Who's gonna replace Paddy Vieira? Answers on a postcard please.
Who's gonna replace Paddy Vieira? Answers on a postcard please.
Member since:19.11.2004
Reviews:11
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Suede, a band who helped kick off the Britpop phenomenon of the mid 90s are today easily forgotten. This collection of all 21 of their singles from 5 albums serves as a timely reminder of their pop genius. It also shows their shortcomings.
WHY THEY WERE GREAT When Suede first appeared on the scene in the mid 90s it is easy to see why they would have been a breath of fresh air to the British music industry. There was something refreshingly unique about their sound. At a time when glamour was the exception to the norm of shoegazing, Suede injected a bit of life with their sensational self-titled debut album. They quickly became accustomed to high chart placings, and it's easy to see why from thir first four singles: The Drowners, Animal Nitrate, Metal Mickey and So Young. All of these showcase what made Suede so undeniably appealing to the disaffected youths looking for a movement to which they'd belong: Brett Anderson's wonderfully distinctive, high-pitched delivery of his evocative, sometimes sleazy lyrics, coupled with the amazing guitar work of the brilliant Bernard Butler. On their first two albums, it is
thrilling how Butler's fast but impossibly melodic riffs intertwine with Anderson's affecting vocals- see also Stay Together, released between the first two albums; and We Are The Pigs, The Wild Ones and New Generation from their second album, the masterpiece Dog Man Star. Apparently during the recording of this critically acclaimed classic the relationship between these two artists disintegrated. You could never tell listening to widescreen, epic music that established Suede as a dream mix of Queen, Bowie and The Smiths. Butler however quit the band and after a brief solo adventure has since sadly disappeared from view.
For their next album, with prodigal guitarist Richard Oakes replacing Butler and keyboard player Neil Codling also augmenting what remained of the original line up, Suede were seemingly carried on by their own momentum through the blow of losing a truly great guitarist, and continued to churn out perfectly crafted pop songs. With Coming Up, Suede aimed for what Anderson said was an album "so pop it could have been greatest hits" and succeeded. It did not try and top Dog Man Star with its epic and expansive soundscapes and the urban mystique of its poetic lyrics, instead the band concentrated on three minute pop songs. Trash, Beautiful Ones, Filmstar, Lazy and Saturday Night, a half of the album's ten tracks, were released as singles and all five reached the top ten.
THE DOWNFALL The cracks began to appear with Head Music, a disappointing album. The singles here, Electricity, She's In Fashion, Can't Get Enough and Everything Will Flow are representative of that fact. These songs plainly don't have the same impact or sound as fresh and exciting as earlier efforts. An added problem was Anderson's apparent verbal constipation. Coming Up had actually showcased some pretty daft lyrics at times: "high on diesel and gasoline" was typical of Anderson's vocabulary. Although in the early days he was like a glamorous gutter poet, after Butler's departure things got repetitive and Anderson struggled for worthy, and more importantly, new, themes. This is obvious in the material present from both Head Music and fifth album A New Morning(Obsessions and Positivity). Although these are still fine pop songs, they are sadly lacking in the sparkle of their earlier classics. The two token new tracks, Love The Way You Love and Attitude, fail to add anything to the compilation. The first is just plain irritating, the latter an ill-advised attempt at hip hop.
It's a good thing these singles are not presented in chronological order!
HIGHLIGHTS 1.BEAUTIFUL ONES Five star pop song kicked off with an instantly recognisable riff. 2.ANIMAL NITRATE A true classic. Butler's guitar is extraordinary. Anderson's vocals at their sleazily seductive, innuendo-filled best. 3.TRASH Another rollicking pop classic with a memorable, soaring chorus that'll be buzzing round your head for days on end. 6.THE WILD ONES An absolute classic. Without Butler, it could well have come across as a soppy love ballad, instead you get a stormer that builds to an epic swell of strings, beautiful guitar and emotive crooning that washes over you. 11.STAY TOGETHER Hard to see why the band don't like it as it sums up why they were so great in the first place. 13.THE DROWNERS Butler's buzzsaw guitar announces the arrival of new kids on the block. Changing the face of guitar music in tandem with the ever ambiguous Anderson. 14.NEW GENERATION One of their greatest anthems with customary drug addled imagery. 19.WE ARE THE PIGS Another Butler driven stormer (excellent solo) with dark and disturbing imagery. 21.SATURDAY NIGHT Quality love song to end the compilation.
As for the rest, on the singles compilation of a lesser band, some of these could be the high points, instead they serve to illustrate the fall of Suede from greatness to something less superhuman. Despite their shortcomings however, this band in their pomp were essential listening, and the best of what they had to offer in that period is present and correct here.
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Bernard Butler hasn't disappeared anywhere. He's put out 2 solo albums, 2 albums with David McAlmont, he's done an album as The Tears with Brett Anderson, and apart from his working with loads of musicians such as Bert Jansch and Edwyn Collins as a guitarist he's also done production for a lot of up-and coming acts such as the first Libertines single (and the "Don't Look Back Into the Sun"), the Veils, the On/Offs, the 1990's and more. He's currently working on a third solo album and possibly another McAlmont and Butler album. He is, simply, ace!
On that note, yeah, Suede were never as good after he left, but there were still moments of greatness, in particular on Head Music. I like this collection but it would have been better served by having a real "Best Of" and including some lesser-known album tracks. They could have done a limited edition for fans with a bonus disc of rarities or live stuff or videos. This was kind of a pointless exercise as I owned it all already except one track. Oh well.
Volvagia 23.10.2005 19:30
Good op. I must admit I like Blur and Oasis better than Suede out of the Britpop bands, although Beautiful Ones is a great song, as you rightly said. Chris:)
Delicate_Orchid 11.12.2004 12:48
The album sounds alright. Your best review to date. :-) Well done. Desiree x
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Beautiful Ones Animal Nitrate Trash Metal Mickey So Young The Wild Ones Obsessions ... more
Filmstar Can't Get Enough Everything Will Flow Stay Together Love The Way You Love The Drowners New Generation Lazy She's In Fashion Attitude Electricity We Are The Pigs...
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