Pitchfork gives The Bends and OK Computer reissues perfect 10s

Scott Plagenhoef has given the Collector's Editions of The Bends and OK Computer 10 out of 10 each in Pitchfork, both named Best New Reissue, and Pablo Honey 5.4. The three sets came out in March from EMI, through Capitol in the US, without the band taking part. Each album has a second disc of the period's B-sides and BBC radio sessions, and a dearer Special edition adds a DVD.

Mark Kemp of Paste and Sam Richards of Uncut had marked the sets in the weeks before. Kemp made the case that the 1994 My Iron Lung EP, overlooked at the time, was where the band turned. Richards was glad nothing had been remastered and sorry there are no outtakes, which leaves the studio “True Love Waits” unreleased still.

Plagenhoef rates two OK Computer B-sides, “Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)” and “Melatonin”, good enough for the album itself, and says “Meeting in the Aisle” makes him wish the band recorded more instrumentals. The Pablo Honey extras are mostly lesser versions of album songs, with “Coke Babies” and an acoustic “Banana Co.” the exceptions.

After the late-2008 compilations Pitchfork called unnecessary and badly chosen, he thinks the label has got it right this time. He calls these sets the final word on the three records, since the Beatles remasters due on 9 September close the CD era. Anyone who already owns the B-sides can pass. Anyone with only the albums should buy The Bends and OK Computer again in these versions, while Pablo Honey is for the curious and the completists.

Scores