Customer Reviews

Singles

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the 70s it was Bowie. In the 80s it was The Smiths. In the 90s it was Suede. For anyone who believes the most compelling and enjoyable rock music comes from Britian than this disk is a must. Of the 21 tracks 13 are great. Yes there are 3 or 4 embarassingly bad songs on the disk but how often do you find 2 great songs, much less 13 on a single disk?

Suede IS Britpop. Merging melody, metrosexuality, and and nifty guitar work Suede is a band with infectious music. "Singles" will give a newbie a good intro to the band. Hopefully it will motivate you to explore the individual disks. There are so many wonderful songs here that to pick out 2 or 3 favorites is impossible. Suede has been compared to a Morrissey-Bowie hybrid. I'm not sure that is correct. Suede's lyrics are too superficial to compare to Morrissey and Brett Anderson's vocals are not as Cockney as early Bowie. But Suede is the British torch bearer of the 90s. If you had to choose only one Britpop disc "Singles' would be it.

Suede's sound is quite diverse. There are instances of power pop, metal, soft ballads, and just plain camp. Suede was the response and antidote to the boring and languid Grunge. Blur, Oasis, Catatonia, etc... followed but never quite measured up. "Singles" shows why.

Suede epitomizes the glam-pop single. Their career began with three devastating hits - "The Drowners," "Animal Nitrate" and "Metal Mickey," each of which has mysterious, dreamy lyrics and Bernard Butler's brilliant guitar lines driving the hooks home. These songs epitomized fey teenage romance for all ages. "Stay Together," their not-on-any-album masterpiece, is another melody true enough to convince half the world's songwriters to give it up and take up needlepoint. Its lyrics are perfect Suede, with that element of the sinister built in - "There's a time bomb in the high rise"... "We will dance in the poison rain"... There's always something perverse and twisted in Brett Anderson's lyrics. Noel Gallagher even admitted to a journalist - "I write okay lyrics, but I'm not Brett Anderson." Suede's post-Butler career has been better than anyone could expect although never as peerless as their early work - the first two albums and the b-sides collection. This is a collection of stunning pop songs from Britpop's greatest singles band.

Wow!!! My only introduction to Suede came from a few listens of their first album, which in its own respect was outstanding, but I was unaware of how well they matured as a band. Most debut bands follow up with mediocre, disappointing albums and songs. However, Suede's songs seem to get better and better with time.

Suede's music is gritty and hard without abandoning the hooks that make their songs catchy. Brett Anderson's voice is snarly and snide but not devoid of melody or mellifluence. "The Wild Ones" is a great example of this. I bought this album and have listened to it non-stop. Suede meets and even surpasses the fine albums and songs of other great British bands like Oasis, Pulp, and Blur. If you like any one of those, you will most definitely like Suede. Pick this album up if you are unfamiliar with them.

I love Suede (The London Suede) for there hooky, pop style that is still edgy and REAL.

If you have not heard Suede and like Britpop get ready for your new favorite album.

FYI. I did notice that the vocals for the song 'Trash' have been changed from the original. It's cool cause it's a bit different though.

If you don't own a single Suede disc, this can be a great place to start. If you're like me, and own them all, you might think you don't need this disc, but you would be wrong! I notice that the version of "Trash" from this disc has a very different vocal of Brett from "Coming Up". I can't put my finger on it, but it almost sounds like a copy cat of Brett, or maybe Brett had been out at the pub and had one too many. Otherwise, it sounds the same.

If you have the albums already, this collection sort of bounces the hits around from album to album. In other words, they didn't go from beginning to end. It might work for the disc, and you, but to me, it would have been a little better programmed at the time the single was released in chronilogical order. (Much less sloppy this way). But no matter. The hits are here.

If you love this disc, you then must hunt down the self titled, DMStar, Coming Up, SFLullabyes, Head Music, and then decide if you'll take the plunge into New Morning. I own them all, and I thought Blur couldn't be beat. Suede proved me wrong once I got over the fact that they were britpop's underdogs and deserved a listen. They transcended britpop into their own sound that the copycats will hopefully copy for decades. I don't see why Suede can't reform tommorrow, but that's up to Brett. But Singles is a good final goodbye and hello to those new to them.

When the "Singles" was released in late 2003, it was more or less in the air that it could very well be the end of "Suede". The latest album "A New Morning" was a commercial disappointment, and musically the album probably was not quite what Suede fans had hoped for. Furthermore, why publish a compilation album at this particular time?

Nevertheless, this is a beautiful collection of fine singles. The group's latest single "Attitude" and "Love the Way You Love" are released here on album for the first time. Without of being really weak, both numbers show, however, that Suede had begun having trouble coming up with new quality material, and the decision to go their separate ways appear reasonable.

All the group's 20 singles are included, and this is really a nice streak of cathcy pop hits. The earliest songs from the group's first three albums also show the Suede as original and innovative.

It is in itself impressive that the group's third album "Coming Up" delivered no less than five top twenty hits.

My personal favorites are "Animal Nitrate" , "Metal Mickey" and "We Are the Pigs" from Bernard Butler line-up, and "Everything Will Flow" and all five singles from "Coming Up" from the later incarnations of the band.

Exciting if the new reformed Suede can follow up on this fine legacy of the past.

An excellent compilation of Suede's singles. Great for Suede fans and for people who want to become familiar with the band.

For those wanting to understand what does "britpop" means, this would be their instructions manual - a great place to start. The best career portrait of a band that departed too soon.

For the commited Suede fans, you won't find here anything you already have on your collections, except from a couple tweaks on the sounds (mainly vocals) of a few songs.

Worthy for new ones and old ones anyway!!!

Suede are an attitude-driven, neo-rock outfit. They gained a lot of success in the 90's with their snappy melodies and the lead singer's distinct vocals. Their biggest hits are the tasty `The Beautiful Ones' and the shrewdly put-together `Trash.' But they also have other distinct tracks like `Filmstar' and the awkwardly exciting `She's In Fashion.'
Their recent material, like the lacking `Positivity,' are less-listenable than their previous victories. However, this collection chronicles the many dives and turns Britrock was taking to find its identity. Recommended only to people who have an appreciation for anti-grunge rock fans and admirers.