Brett Anderson/ Suede

[Anthony Williams]

As some of you may know from the "Today I Bought" thread, I have recently purchased Brett Anderson's debut solo album. So here's my review...

Brett Anderson has never been able to top the creative genius of Dog Man Star, the final Suede album to feature Bernard Butler on guitar. His most recent collaboration with Butler failed to live up even to some of the later Suede albums.

Anderson is one of the most important singer-songwriters of the last 15 years, having been at the helm of one of the bands that spearheaded the Britpop movement. The ghost of Suede has never left him, and that is all too evident with his self-titled debut solo album. The album itself features a number of ballads backed with strings, such as the debut single from the album, Love is Dead and other tracks such as Scorpio Rising and Infinite Kiss. Anderson's trademark, his distinctive and somewhat-nasal voice works well throughout the album, helping to mark out that this album is about him.

However much that Anderson tries to get away from Suede, there are still tracks that are heavily reminiscant of the later years of his former band, such as Dust and Rain, Intimacy and To The Winter. However, since I quite like Suede, this is not an issue for me!

What will obviously be overlooked on a solo album is the musicianship of the guest musicians. All manage to shine, with some fantastic guitar work, some brilliant bass-playing and some rather soulful pianos. The drumming isn't anything too special, but it's nothing to complain about either

All in all, it's not a bad effort... but what I'd still really like to see is a Suede reunion, with either Butler or Oakes on guitar (I'm not all that fussy these days... anything would be better than nothing!)

Ant x

[Si Hunt]

I find Anderson a bizarre concept, beginning with his somewhat bemusing swapping of monikers. The girl on the street knows "Blondie" as a "she" and thinks that Simply Red are a band, so from this we can deduce that a very small percentage of the populace could actually name the Suede bass player. This makes Anderson's decision to "go solo" less of a shock event than the disbanding of the Beatles or the Jackson 5. But that pales into comparison with the enormity of actually teaming back up with the only other member of Suede that anyone outside the band could name (in Tears), and then STILL not officially reforming Suede. Perhaps next, Anderson (solo version) and Bernard Butler (solo version) could recruit the Suede drummer and come up with something under a completely different name. Or just reform Suede.

Perhaps the clue comes in the downward commercial spiral that Suede/Anderson experienced after "Coming Up", when they found themselves in the position of being able to have a Top 10 hit with anything they released (even "Lazy", the 43rd single off "Coming Up"). I've got a fairly clued up critical opinion of the rest of Anderson's career without actually having heard any of it, due to paying close attention to (i) music reviews (ii) abseiling chart positions and (iii) Dave Lewis, and I've consequently no real desire to fork out the 1p required to buy "A New Morning" from Amazon. It seems to me that this constant fiddling with the actual name of his band is but a smokescreen for disguising the real problem - an unfortunate downturn in musical artistry.

There's no real reason why musicians, like carpenters and belly dancers, can't get better at what they do with practise. Oddly though, the reverse is often true. Suede's later albums should have featured even BETTER tunes than "Saturday Night" along with lyrics more palatable than those ones about various polymer chemicals and the one about "a mouse in a house". It could be that making good Suede records was, unfortunately for Anderson, something he could only do while young and on drugs. Indeed, I suspect that "cleaning up" was the downfall of many bands and singers - Oasis came off the crack and stopped making huge rock anthems, for starters, then there was the demise of the Beautiful South because the lead singer stopped writing from the bottom of a bottle. It's all a bit tragic when the kids have grown up and they still want to be rock stars.

Perhaps this is the idea between Anderson's solo venture, but alas going solo is only going to remind people soberly that the original band has gone (not to mention the cover, with him in a sensible jumper relaxing on a nice chair). Perhaps bands (and their solo career seeking singers) should let the past rest and us remember them in their mixed up, desperate, druggy years of glory? Imagine a Noel Gallagher solo album. The public just arn't going to go for it (and did you know Kelly Jones released a solo album a few weeks ago? Thought not). Who knows why. Perhaps it's just that radio arn't interested in old indie heroes going all sensible and offering us their 'mature' efforts?

I'm inclined to think that the band name should just stick - otherwise you get stupid situations like the recent Beyonce track that "features Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowlands". Destiny's Child then, surely? With Brett Anderson, he seems to be trying to escape the curse of ever diminishing commercial and creative returns that Suede have suffered over the last ten years.

Si.

[SiHart]

The big problem, as i see it, is that Brett slipped into self parody without even trying. His lyrics became ever more excruitating as time went on. While it obviously worked for him for a while, the terrylene, gasoline, ploythene, diesel, asphalt references quickly became tiresome.
And The Tears were even worse.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

What was wrong with the Tears Si? I guess Anderson must have judged it a failure, seeing as how there wasn't a second Tears album.

Si.

[SiHart]

I only heard the singles, but they were pretty poor really and I don't think they had particularly good sales. I suspect also that there was the same clash of personalities that led Butler to leave Suede in the first place. I may be wrong however, so don't quote me on that.

Si xx

[Carol Baynes]

Lots to say, but for now I have to add that Butler was not in Suede when they recorded and released "Coming up"-arguably their biggest album. Ant knew that of course, but not sure about the rest...

Anyway, for those who are interested in such things, here's Suede's 'chart trajectory'...


1992 "The Drowners" #49
1992 "Metal Mickey" #17
1993 "Animal Nitrate" #7

Debut album "Suede" #1

1993 "So Young" #22

non-album single

1994 "Stay Together" #3

Dog Man Star #3

1994 "We are the Pigs" #18
1994 "The Wild Ones" #18
1995 "New Generation" #21

Coming Up #1

1996 "Trash" #3
1996 "Beautiful Ones" #8
1997 "Saturday Night" #6
1997 "Lazy" #9
1997 "Filmstar" #9

Head Music #1

1999 "Electricity" #5
1999 "She's in Fashion" #13
1999 "Everything Will Flow" #24
1999 "Can't Get Enough" #23

A New Morning #24

2002 "Positivity" #16
2002 "Obsessions" #29

from Singles #31

2003 "Attitude" #14


Now then- that's not a bad showing for the full life of the band. I know the sales fell off into the 2000s, but give them some slack. They had six top ten hits in a row there at one point!

[Milky Tears]

I was sad enough to buy all of those singles. Even the CD2s and limited edition packs.

[Si Hunt]

I don't think anyone criticised them did they Carol?

That said, you can see the exact point at which the bubble burst, namely "Head Music" getting to Number 1. They never had another Top 10 hit after that and the next album only spent 2 weeks on the charts.

I always quite liked "She's in Fashion" though!

Si.

[Carol Baynes]

"An unfortunate downturn in musical artistry" sounds like criticism to me!

I was just trying to illustrate that they didn't plummet down the dumper as much as you might have thought. They generally stayed in the top 30 throughout.

[Si Hunt]

I would call going from an album which spent 3 months on the charts and got to number 1, to a follow up which fell off the Top 75 after a fortnight, a bit of a "plummet" Carol.

Si.

[Carol Baynes]

I'm thinking about their whole career, not just the end of it, but I'll agree with you about that album, Si.

[Rob McCow]

Personally, the Death Of Suede occurred with the line 'And the ambulances in the car park know, everything will flow'. Oh they know. And the fiftieth time that 'sci-fi lullabies' turned up.

[Si Hunt]

I'm thinking about their whole career, not just the end of it, but I'll agree with you about that album, Simon .

Actually Carrie, I prefer to be called Si.

Si.

[Carol Baynes]

This thread tempted me to dig out their first album, and after not hearing it for a few years I think it still stands up well. I can certainly hear the influence of Bowie. "Animal nitrate" and "The Drowners" are especially fab.

Anyway, getting a bit off tangent, so back to Mr. Anderson on his tod.

[Dave Lewis]

Not heard it yet. But the Tears' album isn't, in one's humble opinion, as bad as it's being made out to be. It's certainly preferable to any Suede album post Coming Up.

God, I wish I was seventeen again and in love with Suede. I touched Brett's boobs in the Hampstead White Horse in 1992 you know. It was emotional.

[Paul Monk]

God, I wish I was seventeen again and in love with Suede. I touched Brett's boobs in the Hampstead White Horse in 1992 you know. It was emotional.

at Dave. Suede were awesome in their day. Although Brett was a dodgy old lyricist even in those days
Suede, along with the Manics were my introduction to alternative music and therefore hold a special place in my heart. Ahhhh!

[Dave Lewis]

Dodgy old lyricist????

There's a fine line between love and crime, certainly - and Brett's lyrics, even in the earliest days of Suede, were always delicately poised between wonderment and wankery. For example, is "On the high wire, dressed in a leotard, there wobbles one hell of a retard" a work of genius or just a meaningless load of old flannel?

I think it's about Mick Jagger. But it could be about absolutely anything. Or nothing. Certainly in the post-Bernard Butler days, the references to all the things Si mentioned (gasoline, chemicals, mornings, credit cards etc) became all too prevalent...

[Paul Monk]

Nuclear things and Pigs appeared quite often.

Dodgy old lyricist????

You know he was!

[Si Hunt]

In the same way that Bob Dylan is a dodgy old singer. But we still love the old c**t.

Si.

[Paul Monk]

Exactly!

[Dave Lewis]

It's true, I must admit.

But in my youthful days of craziness you would both burned as witches for this heresy.

[SiHart]

I always preferred Blur anyway.

Si xx

[Paul Monk]

In those early days I used to think Damon was a Brett wannabe!

[SiHart]

It's possible... he stole Brett's girlfriend after all. Still Damon was the prettier one of the two, well IMO anyway.

Si xx

[Dave Lewis]

I always preferred Blur anyway.

Si xx

Oddly, I managed to alternate liking them both for a long time because they never released albums concurrently. I liked Blur from their first single (still got the "cassingle"), but never bought Leisure (until later). I didn't like Popscene but it was okay because The Drowners came out. I loved all the early Suede singles but never bought the album (until later). Then came For Tomorrow and Modern Life Is Rubbish, and it was all brilliant. I didn't like Stay Together but it was okay because shortly afterwards came Girls And Boys and Parklife. Then came We Are The Pigs and Dog Man Star. Then came a couple of years of alternate worshipping at the temple of the Gallagher brothers, and things were never the same afterwards.

Blur were more consistently good over the course of their career, but Suede's best moments attained heights of fantastic-ness that Blur struggled to achieve.