PABLO HONEY

On this, the debut album from Radiohead, the band is not sure if wants to be grunge or britpop. So they try to be both. These guys formed in the late 1980s and named themselves after a Talking Heads song. There is almost nothing here that gives you a hint of what Radiohead will sound like in the future. On top of that, most of the songs are not very good to begin with. The big hit here of course being "Creep", a song the band would later be embarrased of. It's a shame that as late as Kid A/mnesiac, these guys were still known as "that band that do that Creep song".

"Creep" is actually a good song but it suffers from being overplayed. The only other song that is as good is the opening "You". If the rest of the album was as good as those two songs, then this would be something worth hearing. But as it is, it is not something that anyone other than a Radiohead diehard would want to hear. "Prove Yourself" is not too bad. The verses of "Anyone Can Play Guitar" are good, but the chorus is lame. I can't believe they released "Stop Whispering" as a single/video. What a pathetic attempt at a hit single. You will never see a blonder Thom Yorke than the one in the video for this song.

I remember that when this first came out, everybody loved "Creep" but thought they were trying to copy the American grunge bands. The Bends took many by surprise, and OK Computer even more so. This is only for Radiohead fans who wonder what their first album sounded like. Of no interest to anyone else. 1 star.