Radiohead is giving Denver "a second chance," as bassist Colin Greenwood puts it.

It was just last October that the British band awoke from a peaceful sleep at a Denver Days Inn, only to find its Hertz-Penske rental truck missing from outside the motel. The members didn't care much about the truck, but grieved at the loss of their equipment.

Greenwood lost a vintage green Musicman Stingray bass that a friend in New York had sold him somewhat reluctantly. The friend had always asked for the chance to buy it back, but there's no chance of that now.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood played an acoustic set on rented gear that night, and then canceled a handful of shows while the band went on a shopping spree for instruments and amplifiers. The stolen equipment has never been recovered.

Bitter memories aside, Radiohead returns to the scene of the crime Monday to play the Ogden Theatre.

"We had a great Indian meal (in Denver), anyway," Greenwood says. "So it can't be all that bad."

In fact, Radiohead is giving all of North America a second chance. A full year after the band released its inspired sophomore effort, The Bends, the group is moving across the continent again. The album made just about every critic's Top 10 list for 1995, and now the quintet would like to cash in the critical kudos for a little commercial success.

"We're here to help make The Bends more successful, but we also want to play some new songs live - get them ready for recording," Greenwood says. "Just like The Bends, we recorded the songs, went on tour, played them live, came back and re-recorded them. They all benefited from live exposure."

The Oxford band is hoping for a less stressful time recording its new album this year. The Bends brilliantly captures a panorama of alienation and self-loathing with sweeping melodies, bombastic guitars and adventurous instrumentation, but making the disc was a painstaking effort no one wants to repeat.

"There will always be a lot of anxiety about what we do, but I don't think any of us will want to repeat those experiences from 1994, recording The Bends," Greenwood says.

Part of the problem behind The Bends was having to follow up Creep, the group's breakthrough hit from its 1993 debut. The song's success caught the band by surprise, and its members weren't prepared for the pressures.

"It was so painstaking because we were so aware about how much we were known only for Creep and how much scrutiny we'd be under. We knew how hard it would be - even if the songs were good - to listen to it and compare it to Creep."

While The Bends hasn't produced any hits to eclipse Creep, it has established Radiohead as one of Britain's brightest groups. Now it's on to the next album.

"We always try and do different things with the next record. We've discussed jazz, strings, sampling, dance grooves and stuff like that," Greenwood says. "It will be a classic Radiohead album, but I think it will have more conventional singles."

That's not all the quintet's doing differently. After pushing the band to its breaking point while touring behind its first album, the group has instituted new rules for this road trip.

"This time around, it's single rooms for all," says Greenwood. "It's very exciting for us. It's a whole new world of space and privacy and concentrating on new songs."

Also, expect a different strategy when Radiohead returns to Denver.

"I don't think the gear will be leaving our sight for a second," the bassist says.