Pablo Honey is the debut studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 22 February 1993 in the UK by Parlophone and on 20 April 1993 in the US by Capitol Records. It was produced by Sean Slade, Paul Q. Kolderie and Radiohead's co-manager Chris Hufford. In 1985, they formed , the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. They recorded demo tapes, including a cassette unofficially titled Manic Hedgehog, which featured versions of the future Pablo Honey tracks "You", "I Can't" and "Thinking About You". He and his business partner, Bryce Edge, became the band's managers after attending a concert at the Jericho Tavern, Oxford. Their name was taken from the Talking Heads song "Radio Head" from the 1986 album True Stories.
Radiohead released their debut EP, Drill, in 1992. It was produced by Hufford in his studio, Courtyard Studios, in Oxfordshire. Hufford said producing the EP himself was a mistake, as it created a conflict of interest and generated friction in the studio. Upon meeting the band, Kolderie was struck by their youth, but also their unity and closeness. They first attempted to record two songs that EMI was considering for Radiohead's debut single, "Inside My Head" and "Lurgee". They made little progress; Kolderie described Radiohead as "desperately inexperienced", and neither they nor the producers liked the choice of songs. Kolderie said "Inside My Head" was "not very melodic" and lacked the power of Radiohead's other songs. For the introduction to "Anyone Can Play Guitar", Kolderie had everyone in the studio, including the cook, create sounds on guitar. "The idea was to live up to the title: anyone can play guitar," he said. and grunge, and jangle pop. Gary Walker, writing for Guitar.com, described it as "nakedly naive and unguarded" compared to Radiohead's more complex later work. He wrote that it captured the "embryonic dynamic" between the three guitarists and described Greenwood's guitar work as an "exhilarating melange of tremolo-picked soundscapes, chunky octaves, screaming high-register runs and killswitch antics". "Blow Out" combines elements of bossa nova and krautrock; it starts with "tense, jazzy" drumming and raked chords and concludes with a shoegaze section. Yorke described it as a "self-destruct song". The lyrics were inspired by a woman that Yorke followed around who unexpectedly attended a Radiohead performance. Around the same time, "Creep" rose to number two on the US Modern Rock chart, and Pablo Honey was selling well on import. "Creep" reached number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, In the UK, Pablo Honey was certified silver in February 1994, gold in April 1994, platinum in June 1997, and double platinum in July 2013. In the US, it was certified gold in September 1993 and platinum in September 1995.
Tour
In late 1992, Radiohead toured the UK with Kingmaker and the Frank and Walters. In July, they gave a performance of "Anyone Can Play Guitar" live on MTV Beach House in which Yorke screamed the improvised lyrics "fat, ugly, dead!", confirmed in a 1992 interview to be a reference to Jim Morrison, before breaking down on camera and jumping into a pool. Yorke was holding a live microphone and narrowly avoided electrocuting himself.
Radiohead cancelled an appearance at the 1993 Reading Festival after Yorke became ill; he told NME, "Physically I'm completely fucked and mentally I've had enough." According to some reports, EMI gave Radiohead six months to "get sorted" or be dropped. EMI's A&R head, Keith Wozencroft, denied this, saying: "Experimental rock music was getting played and had commercial potential. People voice different paranoias, but for the label [Radiohead] were developing brilliantly from Pablo Honey." and as the first musical guests on the American talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien. EMI's American arm, Capitol, wanted to continue promoting Pablo Honey and build on the momentum. On 13 May 1995, a live video, Live at the Astoria, was released on VHS, with performances of Pablo Honey songs such as "Creep", "You" and "Anyone Can Play Guitar".
Radiohead struggled with the tour. Yorke disliked dealing with American music journalists and tired of the songs.
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| rev5score = 7/10
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| rev7score = 3/5
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Pablo Honey failed to make a critical impact upon its initial release. NMEs John Harris referred to Radiohead as "one of rock's brightest hopes". Q wrote that "British teenagerhood has never been grumpier" and described Pablo Honey as a good album with moments that rivalled Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. and Sugar. Billboard said the lyrics had "enough bite to make it on their own" despite the U2 comparisons. In a mixed review, Mario Mundoz of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it "doesn't really deliver anything you haven't heard before" but "does offer clever lyrics and good hooks".
Legacy
Although Pablo Honey did not receive the acclaim of Radiohead's later albums, it received praise in retrospective coverage. In 2018, the musician and journalist Phil Witmer wrote that the knowledge of Radiohead's later "extraordinary" work made Pablo Honey "endearing".
According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, the songwriting does not always match Radiohead's sound, but when it does, it achieves "a rare power that is both visceral and intelligent". Clash said that it "points towards everything that [Radiohead] would go on to be".
In a 2008 review, Al Spicer of BBC Music described Pablo Honey as Radiohead's "exploration of suburban, adolescent self-awareness" and "one of rock's most impressive debuts". In 2009, PopMatters Mehan Jahasuriya criticised Pablo Honey as "a hodgepodge of half-baked grunge, jangle-pop and stadium-ready alternative rock ... nearly indistinguishable from other early '90s college rock throwaways, save for a few hints of greatness". Reviewing the 2009 reissue for Pitchfork, Scott Plagenhoef praised "Creep", "You", "Stop Whispering" and "Prove Yourself", but described "How Do You?", "I Can't", "Ripcord" and "Vegetable" as "run of the mill at best".
After the success of "Creep", Radiohead grew to resent it. In 1993, Yorke said: "It's like it's not our song any more ... It feels like we're doing a cover." Their frustration influenced their second album, The Bends (1995). Based on their work on Pablo Honey, the American band Hole hired Slade and Kolderie to produce their 1994 album Live Through This.
In 2007, Pitchfork wrote that, with Pablo Honey, "Radiohead didn't so much ride the coattails of grunge to mass success as stumble over them, and they've been apologising for it ever since." In 1996, the bassist, Colin Greenwood, said, "I'd give [Pablo Honey] a seven out of 10 – not bad for an album recorded in just two and a half weeks." In 1997, O'Brien said the guitar arrangements were "boring", with all three guitarists playing similar parts. and described it as "a collection of our greatest hits as an unsigned band". Jonny Greenwood said in 1998 that it "lacked freedom", and was hindered by Radiohead's fear and inexperience.
Accolades
In 1998, Pablo Honey was voted the 100th-best album of all time in a poll held by Virgin and 61st in a poll by Q. The journalist Colin Larkin placed it 301st in the third edition of All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). As part of its 2007 list of the "500 Greatest Lost Tracks", Q included "Lurgee" and "Blow Out" in a list of 20 essential lesser-known Radiohead songs. In 2006, Classic Rock and Metal Hammer named Pablo Honey one of the 20 greatest albums of 1993. In 2008, Blender ranked it 82nd in its list of "100 Albums You Must Own".
Reissues
Radiohead left EMI after their contract ended in 2003. In 2007, EMI released Radiohead Box Set, a compilation of albums recorded while Radiohead were signed to EMI, including Pablo Honey. Radiohead had no input into the reissues and the music was not remastered.
In February 2013, Parlophone was bought by Warner Music Group (WMG). In April 2016, as a result of an agreement with the trade group Impala, WMG transferred Radiohead's back catalogue to XL Recordings. The EMI reissues, released without Radiohead's consent, were removed from streaming services. In May 2016, XL reissued Radiohead's back catalogue on vinyl, including Pablo Honey.
Track listing
Note
Personnel
Adapted from the liner notes, except where noted.
Radiohead
- Thom Yorke – vocals, guitar
- Jonny Greenwood – lead guitar, piano, organ
- Ed O'Brien – guitar, backing vocals
- Colin Greenwood – bass guitar, guitar on "Anyone Can Play Guitar"
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Year-end charts
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