RATING: ****˝
Electricity
Suede is: |
Suede
Head Music (1999)
Sony/Columbia
by Johann D'Souza
Suede is definitely one of the biggest Rock sensations to come out of the UK in recent years. Formed in 1989, their introduction to the music scene really left much to be desired - they couldn't get along with organizers, people mislooked their music and some gigs were just downright disastrous. But by 1992 they were described as the "best band in Britain" - this was after their release The Downers (just imagine if they wrote a song called "The Uppers").
The band is really very controversial in so many ways: they can sound so arrogant in one breath and yet mysteriously mesmerizing in the next. It's this particular reason that you want to get everything that they have recorded. I suppose a cult status has already ensued. Two of their previous hits "Metal Mickey" and "Animal Nitrate" cracked the Top 20 in the UK charts but never made it better than No.7 - but this was enough for them to garner support from a growing base of fans. In fact the band became so famous that it outstripped Depeche Mode (my favorite band) by a mile in 1993 and The Downers became the fastest growing album since Frankie goes to Hollywood.
This new album the fourth so far and is bound to take off and believe me it will be with a bang. The stats are not out as yet but my prediction is that it's going to break platinum. Their signature sound is all there but this time the album is more mature - even their dressing is a bit more slick. No doubt MTV has helped their ratings in Asia by making them the Artistes of the Month for September 1999 - and that does wonders for bands before they tour around.
They hit Malaysia and Singapore back in Sep/Oct 1999 and with their new electronic sound they made waves right from the start of the tour. This was definitely the Gig of the Year for Asia, unless you consider Alanis Morissette's Junkie Tour (the Singapore leg is reviewed here) and elsewhere if you ever get to watch anything good by the end of this Millennium. Suede has also had multiple songs up in the MTV top 2000 hits list for the Millennium - not bad for a band that has remained relatively quiet all these years.
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They have a huge following in Europe and Japan and is spreading all around Asia as well. Their record Dog Man Star broke all records and was even considered the "Album of the Decade". Coming up broke all boundaries and became the album that everyone was clamoring for - it entered the UK charts at #1. The album was packed with dynamite explosives with hits like "Trash" "Beautiful Ones" and "Saturday Night".