Customer Reviews

Pablo Honey (Reis)

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

...they sounded like every other guitar rock band on the planet, and if there's anything Radiohead usually aren't, it's generic.

Alas, Radiohead's debut has not aged well at all in any way. Momentary flashes of the group's later brilliance pop up occasionally (most notably in the horrendously-overplayed (yet still high quality) "Creep" and the wonderful "Anyone Can Play Guitar"), but for the most part, it's a group trying to find its voice and failing miserably, as most of this album will be forgotten as soon as you're done listening to it.

Some would say that this album was ahead of its time when it came out. No it wasn't. Radiohead sounded like every other post-grunge outfit on the radio at that time. It can't really be "ahead of its time" if its sound can be classified by the time period it was released in.

Some would also say that you shouldn't come down so harshly on this album for being such an early release by the band, and this may be true. However, just going by the differences between Pablo Honey and The Bends (their second album), the jump in quality between the two is staggering. Even the difference in quality between Pablo Honey and the My Iron Lung EP (released the year after Pablo Honey) is pretty noticeable.

Overall, what we're left with are the very sketchy beginnings of one of the greatest bands in rock and roll. Some of you Radiohead fans might be tempted to buy it just to make your collection complete. Don't. You'll probably only listen to this album once and put it away on a shelf somewhere. Your money would be much better spent elsewhere. Also, those of you thinking about buying Pablo Honey as an intro to the group should think again. The Bends makes a much better introduction to the group's sound.

...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!

It's amazing to think how much Radiohead have progressed from "Pablo Honey" to "OK Computer." I can't see how people can slam this album. Just goes to show the true nature of all snobby ... intellectual music fans who praised "OK Computer." I think you could describe "Pablo Honey" as bittersweet. It's depressing but hopeful at the same time.

It starts out with the killer musically and lyrically opening track "You" followed up the famous "Creep" which was reuined by too much radio play and the world marking Radiohead as a one-hit wonder. I see how Radiohead could regret writing it but it's still an amazing song and speaks with real honesty. "How Do You?" is a fast paced post-punk rock song about a betrayal. The next two songs are my favorite on the album. "Stop Whispering" has a great catchy guitar riff with light drumming in the background that starts out slowly and rises along with Thom Yorke's vocals. It may not be fancy or really creative but it does something to me inside. "Thinking About You" is a beautiful light acoustic song. The lyrics are about questioning a relationship and weather to pursuit it or not. "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is one of Radiohead's most uplifting tunes. It has an under surface message that really you can do anything in life. It also brings up a funny image of Thom Yorke as Jim Morrison. "Ripcord" has an average silent than loud rock sound. "Vegetable" has a beautiful guitar chord going through while Thom Yorke silently sings. "Prove Yourself" has a great message and really spoke to me when I first heard it. "I Can't" is much like the other songs on the album. "Lurgee" and "Blow Out" put a nice touch to the ending of the album. My only thing I have to say is..what the heck is an edited version of Creep doing at the end as a hidden track? Oh well

I hate to sound cheesy but this is an album that has helped me through the hard times and it is as grand and sincere as "The Bends" and "OK Computer."

Where it all began, the Oxford boys' debut album shows surprising maturity for a first attempt, although it does pale in comparison to what followed. I'm always interested to see how bands develop style and maturity, so of vourse this album appealed to be from the outset.

BUT! The songs are very well developed. In fact, if Radiohead had been content to remain stuck in this groove, they could STILL have gone on delighting millions. EVERYBODY knows 'Creep' of course, but some of the other songs have even more bite, such as "Stop Whispering" and "Blow Out". I was forunate to see Radiohead just after "The Bends" was released, and they included most of this album in the set - it completely blew my mind, and this was well before "Paranoid Android".

Evident on this album, is Radiohead's collective youth - here we have a bunch of guys just out of college with lots of energy, and guitars to make noise with. Not that this album is merely a bunch of noise, it's carefully arranged and expertly plotted noise (on SOME songs) with more scaled-down acoustic songs interspering. Like all Radiohead albums, this is a CD I can only listen to in entirety - I hate leaving bits out, because it's all part of a bigger picture.

If you only liked "The Bends", then you'll DEFINITELY like this one. If you only liked "OK Computer", you'll PROBABLY like this one, and if you only liked "Kid A" you might want to give this a quick listen before parting with your cash! If you like more than one Radiohead album, GET THIS NOW!!

At the climax of my initial Radiohead frenzy, I purchased this as a bit of an afterthought. It has a bad reputation in the fan community as a piece of trite brit-pop with a handful of catchy tunes and a lot of fluff inbetween. Upon first listening, I wasn't even willing to give it that much credit - I almost sold it back (the only thing preventing me from doing so was an irritating completionist tic.)

Before I begin to scrutinize the various aspects of this album, you should know that even though it is disappointing compared to basically everything the band has done since, it is still an enjoyable pop rock recording and serves as an interesting history lesson for Radiohead's development as a band. Also, there are a handful of great songs on it that make it worth buying if just for those tracks.

Well, first the bad - it's clearly immature and derivitive in many cases. The music is nowhere near as emotionally investing as their later work, and many of the tracks are simply dull, repetative pop tunes. One major lowlight is the shameless disney channel tune "How Do You" - probably my most hated (and possibly only truly 'hated') Radiohead song.

The album also suffers from a long string of dull, mediocre tunes towards the middle. "Ripcord" bobs back in fourth with inviting playfullness, and has grown on me more in recent months. However, the sequencing of the tracks brings out its shortcomings - following "Ripcord" is a nauseatingly cheesey rock ballad called "Vegetable," which I tolerate at best. "Prove Yourself" has a nice melody and the chorus is catchy, but the overall effect of this string of tracks ruins the effect - by now I'm getting pretty sick of this album. "I Can't" is kind of nice but nothing special, and the accumulative effect of so many mediocre songs in a row is threatening to make me throw the CD out my window.

However it is not without some great songs as well. It starts off with a bang on "You." "You" is a Bends-worthy rocker and is many times more mature than most of what follows it. Perhaps I would like this album more if it had started with a lesser song - sometimes I feel the first impression made by this song set me up for disappointment. "Creep" of course is next, and is a pretty good song. The lyrics are a bit too blunt, but musically it is a very catchy and compelling tune. The "run" bit in the bridge still sends chills down my spine.

The album ends similarily with two of its best songs, "Lurgee" and "Blow Out." The former is a slow, emotionally nude ballad of sorts that I feel is severely underrated, while the latter is an atmospheric, jazz-influenced jam. There are a few "inbetween" songs as well; "Stop Whispering" is a good idea that doesn't really go anywhere, so despite its nice melody and texturing, it gets boring rather quickly. "Thinking About You" is another nice ballad but just doesn't leave a big enough impression to be a highlight. "Anyone Can Play Guitar" sports the most interesting guitar playing on this album, and is sort of a high point, although the chorus is just a little too Jimmy Buffet to fit in perfectly with the rest of the tune which is considerably better.

Overall, Radiohead were already becoming a great band by this time, but they simply dropped the ball on this album in a number of ways. The sequencing is crap, and the song selection is equally dubious: if you ever get a chance, hunt down the B-sides for this album. Most of them would have made better choices for album songs that half of the actual album songs. "Yes I Am" and "Coke Babies" in particular wipe the floor with just about anything on Pablo Honey (not to mention a number of pre-Pablo Honey demo songs that never saw release under the Radiohead name, some of which were considerably better than the stretch of miserably uninteresting songs in the middle of this album.)

Basically, if more attention had been paid to the fine details, Pablo Honey could have been a respectable album in Radiohead's catalogue. As it stands now, it is more interesting for its historical perspective, a yardstick that shows the band's amazing capacity to develop and grow. Recommended for completionists and Radiohead fanatics, or people who are very fond of early 90's grunge/britpop. It requires a certain amount of generosity to listen to all the way through, but there are gems to be found so you may want to give it a chance.

Now before any of you give the below reviewer an un-helpful vote, read his profile, as he states that his reviews are jokes. Anyway, this was Radiohead's beginning. Thom and co. were from a city no one really heard about, but they were determined to make it in the music business. Keep in mind that Pablo Honey was made when grunge was still popular. Radiohead tried to make a record influenced by grunge without ripping off greats like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and... Nirvana... who weren't all that great (and if I hear a Nirvana fan bash this...).

The song Creep, while a hit song, was attacked by music critics, calling their album a pop disaster and so forth. It nearly broke up the band.

Radiohead is my 2nd favorite band of all time (I won't say what my 1st is), so hear me out:

Pablo Honey really isn't all that bad of an album if you let it grow on you, Radiohead fans. Like many of you, when I 1st heard Pablo Honey, I didn't like it at all. I was used to the unique and complex song structures that were found on The Bends, and everything after it (and yes, that includes Amnesiac and Hail To The Theif, Radiohead "fans"). However, I gave it a few more tries, and found it to be quite good. The beats are pretty catchy, the guitar solos are outstanding, and the lyrics aren't half bad (with the exceptions of a few songs [I'm looking at you, track 12]).

However, Pablo Honey gets a star off because it's not all that great, but it gets 4 stars because it's decent for a 1st effort and for its time. Forget the fact that Radiohead "fans" say you can skip over this (they say that same thing about Amnesiac and Hail To The Theif, which makes my blood boil. These so-called "fans" are basically calling themselves Radiohead fans when they reject 3 of their 6 albums. Fans my @$$), it's still worth adding to your collection.

Still, with that said, I suggst that you start with any other Radiohead album when 1st getting into them, then you can buy this record.

Recommended from one big Radiohead fan.

You know your album is sub-par when your strongest single is on the disc twice. But despite the fact that this cd is only so-so, I still love listening to it. This album represents what I wish I could see more bands achieve. How many times have you listened to an album and thought to yourself, "I can hear so much potential." Even though the album isn't as great as you would like it to be, you're still applauding the effort. Occasionally, as in the case with Radiohead, a band will seize that potential and go beyond all expectations. Radiohead started out as a pretty weak band but soon became my all-time favorite musicians. This album is an important precursor to the greatness they would achieve later and should not be passed up.

As a side note, the song they became famous with, 'Creep', soon became the band's least favorite song. Through the 'Bends' and 'Ok Computer' years, Radiohead would often refuse to play 'Creep' while on tour. Last year while touring for 'Hail to the Thief', the band unexpectedly performed 'Creep' for the Atlanta crowd. Thom Yorke seemed to enjoy playing the song that he despised so much and acted playful on stage even adjusting some of the lyrics, like "I wanna perfect soul" with, "so I can look good next to you," while showing off his best feminine pose. It seemed that they were comfortable enough with their post-Creep accomplishments that they felt it was OK to play that 'wretched song'.