Customer Reviews

My Iron Lung

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Released between 'Pablo Honey' and 'The Bends' and never released in the US, 'My Iron Lung' marks the transition from mediocre to outstanding.

I know that 22 bucks is kind of a rip-off for only eight songs, but every song presented on this unique import makes it worthwhile for any Radiohead fan....especially those partial to 'The Bends'.

'Trickster', in my opinion, is the best track here. I would have loved to have seen this song make it over to 'The Bends' along with 'My Iron Lung'. Here it is only enjoyed by Radiohead completist which isn't neccessarily a bad thing.

Arguably, Radiohead has had the greatest evolution of any band in music history. They went from Alternative Ordinaries to something much more. It is hard to pinpoint when this change began, but many think there is evidence in this album. Indeed, this collection of B-sides from The Bends and possibly OK Computer represents something greater than the average alternative rock album. From the opening track, you are mesmerised by Radiohead's unique style and performance. "My Iron Lung" is the CD's opener (for obvious reasons) and features a great melody, interesting vocals, and an amazing guitar riff. You haven't heard a rock song until you've heard this one. "The Trickster" is a moderately paced interesting little tune with a great build up to the chorus especially. "Lewis [mistreated]" is a great story about a bad day with some quick guitar/drum work and a simple but elegant melody. "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" is perhaps Radiohead's best attempt at a true love song. Though it doesn't necessarily serve the purpose of a mainstream love song well (sounds too "spacey"), it is beautiful in its own unique sense. "Permanent Daylight" is a hauntingly intense, short little song. It features some simple chord progressions, but it sounds so amazing when heard in that classic Radiohead style with electric guitars special sound mixing effects that you will not care it's only two minutes long. Two minutes of music nirvana. "Lozenge of Love" and "You Never Wash Up After Yourself" are short, beautiful songs with especially good accompaniment and vocals. Finally, the CD closes with a great acoustic version of "Creep". It sounds better in some ways than the original, but suffers in other areas. Vocals are much clearer and guitar work is more refined, but some bad editing will detract from the experience. The first chorus is apparently censored (?) and Thom's very in "very special" sounds very unnatural and froglike, too low in pitch. It's just a minor blemish, however, in an otherwise perfect CD. In my sole opinion Radiohead is the greatest band ever.

Although Radiohead's monster single, Creep, was tearing up the charts in the early 1990s, the album from which it was taken, PABLO HONEY, was an average album from what appeared to be an average band. Like so many other bands with a couple of hits under their belt, Radiohead could have released a couple more mediocre records in the span of a few years and generally fade from public consciousness. Hootie and the Blowfish and Seven Mary 3 are good examples of this phenomena. I actually wrote Radiohead off and never bothered to listen to any of the followups until about 2001, when I realised there was so much more to Radiohead than just "Creep" (one of my least favorite songs by them, incidentally).

Radiohead, however, had a different career destiny in mind, and pulled it off wonderfully. Rather than continue in the PABLO HONEY vein, Radiohead managed to record a series of phenomenal records not only noted for their musical instinct, but just wonderful, amazing music. Judging from PABLO HONEY, you would have no possible inkling they would go on to record an album of such high calibre like THE BENDS, let alone OK COMPUTER. OK COMPUTER is in a whole other universe in terms of quality, critical acclaim, and rabid fan adulation compared to PABLO HONEY. Radiohead wonderfully reinvented themselves, and have become one of the most consistently interesting, thought provoking bands around these days.

So how do they do it? My personal belief is it all starts right here with this EP released in 1994, MY IRON LUNG. This EP, which is comprised of one track later released on THE BENDS in 1995, six songs recorded during the Bends sessions available nowhere else, and an acoustic rendition of their 1993 hit "Creep", is a remarkable achievement for a band who, at that time, only had the wholly unremarkable PABLO HONEY debut under their belts. In every way, shape, and form, this EP not only outshines the debut but establishes the foundation of the rest of their career. Each song is a vast increase in production skills, overall musicality, and just plain listenability over the debut. This is the first indicator that Radiohead is more than an average, early 1990s band, with only a couple of hits in them.

What really benefits MY IRON LUNG is that it plays like a real album, not just a hodgepodge of outtakes and b-sides. In fact, in sequence and length (8 songs, 28:13 minutes), this could have been released as a main album, or if they so desired, the band could have thrown on a few more tracks to make it a more substantial release.

The six songs not included on THE BENDS could just as easily placed that album. They never sound like mere B-sides. In fact, you could swap any of these songs out, making them interchangeable with the songs that made the cut, and THE BENDS would still be considered one of the best records from the mid 1990s. These songs are fully formed, and many other bands of Radiohead's era would love to have such quality songwriting to their name, and amazingly Radiohead relegates this first class material to EP status. The only real sore spot on the EP is the acoustic version of "Creep", which has a harsh off-key section. Other than that, this is Radiohead's first real evidence that they are not just an average band who managed to score a big hit, but a band of skill, durability, and worthy to be considered among the other legendary bands of rock and roll.

After recording this EP, Radiohead would go on to prove themselves time and time again. While I do believe MY IRON LUNG laid the foundation for the rest of their career, sonically it is most akin to THE BENDS. This EP proved in so many ways that their debut did not that they were versatile, they could write great songs, and they had what it takes to be a first-rate rock and roll band. Naturally, in their musical evolution Radiohead's journey lead them to such radical departures as KID A, AMNESIAC, and HAIL TO THE THIEF, all of which sound little like the music found here. But MY IRON LUNG was the first step in that direction toward the upper echelon of rock.

BOTTOM LINE:: essential listening for any rock fan. While it may be a fairly expensive item to obtain for your music collection, it is worth it, simply because it plays very much like a lost Radiohead album than just an EP filled with odds and ends. While PABLO HONEY may have been their first record with a couple of good songs, MY IRON LUNG was the first indication that Radiohead was here to stay, and a band with far more interesting music than most of the other drek being recorded these days.

(There are different editions of MY IRON LUNG. Some releases split the songs into two singles. Make sure you get the version that has all 8 tracks. Otherwise, you are just wasting your money).

I was well shocked when i first listended to this cd, as i was formally a total avid punk fan, i found radiohead boring, slow and depressing, but slowly i listend to it, and it really does grow on you! If you listen really carefully, you can hear the 3rd guitar slowly building up etc. If you hate radiohead, i seriously recomed cheching this out first as it totally changed my opinion on the band, and my music taste on the whole. All the songs are 10 out of 10, and i could not give any bad points about this album if i had to! Brilliant!

For some people, Radiohead tends to be either too poppy with songs like "Creep" or "Anyone Can Play Guitar," or they are too electronica and *weird* with the classic album, OK Computer. But, the My Iron Lung album successfully mixes the voices of The Bends with the instrumentals of OK Computer. Any college student can relate to "You Never Wash Up After Yourself" or "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong," and any musician, whether you like this band or not, should be able to detect the creativity and boldness in the music of this album. The power of this band, like the powers of other classic artists, is that they vary their music from album to album, and succeed in not only appealing to a different audience each time, but also retaining their old followings. The My Iron Lung album is a recording for all of these audiences, and won't stop with the OK Computer fans or The Bends fans.

By all means, if you find this in the racks, even at import prices, pick it up. (It's not out of print, but it's still somewhat difficult to find in the good ol' U.S. of A.) Eight tracks here, seven of them exclusive to this CD, and not a single one of them a duffer. In fact, although it was ignored at the time, this is really the pivotal moment where Radiohead began to turn into something more than just a alternative band with a fluke hit single. It's funny how people don't point this out-most refer to The Bends as the turning point, but this little EP, released in 1994 as an interim product, is a signpost not only to that album, but beyond it to OK Computer. I can't give this any higher than 4 stars because, after all, it's only 30 minutes, but hey, it sure is a better 30 minutes than Nashville Skyline!

First up is the ostensible single, "My Iron Lung," which would later turn up on The Bends. Sandwiched among all the greatness on that album it's easy to miss, but here it get the attention it deserves: a wry and bitter comment on the success of "Creep" and how it hamstrung them ("This is out new song/just like the last one/A total waste of time, my iron lung"), it also doubles as a perceptive comment on a relationship that is both suffocating and life-sustaining. Featuring one hell of a guitar solo and a clever melody line, it's the first evidence of the suite-like construction that Radiohead's more ambitious songs would soon begin to feature. Most impressively, this complex, layered song was recorded-live! Totally, unoverdubbedly live (with the exception of the vocal, which was redone. but I'm not holding it against them since it's the rhythm section I'm most impressed with).

Surprisingly, the remainder of the EP is not just offcuttings and throwaways from album sessions but a collection of diverse and satisfying tracks. It's divided into three more or less equal parts. First you have your arse-kicking rockers like "The Trickster" (which has a simply amazing guitar tone and echoed vocal-for the life of me, I can't see why this was thrown away on an EP) or the slightly less distinguished (but still fun!) "Lewis (Mistreated)." Last, you have your folky acoustic numbers like "Lozenge Of Love" and the strangely moving fragment "You Never Wash Up Yourself," not to mention the self-mocking acoustic version of "Creep," which is explicit parody.

But for my money, what makes me feel like I spent my salary well is what's in the middle: two brilliant little experimental gems, "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" and "Permanent Daylight." THESE are the ones that could've come from OK Computer. "Permanent Daylight" is this mesmerizing semi-instrumental; it's just a chord progression, and a common one at that, but the way it's phased and echoed and produced-"YEA!" says I. "Punchdrunk" is a haunting, swooping ballad that sounds for all the world like a representation of its lyrics: when Yorke sings "a beautiful girl can turn your insides out" the music really sounds like it's being turned inside-out! In a gentle, fascinating way, of course. Reminds me a lot of "Lucky" and "No Surprises," but who am I to talk? Nigel Godrich?

Yes!

Okay, no.

For some people, Radiohead tends to be either too poppy with songs like "Creep" or "Anyone Can Play Guitar," or they are too electronica and *weird* with the classic album, OK Computer. But, the My Iron Lung album successfully mixes the voices of The Bends with the instrumentals of OK Computer. Any college student can relate to "You Never Wash Up After Yourself" or "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong," and any musician, whether you like this band or not, should be able to detect the creativity and boldness in the music of this album. The power of this band, like the powers of other classic artists, is that they vary their music from album to album, and succeed in not only appealing to a different audience each time, but also retaining their old followings. The My Iron Lung album is a recording for all of these audiences, and won't stop with the OK Computer fans or The Bends fans.

I would've given this 5 stars if it didn't cost as much as a full-length album for about half an hour of music. However, it is WELL worth the extra cash. "The trickster" and "Lewis" rock like The Bends/Pablo Honey, and "Lozenge of Love" is hauntingly beautiful... makes you wish it were longer. The acoustic "creep" is, in my view, better than the original, except for that little "very" which appears to be a bleep-out, which is unfortunate. Not a bad song on the album, though.

The songs here show a definate improvement from Radiohead's debut album. Some, like "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" and "Permanent Daylight," almost feel like they could have come from the Kid A sessions. Overall, this album is extremely strong and is an absolute neccesity to Radiohead fans.

However, there's the issue of the price.

I personally bought this because I was a big fan of "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" and thought that it would be cool to own an actual album of songs like it and not have to worry about having it burned onto a CD along with tons of other B-Sides. That's just what worked for me, though.

When that happens you know you have a great band in your hands. This album is basically a glorified single for My Iron Lung (one of the highlights of The Bends). While I'm reviewing this I'm listening to my favorite Radiohead bside, which also appears on this EP, The Trickster. I just love the guitar and bass riffs to it. Lozenge of Love and the acoustic version of the dramatically overplayed creep (mainly because Thom shows much more emotion in this version) are 2 other highlights here.

All in all this is where they started becoming the 90's greatest band. Dramatic improvement from Pablo Honey but not quite good as The Bends. The perfect little EP.