Suede - Dog Man Star Live 2lp

http://a-different-place.co.uk/?p=1835#sthash.gPmIgfoB.dpbs

Just saw this now. I'm sure prices are gonna be crazy ala REM's unplugged release last year. The thing is, REM's unplugged boxed set was eventually released into 2 separate versions which were more affordable. This Suede RSD release is pretty much a straightforward 2 LP record. Here's hoping prices don't get insanely bloated by the time these reach eBay.

 

This album had a typical RSD career, prices between £65 & 70 on the weekend, suddenly "Buy Now" copies for £42 pop up. Not that expensive. A store round here still has copies. Did anyone pick this up? Is it worthwhile? Good versions/ performances? Not the biggest fan of live albums but I wonder how "Dog Man Star" sounds live...

 

It sounds pretty awesome, IMO. Bought 2 copies from ebay, £46 and £50 I think.

Are you saying stores were charging more than that on the day? The only price I saw was Rough Trade, who appeared to be selling it at £30.

 

I'd love to see this get a release on CD but I'm not holding out much hope. Not being a vinyl guy, this is exactly why so much of RSD leaves me cold. However, if was released on CD (maybe as a box set with the other full album live sets they did around the same time, hint hint), I'd be all in.

 

I gave my copy to a friend because I've got so much Suede stuff already. And I definitely can't keep everything.

Prices were around 40€ in German stores but the album went for more on the RSD weekend online.

 

Now I feel bad for passing on the copy I saw because it was $38. I just didn't see that there would be much added value to a live version compared to the original.

 

Grabbed mine for $45 but haven't been able to listen, yet. Can't wait, though...I just love them.

 

Got tickets for their Bexhill show on 25th June. Haven't seen them since the DMS tour 20 years ago...this time, I'm taking my 16 yr old son. It will be his 1st gig, Suede are his fav active band, and it will be a surprise, just after his exams end. I'll probbly just tell him we're going to the seaside for the day .

 

This wasn't from when they did a few albums in their entirety (2003 & 2011) this is a one off gig for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall 2014.

I have to say I think this LP is great. I love some of the new arrangements. i.e. letting Mat & Simon join in a bit on Daddy's Speeding, the extra guitar & drums on Still Life etc. The Power sounds absolutely lush with the live strings.

The whole album is full of energy which I think lacks a bit on the original LP, probably due to the circumstances they were recorded in.

To my ears this has a strange the-album-is-finally-completed feel to it much like Brian Wilson's SMiLE many years later did too.

I still think there's gonna be some kind of CD/DVD package out later in the year featuring the whole show (something similar to the 2010 TCT show I reckon). At least, I really hope so as I really want to hear the full live Stay Together with strings that they did that night too.

 

OK.... you made me REBUY this and... you are not wrong. Even though I'm not too keen on live albums and in theory this shouldn't be good but... great versions indeed. These versions have energy and blood but also atmosphere and detail. Amazing how they pulled this off. A fantastic alternative to the studio album. If you like Suede this is highly recommended!

 

What's really bizarre is how effordless and ably Oakes replicate's Butler's multilayered guitar parts. Nothing here sounds fake or "wrong". I just can't help but wonder how Butler himself would play these songs today. But we all know that ain't going to happen. Anyway: This album works surprisingly well and is far from cheap nostalgia. Can we please have a new studio album now???

 

...... right now this is my go-to-version of "Dog Man Star". It obviously can't replace the 1994 original but it has a fantastic atmosphere and great energy. What I thought was typical RSD fan only fare has turned into one of my favourite releases this Record Store Day. Not sure what to make of the fact that Suede can preform this album like it was 1994 all over again but then again I would have HATED new arrangements. Huuuuuge surprise

 

I love Suede.

 

Then get the album if you don't have already

 

There is one slightly new arrangement, compared to the released studio version.

 

Would love to. Low on my priorities list, though. Still don't have "Coming Up" on vinyl.

 

Yes but if you played this recording to anybody who has never heard it before they would have a hard time telling what year this is from. Definitely doesn't sound like the Stones playing "Sticky Fingers" twenty years later. Brett's voice is really amazing...

 

I had another listen to this the other night, and it's a very good rendition of an album I'd always found terribly over-rated.* If you like the original, then it's well worth seeking out. Turns out that the best Suede covers band is. . . Suede!


* I really missed the pop drive of my favourite songs from the first album era like 'The Drowners' and 'Metal Mickey', and for an album so heavy on ballads there was nothing on Dog Man Star that matched up for me to 'My Insatiable One' or 'To the Birds' (okay, I admit that that passable first album is basically an appendage to the band's dazzling first single). So the album was all downhill from the fine Bowie pastiche of 'Introducing the Band'. Until it hit 'The Power', after which it was all uphill, but only because 'The Power' is perhaps the most godawful song I've ever listened to more than once (and 'Still Life' was the second-best song on the album).

 

Interesting perspective. "Coming Up" must have come in handy then with it's focus on "pop drive". I love the debut and it's singles but I've always thought "Dog Man Star" was a better, more coherent album. I still think of it as Suede's absolute peak. It was a bit downhill from there...

 

I've only really liked the band spottily: none of the albums manage to drag their way up to greatness for me, but they released some terrific singles (and b-sides). I thought Coming Up had the right idea but was somewhat tune-deficient, and Head Music was an improvement, with a handful of great pop songs, even if the album as a whole is still patchy. I don't even remember what the one that came after that was called, but it was horrible.

 

It's still called 'A New Morning', and after pretty much ignoring it since I grudgingly bought it in 2005, I've played it a lot recently.

Not sure what I disliked about it so much back then - I still hate 'Lonely Girls', though - because it's a great collection of songs, and is the equal of anything they've done since DMS, IMO.

 

That's currently the only Suede album I don't own on vinyl and haven't played in ages. Brett Anderson sounding like Liam Gallagher - of all people - in places did somewhat wrongfoot me. Maybe I should give it another try....

 

I'd agree with you on this. I love the first 2 albums and DMS was the peak for me too. It's interesting to note that DMS went largely unnoticed in comparison to all the hype that surrounded their debut LP, and yet it's a more coherent body of work imho.

 

Suede's singles have been terrific indeed, especially the b-sides. I like "Coming Up" and "Head Music" but both are a bit patchy. The latter's title is an especially bad pun. Even for a German

 

Well... there was some hype around "DMS" but maybe the album was just to much of a downer for the casual listener. "Coming Up" corrected all that