Release Date: Apr 20, 1993
Label: Capitol
Genres: Alternative Pop/Rock, Britpop
Number Of Tracks: 13
Radiohead's debut album, Pablo Honey, is a promising collection that blends U2's anthemic rock with long, atmospheric instrumental passages and an enthralling triple-guitar attack that is alternately gentle and bracingly noisy.
Pablo Honey
Reviewed by:
benjidude945, on january 12, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: I am doing a review of this album purely because there's only one review done so far! This album deserves some credit for being the album that jumpstarted Radiohead's career. In totally unexpected ways however. Creep was not the way the band wanted to get started. Because of the overwhelming success of the single, they later wrote My Iron Lung (one of their best songs) as a response to the hype. The band now resents this album and it's very easy to see why. They rip Pixies and Nirvana rips left and right and pull off very typical guitar crunches. The most experimental track is Blow Out, with it's almost jazzy drum beat. The band says it's the best song on here and that's true. However my favorite is Vegetable, a great little pop tune. A very nice melody to it. // 7
Lyrics and Singing: Radiohead was writing unique lyrics from the beginning and that shows with Creep and Anyone Can Play Guitar. Creep is one of those 'self-loathing' 90's slacker hits that somehow isn't depressing at all but almost hopeful. Anyone Can Play Guitar gets pretty ridiculous though with Thom yelling "I wanna be Jim Morrison!", which is one of the most cryptic Radiohead lines ever! // 8
Impression: Of course this album can't compare with other Radiohead albums. Possibly The Bends, but it ends there. They got a million times better within the upcoming years and just kept on exceeding expectations. Where other '90s bands faded out in a drugged out haze and made shitty, generic alt. rock, Radiohead blew away expectations (starting in '95 with The Bends) and became one of the best bands on the planet, 12 years in a row now! // 6
Pablo Honey
Reviewed by:
The Corners, on september 25, 2006 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: "Just another Pixies influenced grunge band" were many peoples first impression of Radiohead's arrival in 1993 which is not far from the truth infact. The heavy three-guitar attack was used by the band on their first album Pablo Honey and is at some points used to dazzling effect for instance in the mindblowing "Blowout." However this trend does not continue throughout the album and compared to later standards from the band many see this as their weakest work as I must agree. it's not helped either by their being a certain song called Creep on this album which is really what got them where they were back then. Thankfully this is not what people think of when they think of Radiohead today. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: Pablo Honey really is a self-loathe album. In song like Creep and Prove Yourself Thom sounds like he is well basically a loser. But an ispiring loser at that. The lyrics don't show them at their best but their is adequate work within this album. Any adequate pieces are outshined by Thoms vocal capability which is unique and really is embracing and powerful. // 7
Impression: By far the worst Radiohead album but by no means a bad album as Pablo Honey was what got them going and will always be remembered for great songs such as Creep, Anyone Can Play Guitar and Blowout. For a Radiohead fan this is still a must-have but not necessarily their best work. // 7
Creep is the only song of Pablo Honey... maybe Anyone can play the guitar is good too. The way of playing the guitar in this album is really good, but a bit boring, that's the first impression... and the second too. Radiohead bornt with The Bends and dead with Ok Computer... the next albums are not such great works. Can you imagine that Radiohead is one of my favourite band?
This CD really is an acquired taste. I thought it as pretty tasteless at first, but after a couple more listens and an attempt to hear all the instruments, I think it's a pretty sweet CD. But yeah, not exactly their best work.
"The only disposable Radiohead album" - along with Kid A and Kid B and Kid C. Can Radiohead please get back to rocking instead of making strange noises through lots of computers ?
the style is just so different from other albums, esp. thom's vocals which made the bland lyrics in most songs even more painful. i think creep was supposed to be more of a trendy song, but i still listen to it; the whole world does. people's opinions of it are just influenced by what radiohead said of it in their early days of performance, which weren't easy on them.
Meh. I'm not a huge fan of the album. I mean, Radiohead is one of the greatest bands of all time, and this was in my opinion their weakest album. However, that really isn't saying much. It's still amazing, just the lesser of 6 masterpieces (not counting singles or EPs).
If anyone owns this album on CD, like the original one, does anyone have the track that comes after "Blow Out" called "Creep (Acoustic)"? I noticed its just the same thing as "Creep" only radio edited. Anyone notice this?
