1.Suede (1993); 2.Dog Man Star (1994); 3.Coming Up (1996); 4.Sci-Fi Lullabies (1997); 5.Head Music (1999); 6.A New Morning (2002); 7.Singles (2003); 8.The Best of Suede (2010)
Suede
Released 29 March, 1993, Length 45:36, Label Nude
1.So Young 3:38
2.Animal Nitrate 3:27
3.She's Not Dead 4:33
4.Moving 2:50
5.Pantomime Horse 5:49
6.The Drowners 4:10
7.Sleeping Pills 3:51
8.Breakdown 6:02
9.Metal Mickey 3:27
10.Animal Lover 4:17
11.The Next Life 3:32Suede is the debut album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in March 1993 on Nude Records. At the time the fastest-selling debut album in British history, Suede debuted at the top of the UK Album Chart, won the 1993 Mercury Music Prize, and is often credited with starting the Britpop movement. The sound of the album has been compared to The Smiths and the early David Bowie era.
Background and recording
Suede quickly attracted the attention of the British music press; in 1992 before they had even released their debut single, Melody Maker featured the band on its cover, dubbing them "The Best New Band In Britain." The following year Q magazine hailed them "The band of 1993..." The year leading up to the release of Suede saw the group dominate the music press, receiving critical praise across the board. According to a March 1993 article in The Independent, at the time Suede "had more hype than anybody since the Smiths, or possibly even the Sex Pistols." Critics supported the band during the band's early stages despite Anderson's often eccentric behaviour.
Suede was recorded at Master Rock Studios in Kilburn, north west London and cost £105,000 to make. In the studio, the producer Ed Buller's method of working was that he would form a close relationship with the band member whom he thought to be most important for the sound and creative input. In Suede's case it was guitarist Bernard Butler, which did not go down well with Anderson. Buller would be the band's closest musical collaborator for the years ahead. Anderson liked Buller as a person and for his enthusiasm for Suede. He endorsed his production on the first single "The Drowners"; however, he had different views on "Metal Mickey", feeling that Buller took the "metal brutality" out of the song. Instead of the song ending abruptly after the chorus, which the band demonstrated when performing live, Buller suggested an extended fade-out, which incorporated a key change. Butler would eventually clash with Buller for similar reasons during the recording of the next album, which was an event Anderson could perceive early on. "I think as Bernard got more technically aware, because he always had a fine ear, he very soon saw flaws in what Ed was doing.
Music
Nick Wise views the whole album in terms of Butler and Anderson constantly trying to outperform each other, thereby producing "a pot-pourri of swirling guitars, falsetto wails and surging amplification that somehow succeeds in producing a giddy, weird, beautiful soundclash". In Suede's early days when Justine Frischmann was still a member and was dating Blur's Damon Albarn, the lyrics of her ex-partner Anderson were conveying a more depressing meaning. He has noted that the songs "Pantomime Horse" and B-side "He's Dead" were the product of an unhappy mind and that he could not have written such songs if he was happy. Anderson states, "when it comes to writing, there's something to be said about being unhappy. I know I've been at my most creative when I've been sexually unsatisfied."
Suede's breakthrough single was "Metal Mickey", which charted at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. According to Anderson, the song was inspired by Daisy Chainsaw vocalist KatieJane Garside. Butler has noted that its musical inspiration was "The Shoop Shoop Song", famously remade by Cher. Anderson wrote "Sleeping Pills" whilst doing voluntary work at a local community centre in Highgate. It was inspired by the daily drama of the British housewives and their dependence on valium as a means of escapism. At the time he felt that the song's lyrics were his favourite and more sophisticated than "Animal Nitrate", which he thought was a bit throw-away. The band were determined to release "Sleeping Pills" as the third single, but were soon overruled by Nude Records's owner Saul Galpern, who suggested the former instead.
"Animal Nitrate", a play on amyl nitrite, which is notable for its use of phasing and more radio friendly appeal, would be the album's most successful single, peaking at number seven. The song contained Anderson's most risqué lyrics to date: as their author concurred, "You know it's about violence and abuse and sex and drugs. It's actually quite a hardcore song." Anderson has since said that the first album was about "sex and depression in equal measure". All the latter-day lyrics for the first album were directly influenced by extremely personal and emotional experiences in Anderson's life. "So Young", featuring a piano bridge courtesy of Ed Buller, was about his girlfriend's overdose. Anderson says "it deals with the knife-edge of being young." "The Next Life", which was Butler's first serious piano part, was a lament to his deceased mother, while "Breakdown" dealt with his schoolfriend's descent into extreme depression. "She's Not Dead", was a true story written about the joint suicide of Anderson's aunt and her clandestine lover. On the song Anderson states "...the ankle chain and stuff like that, is the kind of detail that can only come from truth, that can't be conjured up."
On the other hand, Anderson has elsewhere stressed that the songs are not autobiographical, but "often imaginary situations based on real sentiments, or real situations taken to their logical extreme". When asked about the pervasive use of the word "he" in his songs, Anderson stated that "too much music is about a very straightforward sense of sexuality ... Twisted sexuality is the only kind that interests me. The people that matter in music ... don't declare their sexuality. Morrissey never has and he's all the more interesting for that". Anderson had an issue with the song "Moving", saying "It never sounds as good on that album as it did live. There's hardly anything of the energy, it's over-produced, it's all a bit FX, it's a bit grim."
Release and reception
Suede opened at the top of the UK Album Chart and was the fastest-selling debut album since Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Welcome To The Pleasuredome almost ten years earlier. The album's highest-charting single, "Animal Nitrate", received the highest praise from both fans and critics; Select magazine had declared it single of the year. The single was previewed to the nation at the 1993 Brit Awards. Debut single "The Drowners" garnered much acclaim from NME and Melody Maker, who both voted the song 'single of the year'. Fourth single "So Young", charted at number 22.
Keith Cameron of the NME gave the record seven out of ten in his review. Cameron compared Suede to The Smiths; he wrote, "'Suede' faces the same problems [as The Smiths did] and similarly fails to deliver on a few, admittedly trifling, levels". However, he concluded, "This is the solid, quality, ring-of-confidence debut [Nude Records] dreamed the band would produce". Stuart Maconie of Q gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. In his review he drew comparisons to Bowie, Morrissey and Marr. In conclusion he said "...Bowie and the Smiths are obvious points of reference. From each, Suede have taken an alien sexual charisma, a peculiarly claustrophobic Englishness and brazenly good tunes. Moreover, rarely has a record from the indie sector come with such a burning sense of its own significance."
Suede is the group's best-selling album in the United States, having sold about 105,000 copies as of 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. American critics also praised their debut, such as Robert Christgau, who called it a "surprisingly well-crafted coming out. More popwise and also more literary than the Smiths at a comparable stage, Suede's collective genderfuck projects a joyful defiance so rock and roll it obliterates all niggles about literal truth." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, who awarded the album a full five stars, noted the contribution of the songwriting partnership, "Guitarist Bernard Butler has a talent for crafting effortlessly catchy, crunching glam hooks like the controlled rush of 'Metal Mickey' and the slow, sexy grind of 'The Drowners'." He then went on to say "Anderson's voice is calculatedly affected and theatrical, but it fits the grand emotion of his self-consciously poetic lyrics." Other stateside praise came from Rolling Stone, who said that "...Suede is everything that great British pop stars used to be, compelling, confounding, infuriating...in singer Brett Anderson, the band boasts one of the great love-it-or-loathe-it voices in English rock...both irresistible and believable."
Dog Man Star
Released October 10, 1994, Length 57:50, Label Nude
1.Introducing the Band 2:38
2.We Are the Pigs 4:19
3.Heroine 3:22
4.The Wild Ones 4:50
5.Daddy's Speeding 5:22
6.The Power 4:31
7.New Generation 4:37
8.This Hollywood Life 3:50
9.The 2 of Us 5:45
10.Black or Blue 3:48
11.The Asphalt World 9:25
12.Still Life 5:23
Dog Man Star is the second album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in October 1994 on Nude Records. It was the last Suede album to feature guitarist Bernard Butler, due to growing tensions between Butler and singer Brett Anderson ending with Butler leaving the band before the album was completed. Dog Man Star is more downbeat than their debut and chronicles Suede as they parted from the "Britpop pack".
Although it did not sell on the same scale as their chart-topping debut Suede (1993), Dog Man Star reached number three on the UK Albums Chart. Released to an enthusiastic critical reception, it is considered by many to be Suede's masterpiece.
Background
In early 1994, when Suede were about to release the standalone single "Stay Together"—their highest charting single, which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart—the morale within the group was at an all time low. Butler's father had died just as the band were about to begin their second American tour. The first week of the tour was cancelled, and Suede flew back to London from New York. When the tour did resume, Butler distanced himself from the rest of the band far more than before. Recently bereaved and engaged, according to Butler, "they got really resentful of the fact that they were on tour with someone who didn't want to party". He even travelled separately, either alone, by taxi, or on the tour bus of support act The Cranberries. Then in Atlanta, Suede suffered the ignominy of having to open for The Cranberries, who'd been given a friendlier reception than the headliners and received the support from MTV as well. By New York they'd had enough and the last few dates were cancelled. According to drummer Simon Gilbert, Butler was becoming unworkable and intolerable, and the band could not function together any longer.
To record Suede's next album Anderson moved to Highgate, and began to write lyrics influenced by heavy drugs while living in a secluded Victorian mansion. "I deliberately isolated myself, that was the idea," Anderson later explained. The album was later described by one journalist as "the most pompous, overblown British rock record of the decade", which Anderson puts down to his use of psychedelic drugs. "I was doing an awful lot of acid at the time, and I think it was this that gave us the confidence to push boundaries." Anderson has said that he thrived on the surreal environment he lived in at the time; next door were a sect known as the Mennonites, who would often sing hymns during Anderson's drug binges.
Recording and production
After the success of their debut album, Suede were hailed as the unwitting inventors of Britpop, something they were proud of for a short while. However, Britpop soon grew to be dominated by other musical forces, as Blur, Oasis and Pulp arrived on the scene. This disgusted Anderson, who called Britpop "horribly twisted, a musical Carry On film", and he began to distance himself from the scene. "We could not have been more uninterested in that whole boozy, cartoon-like, fake working-class thing." the singer said in 2008, "As soon as we became aware of it, we went away and wrote Dog Man Star. You could not find a less Britpop record. It's tortured, epic, extremely sexual and personal. None of those things apply to Britpop".
The album was recorded between 22 March and 26 July 1994 at Master Rock Studios, Kilburn, London. The rehearsals were very tense and would inevitably split the band into two separate camps, i.e. Butler and the rest of the band. Butler seemed to consolidate his separation when he appeared on the front cover of Vox magazine with the tag line, "Brett drives me insane". The interview explained how Butler liked to improvise and how Anderson made this impossible because of his slow ways of working, and his obsession with rock stardom. A despondent Anderson remembers reading the article the same morning he was recording the vocals for "The Asphalt World": "I remember trying to channel all this hurt that I was feeling and the iciness I was feeling into the vocal." Butler apologised to Anderson soon after.
Musical differences over "The Asphalt World" triggered the next big argument. The version that finally made it on to the album clocks in at nine minutes 25 seconds, but according to bass player Mat Osman, Butler's initial creation was a 25-minute piece with an eight-minute guitar solo. "Bernard was very determined", says Anderson. "He's always been quite stubborn and single-minded, he was determined that it would be long. I don't ever remember him saying, 'We'll edit it down.' It was always going to be eighteen minutes or whatever." Osman, felt that Butler's compositions were too audacious and experimental, "Lots of the musical ideas were too much. They were being rude to the listener: it was expecting too much of people to listen to them."
The arguments over "The Asphalt World" spilled over on to the rest of the album, as Butler became progressively more dissatisfied with Ed Buller's production. In a 2005 interview, the guitarist maintained his position on the matter, stating that Buller "made a terrible shoddy job of it". Butler wanted Buller dismissed, allowing him to produce the record by himself, although it was later revealed that Butler had recommended Chris Thomas as their producer. Thomas was more experienced and had previously worked with punk rock bands The Pretenders and the Sex Pistols; however Suede's label Nude Records declined Butler's request, saying Thomas was too expensive. Nude's owner Saul Galpern claimed that the guitarist became impossible to reason with and also made threats to him and Buller. Buller claims he received phone calls where there was the sound of scratching knives on the phone.
Butler issued the band and their management an ultimatum: either they discharged Buller, or he would leave Suede. The rest of the band, however refused to comply with Butler's demands and decided to let him walk out before the record was finished. Butler insisted he was kicked out the band, that when he turned up to the studio to find he was not allowed in. He went back the next day to pick up his guitar so he could record parts at home, though he was told that his guitar would be left in the street for him. "That was it, really. I didn't leave; I was kicked out. That's really obvious. If I'd just left, no-one would have let me leave, if I'd been wanted." Suede's manager Charlie Charlton made a final attempt to reach consensus between the two parties, however during a tense phone conversation the final words Butler uttered to Anderson were along the lines of "you're a fucking cunt."
On 8 July, Butler exited the sessions leaving Dog Man Star some distance from completion. Anderson had recorded little more than a string of guide vocals; several songs did not have titles; much of the music was still to be embossed with overdubs. Buller and the remaining members succeeded in taking the record to its conclusion. Butler did finish some of his guitar parts, though according to Saul Galpern he refused do it at Master Rock and instead had to book another studio where he could work on his own. Shortly after Butler left the band, he recorded an unrequested backing vocal on "Black or Blue", which Anderson recalls. "...I can't remember the exact words but it sounded vaguely threatening." Among the post-Butler additions was a reworked ending to "The Wild Ones", an orchestral coda on "Still Life" and an electric guitar part, copied note for note from Butler's original demo of "The Power", which he strongly criticised. Butler became a harsh critic of the album, not just from a production standpoint, but the overall musicianship. He cites lack of commitment in the studio, along with Anderson's partying antics, and the band's unwillingness to challenge his elaborate ideas as his main criticism, "I just heard too many times, 'No, you can't do that'. I was sick to death of it. I think it's a good record, but it could have been much better."
Music and lyrics
Writing for The New York Times, Neil Strauss said, "Dog Man Star looks back to the era when glam-rock met art-rock, with meticulously arranged songs sung with a flamboyance reminiscent of David Bowie and accompanied by anything from a 40-piece orchestra to an old Moog synthesizer." The Bowie influence was still a major element of Suede's sound, however, unlike their debut, Suede focused on a darker and more melodramatic sound. As they were on Suede, Anderson's lyrics were influenced by his heavy drug use, citing William Blake as a big influence on his writing style. He became fascinated with his use of visions and trance-like states as a means of creation. Anderson claims that much of the torn, fragmented imagery on songs like "Introducing the Band" and B-side, "Killing of a Flashboy" were the result of letting his subconscious take over. "Introducing the Band" was a mantra he wrote after visiting a Buddhist temple in Japan.
Anderson wrote the eulogy "Daddy's Speeding", about a dream involving taking drugs with the late American actor James Dean. The song uses white noise and feedback effects in its finale. Lead single "We Are the Pigs" depicts Anderson's visions of Armageddon and riots in the streets, which samples Peter Gunn style horns. The track "Heroine", with the refrain, "I'm aching to see my heroine", also has a celebrity influence, paying homage to Marilyn Monroe, while evoking Lord Byron. "She Walks in Beauty", the song's opening line, is the title of a Byron poem.
Dog Man Star explores themes such as solitude, paranoia and self-loathing. The latter theme being reflected in the ballad "The Wild Ones", an ode to a relationship being slowly lost. Anderson's girlfriend Anick was the inspiration behind the song, along with "The Asphalt World" and "Black or Blue". The latter is a song about racial intolerance. "This Hollywood Life" is the most aggressive song on the album, the NME wrote that "a record so couched in earth-shacking drama probably needs at least one spittle-flecked tantrum."
"New Generation" is an upbeat affair and, according to The Independent, "a reminder that they can still play sleek rock'n'roll". One writer noted that "few bands could make such a sexual, illicit poem appear to bounce like a pop anthem". The melancholic piano ballad "The 2 of Us" explores similar themes of regret and doubt and features a bawu solo before the song's crescendo. David Sinclair of Q described how the sad, bored housewife from Suede's earlier song "Sleeping Pills" reappears in "The 2 of Us" as well as Dog Man Star's closing track "Still Life". An early concept that was originally planned for Suede, "Still Life" features the 72-piece Sinfonia of London orchestra. It was notable for its premiere at the 1993 Glastonbury Festival, though this rendition was a stripped down version consisting of vocals and acoustic guitar.
Packaging
Anderson spoke of the album's title as a kind of shorthand Darwinism reflecting his own journey from the gutter to the stars. Fans noted the similarity to experimental film-maker Stan Brakhage's 1964 film, Dog Star Man. "The film wasn't an influence but I obviously dug the title," the singer later confessed. The title is intended as a proud summation of Suede's evolution. "It was meant to be a record about ambition; what could you make yourself into."
The artwork, which features a naked man sprawled on a bed were lifted from one of Anderson's old photo books. Taken by American photographer Joanne Leonard in 1971, the front cover picture was originally titled "Sad Dreams On Cold Mornings" and the rear photo "Lost Dreams," Anderson says, "I just liked the image, really, of the bloke on the bed in the room. It's quite sort of sad and sexual, I think, like the songs on the album."
Release and reception
Dog Man Star entered the charts two places lower than its predecessor, held off the top by R.E.M.'s Monster and Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits. "It didn't sell as well as I thought it deserved," says Anderson. "I felt that it didn't get the commercial success it deserved, it got the critical success. I think a lot of people thought the band had split up because Bernard had left." Suede's lead single from Dog Man Star, "We Are the Pigs", peaked at a disappointing 18, plunging to 38 the following week. The choice of single had been a subject of heated debate, with Sony wanting to release "New Generation" as the first single, which would have made more commercial sense, however, Anderson disagreed as he did not feel it had the drama and the power that represented Dog Man Star. Even the release of "The Wild Ones", the ballad that Anderson still thinks may be the best song Suede have ever recorded, did not seem to help, like "We Are the Pigs", it stalled at number 18. The third single "New Generation" charted even lower, peaking at number 21. "The Power", the only song on the album Butler did not play on, was the proposed fourth single, set for release on 1 May 1995, however this never happened.
The British music press were more enthusiastic about Suede's new record. In his full page review for NME, John Harris gave Dog Man Star a rating of 9 out of 10, calling it "a startling record: an album surrounded by the white heat of something close to genius". The issue also had a free 7" flexi-disc, in a sleeve that used the album artwork, mounted on the cover, which included excerpts of the album tracks "The Wild Ones", "Heroine", "The Power" and "Still Life". David Sinclair of Q magazine gave the album a full five stars; in his review he said. "With Dog Man Star the group has vindicated just about every claim that was ever made on their behalf...It will be hailed in years to come as the crowning achievement of a line-up that reinvented English, guitar-band rock'n'roll for the 1990s." Nicholas Barber of The Independent complimented Butler's musicianship, "The follow-up to Suede's Mercury-Prize-winning debut is a larger-than-life blend of pop hooks and theatrical gestures. The music is a testament to the talent of its composer, Bernard Butler, whose lurid guitar curls notes into the mix exactly where they are needed." He added that, "at times Dog Man Star is messy and preposterous. But no record collection is complete without it."
Despite Suede's problems in the US, such as the short-lived tour and the lawsuit over the band's name, Dog Man Star sold about 36,000 copies there as of 2008, per Nielsen SoundScan figures. However, this is about a third of the sales of Suede, which shifted 105,000 units in the US. American music journalist Robert Christgau was keen on Suede's debut album, however he rated Dog Man Star a "dud" in his consumer guide review. Other critics saw the album as a step forward from their debut. Simon Reynolds of The New York Times wrote that while Suede's "self-titled debut was too steeped in glam rock and mope rock [that] connected with only the most devout Anglophiles", on their second record "the group soars to new heights of swoony hysteria". He concluded by stating that "Dog Man Star deserves attention, if only for its absurd ambition". In 1995, the Spin Alternative Record Guide had a similar view, saying that the album "...proved a massive flounce forward, ...Gone are the endless I'm-shocked-that-you're-shocked ruminations on sexual identity, drugs and decay". It also proclaimed "Still Life" as Suede's finest hour, calling it "...A string-laden showstopper, it spotlights Anderson's vocal evolution from drawling South London gutter-snipe to impassioned—and immaculately enunciating—crooner." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, writing, "while Suede may choose to wear their influences on their sleeve, they synthesize them in a totally original way, making Dog Man Star a singularly tragic and romantic album".
Legacy
With the exception of A New Morning, Dog Man Star is Suede's least commercially successful album, yet it is now widely considered their masterpiece. Many critics are keen to emphasise the band's split as the main reason for their slow downfall. John Mulvey was the first journalist to write about Suede for the NME in 1991 at the ULU, when Suede were still relatively unknown. Over a decade later and in sharp contrast to his emphatic review in 1991, Mulvey now of The Times wrote about Suede's final output, Singles. He felt that if the band "had split up in 1994, following the release of the majestic Dog Man Star album, Suede might now be celebrated as one of the great bands." He then added, "as the bulk of Singles proves, over the past nine years Suede have sounded like a parody of their formative selves."
Jon Monks of Stylus Magazine said that "Suede will never make a record this good again, whether it is because Butler left or merely it was a such a perfect time for Brett to be writing, they have failed to make anything nearly so encompassing as this." A significant review came from Nicholas Barber of The Independent, shortly after the release of their platinum-selling album Coming Up. Watching them perform live at Glasgow's Barrowlands with their new line-up, he questioned their forceful sound and reluctantly alluded Butler's absence. "When he left, he took with him the heart of the band, leaving behind the pelvis and the guts." He added, "Suede deliver the goods, all right. It's just that they no longer, as it were, deliver the greats."
In September 2003, Suede played five nights at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, dedicating each night to one of their five albums and playing through an entire album a night. Tickets sold fastest for Tuesday's Dog Man Star night, and were selling for over a £1,000 a pair on eBay, in contrast to A New Morning, which went for £100.
Following Suede's 2010 reunion shows, an article appeared in the New Classics column in American music magazine Crawdaddy!. Written by Andres Jauregui, he wrote about Dog Man Star's legacy: "Despite the challenges Suede faced, Anderson achieved the anti-Britpop album he wanted in Dog Man Star, to the kudos of the hipper critical circle, and the detriment of the band’s mainstream appeal. For all its indulgence and Bowie-esque melodrama, it’s more literate, more tortured, and more ambitious than its peers. More substantive than a “woo-hoo”, brighter than any champagne supernova, Dog Man Star’s origins, theatrics, and sense of rebellion are the stuff of rock'n'roll legend."
Coming Up
Released September 2, 1996, Length 42:27, Label Nude
1.Trash 4:06
2.Filmstar 3:25
3.Lazy 3:19
4.By the Sea 4:15
5.She 3:38
6.Beautiful Ones 3:50
7.Starcrazy 3:33
8.Picnic by the Motorway 4:45
9.The Chemistry Between Us 7:04
10.Saturday Night 4:32
Coming Up is the third album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in September 1996 on Nude Records. It was the band's first album since the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler, who was replaced by Richard Oakes. Also added to the band was keyboardist Neil Codling. The album was nominated for the 1997 Mercury Prize. A commercial and critical success, Coming Up was the album that introduced Suede to a worldwide audience, in places such as Europe, Canada and Asia.
Background and recording
After the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler and the lack of commercial success with Dog Man Star and its singles, Suede were being somewhat dismissed by the British music press. Determined to bring Suede back into the mainstream, Anderson decided that the sound of the new album would be the complete opposite of Dog Man Star. "I think the next album will be quite simple, actually. I'd really like to write a straightforward pop album. Just ten hits."
The guitarist to replace Butler was the 17-year-old Richard Oakes, who beat 500 other applicants for the role. Instead of applying for the job like everyone else, Oakes was auditioned on the strength of an impromptu demo tape he sent to the Suede fan club. Despite Oakes's smooth integration into his new role and the band's rejuvenated spirit, Anderson was tired of touring and was keen to get back in the studio with his new songwriting partner. "...it was becoming really not much fun touring an album that wasn't made by the band." This statement was an indication that Suede lacked enthusiasm, and were not content with being on tour, a feeling, which was reflected in the b-side, "Have You Ever Been This Low".
To prepare for its recording, the band had immersed themselves in T. Rex's 1972 album The Slider and its successor, Tanx. On the eve of the album's release, Anderson stated: "I wanted it to be a complete turnover from the last album, which was very dark and dank... I wanted it to be communicative and understandable. Pop music generally has to be pretty dumb, I think. And I've had my little affair with the avant-garde. It's not as exciting as pop music." Long-time producer Ed Buller would be at the controls once again. Bass player Mat Osman recalls how Buller was keen on making the album simple. "He was really keen on using all those devices: the big repeated end, the handclaps, the straightforward chorus, make it big and obvious."
Two songs which made it onto Coming Up had already been written in the early days of Suede. "Lazy" and "By the Sea" were two of Anderson's compositions, which had been written during the Butler era. "I pretty much knew Bernard wasn't going to be in Suede for the rest of his life and I thought it would be good to have a couple of things knocking about." "By the Sea" was actually written when Suede were recording their first album, which is why the songs opening line is almost identical to "So Young".
Unlike the tense and chaotic recording of Dog Man Star, which according to Anderson was written by post, the new material was far more celebratory in both its development and execution. "I kind of like working like that, because the whole of Dog Man Star was written by post pretty much,...There was no mutual exchange or anything like that." Songs such as "By the Sea" and "She" required the use of keyboards. Faced with the problem as to how to play them live, Suede recruited Simon Gilbert's cousin Neil Codling, who made his debut at a fanclub gig in January 1996.
The musical sound of Coming Up is more accessible than previous album Dog Man Star. Its singles were much more successful than those of their second LP, while the lyrical content concerns the band's disaffection at the mid-90s hedonistic, celebrity-obsessed culture; "Beautiful Ones" and "She" are caricatures of British yuppies, celebrities and heroin-chic models. "Beautiful Ones" was originally titled "Dead Leg" after Osman threatened to give Oakes a dead leg if he was unable to write a top ten single. According to Anderson, "The Chemistry Between Us" is about "the emptiness of it all" with regards to drug use. The album finishes with a note of optimism in "Saturday Night" - a straightforward, contented love song.
Release and reception
Coming Up was a commercial success, removing many fans' doubts about Suede's new line-up. It spawned five top 10 singles, sold 1.5 million copies, charting at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single "Trash" was their joint top charting single along with "Stay Together", reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart, however it outsold the latter making it their biggest selling single ever.
Reviews were generally positive and seemed to respect Suede's new pop sound. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic rated Coming Up 4 out of 5, he welcomed the album's simplicity, however felt that very little progress had been made: "As a statement of purpose, Coming Up is unimpeachable. Though it doesn't break any new ground for the band — unless you count the newfound sense of optimism — it's a remarkable consolidation and crystallization of Suede's talents." James Delingpole of the Daily Telegraph wrote that ..."Coming Up is their defiant reminder of what made Suede so special." He added, ..."If Dog Man Star was Diamond Dogs, then this is Suede's Ziggy Stardust - extravagant, steeped in glam and unashamedly poppy. Andy Gill of The Independent, however was a harsh critic of the album. In contrast to their first album, he wrote, "...two albums and one guitarist later, they sound utterly mined out," he added "...in many ways, it's a step back from Dogmanstar - and their manner grows increasingly obnoxious.
Despite its success in the U.K. and Europe, Coming Up did not win an audience in America, partially because of its later release in April 1997 and partially because Suede only supported it with a three-city tour. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Coming Up has sold about 40,000 copies in the U.S. as of 2008.] Critical reception, however was very positive stateside. Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle wrote that "...Oakes more than fills the boots of his predecessor, and the new CD is a pure pop pleasure, thick and sinewy and terribly, cooly British." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club had similar views, saying that "...The London Suede should, by all laws of musical logic, have disappeared by now. However, after surviving a name change, the replacement of co-songwriter/guitarist Bernard Butler with an obscure 17-year old, and more than a few changes in musical fashion, the band has returned with a third album that's more consistent and accessible than anything it's produced before." James Hunter of Spin gave the album 8 out of 10. He said that "...the band pushes its case by ascending to heights of absolutely lucid songcraft that, in this often fuzzy era, feels exhilarating."
Suede embarked on a short tour of the U.S. and Canada in May 1997 to support the album, but fell upon bad fortune when their equipment got stolen after playing a sold out show in Boston, Massachusetts on 17 May.
In December 1996, The Face, Melody Maker, Select and Q listed Coming Up as one of the ten greatest albums of the year, while Mojo and NME ranked it 12th. Two years later, Q readers voted Coming Up the 36th greatest album of all time. A worldwide Virgin poll saw the album voted #195 in the all-time top 1000 albums. In 1999, American music critic Ned Raggett ranked Coming Up as the 42nd greatest album of the 1990s. The following year, Q ranked the album the 96th greatest British album ever.
Sci-Fi Lullabies
Released October 6, 1997, Length 122:48, Label Nude
Disc One
My Insatiable One 2:57
To the Birds 5:24
Where the Pigs Don't Fly 5:33
He's Dead 5:13
The Big Time 4:28
High Rising 5:49
The Living Dead 2:48
My Dark Star 4:26
Killing of a Flash Boy 4:07
Whipsnade 4:22
Modern Boys 4:07
Together 4:29
Bentswood Boys 3:15
Europe Is Our Playground 5:39
Disc Two
Every Monday Morning Comes 4:28
Have You Ever Been This Low 3:52
Another No One 3:56
Young Men 4:35
The Sound of the Streets 4:59
Money 4:04
W.S.D. 5:46
This Time 5:46
Jumble Sale Mums 4:15
These Are the Sad Songs 6:20
Sadie 5:24
Graffiti Women 4:51
Duchess 3:55
Sci-Fi Lullabies is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, consisting of B-sides from the singles that were released from the band's first three albums.
Overview
The album spans two discs and displays the band in its most prolific era. The first disc is dominated by tracks written by the Brett Anderson/Bernard Butler songwriting partnership (the exceptions are "Together," "Bentswood Boys" and "Europe is Our Playground") while the second showcases the various intra-band songwriting variations (Anderson/Richard Oakes and Anderson/Neil Codling, plus Anderson solo and compositions contributed to by the whole band) that emerged following Butler's departure and the subsequent recruiting of a new guitarist, Richard Oakes and keyboardist Neil Codling.
The album is not quite comprehensive, missing out around half a dozen exclusive songs released as B-sides by the band during the period it covers. Missing Anderson/Butler B-sides are "Painted People" (from "Animal Nitrate"), "Dolly" (from "So Young") and "This World Needs a Father" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 1), which was the last B-side of the Butler era. Tracks featuring Oakes and/or Codling omitted include "Asda Town" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 2), "Sam" (from "Beautiful Ones") and "Digging a Hole" and "Feel" (from "Lazy"). Live performances released as B-sides (on "New Generation" Disc 1 and "Filmstar" Disc 2) are also not included, neither is Suede's cover of the Pet Shop Boys' "Rent." The track "Together" is included despite technically being a double-A side (with "New Generation") not a B-side, while the non-album single "Stay Together" is not present despite its B-sides being included and it not being available elsewhere. The track "Eno's Introducing The Band" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 2) is also not included.
The album is considered an important one for fans of the band, partially because of the wealth of material and partially as many of the songs on the compilation are considered to be as strong or even stronger as the singles from which they came.
Release and reception
The album received praise from most critics on release. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, who awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, noted that the first disc "...is as strong as any of their albums" and that the majority of the songs are "all strong enough to be A-sides." Overall he said, "...this is absolutely essential material, confirming the group's status as one of the '90s' greatest bands." Mark Beaumont of NME said that "CD1 stakes a formidable claim as the fourth Suede album in its own right. Better than OK Computer." John Harris of Select gave the compilation 4 stars out of 5 and wrote: "Sci-Fi Lullabies exhaustively empties their under-the-stairs cupboard, and it's like a retelling of the entire Suede movie script." He concluded by saying that "this is truly as good as most Greatest Hits albums."
Tom Lanham of Entertainment Weekly gave the compilation an (A) rating, saying that Anderson is a "...tireless diarist, judging from this anthology of 27 U.K.-single B sides, each one—like the grim concert staple 'Killing of a Flash Boy'—as fey, somber, and solid as any album track." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the compilation a highly positive review, saying "...that Suede would not simply treat its B-sides as opportunities to unload half-baked and failed ideas. In fact, this collection has more consistency than many acts' studio albums, dispensing moody, catchy melodramatics while maintaining a remarkably high level of quality." Despite never placing on any of Billboard's charts, Sci-Fi Lullabies has sold about 19,000 units in the U.S. per Nielsen SoundScan figures.
Legacy
The collection is widely regarded as Suede's best output and is often recommended along with their first two albums. Scott Plagenhoef of Stylus Magazine said that "Suede set the track record of making each EP’s release an event, not tossing filler or failed experiments on the back of singles releases. Those early B-sides—collected on disc one of Sci-Fi Lullabies remain Suede’s strongest collection of songs." The album is considered to be one of the finest of the B-side/rarity genre, being described recently by The Independent as "the greatest B-sides album ever made". The A.V. Club included the compilation in its list of 35 essential B-side/rarity/outtakes collections. The article said that "...Suede’s pre-burnout legacy remains remarkably strong, and decidedly incomplete without such flipside classics as 'My Insatiable One' and 'The Living Dead'."
Live performances
The Suede B-sides have been an integral part of Suede's live shows as well as Anderson's solo performances. Notable favourites from disc one include "The Living Dead" and "Killing of a Flash Boy", which were performed at Suede's March 2010 reunion shows in London. Anderson and Butler made their last TV appearance on MTV's Most Wanted in March 1994, where they performed the popular "Stay Together" B-sides "The Living Dead" and "My Dark Star". In April 1997, Suede notably played an entire set of B-sides at a fanclub gig at the London Forum.
Packaging
The title of the album was a phrase considered as a title for the band's second album, Dog Man Star, and is a phrase used in the lyrics of the song "Introducing the Band" from that album. The collection is accompanied by a 32-page, full-color lyric booklet designed by Peter Saville. The front cover, which recalls the works of J. G. Ballard, features a destroyed English Electric Lightning aircraft abandoned and used for target practice on a military range in Northumberland. It was taken by noted North East photographer John Kippin.
Head Music
Released May 3, 1999, Length 57:47, Label Nude
1.Electricity 4:39
2.Savoir Faire 4:37
3.Can't Get Enough 3:58
4.Everything Will Flow 4:41
5.Down 6:12
6.She's in Fashion 4:53
7.Asbestos 5:17
8.Head Music 3:23
9.Elephant Man 3:06
10.Hi-Fi 5:09
11.Indian Strings 4:21
12.He's Gone 5:35
13.Crack in the Union Jack 1:56
Head Music is the fourth album by English alternative rock band Suede, released by Nude Records in May 1999.
Produced and mixed by Steve Osborne, Head Music features a more electronic sound, which was a new approach to their music. The recording of Head Music was plagued with difficulties such as singer Brett Anderson's addiction to crack, and keyboardist Neil Codling's recurring Chronic fatigue syndrome. Despite these events the album still went to number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, however it received more promotion than any of their previous releases. The album received mixed-to-positive reviews, however there were more negative reviews on Head Music than any of their previous records.
Background and recording
After the release of the B-sides compilation Sci-Fi Lullabies, Suede decided to put themselves out of the limelight for over a year. Neil Codling spent most of the year in bed due to his illness and at the same time Anderson's increasing drug habits were becoming a cause for concern. Anderson began to associate himself with people outwith the band, who Mat Osman, seemed to dislike. "More than anything there started to be a whole load of people he was associating with who I just couldn't stand. They had nothing to do with the band, nothing to do with anything but drugs. They were drug buddies."
Suede decided to move on from Ed Buller as their producer. After demoing 15 songs with three different producers, wanting to go in a more produced, electronic-sounding direction, the group chose Steve Osborne to produce the album. According to Anderson, Head Music was Suede's most experimental album, and Osborne's role played into the group's experimentation, "Steve was responsible for a hell of a lot of this album's sound. We chose him first of all because he did this fucking brilliant job on 'Savoir Faire'... It just sounded really exciting and unusual." Osborne's involvement sparked rumours of Suede going in a dancier direction, which the band strongly denied. Osman said, "It's not dancey at all. It's certainly groovier and there's a lot of tracks that are just one or two chords. There's certainly a lot more tracks that work on the level of a groove than we've done before, but that's it."
Osborne was initially hired for one week of trial-run recording at Mayfair Studios, just to see how the process was going to work, or indeed if the two parties could work together. Suede's biographer David Barnett remembers the day when they did a test-run of "Savoir Faire" with Osborne at the trial sessions. He recalls being offered a crack pipe by two of Anderson's friends. "Naively assuming it to be a hash pipe, I took them up on the offer and was surprised to experience a sensation akin to inhaling several bottles of poppers at the same time. This was my first and last personal encounter with crack." Anderson was addicted to the drug for two and a half years, but stopped in late 1999 when somebody very close to him became ill. He has been clean since.
Head Music was recorded between August 1998 and February 1999, several studios were used including, Eastcote, Sarm Hook End, Master Rock and Eden Studios. For guitarist Richard Oakes, the rehearsals for Head Music were unpleasant. With Anderson's wayward behaviour showing no signs of draining, Oakes began to drink more to make rehearsing more endurable. "I remember for quite a few of them, having to make sure that I was semi drunk just in order to turn up." Oakes also found his contributions being regularly knocked back in favour of Anderson and Codling's electronic experiments. Anderson felt that because of his spiralling drug use, and Codling's illness, Oakes became isolated from the group further and that the only people who were still together were Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. At one point relationships became so strained that Anderson demanded future member Alex Lee to be summoned to the studio presumably because no one else was willing to turn up.
The album is notable for being the first Suede album to have a title track. "Head Music" was one of Anderson's personal offerings, which Nude's Saul Galpern insisted should not go on the album. Osborne actually refused to record it, instead they got Arthur Baker to do a version, however they disliked it. Osborne eventually relented, but was not so flexible when it came Codling's next offering. "Elephant Man", which is the only song on a Suede album not written or co-written by Anderson. It was recorded, mixed and engineered by Bruce Lampcov. Codling contributed a greater amount of material to Head Music than he had on Suede's previous album, receiving writing credits on six songs. Anderson has said the album was influenced by Asian Dub Foundation, Audioweb, Tricky, Prince and Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Release and reception
There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of Head Music, with numerous tv appearances including, CD:UK, The O-Zone, Top of the Pops, The Pepsi Chart Show and TFI Friday. Uncut featured Suede in an 18 page special in May of that year chronicling the band's ten year history, with the sub header "Brett Anderson on a decade of decadence and debauchery". Virgin Megastores across the UK were re-branded, changing its name to "Head Music" the day the album was released. Commercially the album was a moderate success, and had mixed-to-positive reviews from both fans and critics alike. It was the third album by the group to chart at number one in the U.K.
Melody Maker placed the album at no. 1 in its "Best Albums of 1999" list. The NME gave it a seven, however criticised Anderson's lyrics saying that "Brett Anderson had nothing new to say." They did, on the other hand call it "hair-raising pop" and that they were "striking out for new pastures." Andy Gill of The Independent, who harshly criticised Coming Up, gave the record a very positive review. He felt that the album was "broader in musical conception than their previous albums." He also felt that Osborne's influence was critical, saying he "naturally brings a more groove-oriented approach to the band's sound, which is slicker and smoother than before, and better reflects the band's 'chemical generation' outlook."
Reviews in the U.S. were mixed. Tom Lanham of Entertainment Weekly called it a "sad, strangely lackluster epitaph." He added, "even the strongest track on Head Music, 'Everything Will Flow', is a cheap echo of vibrant early work." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club felt the album was their least consistent, saying: "The end result may be the least consistent album in a career marked by consistency, but it's still remarkable and well-represented by the grandiose pop of "Electricity," "She's in Fashion," and "He's Gone," which do sound like proper Suede songs. Spin gave it 7 out of 10, Barry Walters wrote that "...Suede and Steve Osborne achieve a hard precision that brings back the brutality of early Suede while lending a complex sheen to simplistic material. Head Music has sold about 26,000 copies in the U.S. as of 2008 according to Nielsen SoundScan figures.
Some critics saw Head Music as a major step forward from previous album Coming Up. Christina Rees of the Dallas Observer wrote: "If Suede couldn't erase the influence of Oakes' predecessor, Bernard Butler, on 1996's Coming Up, it has certainly succeeded now..." She also added, "If the "new" Suede didn't show up on Coming Up, it seethes through Head Music." Similarly an ABC article wrote: "Head Music fills in the gaps of Coming Up and succeeds in being the best record the band has made since its debut, finally laying Bernard Butler's looming ghost to rest.
Fans and critics commented on Anderson's repetitive lyrics and lack of lyrical themes, in particular "Savoir Faire", which received attention and criticism. In 2002, Anderson admitted that he was "a smack addict for ages". Many critics linked the album's lack of creativity to Anderson's increasing drug use, mainly crack and heroin. Nick Duerden of The Independent felt that Head Music was blighted by his descent into addiction, calling it a "rather ugly record". Writing for The Guardian, John Harris had similar views, saying "it was a fair bet, therefore, that the drug played its part in the creation of their most ludicrous album, 1999's Head Music."
Suede headlined the Roskilde festival in July 1999, playing three different sets over the three days, playing on the main stage and on two of the smaller tents. In August they headlined the V festival, which was the band's first proper U.K. appearance since Reading in 1997.
Cover art and title
As a joke, the group originally started to leak the album's title to the press one letter at a time. But two days after releasing the second letter, bassist Mat Osman announced the album's title and explained where the idea of releasing the title one letter at a time come from: "Saul [Galpern], head of Nude was hassling for a title, and Brett said, 'I'll tell you one letter at a time until you can guess it." The artwork, which features Anderson's girlfriend Sam, and Neil Codling, was art directed by Peter Saville and designed by Howard Wakefield and Paul Hetherington. Anderson told Saville "I wanted two people joined at the head, sort of listening to each other's heads. He showed me some photos and we eventually got the cover we released."
A New Morning
Released September 30, 2002, Length 56:48, Label Nude
1.Positivity 2:56
2.Obsessions 4:11
3.Lonely Girls 3:13
4.Lost in TV 3:40
5.Beautiful Loser 3:38
6.Streetlife 2:51
7.Astrogirl 4:35
8.Untitled... Morning 6:01
9.One Hit to the Body 3:07
10.When the Rain Falls 4:48
11.You Belong to Me / Oceans (hidden track, starts around 13:30) 17:29
A New Morning is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in September 2002. By the time the album was released, public interest in the band had waned, as shown by the poor charting of both the album and singles. Despite this, however, the album received moderate praise from critics and is generally liked by fans due to its warmer, and more simplistic sound (as opposed to Head Music). All the songs were produced by Stephen Street, except "Positivity" which was produced by John Leckie, and "You Belong to Me" which was produced by Dave Eringa.
Background and recording
The creation of Suede's fifth studio album A New Morning, was long and costly. Following the release of their 1999 album Head Music and subsequent tour, keyboardist Neil Codling announced his departure from the group on 23 March 2001, citing problems with Chronic fatigue syndrome. Singer Brett Anderson was furious at Codling's leaving, but understood the reasons behind his departure: "He couldn't help it, I know, but I did feel aggrieved. I felt let down. But more at the universe than at Neil." Codling was replaced by former Strangelove keyboardist Alex Lee. Anderson also had become sober for this record, overcoming his crack addiction and claiming that A New Morning was "the first ever Suede record that wasn’t influenced in its making by drugs". Anderson wrote lyrics isolated in a country house in Surrey away from the rest of the band, where he immersed himself in music and literature. He read Atomised by Michel Houellebecq and books by Albert Camus, Leonard Cohen and Paul Auster. Anderson says, "I created a deliberate vacuum so all these influences would flood in. I spent a lot of time walking in the countryside, sometimes for hours and hours, fascinated by nature and its battle with concrete and steel. I was living in Concrete Island by J.G. Ballard."
The band began recording demos at Stanbridge Farm Studios in West Sussex in July 2000. In October the band took a break from writing to perform their only gig of the year, which took place in Reykjavic, Iceland, where they premiered nine new songs. The group originally began working with American producer Tony Hoffer in 2001, and anticipated having a single released by Autumn. Hoffer and Anderson had originally met in a toilet at Paisley Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the two hit it off, finding several common musical interests. The meeting led to Anderson asking for Hoffer's input on some of the group's recent work. In February 2001 the band took up residency at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales for a three-week trial run with Hoffer. The band were unimpressed with the trial run, especially Simon Gilbert and Richard Oakes, who both had strong opinions on the results. Nevertheless, the band decided to record the album with Hoffer and descended on Parkgate Studios, Hastings, in May with their new member Alex Lee, following Codling's departure. Although the group recorded ten songs with Hoffer that Anderson said were the "best we've written," most of the material recorded with him producing was scrapped. In September the group recorded two songs with ex Stone Roses producer John Leckie. The versions of "Beautiful Loser" and "Positivity" were promising, however, Leckie had other commitments forcing Suede to reconsider their options.
The group ultimately decided to work with Stephen Street for the album, and recorded most of the released material with him in two months. Recording with Street began in January 2002, with the album finally being completed on March 23, 2002. Anderson had high praise for the producer, saying "Stephen has just turned this whole album around, he really has. Every song he's just taken and done something special with... From the millions of other sessions we've done for this album, there's just no comparison." Overall, seven different recording studios and four producers were used during the two year recording span for A New Morning, and costs estimated at around £1 million. Street stated that the album was a return to classic song construction, and bassist Mat Osman said that lyrically A New Morning is "Very positive and upbeat".
Release and reception
A New Morning failed to crack the British Top 20, peaking at #24, which was the lowest chart position for the group at that time. The album remains the only studio album from Suede's catalog not to be released in the U.S. The lead single for the album was "Positivity", which received a large amount of criticism from fans and the press. NME writer Julian Marshall wrote that "Positivity" was "[G]reeted with an apathetic shrug by everyone but the most devoted". Although it peaked at #16 on the charts and Anderson initially felt happy about the song, his feelings towards it would change in time. He later said of "Positivity" that "When I first wrote it I thought it was a masterpiece but soon realized that many people were genuinely offended by it." He would also go on to say "...If there was ever just one song that destroyed a band then it was 'Positivity' with Suede." "Obsessions" was the second single released and despite being better received than "Positivity", the song charted at a lower position and was ultimately the final single released from the album.
Despite the poor sales of the album, Suede still managed to deliver on a musical front as the album received moderate praise from critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic felt that the album was a "...solid, succinct collection of tuneful, stylish modern-day glam pop, nearly the equal of Coming Up, whose blueprint this follows to a tee. Song for song, it's better and more consistent than Head Music." He concluded by saying that "A New Morning isn't a new beginning, nor does it take many risks, but it does find Suede in top form with good songs and an appealing record." Jason Fox of NME gave the album a respectable 7 out of 10. He said: "...when Suede are good, they're great. 'Astrogirl' has shades of the almighty 'The Asphalt World'; 'When The Rain Falls' is as mournful as 'The Big Time'." On the album as a whole he said that "A New Morning sees Suede show off their vulnerable side again. It won't attract any new admirers but old fans will love them more for it." Writing for The Guardian, Steve Poole had mixed views on the album and awarded it 3 stars out of 5. He said that "'Beautiful Loser' and 'Astrogirl' gesture at past glories like 'Heroine' or 'The Chemistry Between Us', but lack that assured melodic grandiosity." He did have positive praise for the album saying that "there are moments of beauty, in 'Untitled' and the delicate miniature 'Morning'," Overall, he said that "it's better than the tedious cacophony of Head Music, but it quails in the shadow of Coming Up."
Aftermath
Suede released a compilation album Singles in 2003 which featured two new songs, "Love the Way You Love" and the single "Attitude". Shortly after the release of Singles the group issued a joint statement on November 5 explaining that outside of the remaining dates on their current tour, that Suede would not be working together for the foreseeable future: "Suede would like to announce that from next year (2004) they will be working on their own individual projects." The announcement confirmed rumours of the group splitting up since the release of A New Morning. Anderson later stated that he felt he had to break out of Suede as he was in an artistic dead end and needed to do "Whatever it takes to get my demon back."
Singles
Released October 20, 2003, Length 78:40, Label Nude
1.Beautiful Ones 3:34
2.Animal Nitrate 3:09
3.Trash 3:48
4.Metal Mickey 3:02
5.So Young 3:39
6.The Wild Ones 4:17
7.Obsessions 3:44
8.Filmstar 3:14
9.Can't Get Enough 3:59
10.Everything Will Flow 4:27
11.Stay Together 3:55
12.Love the Way You Love 3:37
13.The Drowners 3:44
14.New Generation 4:36
15.Lazy 3:15
16.She's in Fashion 4:07
17.Attitude 3:05
18.Electricity 4:25
19.We Are the Pigs 3:56
20.Positivity 2:57
21.Saturday Night 3:59
Singles is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, consisting of all of the band's singles over the course of their recording career from 1992 to 2003.
The album also contains two new songs: the single released from this compilation, "Attitude", and "Love the Way You Love". Also, the song "Trash" is an alternate version.
The Best of Suede
Released November 1, 2010, Length 152:29, Label Universal UK
1.Disc One
2.Animal Nitrate 3:28
3.Beautiful Ones 3:50
4.Trash 4:08
5.Filmstar 3:29
6.Metal Mickey 3:27
7.New Generation 4:36
8.So Young 3:42
9.The Wild Ones 4:45
10.The Drowners 4:11
11.Stay Together 4:19
12.Lazy 3:18
13.Everything Will Flow 4:43
14.We Are the Pigs 3:58
15.Can't Get Enough 3:58
16.Electricity 4:41
17.Obsessions 4:11
18.She's in Fashion 4:53
19.Saturday Night 4:28
Disc Two
20.Pantomime Horse 5:50
21.My Insatiable One 2:57
22.Killing of a Flash Boy 4:06
23.This Hollywood Life 3:31
24.Europe is Our Playground 5:38
25.My Dark Star 4:23
26.Sleeping Pills 3:53
27.By the Sea 4:17
28.She 3:39
29.Heroine 3:20
30.The Living Dead 2:50
31.To the Birds 5:25
32.The Big Time 4:28
33.The 2 of Us 5:45
34.The Asphalt World 9:26
35.Still Life 5:19
37.The Next Life 3:40
The Best of Suede is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in November 2010. The compilation spans two discs and it's a mix of singles, album tracks and B-sides compiled by lead singer Brett Anderson. Disc one includes all of the band's singles excluding "Positivity" and "Attitude". Disc two includes album tracks from the band's first three albums as well as B-sides from disc one of Sci-Fi Lullabies. Both Anderson and former guitarist Bernard Butler were involved in the remastering of the tracks with Chris Potter. The cover artwork is designed by Elizabeth Peyton.
Dog Man Star
Released October 10, 1994, Length 57:50, Label Nude
1.Introducing the Band 2:38
2.We Are the Pigs 4:19
3.Heroine 3:22
4.The Wild Ones 4:50
5.Daddy's Speeding 5:22
6.The Power 4:31
7.New Generation 4:37
8.This Hollywood Life 3:50
9.The 2 of Us 5:45
10.Black or Blue 3:48
11.The Asphalt World 9:25
12.Still Life 5:23
Dog Man Star is the second album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in October 1994 on Nude Records. It was the last Suede album to feature guitarist Bernard Butler, due to growing tensions between Butler and singer Brett Anderson ending with Butler leaving the band before the album was completed. Dog Man Star is more downbeat than their debut and chronicles Suede as they parted from the "Britpop pack".
Although it did not sell on the same scale as their chart-topping debut Suede (1993), Dog Man Star reached number three on the UK Albums Chart. Released to an enthusiastic critical reception, it is considered by many to be Suede's masterpiece.
Background
In early 1994, when Suede were about to release the standalone single "Stay Together"—their highest charting single, which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart—the morale within the group was at an all time low. Butler's father had died just as the band were about to begin their second American tour. The first week of the tour was cancelled, and Suede flew back to London from New York. When the tour did resume, Butler distanced himself from the rest of the band far more than before. Recently bereaved and engaged, according to Butler, "they got really resentful of the fact that they were on tour with someone who didn't want to party". He even travelled separately, either alone, by taxi, or on the tour bus of support act The Cranberries. Then in Atlanta, Suede suffered the ignominy of having to open for The Cranberries, who'd been given a friendlier reception than the headliners and received the support from MTV as well. By New York they'd had enough and the last few dates were cancelled. According to drummer Simon Gilbert, Butler was becoming unworkable and intolerable, and the band could not function together any longer.
To record Suede's next album Anderson moved to Highgate, and began to write lyrics influenced by heavy drugs while living in a secluded Victorian mansion. "I deliberately isolated myself, that was the idea," Anderson later explained. The album was later described by one journalist as "the most pompous, overblown British rock record of the decade", which Anderson puts down to his use of psychedelic drugs. "I was doing an awful lot of acid at the time, and I think it was this that gave us the confidence to push boundaries." Anderson has said that he thrived on the surreal environment he lived in at the time; next door were a sect known as the Mennonites, who would often sing hymns during Anderson's drug binges.
Recording and production
After the success of their debut album, Suede were hailed as the unwitting inventors of Britpop, something they were proud of for a short while. However, Britpop soon grew to be dominated by other musical forces, as Blur, Oasis and Pulp arrived on the scene. This disgusted Anderson, who called Britpop "horribly twisted, a musical Carry On film", and he began to distance himself from the scene. "We could not have been more uninterested in that whole boozy, cartoon-like, fake working-class thing." the singer said in 2008, "As soon as we became aware of it, we went away and wrote Dog Man Star. You could not find a less Britpop record. It's tortured, epic, extremely sexual and personal. None of those things apply to Britpop".
The album was recorded between 22 March and 26 July 1994 at Master Rock Studios, Kilburn, London. The rehearsals were very tense and would inevitably split the band into two separate camps, i.e. Butler and the rest of the band. Butler seemed to consolidate his separation when he appeared on the front cover of Vox magazine with the tag line, "Brett drives me insane". The interview explained how Butler liked to improvise and how Anderson made this impossible because of his slow ways of working, and his obsession with rock stardom. A despondent Anderson remembers reading the article the same morning he was recording the vocals for "The Asphalt World": "I remember trying to channel all this hurt that I was feeling and the iciness I was feeling into the vocal." Butler apologised to Anderson soon after.
Musical differences over "The Asphalt World" triggered the next big argument. The version that finally made it on to the album clocks in at nine minutes 25 seconds, but according to bass player Mat Osman, Butler's initial creation was a 25-minute piece with an eight-minute guitar solo. "Bernard was very determined", says Anderson. "He's always been quite stubborn and single-minded, he was determined that it would be long. I don't ever remember him saying, 'We'll edit it down.' It was always going to be eighteen minutes or whatever." Osman, felt that Butler's compositions were too audacious and experimental, "Lots of the musical ideas were too much. They were being rude to the listener: it was expecting too much of people to listen to them."
The arguments over "The Asphalt World" spilled over on to the rest of the album, as Butler became progressively more dissatisfied with Ed Buller's production. In a 2005 interview, the guitarist maintained his position on the matter, stating that Buller "made a terrible shoddy job of it". Butler wanted Buller dismissed, allowing him to produce the record by himself, although it was later revealed that Butler had recommended Chris Thomas as their producer. Thomas was more experienced and had previously worked with punk rock bands The Pretenders and the Sex Pistols; however Suede's label Nude Records declined Butler's request, saying Thomas was too expensive. Nude's owner Saul Galpern claimed that the guitarist became impossible to reason with and also made threats to him and Buller. Buller claims he received phone calls where there was the sound of scratching knives on the phone.
Butler issued the band and their management an ultimatum: either they discharged Buller, or he would leave Suede. The rest of the band, however refused to comply with Butler's demands and decided to let him walk out before the record was finished. Butler insisted he was kicked out the band, that when he turned up to the studio to find he was not allowed in. He went back the next day to pick up his guitar so he could record parts at home, though he was told that his guitar would be left in the street for him. "That was it, really. I didn't leave; I was kicked out. That's really obvious. If I'd just left, no-one would have let me leave, if I'd been wanted." Suede's manager Charlie Charlton made a final attempt to reach consensus between the two parties, however during a tense phone conversation the final words Butler uttered to Anderson were along the lines of "you're a fucking cunt."
On 8 July, Butler exited the sessions leaving Dog Man Star some distance from completion. Anderson had recorded little more than a string of guide vocals; several songs did not have titles; much of the music was still to be embossed with overdubs. Buller and the remaining members succeeded in taking the record to its conclusion. Butler did finish some of his guitar parts, though according to Saul Galpern he refused do it at Master Rock and instead had to book another studio where he could work on his own. Shortly after Butler left the band, he recorded an unrequested backing vocal on "Black or Blue", which Anderson recalls. "...I can't remember the exact words but it sounded vaguely threatening." Among the post-Butler additions was a reworked ending to "The Wild Ones", an orchestral coda on "Still Life" and an electric guitar part, copied note for note from Butler's original demo of "The Power", which he strongly criticised. Butler became a harsh critic of the album, not just from a production standpoint, but the overall musicianship. He cites lack of commitment in the studio, along with Anderson's partying antics, and the band's unwillingness to challenge his elaborate ideas as his main criticism, "I just heard too many times, 'No, you can't do that'. I was sick to death of it. I think it's a good record, but it could have been much better."
Music and lyrics
Writing for The New York Times, Neil Strauss said, "Dog Man Star looks back to the era when glam-rock met art-rock, with meticulously arranged songs sung with a flamboyance reminiscent of David Bowie and accompanied by anything from a 40-piece orchestra to an old Moog synthesizer." The Bowie influence was still a major element of Suede's sound, however, unlike their debut, Suede focused on a darker and more melodramatic sound. As they were on Suede, Anderson's lyrics were influenced by his heavy drug use, citing William Blake as a big influence on his writing style. He became fascinated with his use of visions and trance-like states as a means of creation. Anderson claims that much of the torn, fragmented imagery on songs like "Introducing the Band" and B-side, "Killing of a Flashboy" were the result of letting his subconscious take over. "Introducing the Band" was a mantra he wrote after visiting a Buddhist temple in Japan.
Anderson wrote the eulogy "Daddy's Speeding", about a dream involving taking drugs with the late American actor James Dean. The song uses white noise and feedback effects in its finale. Lead single "We Are the Pigs" depicts Anderson's visions of Armageddon and riots in the streets, which samples Peter Gunn style horns. The track "Heroine", with the refrain, "I'm aching to see my heroine", also has a celebrity influence, paying homage to Marilyn Monroe, while evoking Lord Byron. "She Walks in Beauty", the song's opening line, is the title of a Byron poem.
Dog Man Star explores themes such as solitude, paranoia and self-loathing. The latter theme being reflected in the ballad "The Wild Ones", an ode to a relationship being slowly lost. Anderson's girlfriend Anick was the inspiration behind the song, along with "The Asphalt World" and "Black or Blue". The latter is a song about racial intolerance. "This Hollywood Life" is the most aggressive song on the album, the NME wrote that "a record so couched in earth-shacking drama probably needs at least one spittle-flecked tantrum."
"New Generation" is an upbeat affair and, according to The Independent, "a reminder that they can still play sleek rock'n'roll". One writer noted that "few bands could make such a sexual, illicit poem appear to bounce like a pop anthem". The melancholic piano ballad "The 2 of Us" explores similar themes of regret and doubt and features a bawu solo before the song's crescendo. David Sinclair of Q described how the sad, bored housewife from Suede's earlier song "Sleeping Pills" reappears in "The 2 of Us" as well as Dog Man Star's closing track "Still Life". An early concept that was originally planned for Suede, "Still Life" features the 72-piece Sinfonia of London orchestra. It was notable for its premiere at the 1993 Glastonbury Festival, though this rendition was a stripped down version consisting of vocals and acoustic guitar.
Packaging
Anderson spoke of the album's title as a kind of shorthand Darwinism reflecting his own journey from the gutter to the stars. Fans noted the similarity to experimental film-maker Stan Brakhage's 1964 film, Dog Star Man. "The film wasn't an influence but I obviously dug the title," the singer later confessed. The title is intended as a proud summation of Suede's evolution. "It was meant to be a record about ambition; what could you make yourself into."
The artwork, which features a naked man sprawled on a bed were lifted from one of Anderson's old photo books. Taken by American photographer Joanne Leonard in 1971, the front cover picture was originally titled "Sad Dreams On Cold Mornings" and the rear photo "Lost Dreams," Anderson says, "I just liked the image, really, of the bloke on the bed in the room. It's quite sort of sad and sexual, I think, like the songs on the album."
Release and reception
Dog Man Star entered the charts two places lower than its predecessor, held off the top by R.E.M.'s Monster and Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits. "It didn't sell as well as I thought it deserved," says Anderson. "I felt that it didn't get the commercial success it deserved, it got the critical success. I think a lot of people thought the band had split up because Bernard had left." Suede's lead single from Dog Man Star, "We Are the Pigs", peaked at a disappointing 18, plunging to 38 the following week. The choice of single had been a subject of heated debate, with Sony wanting to release "New Generation" as the first single, which would have made more commercial sense, however, Anderson disagreed as he did not feel it had the drama and the power that represented Dog Man Star. Even the release of "The Wild Ones", the ballad that Anderson still thinks may be the best song Suede have ever recorded, did not seem to help, like "We Are the Pigs", it stalled at number 18. The third single "New Generation" charted even lower, peaking at number 21. "The Power", the only song on the album Butler did not play on, was the proposed fourth single, set for release on 1 May 1995, however this never happened.
The British music press were more enthusiastic about Suede's new record. In his full page review for NME, John Harris gave Dog Man Star a rating of 9 out of 10, calling it "a startling record: an album surrounded by the white heat of something close to genius". The issue also had a free 7" flexi-disc, in a sleeve that used the album artwork, mounted on the cover, which included excerpts of the album tracks "The Wild Ones", "Heroine", "The Power" and "Still Life". David Sinclair of Q magazine gave the album a full five stars; in his review he said. "With Dog Man Star the group has vindicated just about every claim that was ever made on their behalf...It will be hailed in years to come as the crowning achievement of a line-up that reinvented English, guitar-band rock'n'roll for the 1990s." Nicholas Barber of The Independent complimented Butler's musicianship, "The follow-up to Suede's Mercury-Prize-winning debut is a larger-than-life blend of pop hooks and theatrical gestures. The music is a testament to the talent of its composer, Bernard Butler, whose lurid guitar curls notes into the mix exactly where they are needed." He added that, "at times Dog Man Star is messy and preposterous. But no record collection is complete without it."
Despite Suede's problems in the US, such as the short-lived tour and the lawsuit over the band's name, Dog Man Star sold about 36,000 copies there as of 2008, per Nielsen SoundScan figures. However, this is about a third of the sales of Suede, which shifted 105,000 units in the US. American music journalist Robert Christgau was keen on Suede's debut album, however he rated Dog Man Star a "dud" in his consumer guide review. Other critics saw the album as a step forward from their debut. Simon Reynolds of The New York Times wrote that while Suede's "self-titled debut was too steeped in glam rock and mope rock [that] connected with only the most devout Anglophiles", on their second record "the group soars to new heights of swoony hysteria". He concluded by stating that "Dog Man Star deserves attention, if only for its absurd ambition". In 1995, the Spin Alternative Record Guide had a similar view, saying that the album "...proved a massive flounce forward, ...Gone are the endless I'm-shocked-that-you're-shocked ruminations on sexual identity, drugs and decay". It also proclaimed "Still Life" as Suede's finest hour, calling it "...A string-laden showstopper, it spotlights Anderson's vocal evolution from drawling South London gutter-snipe to impassioned—and immaculately enunciating—crooner." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, writing, "while Suede may choose to wear their influences on their sleeve, they synthesize them in a totally original way, making Dog Man Star a singularly tragic and romantic album".
Legacy
With the exception of A New Morning, Dog Man Star is Suede's least commercially successful album, yet it is now widely considered their masterpiece. Many critics are keen to emphasise the band's split as the main reason for their slow downfall. John Mulvey was the first journalist to write about Suede for the NME in 1991 at the ULU, when Suede were still relatively unknown. Over a decade later and in sharp contrast to his emphatic review in 1991, Mulvey now of The Times wrote about Suede's final output, Singles. He felt that if the band "had split up in 1994, following the release of the majestic Dog Man Star album, Suede might now be celebrated as one of the great bands." He then added, "as the bulk of Singles proves, over the past nine years Suede have sounded like a parody of their formative selves."
Jon Monks of Stylus Magazine said that "Suede will never make a record this good again, whether it is because Butler left or merely it was a such a perfect time for Brett to be writing, they have failed to make anything nearly so encompassing as this." A significant review came from Nicholas Barber of The Independent, shortly after the release of their platinum-selling album Coming Up. Watching them perform live at Glasgow's Barrowlands with their new line-up, he questioned their forceful sound and reluctantly alluded Butler's absence. "When he left, he took with him the heart of the band, leaving behind the pelvis and the guts." He added, "Suede deliver the goods, all right. It's just that they no longer, as it were, deliver the greats."
In September 2003, Suede played five nights at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, dedicating each night to one of their five albums and playing through an entire album a night. Tickets sold fastest for Tuesday's Dog Man Star night, and were selling for over a £1,000 a pair on eBay, in contrast to A New Morning, which went for £100.
Following Suede's 2010 reunion shows, an article appeared in the New Classics column in American music magazine Crawdaddy!. Written by Andres Jauregui, he wrote about Dog Man Star's legacy: "Despite the challenges Suede faced, Anderson achieved the anti-Britpop album he wanted in Dog Man Star, to the kudos of the hipper critical circle, and the detriment of the band’s mainstream appeal. For all its indulgence and Bowie-esque melodrama, it’s more literate, more tortured, and more ambitious than its peers. More substantive than a “woo-hoo”, brighter than any champagne supernova, Dog Man Star’s origins, theatrics, and sense of rebellion are the stuff of rock'n'roll legend."
Coming Up
Released September 2, 1996, Length 42:27, Label Nude
1.Trash 4:06
2.Filmstar 3:25
3.Lazy 3:19
4.By the Sea 4:15
5.She 3:38
6.Beautiful Ones 3:50
7.Starcrazy 3:33
8.Picnic by the Motorway 4:45
9.The Chemistry Between Us 7:04
10.Saturday Night 4:32
Coming Up is the third album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in September 1996 on Nude Records. It was the band's first album since the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler, who was replaced by Richard Oakes. Also added to the band was keyboardist Neil Codling. The album was nominated for the 1997 Mercury Prize. A commercial and critical success, Coming Up was the album that introduced Suede to a worldwide audience, in places such as Europe, Canada and Asia.
Background and recording
After the departure of guitarist Bernard Butler and the lack of commercial success with Dog Man Star and its singles, Suede were being somewhat dismissed by the British music press. Determined to bring Suede back into the mainstream, Anderson decided that the sound of the new album would be the complete opposite of Dog Man Star. "I think the next album will be quite simple, actually. I'd really like to write a straightforward pop album. Just ten hits."
The guitarist to replace Butler was the 17-year-old Richard Oakes, who beat 500 other applicants for the role. Instead of applying for the job like everyone else, Oakes was auditioned on the strength of an impromptu demo tape he sent to the Suede fan club. Despite Oakes's smooth integration into his new role and the band's rejuvenated spirit, Anderson was tired of touring and was keen to get back in the studio with his new songwriting partner. "...it was becoming really not much fun touring an album that wasn't made by the band." This statement was an indication that Suede lacked enthusiasm, and were not content with being on tour, a feeling, which was reflected in the b-side, "Have You Ever Been This Low".
To prepare for its recording, the band had immersed themselves in T. Rex's 1972 album The Slider and its successor, Tanx. On the eve of the album's release, Anderson stated: "I wanted it to be a complete turnover from the last album, which was very dark and dank... I wanted it to be communicative and understandable. Pop music generally has to be pretty dumb, I think. And I've had my little affair with the avant-garde. It's not as exciting as pop music." Long-time producer Ed Buller would be at the controls once again. Bass player Mat Osman recalls how Buller was keen on making the album simple. "He was really keen on using all those devices: the big repeated end, the handclaps, the straightforward chorus, make it big and obvious."
Two songs which made it onto Coming Up had already been written in the early days of Suede. "Lazy" and "By the Sea" were two of Anderson's compositions, which had been written during the Butler era. "I pretty much knew Bernard wasn't going to be in Suede for the rest of his life and I thought it would be good to have a couple of things knocking about." "By the Sea" was actually written when Suede were recording their first album, which is why the songs opening line is almost identical to "So Young".
Unlike the tense and chaotic recording of Dog Man Star, which according to Anderson was written by post, the new material was far more celebratory in both its development and execution. "I kind of like working like that, because the whole of Dog Man Star was written by post pretty much,...There was no mutual exchange or anything like that." Songs such as "By the Sea" and "She" required the use of keyboards. Faced with the problem as to how to play them live, Suede recruited Simon Gilbert's cousin Neil Codling, who made his debut at a fanclub gig in January 1996.
The musical sound of Coming Up is more accessible than previous album Dog Man Star. Its singles were much more successful than those of their second LP, while the lyrical content concerns the band's disaffection at the mid-90s hedonistic, celebrity-obsessed culture; "Beautiful Ones" and "She" are caricatures of British yuppies, celebrities and heroin-chic models. "Beautiful Ones" was originally titled "Dead Leg" after Osman threatened to give Oakes a dead leg if he was unable to write a top ten single. According to Anderson, "The Chemistry Between Us" is about "the emptiness of it all" with regards to drug use. The album finishes with a note of optimism in "Saturday Night" - a straightforward, contented love song.
Release and reception
Coming Up was a commercial success, removing many fans' doubts about Suede's new line-up. It spawned five top 10 singles, sold 1.5 million copies, charting at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single "Trash" was their joint top charting single along with "Stay Together", reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart, however it outsold the latter making it their biggest selling single ever.
Reviews were generally positive and seemed to respect Suede's new pop sound. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic rated Coming Up 4 out of 5, he welcomed the album's simplicity, however felt that very little progress had been made: "As a statement of purpose, Coming Up is unimpeachable. Though it doesn't break any new ground for the band — unless you count the newfound sense of optimism — it's a remarkable consolidation and crystallization of Suede's talents." James Delingpole of the Daily Telegraph wrote that ..."Coming Up is their defiant reminder of what made Suede so special." He added, ..."If Dog Man Star was Diamond Dogs, then this is Suede's Ziggy Stardust - extravagant, steeped in glam and unashamedly poppy. Andy Gill of The Independent, however was a harsh critic of the album. In contrast to their first album, he wrote, "...two albums and one guitarist later, they sound utterly mined out," he added "...in many ways, it's a step back from Dogmanstar - and their manner grows increasingly obnoxious.
Despite its success in the U.K. and Europe, Coming Up did not win an audience in America, partially because of its later release in April 1997 and partially because Suede only supported it with a three-city tour. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Coming Up has sold about 40,000 copies in the U.S. as of 2008.] Critical reception, however was very positive stateside. Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle wrote that "...Oakes more than fills the boots of his predecessor, and the new CD is a pure pop pleasure, thick and sinewy and terribly, cooly British." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club had similar views, saying that "...The London Suede should, by all laws of musical logic, have disappeared by now. However, after surviving a name change, the replacement of co-songwriter/guitarist Bernard Butler with an obscure 17-year old, and more than a few changes in musical fashion, the band has returned with a third album that's more consistent and accessible than anything it's produced before." James Hunter of Spin gave the album 8 out of 10. He said that "...the band pushes its case by ascending to heights of absolutely lucid songcraft that, in this often fuzzy era, feels exhilarating."
Suede embarked on a short tour of the U.S. and Canada in May 1997 to support the album, but fell upon bad fortune when their equipment got stolen after playing a sold out show in Boston, Massachusetts on 17 May.
In December 1996, The Face, Melody Maker, Select and Q listed Coming Up as one of the ten greatest albums of the year, while Mojo and NME ranked it 12th. Two years later, Q readers voted Coming Up the 36th greatest album of all time. A worldwide Virgin poll saw the album voted #195 in the all-time top 1000 albums. In 1999, American music critic Ned Raggett ranked Coming Up as the 42nd greatest album of the 1990s. The following year, Q ranked the album the 96th greatest British album ever.
Sci-Fi Lullabies
Released October 6, 1997, Length 122:48, Label Nude
My Insatiable One 2:57
To the Birds 5:24
Where the Pigs Don't Fly 5:33
He's Dead 5:13
The Big Time 4:28
High Rising 5:49
The Living Dead 2:48
My Dark Star 4:26
Killing of a Flash Boy 4:07
Whipsnade 4:22
Modern Boys 4:07
Together 4:29
Bentswood Boys 3:15
Europe Is Our Playground 5:39
Disc Two
Every Monday Morning Comes 4:28
Have You Ever Been This Low 3:52
Another No One 3:56
Young Men 4:35
The Sound of the Streets 4:59
Money 4:04
W.S.D. 5:46
This Time 5:46
Jumble Sale Mums 4:15
These Are the Sad Songs 6:20
Sadie 5:24
Graffiti Women 4:51
Duchess 3:55
Sci-Fi Lullabies is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, consisting of B-sides from the singles that were released from the band's first three albums.
Overview
The album spans two discs and displays the band in its most prolific era. The first disc is dominated by tracks written by the Brett Anderson/Bernard Butler songwriting partnership (the exceptions are "Together," "Bentswood Boys" and "Europe is Our Playground") while the second showcases the various intra-band songwriting variations (Anderson/Richard Oakes and Anderson/Neil Codling, plus Anderson solo and compositions contributed to by the whole band) that emerged following Butler's departure and the subsequent recruiting of a new guitarist, Richard Oakes and keyboardist Neil Codling.
The album is not quite comprehensive, missing out around half a dozen exclusive songs released as B-sides by the band during the period it covers. Missing Anderson/Butler B-sides are "Painted People" (from "Animal Nitrate"), "Dolly" (from "So Young") and "This World Needs a Father" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 1), which was the last B-side of the Butler era. Tracks featuring Oakes and/or Codling omitted include "Asda Town" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 2), "Sam" (from "Beautiful Ones") and "Digging a Hole" and "Feel" (from "Lazy"). Live performances released as B-sides (on "New Generation" Disc 1 and "Filmstar" Disc 2) are also not included, neither is Suede's cover of the Pet Shop Boys' "Rent." The track "Together" is included despite technically being a double-A side (with "New Generation") not a B-side, while the non-album single "Stay Together" is not present despite its B-sides being included and it not being available elsewhere. The track "Eno's Introducing The Band" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 2) is also not included.
The album is considered an important one for fans of the band, partially because of the wealth of material and partially as many of the songs on the compilation are considered to be as strong or even stronger as the singles from which they came.
Release and reception
The album received praise from most critics on release. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, who awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, noted that the first disc "...is as strong as any of their albums" and that the majority of the songs are "all strong enough to be A-sides." Overall he said, "...this is absolutely essential material, confirming the group's status as one of the '90s' greatest bands." Mark Beaumont of NME said that "CD1 stakes a formidable claim as the fourth Suede album in its own right. Better than OK Computer." John Harris of Select gave the compilation 4 stars out of 5 and wrote: "Sci-Fi Lullabies exhaustively empties their under-the-stairs cupboard, and it's like a retelling of the entire Suede movie script." He concluded by saying that "this is truly as good as most Greatest Hits albums."
Tom Lanham of Entertainment Weekly gave the compilation an (A) rating, saying that Anderson is a "...tireless diarist, judging from this anthology of 27 U.K.-single B sides, each one—like the grim concert staple 'Killing of a Flash Boy'—as fey, somber, and solid as any album track." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the compilation a highly positive review, saying "...that Suede would not simply treat its B-sides as opportunities to unload half-baked and failed ideas. In fact, this collection has more consistency than many acts' studio albums, dispensing moody, catchy melodramatics while maintaining a remarkably high level of quality." Despite never placing on any of Billboard's charts, Sci-Fi Lullabies has sold about 19,000 units in the U.S. per Nielsen SoundScan figures.
Legacy
The collection is widely regarded as Suede's best output and is often recommended along with their first two albums. Scott Plagenhoef of Stylus Magazine said that "Suede set the track record of making each EP’s release an event, not tossing filler or failed experiments on the back of singles releases. Those early B-sides—collected on disc one of Sci-Fi Lullabies remain Suede’s strongest collection of songs." The album is considered to be one of the finest of the B-side/rarity genre, being described recently by The Independent as "the greatest B-sides album ever made". The A.V. Club included the compilation in its list of 35 essential B-side/rarity/outtakes collections. The article said that "...Suede’s pre-burnout legacy remains remarkably strong, and decidedly incomplete without such flipside classics as 'My Insatiable One' and 'The Living Dead'."
Live performances
The Suede B-sides have been an integral part of Suede's live shows as well as Anderson's solo performances. Notable favourites from disc one include "The Living Dead" and "Killing of a Flash Boy", which were performed at Suede's March 2010 reunion shows in London. Anderson and Butler made their last TV appearance on MTV's Most Wanted in March 1994, where they performed the popular "Stay Together" B-sides "The Living Dead" and "My Dark Star". In April 1997, Suede notably played an entire set of B-sides at a fanclub gig at the London Forum.
Packaging
The title of the album was a phrase considered as a title for the band's second album, Dog Man Star, and is a phrase used in the lyrics of the song "Introducing the Band" from that album. The collection is accompanied by a 32-page, full-color lyric booklet designed by Peter Saville. The front cover, which recalls the works of J. G. Ballard, features a destroyed English Electric Lightning aircraft abandoned and used for target practice on a military range in Northumberland. It was taken by noted North East photographer John Kippin.
Head Music
Released May 3, 1999, Length 57:47, Label Nude
1.Electricity 4:39
2.Savoir Faire 4:37
3.Can't Get Enough 3:58
4.Everything Will Flow 4:41
5.Down 6:12
6.She's in Fashion 4:53
7.Asbestos 5:17
8.Head Music 3:23
9.Elephant Man 3:06
10.Hi-Fi 5:09
11.Indian Strings 4:21
12.He's Gone 5:35
13.Crack in the Union Jack 1:56
Head Music is the fourth album by English alternative rock band Suede, released by Nude Records in May 1999.
Produced and mixed by Steve Osborne, Head Music features a more electronic sound, which was a new approach to their music. The recording of Head Music was plagued with difficulties such as singer Brett Anderson's addiction to crack, and keyboardist Neil Codling's recurring Chronic fatigue syndrome. Despite these events the album still went to number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, however it received more promotion than any of their previous releases. The album received mixed-to-positive reviews, however there were more negative reviews on Head Music than any of their previous records.
Background and recording
After the release of the B-sides compilation Sci-Fi Lullabies, Suede decided to put themselves out of the limelight for over a year. Neil Codling spent most of the year in bed due to his illness and at the same time Anderson's increasing drug habits were becoming a cause for concern. Anderson began to associate himself with people outwith the band, who Mat Osman, seemed to dislike. "More than anything there started to be a whole load of people he was associating with who I just couldn't stand. They had nothing to do with the band, nothing to do with anything but drugs. They were drug buddies."
Suede decided to move on from Ed Buller as their producer. After demoing 15 songs with three different producers, wanting to go in a more produced, electronic-sounding direction, the group chose Steve Osborne to produce the album. According to Anderson, Head Music was Suede's most experimental album, and Osborne's role played into the group's experimentation, "Steve was responsible for a hell of a lot of this album's sound. We chose him first of all because he did this fucking brilliant job on 'Savoir Faire'... It just sounded really exciting and unusual." Osborne's involvement sparked rumours of Suede going in a dancier direction, which the band strongly denied. Osman said, "It's not dancey at all. It's certainly groovier and there's a lot of tracks that are just one or two chords. There's certainly a lot more tracks that work on the level of a groove than we've done before, but that's it."
Osborne was initially hired for one week of trial-run recording at Mayfair Studios, just to see how the process was going to work, or indeed if the two parties could work together. Suede's biographer David Barnett remembers the day when they did a test-run of "Savoir Faire" with Osborne at the trial sessions. He recalls being offered a crack pipe by two of Anderson's friends. "Naively assuming it to be a hash pipe, I took them up on the offer and was surprised to experience a sensation akin to inhaling several bottles of poppers at the same time. This was my first and last personal encounter with crack." Anderson was addicted to the drug for two and a half years, but stopped in late 1999 when somebody very close to him became ill. He has been clean since.
Head Music was recorded between August 1998 and February 1999, several studios were used including, Eastcote, Sarm Hook End, Master Rock and Eden Studios. For guitarist Richard Oakes, the rehearsals for Head Music were unpleasant. With Anderson's wayward behaviour showing no signs of draining, Oakes began to drink more to make rehearsing more endurable. "I remember for quite a few of them, having to make sure that I was semi drunk just in order to turn up." Oakes also found his contributions being regularly knocked back in favour of Anderson and Codling's electronic experiments. Anderson felt that because of his spiralling drug use, and Codling's illness, Oakes became isolated from the group further and that the only people who were still together were Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. At one point relationships became so strained that Anderson demanded future member Alex Lee to be summoned to the studio presumably because no one else was willing to turn up.
The album is notable for being the first Suede album to have a title track. "Head Music" was one of Anderson's personal offerings, which Nude's Saul Galpern insisted should not go on the album. Osborne actually refused to record it, instead they got Arthur Baker to do a version, however they disliked it. Osborne eventually relented, but was not so flexible when it came Codling's next offering. "Elephant Man", which is the only song on a Suede album not written or co-written by Anderson. It was recorded, mixed and engineered by Bruce Lampcov. Codling contributed a greater amount of material to Head Music than he had on Suede's previous album, receiving writing credits on six songs. Anderson has said the album was influenced by Asian Dub Foundation, Audioweb, Tricky, Prince and Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Release and reception
There was a lot of hype surrounding the release of Head Music, with numerous tv appearances including, CD:UK, The O-Zone, Top of the Pops, The Pepsi Chart Show and TFI Friday. Uncut featured Suede in an 18 page special in May of that year chronicling the band's ten year history, with the sub header "Brett Anderson on a decade of decadence and debauchery". Virgin Megastores across the UK were re-branded, changing its name to "Head Music" the day the album was released. Commercially the album was a moderate success, and had mixed-to-positive reviews from both fans and critics alike. It was the third album by the group to chart at number one in the U.K.
Melody Maker placed the album at no. 1 in its "Best Albums of 1999" list. The NME gave it a seven, however criticised Anderson's lyrics saying that "Brett Anderson had nothing new to say." They did, on the other hand call it "hair-raising pop" and that they were "striking out for new pastures." Andy Gill of The Independent, who harshly criticised Coming Up, gave the record a very positive review. He felt that the album was "broader in musical conception than their previous albums." He also felt that Osborne's influence was critical, saying he "naturally brings a more groove-oriented approach to the band's sound, which is slicker and smoother than before, and better reflects the band's 'chemical generation' outlook."
Reviews in the U.S. were mixed. Tom Lanham of Entertainment Weekly called it a "sad, strangely lackluster epitaph." He added, "even the strongest track on Head Music, 'Everything Will Flow', is a cheap echo of vibrant early work." Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club felt the album was their least consistent, saying: "The end result may be the least consistent album in a career marked by consistency, but it's still remarkable and well-represented by the grandiose pop of "Electricity," "She's in Fashion," and "He's Gone," which do sound like proper Suede songs. Spin gave it 7 out of 10, Barry Walters wrote that "...Suede and Steve Osborne achieve a hard precision that brings back the brutality of early Suede while lending a complex sheen to simplistic material. Head Music has sold about 26,000 copies in the U.S. as of 2008 according to Nielsen SoundScan figures.
Some critics saw Head Music as a major step forward from previous album Coming Up. Christina Rees of the Dallas Observer wrote: "If Suede couldn't erase the influence of Oakes' predecessor, Bernard Butler, on 1996's Coming Up, it has certainly succeeded now..." She also added, "If the "new" Suede didn't show up on Coming Up, it seethes through Head Music." Similarly an ABC article wrote: "Head Music fills in the gaps of Coming Up and succeeds in being the best record the band has made since its debut, finally laying Bernard Butler's looming ghost to rest.
Fans and critics commented on Anderson's repetitive lyrics and lack of lyrical themes, in particular "Savoir Faire", which received attention and criticism. In 2002, Anderson admitted that he was "a smack addict for ages". Many critics linked the album's lack of creativity to Anderson's increasing drug use, mainly crack and heroin. Nick Duerden of The Independent felt that Head Music was blighted by his descent into addiction, calling it a "rather ugly record". Writing for The Guardian, John Harris had similar views, saying "it was a fair bet, therefore, that the drug played its part in the creation of their most ludicrous album, 1999's Head Music."
Suede headlined the Roskilde festival in July 1999, playing three different sets over the three days, playing on the main stage and on two of the smaller tents. In August they headlined the V festival, which was the band's first proper U.K. appearance since Reading in 1997.
Cover art and title
As a joke, the group originally started to leak the album's title to the press one letter at a time. But two days after releasing the second letter, bassist Mat Osman announced the album's title and explained where the idea of releasing the title one letter at a time come from: "Saul [Galpern], head of Nude was hassling for a title, and Brett said, 'I'll tell you one letter at a time until you can guess it." The artwork, which features Anderson's girlfriend Sam, and Neil Codling, was art directed by Peter Saville and designed by Howard Wakefield and Paul Hetherington. Anderson told Saville "I wanted two people joined at the head, sort of listening to each other's heads. He showed me some photos and we eventually got the cover we released."
A New Morning
Released September 30, 2002, Length 56:48, Label Nude
1.Positivity 2:56
2.Obsessions 4:11
3.Lonely Girls 3:13
4.Lost in TV 3:40
5.Beautiful Loser 3:38
6.Streetlife 2:51
7.Astrogirl 4:35
8.Untitled... Morning 6:01
9.One Hit to the Body 3:07
10.When the Rain Falls 4:48
11.You Belong to Me / Oceans (hidden track, starts around 13:30) 17:29
A New Morning is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in September 2002. By the time the album was released, public interest in the band had waned, as shown by the poor charting of both the album and singles. Despite this, however, the album received moderate praise from critics and is generally liked by fans due to its warmer, and more simplistic sound (as opposed to Head Music). All the songs were produced by Stephen Street, except "Positivity" which was produced by John Leckie, and "You Belong to Me" which was produced by Dave Eringa.
Background and recording
The creation of Suede's fifth studio album A New Morning, was long and costly. Following the release of their 1999 album Head Music and subsequent tour, keyboardist Neil Codling announced his departure from the group on 23 March 2001, citing problems with Chronic fatigue syndrome. Singer Brett Anderson was furious at Codling's leaving, but understood the reasons behind his departure: "He couldn't help it, I know, but I did feel aggrieved. I felt let down. But more at the universe than at Neil." Codling was replaced by former Strangelove keyboardist Alex Lee. Anderson also had become sober for this record, overcoming his crack addiction and claiming that A New Morning was "the first ever Suede record that wasn’t influenced in its making by drugs". Anderson wrote lyrics isolated in a country house in Surrey away from the rest of the band, where he immersed himself in music and literature. He read Atomised by Michel Houellebecq and books by Albert Camus, Leonard Cohen and Paul Auster. Anderson says, "I created a deliberate vacuum so all these influences would flood in. I spent a lot of time walking in the countryside, sometimes for hours and hours, fascinated by nature and its battle with concrete and steel. I was living in Concrete Island by J.G. Ballard."
The band began recording demos at Stanbridge Farm Studios in West Sussex in July 2000. In October the band took a break from writing to perform their only gig of the year, which took place in Reykjavic, Iceland, where they premiered nine new songs. The group originally began working with American producer Tony Hoffer in 2001, and anticipated having a single released by Autumn. Hoffer and Anderson had originally met in a toilet at Paisley Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the two hit it off, finding several common musical interests. The meeting led to Anderson asking for Hoffer's input on some of the group's recent work. In February 2001 the band took up residency at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales for a three-week trial run with Hoffer. The band were unimpressed with the trial run, especially Simon Gilbert and Richard Oakes, who both had strong opinions on the results. Nevertheless, the band decided to record the album with Hoffer and descended on Parkgate Studios, Hastings, in May with their new member Alex Lee, following Codling's departure. Although the group recorded ten songs with Hoffer that Anderson said were the "best we've written," most of the material recorded with him producing was scrapped. In September the group recorded two songs with ex Stone Roses producer John Leckie. The versions of "Beautiful Loser" and "Positivity" were promising, however, Leckie had other commitments forcing Suede to reconsider their options.
The group ultimately decided to work with Stephen Street for the album, and recorded most of the released material with him in two months. Recording with Street began in January 2002, with the album finally being completed on March 23, 2002. Anderson had high praise for the producer, saying "Stephen has just turned this whole album around, he really has. Every song he's just taken and done something special with... From the millions of other sessions we've done for this album, there's just no comparison." Overall, seven different recording studios and four producers were used during the two year recording span for A New Morning, and costs estimated at around £1 million. Street stated that the album was a return to classic song construction, and bassist Mat Osman said that lyrically A New Morning is "Very positive and upbeat".
Release and reception
A New Morning failed to crack the British Top 20, peaking at #24, which was the lowest chart position for the group at that time. The album remains the only studio album from Suede's catalog not to be released in the U.S. The lead single for the album was "Positivity", which received a large amount of criticism from fans and the press. NME writer Julian Marshall wrote that "Positivity" was "[G]reeted with an apathetic shrug by everyone but the most devoted". Although it peaked at #16 on the charts and Anderson initially felt happy about the song, his feelings towards it would change in time. He later said of "Positivity" that "When I first wrote it I thought it was a masterpiece but soon realized that many people were genuinely offended by it." He would also go on to say "...If there was ever just one song that destroyed a band then it was 'Positivity' with Suede." "Obsessions" was the second single released and despite being better received than "Positivity", the song charted at a lower position and was ultimately the final single released from the album.
Despite the poor sales of the album, Suede still managed to deliver on a musical front as the album received moderate praise from critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic felt that the album was a "...solid, succinct collection of tuneful, stylish modern-day glam pop, nearly the equal of Coming Up, whose blueprint this follows to a tee. Song for song, it's better and more consistent than Head Music." He concluded by saying that "A New Morning isn't a new beginning, nor does it take many risks, but it does find Suede in top form with good songs and an appealing record." Jason Fox of NME gave the album a respectable 7 out of 10. He said: "...when Suede are good, they're great. 'Astrogirl' has shades of the almighty 'The Asphalt World'; 'When The Rain Falls' is as mournful as 'The Big Time'." On the album as a whole he said that "A New Morning sees Suede show off their vulnerable side again. It won't attract any new admirers but old fans will love them more for it." Writing for The Guardian, Steve Poole had mixed views on the album and awarded it 3 stars out of 5. He said that "'Beautiful Loser' and 'Astrogirl' gesture at past glories like 'Heroine' or 'The Chemistry Between Us', but lack that assured melodic grandiosity." He did have positive praise for the album saying that "there are moments of beauty, in 'Untitled' and the delicate miniature 'Morning'," Overall, he said that "it's better than the tedious cacophony of Head Music, but it quails in the shadow of Coming Up."
Aftermath
Suede released a compilation album Singles in 2003 which featured two new songs, "Love the Way You Love" and the single "Attitude". Shortly after the release of Singles the group issued a joint statement on November 5 explaining that outside of the remaining dates on their current tour, that Suede would not be working together for the foreseeable future: "Suede would like to announce that from next year (2004) they will be working on their own individual projects." The announcement confirmed rumours of the group splitting up since the release of A New Morning. Anderson later stated that he felt he had to break out of Suede as he was in an artistic dead end and needed to do "Whatever it takes to get my demon back."
Singles
Released October 20, 2003, Length 78:40, Label Nude
1.Beautiful Ones 3:34
2.Animal Nitrate 3:09
3.Trash 3:48
4.Metal Mickey 3:02
5.So Young 3:39
6.The Wild Ones 4:17
7.Obsessions 3:44
8.Filmstar 3:14
9.Can't Get Enough 3:59
10.Everything Will Flow 4:27
11.Stay Together 3:55
12.Love the Way You Love 3:37
13.The Drowners 3:44
14.New Generation 4:36
15.Lazy 3:15
16.She's in Fashion 4:07
17.Attitude 3:05
18.Electricity 4:25
19.We Are the Pigs 3:56
20.Positivity 2:57
21.Saturday Night 3:59
Singles is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, consisting of all of the band's singles over the course of their recording career from 1992 to 2003.
The album also contains two new songs: the single released from this compilation, "Attitude", and "Love the Way You Love". Also, the song "Trash" is an alternate version.
The Best of Suede
Released November 1, 2010, Length 152:29, Label Universal UK
1.Disc One
2.Animal Nitrate 3:28
3.Beautiful Ones 3:50
4.Trash 4:08
5.Filmstar 3:29
6.Metal Mickey 3:27
7.New Generation 4:36
8.So Young 3:42
9.The Wild Ones 4:45
10.The Drowners 4:11
11.Stay Together 4:19
12.Lazy 3:18
13.Everything Will Flow 4:43
14.We Are the Pigs 3:58
15.Can't Get Enough 3:58
16.Electricity 4:41
17.Obsessions 4:11
18.She's in Fashion 4:53
19.Saturday Night 4:28
Disc Two
20.Pantomime Horse 5:50
21.My Insatiable One 2:57
22.Killing of a Flash Boy 4:06
23.This Hollywood Life 3:31
24.Europe is Our Playground 5:38
25.My Dark Star 4:23
26.Sleeping Pills 3:53
27.By the Sea 4:17
28.She 3:39
29.Heroine 3:20
30.The Living Dead 2:50
31.To the Birds 5:25
32.The Big Time 4:28
33.The 2 of Us 5:45
34.The Asphalt World 9:26
35.Still Life 5:19
37.The Next Life 3:40
The Best of Suede is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in November 2010. The compilation spans two discs and it's a mix of singles, album tracks and B-sides compiled by lead singer Brett Anderson. Disc one includes all of the band's singles excluding "Positivity" and "Attitude". Disc two includes album tracks from the band's first three albums as well as B-sides from disc one of Sci-Fi Lullabies. Both Anderson and former guitarist Bernard Butler were involved in the remastering of the tracks with Chris Potter. The cover artwork is designed by Elizabeth Peyton.
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