| My Iron Lung | ||||
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| EP by | ||||
| Released | 26 September 1994 (1994-09-26)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1993–1994 | |||
| Studio | RAK, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 28:23 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| Radiohead chronology | ||||
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| Radiohead singles chronology | ||||
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My Iron Lung is the third EP by the English rock bandRadiohead, released on 26 September 1994 byParlophone Records in the UK and byCapitol Records in the US. It was produced by Radiohead,John Leckie andNigel Godrich. It marked Radiohead's first collaborations with Godrich and the artistStanley Donwood, who have worked on every Radiohead release since.
Radiohead recorded most of the songs during the sessions for their second album,The Bends, released the following year. Radiohead wrote "My Iron Lung" in response to the success of their debut single, "Creep" (1992). Unsatisfied with the version recorded atRAK Studios, they used an edited performance recorded in May 1994 at theLondon Astoria.
EMI initially released "My Iron Lung" as a single, which reached number 24 on theUK singles chart. The EP compiles "My Iron Lung" and its variousB-sides. Retrospective reviews described it as a growth in Radiohead's songwriting. "My Iron Lung" was later included onThe Bends.
Radiohead recorded most of the songs onMy Iron Lung atRAK Studios, London, during the sessions for their second album,The Bends (1995).[6] The songwriter,Thom Yorke, said the EP was "just for fans", and described it as a collection of songs that did not fit the album rather than outtakes: "We think they're good, otherwise we wouldn't have plugged them on."[7] The EP also includes an acoustic version of Radiohead's debut single, "Creep" (1992), from a performance onKROQ-FM on 13 July 1993.[8]
My Iron Lung was Radiohead's first collaboration with the producerNigel Godrich, who was assisting the producer,John Leckie, at RAK as a tape engineer.[6] It was also Radiohead's first collaboration with the cover artistStanley Donwood, whom Yorke enlisted as he was unhappy with their cover artwork.[9] Donwood was not a fan of rock music, and said he took the work because he knew Yorke from their time as art students at theUniversity of Exeter.[10] Donwood and Godrich have worked on every Radiohead release since.[10][6]
Only "My Iron Lung" was included onThe Bends.[11] Radiohead wrote it in response to the request from their record label,EMI, to record a single to repeat the success of "Creep".[12] The caustic lyrics use aniron lung as a metaphor for the way "Creep" had both sustained and constrained them: "This is our new song / Just like the last one / A total waste of time / My iron lung".[13] Yorke said in 1995: "People have defined our emotional range with that one song, 'Creep'. I saw reviews of 'My Iron Lung' that said it was just like 'Creep'. When you're up against things like that, it's like: 'Fuck you.' These people are never going to listen."[14]
According to the journalist Mac Randall, "My Iron Lung" transitions from a "jangly" openinghook to a "McCartney-esque verse melody" and "pulverising guitar explosions" in the bridge.[6]Jonny Greenwood used aDigiTech Whammy pedal topitch-shift his guitar by oneoctave, creating a "glitchy, lo-fi" sound.[15]Ed O'Brien used anEBow, an electronic sustaining device, to generate adrone on his guitar.[16]
Radiohead recorded versions of "My Iron Lung" at RAK, but were not satisfied with the results. Instead, they used a performance recorded in May 1994 at theLondon Astoria, with Yorke's vocals replaced and the audience removed.[17] Leckie said: "Considering it was recorded in the back of a truck outside the hall – not the best sound to get something from – we did quite well."[18] The Astoria performance was included in the videoLive at the Astoria, released in March 1995.[19]
"My Iron Lung" was released as a single in the UK in September 26 in four versions, each with different track order.[20] To encourage fans to buy multiple copies,[20] EMI released two CD singles; one included the B-sides "The Trickster", "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong", and "Lozenge of Love",[21] while the other included the B-sides "Lewis (Mistreated)", "Permanent Daylight", and "You Never Wash Up After Yourself".[22] TheMy Iron Lung EP compiles "My Iron Lung" and all the B-sides.[20]
The single reached number 24 on theUK singles chart.[23] In the US, it topped thecollege radio charts, but sold only around 20,000 copies.[20] Yorke and Greenwood expressed disappointment thatCapitol, EMI's American subsidiary, had not promoted it more.[17] TheA&R vice president, Perry Watts-Russel, said Capitol had not pursued radio play as "My Iron Lung" was intended for fans rather than as thelead single forThe Bends.[24] Randall noted that, unlike the UK, the US was not a major market for singles, and that the sales instead indicated that Radiohead had built an audience in America. He argued that "My Iron Lung" boosted Radiohead's artistic credibility, creating commercial opportunity forThe Bends.[18]
On 18 December 2007, "My Iron Lung" was released asdownloadable content for the music gameRock Band.[25] On 31 August, 2009, EMI reissuedThe Bends in a "Collector's Edition",[26] including theMy Iron Lung tracks.[27] Radiohead had no input into the reissue and the music was not remastered.[28] The EMI reissue was removed from streaming services after Radiohead's back catalogue was transferred toXL in 2016.[29]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| Entertainment.ie | [30] |
| Music Week | [31] |
| Smash Hits | [32] |
"My Iron Lung" initially received mixed reviews, with critics likening its verse-chorus dynamic to the 1993Nirvana song "Heart-Shaped Box".[33] According to Randall, it puzzled fans and critics, defying expectations, but "makes much more sense" onThe Bends.[6]Larry Flick fromBillboard wrote that it was "brilliant, mind-bending rock ... The sensitive intro is soon interrupted by a crash of loud and grating guitars, which rage in a seemingly random explosive roar."[34]Music & Media wrote: "More psychedelic than before, but the 'two-headed' approach of a Nirvana-esque soft and a hard bit cycle within one song is a concept this lot already dealt with at the time of 'Creep'."[35]
Leesa Daniels fromSmash Hits gave "My Iron Lung" four out of five, calling it "magnificent" and "stupendous".[32] In 2020, theGuardian named "My Iron Lung" the 10th-best Radiohead song, writing that it "uses catchy hooks and brawny riffs to rally against commercialisation. It risks sounding bratty – itis bratty – but from insolence [Radiohead] fashioned a new identity: stadium-rock agitators declaring war on hypocrisy and greed – particularly their own."[36]
TheAllMusic critic Greg Prato praised theMy Iron Lung EP, writing: "Because of the tracks' consistency and sequencing, it plays like a real album rather than a collection of B-sides and outtakes thrown together haphazardly." He felt the acoustic version of "Creep", with a "surprisingly harsh and off-key middle section", was "the only weak spot".[11]Entertainment.ie wrote: "While these off-cuts are inevitably more low-key and experimental than the classics we're all familiar with, the same spirit of anguish [ofThe Bends] and fragility is still thrillingly familiar."[30]
Randall felt Radiohead were right to omit the otherBends tracks from the EP, but felt they were building their own identity and identified a growing sophistication and diversity in their songwriting. He praised "The Trickster" and "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" as the most developed songs, likening them toSonic Youth.[20] ThePitchfork critic Scott Plagenhoef wrote that onMy Iron Lung Radiohead found "new ways to pick apart and re-construct the typical alt-rock template" and "demonstrated a band whose collective heads seemed to crack open and spill out new ideas".[37]
All tracks are written by Radiohead.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Iron Lung" | 4:36 |
| 2. | "The Trickster" | 4:40 |
| 3. | "Lewis (Mistreated)" | 3:14 |
| 4. | "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong" | 4:40 |
| 5. | "Permanent Daylight" | 2:48 |
| 6. | "Lozenge of Love" | 2:16 |
| 7. | "You Never Wash Up After Yourself (live)" | 1:44 |
| 8. | "Creep" (Acoustic) | 4:19 |
| Total length: | 28:23 | |
Adapted from the liner notes.[8]
Radiohead | Production
Artwork
|
| Chart (1994–1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[38] | 100 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[39] | 24 |
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[40] | 5 |
| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[41] Import | 22 |
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[42] | 157 |
| Chart (2002) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[43] | 28 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[44] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[45] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
