The 17 Series: Suede

 










The 17 Series: Suede (Glen)

I would like to state a few songs that I wanted to include beyond the 17 limit, that y'all can explore later..


My Heroine 
So young 
Barriers
Daddy’s speeding 
Elephant man
We are the Pigs 
Crack in the Union Jack 
My Dark Star “she will come from India with love in her eyes”
and a couple I already played in my past DJ sets (Indian Strings, HiFi)

Outside the stunning songwriting and guitar work, Suede's music is soaked in Brit culture,operatic flash and theatricality and seems to be an homage to Bauhaus, Bowie, mott the hoople and Oscar Wilde.

Almost every album has a different theme, in the way that the 'Stones use a rock base and play with styles around that. Suede keeps their base in glam and plays with styles / themes around that anchor. Also, like the 'Stones they switched guitarists early in their career to their further success. Without a death though, lol.

And themes of death, car crashes, chaos, fire, the outcast blues and the ever-present clash of English Royal pompous values vs trashy peasantry pulse here and there, even the most subtle tracks of their catalogue. 

My favorite album is Head Music ( also ironically voted one of the worst album covers of the year ) followed very closely by Coming Up.  My first introduction was with the creepy Animal Nitrate back in the MTV days - coming across like a mad sweaty, drugged out carousel ride of imps and pigs.

On this note, there seems to be four career incarnations of suede ..  1. first two albums with guitarist Bernard Butler. (hmmm those Butlers seem to be musically inclined eh, Richard?) and 2. the next three albums with the replacement guitarist Richard Oakes who was only 17 years old.. he went on to co-write many songs as well. 3. A New Morning album (the  song Positivity  it’s so beautiful and describes their first recorded album without drug influence and based on nature) 4. Bloodsports ( wonderful album that I hated at first but then grew on me to the point of obsession), Night Thoughts (critically successful) and 2018’s The Blue Hour [ if anyone has this one please hook me up thanks ] which I've yet to explore. 
 
The last song in this 17 list is the epic (New Morning era) Stay Together .. which haunted me, as it may you.. see if you can guess what is actually making those eerie sounds at the end. 

*I recommend acquiring the entire catalog at the highest audio quality possible (exception the first album) as their production level is outstanding.

In summary and in the words of one of the song titles.. kick back, enjoy the ride and "everything will flow"...

Song List:

01 TRASH
2 The Wild Ones
3 Animal Nitrate
4 Can_t Get Enough
5 She_s in Fashion
6 THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN US
7 Everything Will Flow [Rollo_s Vocal Mix]
8 BEAUTIFUL ONES
9 SHE
10 Savoir Faire
11 BY THE SEA
12  The Power
13  For The Strangers
14 Positivity
15 FILMSTAR
16 Bored
17 Stay Together

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