Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 20/10/2003
Label: Epic

If Suede's recent five-show run at the ICA was a career-resurrecting move then this 21-track compilation offers further evidence of why Melody Maker once proclaimed them 'The Best New Band In Britain'. Back in 1993, they were popularly perceived as inheritors to The Smith's hallowed crown. They were the antidote to grunge and the precursors of Britpop who literally arse-whipped the competition.

The eponymous Mercury-winning debut, represented here by 'Animal Nitrate', 'Metal Mickey', 'So Young' and 'The Drowners', was a glorious document of everything the band stood for. Sexed up (in the best possible way) it was sleaze in an Oxfam jacket - dominated by Butler's liquidly memorable guitar lines that weaved their way around Anderson's libidinous tongue. It was all so glam, effortless and easy that the soundbites literally dripped from Brett's lips - "I'm a bisexual man who never had a homosexual experience" anyone?

A decade on it's interesting to hear these songs again, especially in the context of Suede's later work. We know the master plan went awry - Butler leaving, his boots filled by the cherub-faced Richard Oakes, the thunder-stealing ascent of Blur and Oasis - but they fizzle with an effervescence and confidence that Suede rarely matched thereafter. Following Butler's departure it seems they underwent an identity crisis, the roots of which were even apparent in the 1994 single 'Stay Together'. It remains flabby and directionless with Anderson singing unconvincingly about dancing in the poison rain.

That said, the second album, 'Dog Man Star', had more than it's share of moments. Difficult comeback single 'We Are The Pigs' was uncompromising; 'The Wild Ones' their most successful ballad and 'New Generation' perhaps their finest song. Even when Oakes' began composing, in a style far less flamboyant than his predecessor, Suede still penned great singles. 'Beautiful Ones', 'She's In Fashion', and 'Trash' all deservedly sit here. The latter, with its "we're the litter in the breeze" clarion call, even becoming a badge of identity.

Unfortunately, too much of the rest just doesn't hit these heights. 'Film Star', 'Everything Will Flow' and 'Obsessions' sound tired and anonymous - the music consisting of one recycled riff as Anderson lurches onto autopilot. Presumably the move from Haywards Heath to a comfortable existence in Notting Hill has some effect on your writing. Where once he was begging you to take him up the Gary Glitter, Anderson progressed to 'Positivity' and it's allusions to singing birds and smiling faces.

New songs 'Attitude' and 'Love The Way You Love' show no great sign of emerging from this rut either. They're serviceable Suede singles but show little imagination. 'Attitude', in particular, sounds like The Sugababes. The remainder makes a frequently astounding collection but questions must remain about where they go from here - perhaps 'Singles' will offer breathing space and time for a rethink. A return to the beginning might well be in order before progressing further down their current path.

    by Adam Webb