Pablo Honey - Reception

Reception

In the heavy alternative musical climate of 1993, Pablo Honey did not receive particular attention. Several critics, however, were enthusiastic about the band's forthcoming debut release. NME referred to the band as "one of rock's brightest hopes." In the United States, their debut single, "Creep", prompted industry observers and fans to draw parallels between Radiohead and Nirvana, with some even touting Radiohead as the "British Nirvana". Pablo Honey would not garner the widespread acclaim of Radiohead's subsequent releases, but received a generally favourable critical reaction. NME awarded the album 7/10, foreshadowing the band's future success by describing it as "one of those flawed but satisfying debuts that suggests Radiohead's talents will really blossom later on." The magazine heavily criticised the track "How Do You?", writing that it "breaks the momentum of Pablo Honey horribly, throwing all of Radiohead's tortured sensitivity out of the window and leaving them sounding like beer-gutted losers from the class of '76". Q magazine, who also drew comparisons with Nirvana, awarded the album 3 out of 5 stars, equating to a "good" album, and wrote, "British teenagerhood has never been grumpier... the best bits rival Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr. and even the mighty Sugar." Record Collector also awarded the album 3 out of 5 stars, describing it as a "promising debut record", and commending its lead single, "It contains their 'biggest' single in 'Creep.' A 12-bar blues jam with added crunch." A consistent theme in British reviews was that the album's first half (where its three singles are placed), with the exception of "How Do You?", outweighed that of the second half, which often descended into banal post-grunge stylings.

Stateside, several music publications gave the album positive reviews. Rolling Stone wrote in its year-end review, "What elevates them to fab charm is not only the feedback and strumming fury of their guitarwork and the dynamism of their whisper-to-a-scream song structures, which recall the Who by way of the early Jam, but the way their solid melodies and sing-along choruses resonate pop appeal." Billboard said of the album, "This U.K. quintet is primed to blast onto the American scene with initial modern rock track "Creep," a tense, guitar-dominated number that appears in unexpurgated form on this debut album. Certain tracks here may remind listeners of U2 (thanks largely to Thom E. Yorke's vocal mannerisms and overall guitar texturing), but lyrics have enough bite to make it on their own. "Ripcord," "I Can't," and "Blow Out" all contain excitement enough to heat up at target radio markets." Entertainment Weekly gave the album a "B" rating, opining that it "mates Smiths-type self-consciousness with dramatic U2-like vocals and guitar, with Cure-style heavy but crunchy pop." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic also drew comparisons with U2, writing, "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. The group has difficulty writing a set of songs that are as compelling as their sound, but when they do hit the mark – such as on "Anyone Can Play Guitar," "Blow Out," and the self-loathing breakthrough single "Creep" – the band achieves a rare power that is both visceral and intelligent." Erlewine named singles "Creep" and "Stop Whispering", along with acoustic ballad "Thinking About You", as the best tracks on the album. Mario Mundoz of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "This English quintet's debut doesn't really deliver anything you haven't heard before, steering too close to Smiths-like melodies and trying ever so hard to be depressed in the way the Cure popularized. Occasionally, though, it does offer clever lyrics and good hooks." Robert Christgau did not recommend the album, but named "Creep" as a "choice cut".