Suede Album-by-Album Discussion Thread

Everyone ready to move on to A New Morning in the next day or so? We can, of course, continue to talk about the previous albums!

 

OMG, that means I need to consciously listen to a CD for the first time in ages. So be it

Back in 2002 I had the vinyl preordered and then the release just got pushed back and back until it was finally cancelled. To this day I don't know what happened because a vinyl version did show up on my dealer's list and we speculated whether the 12" edition would also have a cd or rather a record on the cover.

That "A New Morning" ended up being the sole album by a - for lack of a better word - britpop major player not to receive a vinyl release (It was. Or was it??) spoke volumes. When it finally DID come out in that format more than ten years later I really couldn't be bothered. And that's all I can say about it until I have played and reevaluated it.

 

I like Head Music, but my interest trails off towards the end of album. Remember being slightly annoyed by "Electricity" when it was on the radio, but heck, it's a fantastic tune, so is "Can't Get Enough" and "She's In Fashion".

 

Are you counting A New Morning and "Another Morning" (the web-only alternative album unlocked when the user put the CD of A New Morning in their computer) as separate albums?

 

Before we go there into new millennium Suede, towards December '99 I bought my 3rd and 4th copies of Head Music: it came with another bonus CD, "European Tour 1999", I bought 2 copies. I think that's still a record for me, 4 copies of a new album within 9 months after release.

 

I used to feel the same way, that the album was front-loaded with all of the big singles and catchy songs. But over the years, I've realized the middle to end of the album (with the exception of "Elephant Man") is where the real riches lie. "Asbestos," "He's Gone," "Hi-Fi," "Down," "Indian Strings"...great tunes.

I hadn't even thought of that...I hadn't thought of the Another Morning album in ages. I wonder if it'll still work if I stick my CD in the computer?

 

Alright, here we go...

A New Morning



released September 30, 2002

track listing

Positivity*
Obsessions**
Lonely Girls+
Lost in TV++
Beautiful Loser+++
Streelife#
Astrogirl#
Untitled...Morning**
One Hit to the Body##
When the Rain Falls***
You Belong to Me/Oceans***

*Anderson/Oakes/Osman/Gilbert,Codling, **Anderson/Oakes, ***Anderson, +Anderson/Codling, ++Anderson/Osman, +++Anderson/Lee/Oakes, #Anderson/Lee, ##Anderson/Oakes/Codling

Brett Anderson - vocals
Richard Oakes - guitars
Mat Osman - bass guitar
Simon Gilbert - drums
Neil Codling - keyboards
Alex Lee - keyboards, guitar

SINGLES

Positivity



released September 16, 2002

B-sides

One Love+
Simon++
Superstar***
Cheap**
Colours*
Campfire Song++

*Anderson, **Anderson/Oakes, ***Anderson/Oakes/Osman/Gilbert/Codling/Lee, +Anderson/Osman/Oakes/Hoffer, ++Anderson/Codling

Obsessions



released November 18, 2002

B-sides

Cool Thing*
Instant Sunshine**
UFO***
Rainy Day Girl***
Hard Candy***
ABC Song+

*Anderson/Oakes/Osman, **Anderson/Codling, ***Anderson, +Anderson/Oakes/Osman/Gilbert/Lee

I'll chime in with my opinions after it's been up a bit, but let's go and get the discussion started...with this album, it should be a lively one!

 

It's amazing that this was virtually the same band that had delivered Coming Up just six years earlier. Who knew that Neil Codling would be so crucial to Suede's sound? They doubled down on the commercial route but the material feels trite and lazy and the band performs like they'd rather be somewhere else. I couldn't bear to listen to "Streetlife" more than once. Worse, Brett's voice was shot. And the market still demanded loads of extra material to fill multi-CD-and-DVD single formats, which the band was not up to the task of delivering. I read through this list of B-sides and can only remember two or three being especially memorable. I distinctly recall Love & Poison claimed that "Hard Candy" was the best Suede b-side or some such nonsense, with seemingly no irony.

The crude "polishing a turd" analogy is unfortunately apt here because the material was lacking yet Suede spent months and months in the studio working on it with multiple producers. And the artwork has got to be on the short list for worst on an album of all time. "Cheap"...and ghastly.

 

Funny, I remember this album getting a critical savaging when it came out, yet for me it's held up remarkably well. Sure, Brett's voice got pretty ragged at this time but I do like this album quite a bit. "Positivity" makes for a decent opener, "Lost In TV" is a really lovely song and the second half of the album ("Astrogirl" to "Oceans") is a pretty fine suite of Suede songs. Compared to the heights of their earlier albums it doesn't compare but I certainly play this way more often than Head Music.

As it turns out, this is the single album in my collection that I own the most copies of: 1) the original Japanese edition with the bonus tracks "Superstar" and "Simon", 2) the 2 disc UK limited edition with the 9 track "Live at Roskilde" bonus disc and 3) the 2011 2 CD/1DVD deluxe reissue. Like I said, I really do like this album!

The B-sides were definitely another matter, the only standouts in my opinion are "Instant Sunshine" and "Cheap," the rest are pretty disposable.

I dunno if I'm the only one but when I first saw the cover artwork when the album was initially announced, I assumed that they were going to have a cool graphic design package of a clear CD case and clear CD tray with the paint stroke splashed directly on the front of the CD case. I was very disappointed to see when the album was finally released that the image was just that, an image. I've wondered though if at some point that was the original intention of the graphic designer and they decided to forego it due to cost considerations. It certainly would have made for a unique CD package and one that would have beaten Kanye West's minimalist "Yeezus" CD graphic design to the punch by a good eleven years.

 

^what about "Simon?" I rate that as one of Suede's best B-sides, beautiful song. The rest are pretty dire, though..."Cheap" is decent...

the album is both half-baked and over-baked...they recorded a bunch with Tony Hoffer before dumping him and switching to Stephen Street. Alas, the magic Street worked with the Smiths and Blur was absent here, but mainly because of the material. "Obsessions" is a good rocker and I like "Lost in TV," "Beautiful Loser," "Astrogirl," "Untitled...Morning," and "Lonely Girls." The rest is middle-of-the-road...listenable and enjoyable, but bland. "Streetlife" is an embarrassment, one of the worst cases of Brett's lyrical self-parody and his well of ideas running dry. Musically, they sound pretty uninspired on this album and it showed on the subsequent tour. A pretty pathetic effort, and firmly at the bottom of the list when I rank Suede's albums.

 

The fascinating thing is how Brett hyped up this album in 2002 interviews, yet only a couple of years later he admitted that this is the one he regrets putting out.

The fact that I was forced to buy it on CD sucked. The artwork also sucked. The music delivers the kind of sonic wallpaper to clean your flat to. The whole album feels like meeting a friend who once was really crazy and now talks enthusiastically about his new washing machine.

From the outside it seems like Brett shut his psyche like a submarine for a period of roughly ten years (2002-2012) to get a grip on himself, heal some self inflicted wounds, make his peace with the past. All this talk about a more positive, mature Suede that surrounded "New Morning" was a red herring. Or wishful thinking.

 

After a revisit definitely my least favourite Suede album. Even (?) "Here Come The Tears" is better. Being a fan was hard during the 2002-12 period, talking to Brett - at least as a stranger - was hard as well but when "Bloodsports" came out everything made sense. Now that we know that 2002-12 was a period. And not an ending. I can do without Blur but Suede have to continue. Forever and ever

 

I don't think the LP is as bad as it's reputation. Definitely a drop in quality overall but it still has Astrogirl, Lost In TV and Oceans (why on earth did they hide that song at the end?!). The rest of the songs are pretty good, the only real clangers are Beautiful Loser and Streetlife IMHO.

Of the b-sides there's Simon. Which is absolutely one of the best Suede songs ever. I quite liked some of the others; Cheap, Campfire Song, Instant Sunshine & UFO being the better ones I think.

I also would lump the Singles stuff in with this era, I quite like Golden Gun, Attitude and Music Like Sex (bonus track from the deluxe edition).

But yeah, the loss of Codling obviously had a big impact on their mojo. It seems that Brett relied on Codling a lot even though he still had Richard Oakes available to him. I remember at the time Brett was really bigging up Alex Lee's contribution (saying he was the 'Johnny Marr of Strangelove' and suchlike), while totally ignoring the guitar genius he already had in the band. It's reassuring to hear Brett enthusing about Oakes a lot more in recent years. It's such a shame this LP didn't turn out so well because the idea of Suede and Stephen Street working together was such a tantalizing prospect.

 

I think releasing the limp and MOR-sounding "Positivity" as the lead-off single was a massive blunder, too. Pleasant enough song, but it's so un-Suede-like and must've been absolutely baffling for everyone who'd last heard Suede singing about smoking crack and housewives screwing teenaged neighborhood boys on Head Music. From that to the sunshiney "Positivity?" Jarring!

 

Thoroughly underrated. You can blame it on lots of factors (the Codling situation, or not choosing the spoken word/slap bass version of When The Rain Falls for example), but it really stands up for me- the idea of making the album a folk-electronic hybrid isn't very Suede, but it is a nice sound. The only real duffer for me is Positivity.

I got a lot more enjoyment out of the album replaying the alternate download version they gave away, despite the low bitrate. The B-sides I can take or leave.

On a side note, I'm indifferent about the contributions of Neil Codling vs Alex Lee. While Richard and Bernard are indispensable, I thought Alex Lee acquitted himself really well on this album, and it's a shame there's not really space for him in the current band.

 

On that, I totally agree. I've never gotten all of the Codling love, going back to the very beginning, and I can take or leave his contributions. And Alex Lee *has* been unfairly blamed for the failure of ANM by a lot of Suede fans (or at least he was at the time)...it's not *his* fault the band, and Brett in particular, were a spent creative force by that point.

 

I have nothing against Alex Lee. He was good in Strangelove and he was fine on ANM I just don't know why Brett seemed to put all his eggs in the Alex Lee basket as it where, rather than Richard Oakes.

I also thought Positivity was a fine single, I remember hearing it as an easter egg on the Lost In TV DVD and thinking "ooh, that's nice" I preferred this fresh approach to Obsessions the follow-up single which to me felt a bit too Suede-by-numbers.

 

I see what you're saying with Alex Lee. It's really weird because after that first flush of success writing with Richard on Coming Up, Brett seemed to do everything he could to get as far away as possible from that. He went gaga over Neil and wrote most of Head Music with him, and then likewise with Alex and Neil for ANM. Did Richard piss in Brett's corn flakes or something? To deserve being almost ostracized (to an extent) after CU seems pretty weird.

 

While I laughed at this, I must contend that there is better music to clean your flat to. The second sentence is about as pithy and dead-on a reading of this album as I've ever seen. Luckily, Brett didn't wear "normal" well and we have Bloodsports and Night Thoughts.

Yes, it was an incredibly weak single. They would have been better off releasing "Obsessions" or "Beautiful Loser" - but they bear some resemblances to "Trash" and "Beautiful Ones" so I can see them not wanting to run the risk of repeating themselves. I wish they had been adventurous enough to release "Lost In TV" as one of the singles. It was one of the cases where the musical change was successful, imo.

Indeed, none of my enmity towards the album is borne at Alex Lee. He was a classic case of "wrong place wrong time." He latched on to a rocket that was hanging weightless for a second before the drop.

Since Coming Up and Sci-Fi Lullabies were the first Suede albums I got, I was an Oakes booster from "go." The tail-off on the quality of the B-sides at the end of disc two of the latter was a warning sign. I was never "gaga" for Neil myself, but it speaks volumes that "Simon" was one of the highlights from the ANM era - and he provided some fine work for the latest two albums.

 

Neil absolutely contributed in a positive way to the most recent two albums. But Brett seemed to treat writing with him like he was the second coming of Bernard, and I just never got that.

 

I don't know what happened and why it happened, but somewhere in towards the end of 2000 and in 2001 I lost interest in Suede... and also Pulp for that matter... if I think of British bands I listened to (the underrated) Clearlake come to mind. And Idlewild. Other than that, it was all Bowie, Dylan, R.E.M. and (oddly) Eminem that I listened to.

Ok, I can guess what happened: I was sick of the drama, bitching and backstabbing inside the Suede circle of friends. For a long time, the "Simon" fanclub CD and Lost In TV DVD (a gift, wouldn't have bought it) would be the last additions to my Suede collection. By the time A New Morning came out, I had no interest. Not only would it be the first Suede album I didn't buy on release, I wouldn't hear it until 2009 or 2010 when I noticed a copy in my sister's CD collection, and curiosity got the best of me.

Maybe because I had almost a decade to let the record sink in, to let its reputation significantly lower my expectations, when I heard it I didn't think it was that bad. I quite like "Positivity" and "Obsessions". I love "Lonely Girls", and "Lost In TV" is quite nice. Someone earlier commented that A New Morning was worse than Oasis' worst at the time, but that's 3 more good songs than Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants or Heathen Chemistry. Add "Untitled... Morning" and "Oceans" (which I don't really see as part of the album, despite the reissue adding it to the tracklist), and you have an album with more good than bad. The worst Suede album, then, is still a 6/10 record.

The artwork is 1/10 though. If there's one thing I could change about anything in Suede's history I wouldn't keep Butler, I wouldn't add "My Insatiable One" to the first album, I wouldn't have them (temporarily) split up: I'd have some proper Suedesque artwork for A New Morning (and singles).

The singles I don't know that well. I have heard all the b-sides, but the only one I can actually remember is "Instant Sunshine" (which I love). I'll try to check these out again.

 

I got my vinyl copy of Head Music in the mail the other day and the download code was expired. Does anyone know if the downloads included with the vinyl reissues contained the b-sides,too, or was it just the album itself?

 

First time on forum (ironically on the band's nadir record) finally. Does anyone know the alternate tracklist Brett put down in the liner notes of the deluxe reissue of this album? From what I hear it was a solid improvement from the unfocused and tired record we got instead.

 

I'd say a lot of it has to do with his looks, not to down play his musical abilities.
He didn't exude personality, but you don't really need a personality when you've got the right bone structure.

 

The man has aged like wine, watching the track by track breakdown for Night Thoughts proved that haha.