Suede

I pick their debut, "Suede", for its longevity and consistency. This was the first album I had bought of the band, and I bought it blind, having never heard them before. Or is the correct team deaf?

When the guitars on the opening track "So young" kicked in, I thought "this sounds nice". Five seconds later, I was in shock. The vocals started. You have to appreciate that I had never heard Brett Anderson sing before, and its quite a shock when you hear his unique voice for the first time. I'll admit his voice is a very acquired taste. To avoid an album review cliche, I won't say it's the kind of voice you either love of hate. Instead I'll say that it's the kind of voice that it's possibly to simultaneously love and hate. Like many great performers (including Bob Dylan and Morrissey), Brett Anderson doesn't have what you would call a conventially good singing voice. However, when you combine his singing voice with the music and unique lyrics, it sounds nothing less than brilliant. Nobody else could sing these bizarre lyrics with such emotion.

So why do I choose that album as my favourite? The most common fan favourite is "Dog Man Star", but I sometimes find this album too ambitious for its own good. Sure it contains some classics like "We are the pigs", "The wild ones", "The power" and "The asphalt world", but it also contains "Black or blue" arguably the worst Suede song ever released, and easily the most pretentious. "Coming up" sounds like a greatest hits compilation, but lacks the longevity. "Head music" sounds great, but it has a few duds.

"Suede" is a fantastic, consistent collection of songs. From the catchy campness of opener "So young", to the superb glam rock of "Animal nitrate" and "Metal Mickey", to the powerful epics "Pantomime horse" and "Breakdown" - this is a music with blood pumping through its veins. And who can forget "The drowners", the first Suede single, and an instant classic.

Not only do Suede rock musically, but Brett Anderson is one of the most unique lyricists to come out of the 90's. Obviously influenced a lot by Morrissey, his lyrics range from obscure sexual imagery ("...ever tried it that way, have you ever tried it that way?"), to more obvious sexual imagery ("does your love only come, does your love only come, does he only come in a Volvo?"), to utter disgust ("I know you've been inside but what were you in for? animal lover, animal, animal lover?").

Suede are one of the best bands of the 90's. Listen to this album to hear where it all began.

So Young lights the blue touch paper in splendid fashion, the album's opening track ushering in a superb cocktail of frenzied Butler guitar playing and Brett's desperate falsetto in full flow. Animal Nitrate is another stomper, fulfilling Brett's ambition to see a song about dubious sexual practices reach the top ten. The real pearls on this album, though, are the slow ones: Sleeping Pills, Breakdown and She's Not Dead are gorgeously majestic tales of wasted youth and spiritual desolation.

While Dog Man Star can count some Suede classics among its number (The Wild Ones, The Asphalt World), it is the soundtrack of a band in crisis, and Bernard Butler departed before its release. Coming Up was a solid effort but not inspiring enough to really thrill. Head Music was disappointing, and could well mark the end of one of the great bands of the last decade. However, Suede, the debut album, is a powerful reminder of how great Suede the band once were and how great British music can still be.