OH NO WHAT'S THIS PEOPLE SAYING RADIOHEAD WENT RUBBISH WHAT A SURPRISE
Radiohead could have brought out another The Bends. Of course they could have. They could have took Oasis' route of releasing essentially the same album over and over again, and they'd be as huge now as they ever were.
Radiohead refused to become derivative and brought out hard to love album after hard to love album. Many disliked OK Computer at first as it isn't like The Bends, before realising it's the greatest thing they'd done.
I can never decide if my favourite is OK Computer or Kid A. Kid A is the ultimate 'grower' album. I certainly didn't hate it at first, but it didn't strike me as anything special. Over time the tracks revealed themselves to me, Idioteque and Everthing In Its Right Place first, then Morning Bell and The National Anthem (except for the Jazz bit), Optimistic, and soon enough the absolutely beautiful How To Disappear Completely along with Motion Picture Soundtrack. The strange, proggy Kid A was one of the last but it's a truly fantastic song. Lastly, I grew to love the jazz bit on The National Anthem.
Kid A is a stupidly good album.
As an aside, I rarely listen to The Bends anymore, unlike the above 2 mentioned albums, the songs don't stand up to masses of listens.