Pablo Honey [Import]

Radiohead | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002UR7
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (243 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,632 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #14 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > General
  • #32 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > Britpop

Track Listings

1. You

2. Creep

3. How Do You?

4. Stop Whispering

5. Thinking About You

6. Anyone Can Play Guitar

7. Ripcord

8. Vegetable

9. Prove Yourself

10. I Can't

11. Lurgee

12. Blow Out

13. Bonus Track 1

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Before Radiohead became the biggest critics' darling since Pavement or Dr. Dre, they were just another pre-Oasis British band with some loose indie ties, trying to gain some cred. Loopy enough to name this moody, often battering debut album for a Jerky Boys routine, they were also a lot more interesting when they hadn't yet learned the word "soundscape." "Creep," the miserably majestic single they now claim nearly ruined them, may not even be the best thing here; try "Anyone Can Play Guitar," an epitaph for River Phoenix before the fact. --Rickey Wright

Product Description

Radiohead Photos

More from Radiohead

Hail To The Thief	The Bends	Kid A
OK Computer	Amnesiac	I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 97 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Believe me, this is the album of my life! May 1, 2000

By Eduardo Ribeiro Bandeira

Format:Audio CD

I was really, really sad with some reviews here. So I decided to "stop whispering" and to start shouting... This is an album that takes a long time to grow on you, but when it does...Let me explain: In the beginning of 1994, I found this album in a local store. Since then, I was very curious to hear new bands (I didn't even knew who Radiohead was). At the moment I heard it, I decided to buy it. I wasn't wrong at all. It quickly became my favorite album, I used to hear it all the time in my school days...Some time later, "Creep" became famous and I thought "Oh, now the world will discover this fantastic band!" But I was wrong... All the songs here are extraordinary, though my favorite ones are "Lurgee", "Vegetable", "Ripcord", "I can't" and, of course, "Thinking about you". I started to play them all the time with my own band and "Anyone can play guitar" remains as the ideal song to remind us of that distant age of innocence. Today we're all lawyers, doctors and this kind of stuff, but "The Pablo Honey Appreciation Society" (that was the name of the band!) still takes us on a trip to the past. The melancholic lyrics, the angst in Thom's voice, the rage full of emotion that only Jon can take from his guitar, it's all here. Then came "The bends" and "OK Computer" (their masterpiece). For my disappointment, when "The bends" was released nobody gave it the attention it deserved (this mistake only was corrected after Ok Computer's huge success). I agree that OK Computer is an historic album, and I understand that people who became Radiohead's fans after it aren't very fond of "Pablo Honey", but it's not fault of the album itself.... After so many years, whenever I listen to it (and it happens at least twice a week) I became more sure of its perfection...Although I love every single song of the greatest band in the world, this album is still my favorite...I have a sugestion: Buy this album as if it was made by another artist. I hope that it causes you the same emotions it causes me whenever I hear it! This is definetely the album of my life!

P.S. "Creep" is not the best song here! Read more ›

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary production and an even more amazing debut: own it March 24, 2006

By Manny Hernandez HALL OF FAME

Format:Audio CD

Back in 1993, it wasn't easy to hear much around besides grunge. Yet, Radiohead's "Creep" managed to make it in between Nirvana's, Pearl Jam's and Green Day's hits to catch the ear of many who -like me- continue to be devoted fans of their work to this day.

From the opening guitar line of "You" it is hard not to get caught by the magic of their musical phrasing. This is all pre-Oasis, pre-Travis. This is indie prog rock in the making, with these guys fabricating a new electric sound in songs like "How Do You?" and balancing it off in others like "Thinking About You" where the acoustic guitar can be just as powerful. Then, combining the two in "Ripcord" and making you feel like rock music first started to be played like this.

"Pablo Honey" is not Radiohead's best work (that honor would probably belong to "OK Computer"). Yet it's an extraordinary production and an even more amazing debut. Many bands since and before them would want to have their best album ever be half as solid as Radiohead's first one.

Own it.

UPDATE (06/03/08): Thanks for the clarification about "pre-James". Indeed James were making music before Radiohead.

103 of 121 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid first effort remains a curio in the Radiohead oeuvre February 3, 2005

By Eddie Konczal

Format:Audio CD

The alternating bars of 12/8 and 11/8 that drive "Pablo Honey's" opening track, "You," should have given some indication to the masses that Radiohead would not be forever content to dwell in indie rock's lo-fi world. Though a solid debut effort, "Pablo Honey" gives little indication that Radiohead would go on to influence an entire generation of bands (Coldplay, Travis, Doves, Keane, et al).

"Pablo Honey" is most famous for the hit single "Creep," a simple post-grunge pop song completely atypical of the Oxford quintet's style. In fact, the song was never originally intended for the album. As the story goes, Thom Yorke had written it years before and was strumming it in the studio, when a passing record exec heard it and insisted on including it on the record. The rest is history, as they say. Though "Creep" ranks among Radiohead's least distinctive songs, it did put them on the music world's map, for which we should be eternally thankful.

Beyond "Creep," only a few songs stand out: "You" with its driving odd meters; the heartfelt ballad "Thinking About You;" the energetic "Ripcord;" and the dynamic "Stop Whispering," which starts as a catchy pop tune but builds to a ferocious crescendo that foreshadows Radiohead's evolution towards more complex arrangements. "Pablo Honey's" performances and production values are solid but lackluster, and may disappoint those expecting the studio wizardry and technical virtuosity Radiohead would go on to achieve on "The Bends," "OK Computer," and "Kid A."

All in all, "Pablo Honey" is a decent record, far overrated by the indie mavens who disowned Radiohead after they went "art rock," and unlikely to satisfy those more familiar with their later, more progressive work.... It's a worthwhile debut, but remains a curio in Radiohead's increasingly impressive and accomplished oeuvre. Read more ›

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You've GOT to be CRAZY... August 7, 2002

By Neil

Format:Audio CD

...I used to listen to OK Computer 24 hours a day - 7 days a week...then I got hooked on The Bends....Then Kid A....Then Amnesiac (with any other Radiohead CD I can find)...and I always just left Pablo Honey as the "other" album...the "rock" album that was a bit premature...I wrote it off....good listen, but not really addicting.

Boy was I wrong...just like any other of their albums, you need to listen to it a lot to get the full appreciation. I realize now that it IS 100% radiohead. Every aspect of their music is in here - in a wonderful raw form. There are times when I think this is their best album....I'm not kidding!!!

The guitar throughout this album is fantastic...the whining background feeds, the distortion, the acoustic...it's all there. You rocks with an amazing combination of angst and sincerity...Creep (all you people that CRY about it being a sell-out song or whatever, give me a break...YOU ruined that song for yourself if you listened to it too much - or - if are influenced by what others think who's the real sell out) is one of the finest songs of the decade...the Punk influence in How Do You is wonderful - amazing lyrics across all these by the way...social message of Stop Whispering....Thinking About You might be my favorite radiohead song...so pure and unbridled...Anyone Can Play Guitar - I don't even really need to mention - it's another of their best...Ripcord - one of the most underated songs...Vegetable....Prove Yourself...I Can't...Lurgee...Blow Out....I can't get enough of any of these.

Seriously - you can't call yourself a radiohead fan if you don't appreciate this gem!