EVER FIND YOURSELF deep inside enemy lines with no idea how you got there? That's what it felt like for the members of Radiohead when success hit. It's name was "Creep" and it got so big it nearly dismembered the band.

"It seemed that while we were this little band out on the edges making our music, no one had any grudges," remembers bassist Colin Greenwood, who accompanies the band for its upcoming Toronto date Tuesday at RPM. "But as soon as 'Creep' hit, everyone got out their knives and came running.

"We didn't ask for 'Creep' to be a hit. We were amazed when it became one; it was something that we tried out, it sounded like fun to us, so we decided to put it out."

Once the pop cognoscenti caught on, "Creep" emerged as a slacker anthem on the scale of Beck's "Loser," and all because the lyrics were widely misinterpreted. The song's unforgettable tag line, "I'm so f---' special," was in fact intended as a poke at the sardonic hearts of teens and the disaffected of all ages.

Singer Thom Yorke summed it up for Vox magazine thusly: "I never want to set myself up like that again. I've had letters from Death Row, guys who have killed people, and they're responding in what they think is a positive way to the lyrics on 'Creep.' That really scared the hell out of me."

And then, like all pop things British, came the requisite backlash from the U.K. music press.

"Some of the things they said smarted," says Greenwood. "We're very close knit and every member takes the criticism personally.

"About the worst thing they said was that not only was Radiohead a one-hit wonder but the band would never evolve past the sound of 'Creep.' If you listen to Pablo Honey with an open mind, you'll see that 'Creep' isn't representative of the direction of the band. It sticks out from the others."

As the band's first world tour expanded daily and praise was heaped upon them, Radiohead plunged into the funhouse of self-doubt. And when it came time to begin cutting the dreaded follow-up album, the band found itself drowning in its own static.

"We figured to sell 20,000 of Pablo Honey, which would be enough so that we would get to make another album. And we would be left alone to make it in our own way. Instead, we had to follow this big album and also demonstrate in the process that we were a band of substance.

"What happened next wasn't creative block at all; Thom and Jonny (Greenwood, guitarist/songwriter) are very prolific and we had the tunes. What we got bogged down in was finding a direction. Obviously, we had to get as far away from 'Creep' as possible. How to do that became this huge energy-sucking black hole."

Radiohead spent six months mired in indecision. It was raw nerves all around, not least for producer John Leckie. He'd just come off the interminable sessions for Stone Roses' follow- up album and as the recording of The Bends dragged on, Leckie must have wondered what he'd done to deserve such bad musical karma.

"He didn't say much about the Stone Roses but you got the impression he was trying to put it behind him," says Greenwood. "What he brought most to the project was an incredible patience.

"He wouldn't let us take the easy way; when we asked him outright what we should do, he always bounced it back to us. Even though it meant more time in this uncomfortable situation with us."

In the end, Radiohead chucked the session and went back on the road to loosen up. It worked. Once onstage, says Greenwood, the self-doubt and lack of intent fell away.

"When we returned home, we immediately went into the studio and got to work," he says. "Funny thing is, in most cases we went back to the songs and versions we'd done eight months before."

And now that the record's out, fate appears to be coming around to favoring Radiohead once again. The Bends is off to a faster sales start than its predecessor, the Brit critics have come round 180 degrees, and the group's tour sked is packed tighter than a sumo wrestler in spandex.

Topping the tours, in the band's estimation, is one which will have them open for R.E.M. (although the Canadian leg of R.E.M.'s tour will feature Luscious Jackson, not Radiohead) .

So life is sweet and good for Radiohead, right?

"The biggest change it's made in my life is a sad one. We've gone from being a bunch of friends in a band which wasn't the be-all and end-all of their lives to being a pop success, with all the lifestyle elements that come attached.

"It's very easy to get used to good fortune, even as you're aware of the capriciousness of it. It's sort of scary to realize this Radiohead thing has taken over my life.

"But there's always the playing; we haven't played a gig as a full band in 18 months and I'll tell you, we're good and ready."