in producing strange sound effects.

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

My Iron Lung is an EP released in 1994 by Radiohead. I wouldn't call this EP progressive at all, but it definitely features some fine alternative rock. Nearly all tracks here didn't make it to any studio release and with a few tracks I really wonder why. Some of the songs here are excellent, while others are not as interesting.

The EP's opener is "My Iron Lung". This version is different from the one that would appear on the band's second full length album, The Bends, as it is a live version with overdubbed vocals. It's a very good song in my opinion and is full of power."The Trickster" is a more straight forward rocker and not one of my favorites, though it's still a nice track. The same goes for "Lewis (Mistreated)", which sounds like an avarage indie song, though I have to say that it doesn't lack any power. The next bunch of songs are softer songs and some even show a bit of psychedelica in them. One of those is "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong", which features a spacey introduction. Really, all of these softer songs are incredible and nothing less. Very remarkable was "Lozenge Of Love", maily because it sounds very much like Pink Floyd's "A Pillow Of Winds". This is not a bad thing though, as it's a very good song. The final song is an acoustic version of "Creep", from the bands first studio output Pable Honey. I don't care much for this track at all, though it's much better than the heavier version that appeared on Pablo Honey.

My Iron Lung shows the band progressing from bland alternative rock on Pablo Honey to much more interesting rock on The Bends. And, to be honest, I might even like this EP slightly more than The Bends, making it a great Radiohead release. Most of the music on this EP is very good and therefore I will rate this EP with three stars.

While Radiohead's full album count is fairly modest, the band also has gobs of EPs and singles floating around, with a good chunk material that can only be found in those formats. Ideally, the band would put together a separate comprehensive compilation of its various non-album tracks (there are special editions of the full albums that cover some of the ground, though nowhere close to all), but as is, a lot of material has to be chased down in forms like this.

While a lot of the band's non-album material is scattered to the four winds, such that I was able to become acquainted with it only through hookup, this particular slab was one that I actually found at Amoeba Music somewhere along the line, and it's long enough (28 minutes, just a couple of minutes shorter than an early Byrds album) that it deserves its own review. It only contains 8 songs, one of which is a live version of "My Iron Lung" (which, strangely, I find much more enjoyable than the studio version; there's a clear punch to the sound that's not in the Bends version) and another of which is an acoustic "Creep" (which is fine, but it feels a bit like a novelty), but it's interesting in that it sounds a bit like a missing link between Pablo Honey and The Bends. I mean, it's not halfway between them (more like 80% of the way), but it's kinda neat to hear material that could have easily made The Bends stronger while boasting some of the lightness that helped Pablo Honey a bit (the lack of which also hurt The Bends in sports).

The first half of this EP is really, really good. After the opening title track comes "The Trickster," an almost metallic (in spots) number that's anthemic without being overbearing, and which I have to consider one of the best early Radiohead songs. I mean, it's not like it's as walloping as the best parts of "Planet Telex," but if I could choose between this as that album's second track and "The Bends," I'd definitely pick this one. "Lewis (Mistreated)" definitely sounds more like Pablo Honey than The Bends, and I couldn't care less about the lyrics, but there's something rather charming about the pop-punk leanings of the track, whereas much of the similar work on PH just made me shrug my shoulders. And "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" almost sounds like the forefather of "Subterranean Homesick Alien" in spots: it's a trip to hear the band predicting OK Computer this early on.

The second half is where it becomes clear that this is just an EP and not something like a lost Radiohead masterpiece, but as a loose collection of lesser material it's pretty decent. "Permanent Daylight" has interesting back-and-forth between mournful and upbeat guitar lines, and I have to admit that the lyrics are somewhat noteworthy (and I say this who cares little about Radiohead lyrics). "Lozenge of Love" is a silly (as far as Radiohead goes) acoustic number, "You Never Wash Up After Yourself" sounds like a downbeat Bends number, and then it ends with the acoustic "Creep." Nothing special on the whole (though "Permanent Daylight" definitely comes close in spots) but kinda nice nonetheless.

Anyway, this isn't an especially difficult EP to find, and one can also get ahold of the "new" tracks by getting the expanded version of The Bends, so it's probably worth getting these tracks if you're a Radiohead fan. It's not a major addition to their catalogue, but it's definitely more enjoyable than not.