Coming Up - Suede > Reviews > Here They Come The Beautiful Ones

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Excellent guitar rock, Brett Anderson
Disadvantages:	Some lyrics disappoint

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have always been surprised at the lack of commercial success which Suede have had. For me they were one of the best bands of the 1990’s mixing excellent musicianship with some reasonably good songwriting. Add to this Brett Anderson’s vocal style and presence and they should have dominated the charts. The problem for Suede has been that they were kept in the shadows by the Oasis/Blur media dominance though I felt both bands were inferior and by Pulp who had everything Suede had perhaps with more humour and quirkiness.

The opening track is called Trash but is far from it. It sets the tone of the remainder of the album with strong drumming of Simon Gilbert and jangling guitars of Richard Oakes ably supported by bass player Matt Osman and keyboard player Neil Codling. Of course more than anything Suede are defined by Brett Andersons vocals even if he sometimes seems to strain a bit too high. This is followed by Filmstar which is a superb track showing the strengths when Oakes and Anderson move around each other within the song. There is a contrast there with the way Morrissey and Johnny Marr worked as a duo within The Smiths. The keyboard rolls around the crooned chorus and it was a worthy single.
Lazy follows and in it Anderson gives vent to the frustrations of modern life as he sees it. In tone it sounds like a Diamond Dogs era Bowie track with a singalong chorus

Track 4 is By The Sea a slower acoustic feeling atmospheric track with Anderson quietly blending over the rolling keyboard and piano backing. The track does steadily build with the drums and guitar becoming more prevalent. She like many Suede songs is an anthem to an unnamed lady. So many times in their lyrics a mysterious ‘she’ appears and in this case its another view of hopelessness and lack of a future. She is not the strongest track on the album in my view because the throbbing drum and guitar is just too overpowering for the good of the song.

The stand-out track is surely The Beautiful Ones which is superbly constructed and features Anderson’s delivery building to a superb chorus and singalong ending. If you can ignore Andersons vocals during a listening though there is Richard Oakes subtle guitar playing underneath which is a gem in itself. If Anderson occasionally sounds a little like David Bowie then surely Oakes is his Mick Ronson. Beautiful Ones is at the same time beautiful and bitter sounding off against the hedonism of the age. In many ways though the subject matter goes over the same ground as Lazy and She.

Starcrazy follows as a mid-tempo track with wailing Oakes guitar and high-pitch Anderson delivery. The interesting Picnic By The Motorway sounds like a hybrid of Bowies Space Oddity and Babylon Zoos Spaceman with a quiet opening on acoustic guitar. The Chemistry Between Us is a slow number with the lyrics providing an anthem to youth assuming youth in this context means shared drug experience. This track works better musically than it does lyrically. The album closes with Saturday Night with the vocals playing over the light beat formed by neatly understated guitar and drum accompaniment.

If there has to be a criticism of this album it has to be the sameyness of the mood of the tracks and occasionally clumsy lyrics. There is on this album a lack of breadth within the music as Suede seem to play as a trio with the keyboard and bass too buried to be relevant. More work in production and mixing might have elevated the work onto a more commercial plane without compromising the quality of the songs. Overall though a good album and worthy of a place in your collection.