Singles - Suede

...hits collection simply entitled the Singles just before Christmas. I decided it would be a good addition to my CD collection. I do have their last two albums Head Music and A New Morning but I do not have the others. My cassette of their self titled debut album Suede snapped and my copies of Dog Man Star and Coming Up are just taped copies. I thought the singles would be an ideal investment for me as it had some of the best (but not all of them) ...
...one of their less known singles but to my mind an excellent song 9/10
11 Stay Together

Perhaps the ultimate Suede song. It has Brett’s vocals sounding hauntingly strange. This is a love song but it is not too mushy/. It is wonderfully evocative lyrics that paint a picture which is a mark of a great Suede song. There i are traces of the theme of urban living that reoccurs throughout Suede’s music’s A wonderful epic. .
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Suede have been around for donkey’s years or so it feels like they have. . In fact they first released their first single in 1992 which I suppose is donkeys years compared to some lesser bands. Suede were one of the bands along with Blur, Elastica and maybe Pulp who kicked off the Britpop phenomena of the mid 1990s. They are one of those bands who I really like but are not quite one of my favourites of all time. I do own a few of their CDs and was lucky enough to see them headline the Reading Festival in 1997. When they released their greatest hits collection simply entitled the Singles just before Christmas. I decided it would be a good addition to my CD collection. I do have their last two albums Head Music and A New Morning but I do not have the others. My cassette of their self titled debut album Suede snapped and my copies of Dog Man Star and Coming Up are just taped copies. I thought the singles would be an ideal investment for me as it had some of the best (but not all of them) on one disc.

Who are Suede

That actually is a difficult one as they have changed their line up a few times. The core members are Brett Anderson on vocals and Matt Osman (bass) and Simon Gilbert (drums). Other members that have appeared in Suede’s line up include Bernard Butler, Neil Codling and Justine Frischmann.

What do they sound like?

Suede are one of those bands whop have a tried and tested formula that they seem to stick to most of the time. Perhaps this is because of Brett’s vocals that are very distinctive and stamps the Suede mark on their songs. Brett’s vocals are quite hard to describe. They have a hint of Bowie and are often very sharp and angular. They can also on their best songs be haunting and beautiful. The earlier Suede songs also have the influence of Bernard Butler’s guitar playing. His style is distinctive and he was known as the guitarist of his generation. Perhaps Suede’s style is distinctive because often the themes of the songs do not change that much. Throughout most of their albums there are songs that have a mix of fashion conscious, drug taking models, DJs and suburban life. . There is often a sexiness and perhaps even sleaziness to Suede’s lyrics. Certain songs words are repeated in various songs especially the word She. Due to this it is easy to class the songs on this album into three categories. There are the catchy hits with the themes named above; there are the more powerful songs that are beautiful and haunting that sometimes diverge away from the main themes. Then there is the third category which is the smallest. These are the latest songs that are not as good as some of their earlier work. I think the problem with Suede is at times they have become a pastiche of themselves.

The Beautiful Ones
1
We start with a category one song. Beautiful Ones is from the Coming Up album and is an up beat catchy number with a corker of a guitar riff in the introduction. It is all about the doped up, designer labeled media darlings the Beautiful People. 8/10

2 Animal Nitrate

Starting off with Bernd Butler’s fantastic guitar playing Animal Nitrate is Suede at their sleazy best. Animal Nitrate is a misspelling of Amyl Nitrate a drug more commonly known as Poppers that heightens sexual pleasure s.. Hence the chorus going on about “Oh what turns you On”. The miss writing of Amyl as animal cares on the sexual theme. 9/10

3 Trash

This is evident from the tile what it is about. “Tasteless bracelets and the dyes in our hair”. This is about trailer trash and the absurdity of fashion. From Coming Up this is another poppy number. Thiis is perhaps one of Suede’s best known songs. 8/10

4 Metal Mickey

This was Suede’s second single and is not one of my favourites. Yes it does have the trademark Bernard Butler guitars but I just can not get into this one. It is not as amthemitc as some of their later stuff. I find it hard to work out the lyrics and what the song is about “She sells hearts, she sells meat” is that about prostitution or is she a butcher? 7/10

5 So Young

Now we are back on track. This is probably my favourite from the first album. It does have all the elements of a good Suede song. It has soaring guitars and Brett’s vocal at their best. It has drugs *chasing the dragon is taking heroin). However it has characteristics of the second category. The lyrics are quite poetic at times.
.
we'll scare the skies with tigers eyes,
and

. from our home high in the city
where the skyline stained the snow
I fell for a servant who kept me on the boil. 9.5/10
8/10

6 The Wild Ones

Another stunning song. This starts off quiet and gentle. I love Brett’s vocals on this. They are less angular and are almost haunting. I love the lyrics. The lyric “we'll be the wild ones, running with the dogs today” reminds me of wild horses galloping. I’m not sure if this is because the single’s cover has a horses head on it. This is just such a wonderful graceful, beautiful song. 10/10

7 Obsession

This is one of the new songs and it sounds new but old. There is a mouth organ in the introduction which you would never have in early Suede. The title is self explanatory as the lyrics are about being totally infatuated about someone and loving all their little ways even the slightly infuriating ones. It’s not a bad song but it just does not rank up there with some of their previous stuff 6/10
8
Fimstar

Back to classic glamorous slightly clichéd Suede. The vocals sound sharp and the guitars are quite jaggy but there is a smoothness about the chorus as Brett’s voice is exaggerated. The song is about the price of fame. An upbeat song but not the best on Coming Up 7/10

9 I can’t get it on

This is another Suede by numbers track from the Head Music album. Yes it has guitars, strange synthesisers sounds and woos but I just find this one a wee bit dull and a pastiche of themselves I’m sure “ I can’t get it nf is about sex. 6/10

10 Everything Must Flow

In contrast to the previous track this is one of my favourites on Head Music. It is another gentler Suede song which starts with strings. I just like the lyrics. They have the poetic lyrics of superior Suede songs. Everything must flow. Is this a metaphor for life continuing? I’m not sure. I love the imagery of |Lovers kiss in the openness”. Probably one of their less known singles but to my mind an excellent song 9/10
11 Stay Together

Perhaps the ultimate Suede song. It has Brett’s vocals sounding hauntingly strange. This is a love song but it is not too mushy/. It is wonderfully evocative lyrics that paint a picture which is a mark of a great Suede song. There i are traces of the theme of urban living that reoccurs throughout Suede’s music’s A wonderful epic. .

we can be together in the nuclear sky
and we will dance in the poison rain
and we can stay a while in heaven today 11/10

12 I Love The way You Love Me Baby

This is a new song that has not been released on any other recording before. Perhaps this is to get diehard fans to buy the Singles collection. I really would not bother. This song is really dire. It sounds like sub standard Duran Duran. You can barely tell that it is Brett singing. It is just repetitive and in the words of one of their other songs Lazy 1/10

13 The Drowners

From old to new, the Drowners is their debut single. It is a mid tempo guitar based song which has all the hallmarks of Suede. Again it is a song I am not too familiar wit compared to some of the others. 6/0

14 New Generation

I remember the atmosphere in the crowd when this was played when I saw them at Reading. There is a really good energy to New Generation. It starts with a blistering guitar riff and develops in an almost Bowieesque song. There is the requisite mention of pills and poisons It is a great track but I think I prefer it live 8/10

15 Lazy

This is a wee bit lazy. I think it is form Coming Up and is not one of the better tracks. It has the beautiful people this time in suburbia and the voice saying they do not want to be like them. Brett’s voice is slightly tinny and it just does not stand out as some of the others. Suede by numbers again 7/10

16 She’s In Fashion

The most remembered track off Head Music this is reputed to be about Zoë Ball ex radio 1 DJ. This is another very catchy one that everyone knows but I am not too fond of it. It is Beautiful Ones part 2 and just seems to retread old ground. It is very much chart fodder. It is catchy, fluffy and pretty vacant 7/10

17 Attitude

This is another new one that I am not very sure of. The sound sounds slightly more elctro than the older stuff. The vocal is slightly stilted. I’m not really that keen on this song. It was a single but I do not remember hearing it on the radio not even on Radio 2. 4/10

18 Electricity

Electricity is upbeat and catchy. It is about the chemistry or electricity between people. I like the guitar on this. It is a later suede song but has the sparkle of the older stuff. 7.5/10

19 We are the Pigs

One last foray into early Suede. We are the Pigs is quite a heavy sounding song with the guitar featuring prominently in this song. The song I presume is about inner city crime with the pigs in the title (we are the stars of the firing line) being used as the slang word for the police. 7/10

Positivety

This is perhaps one of the better new songs. I actually quite like it is about a good relationship. It could be a great Suede track but it rates as merely good. Perhaps the problem with the newest tracks is that Suede are no longer young 20 some things so do not want to sing about sex drugs and rock and roll. Thus there is a more mature sound which is nice but it just is not the same7.5/10

21 Saturday Night

This is a Suede song for non Suede fans. Some feel it is a bit wishy washy but I really like this. The guitar introduction is gentle and it is quite a slow and romantic song. It has that beauty which I have been talking about in all my favourite Suede songs. It’s a lovely song 9/10

Who would I recommend the album to??

I think this would be good for those who quite like some of Suede’s songs especially those they have heard on the radio. I think a die hard fan would buy it for completes purposes but the only new song is the worst one on the album.

I bought this album on Amazon for £9.99

This is not a bad album. There are lots of songs that I adore and it is nice to have them on one album. However there are songs I would fast forward as I do not like them as much as others especially the new tack which as I have said is truly dire.

 

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