Customer Reviews

Friends & Lovers

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bernard Butler is easily one of the finest songwriter/arrangers/producers working in rock music. The breadth and depth of his musical vocabulary is astounding (from the stomping-riffery of Suede's "The Drowners" to the soaring pop-soul of McAlmont & Butler's "Yes" to the Nick Drake-ish intimacy of "You Light The Fire" on his first solo album "People Move On").

"Friends and Lovers" replaces the lush, string-drenched sound of "People Move On" with louder, riff-based arrangements. The endearing "just discovered my voice" quality of his singing on "People Move On" is gone, replaced with a confidence that he no doubt gained by touring his last album. Listen to the the sample of "I'd Do It Again If I Could" to hear what I mean. His melodies, both instrumental and vocal, put him in a league above and beyond that of other modern guitar driven rock (ex. Wallflowers, Counting Crows, Matchbox 20 etc). I defy any of those bands to come up with a song as epic and exuberant as "Cocoon."

Obviously, I'm a fan. There is nothing on modern rock radio that comes close to what he does.

If you liked "You Just Know," "A Change of Heart," "Autograph," or "When You Grow," from BB's first album, you'll like this.

Alright, he's matched the brilliance of his first release with this one. If he keeps up this sort of quality output, he's going to attract a lot of attention from fanatic fans like myself who demand rich melody and eloquent playing in new cutting edge retro rock and roll music. Heard Johnny Marr is releasing his first true solo record, 13 years after the Smiths broke up. Love your style, Johhny, it doesn't get much better than your work with the Smiths. But Bernard's set two solo album benchmarks you'll have to break a serious sweat to match. The "New Music Guitar Wunderkind" mantle is no longer yours alone. Bernard's legit. He's no knockoff trudging in anyone's footsteps--he's blazing a brilliant trail that's all his own.

Ok, obviosly this CD is not considered all the great by many people, as one might surmise from the price that it is available for used. I'll admit that after I had owned if for about a year or so I was ready to sell it as well. But I didn't, and now it has really grown on me. This CD has a unique overall feel to it that I find fascinating. The songs are actually of fairly high quality too, though not many of them are as immediatly catchy as the singles from "People Move On". For example, I probably listend to this CD 15 times before I started to even like "Smile" at all, but now I really like it. My favorite track is probably "No Easy Way Out". Now I am really wishing that this album had been more popular so that Bernard would have followed it up with a third solo album (I really don't care for his collaboration with McAlmont). Perhaps he still will someday. In the meantime, this is definitely worth checking out.

i read a lot about bernard in music magazines saying his influence to Suede, his amazing guitar works, his departure of the band and his first solo effort-"people moving on". out of curiousity, i searched for the album but couldnt find it in my place. then came this second album which i easily found in a record store. i bought it, gave it a few spin. it is a good album with rich music experience and the quality of music instruments performed are excellent.

This is Bernard Butler's second solo album and in my opinion, a more well-rounded and overall stronger effort. The songwriting, production, and playing are all stronger on here. Some of the best songs are Friends and Lovers, I'd Do it Again if I Could, Coccoon, You Must Go On, and Has Your Mind Gone Away. I really like this album, and if you liked his first album "People Move On", or the band he used to be in, Suede, you should check this out.

I really wanted to love this album, but I'm stuck just liking it. Some of the songs are pretty catchy and the guitar work is ace, naturally. But most of the songs never really catch fire and I still cannot get past how uninspiring his singing is. Sadly, his lyrics are still too reliant on cliches and don't really add up to much.

So another mixed bag/less than fully satisifying effort from Bernard. Which is a real shame, actually, considering how brilliant his work with Suede was.

i read a lot about bernard in music magazines saying his influence to Suede, his amazing guitar works, his departure of the band and his first solo effort-"people moving on". out of curiousity, i searched for the album but couldnt find it in my place. then came this second album which i easily found in a record store. i bought it, gave it a few spin. it is a good album with rich music experience and the quality of music instruments performed are excellent.

Solo album from former guitarist from The Suedes. Reminiscent of early 70's glam rock, especially T Rex.

I was very excited to listen to this CD because of my love for his first CD "People Move On." After many listens, I could never get into it and I had to give it to my friend who did like it more than me. In my opinion, there is no need to purchase this CD. I suggest making sure "People Move On" is in your collection and Suede's "Dog Man Star." The latter was co-written by Butler before he left Suede. Butler is without doubt, one of the top guitarist out there right now. Unfortuantely, "Friends and Lovers" shows that his songwriting skills are not at the same level.