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Rating: The debut album by Suede, four elegant lads from London featuring Brett Anderson, a mix of Dorian Gray and James Dean, true pop icon of the nineties, and Bernard Butler, a guitarist of undeniable talent, anticipates the glories of Britpop: released in 1993, it precedes Blur's Parklife and Oasis's Definitely Maybe by a year. While these latter two bands give rise to a rivalry that will guarantee them covers and publicity, Suede, after being The Next Big Thing for a moment, will continue on their unique path, immune to the musical trends of the time, with their ups and downs and line-up changes (the hardest blow being Butler's departure in 1994) until their recent disbandment.
But let's go back to the album, which impresses right from the cover: two women, or perhaps two men, or maybe simply a man and a woman, kiss passionately, revealing what will be the muses inspiring not only the album but the entire artistic life of the band: passion and ambiguity. Suede opens with a breathtaking one-two punch: "So Young," whose presence partly justifies the four stars awarded to the album, amazes me with each listen for its poignant beauty; Brett Anderson's voice evokes freedom and, for some reason, makes me think of certain English romantic poets... Then comes the glam of "Animal Nitrate," and it almost feels like hearing Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, perhaps the only discernible influence in a work that shines with its own light. The rest of the album is still up to par, swinging between the psychedelic sweetness of "She's Not Dead" and "Sleeping Pills" and the ambiguous (read the lyrics to believe it) carefree nature of "The Drowners" and "Metal Mickey." There are some minor missteps: particularly, "Moving" and "Animal Lover" do not fully convince. Suede closes with "The Next Life": a piano and Anderson's voice narrating, in a melodramatic crescendo, how wonderful it would be to escape away, maybe to Worthing, maybe to sell ice cream...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 So Young (03:38)
She can start to walk out if she wants
Because we're young
Because we're gone
We'll take the tide's electric mind
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
We're so young and so gone
Let's chase the dragon, oh
Because we're young
Because we're gone
We'll scare the skies with tigers eyes
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
We're so young and so gone
Let's chase the dragon, oh
Let's chase the dragon from our home
High in the city, where the skyline stained the snow, I fell for a servant who kept me on the boil
We're so young and so gone
Let's chase the dragon from our home
02 Animal Nitrate (03:27)
Like his dad you know that he's had
animal nitrate in mind
Oh in your council home he jumped on your bones
now you're taking it time after time
Oh it turns you on, on, now he has gone
Oh what turns you on, on, now your animal's gone?
Well he said he'd show you his bed
and the delights of the chemical smile
So in your broken home he broke all your bones
and now you're taking it time after time
Oh it turns you on, on, now he has gone
Oh what turns you on, on, now your animal's gone?
What does it take to turn you on, on
now he has gone?
now you're over 21?
now your animal's gone?
...Animal, he was animal, an animal...
04 Moving (02:50)
shame on me well I had the beast you see
and if he can take it I can take him home with me
shame on her she's a lovely little number
and when we go lassoing you get lassoed, all of you
If you can take it, I can take it
And we're moving, so moving, so we are a boy, we are a girl
so moving, so moving...
shame on the girl, she's got a big black dog in her
and while tough kids sing about tough kids she just skins the world
we'll never never play the harp, and we'll stick like sick on the stars
and if you can take it I can take these stones from my heart
if you can take it, I can take it
and we're moving, so moving, so we are a boy we are a girl
so moving, so moving....
If you can take it, I can take it, all of me
If you can take it, I can take it all
If you can take it, I can take it, all of me
If you can take it, I can take it all!
05 Pantomime Horse (05:49)
I was born as a pantomine horse
ugly as the sun when he falls to the floor
I was cut from the wreckage one day
this is what I get for being that way
Well did you ever, did you ever go round with them?
Well did you ever, did you ever go round the bend?
I was conned by a circus hand
Tragic as the son of a superman
"I would die for the stars" she said
This is what I get for my beautiful head
Well did you ever, did you ever go round with them?
well did you ever, did you ever go round the bend?
...ever tired it that way, have you ever tried it that way?
06 The Drowners (04:10)
Wont someone give me a gun?
Oh, well it's for my brother
Well he writes the line
Wrote right down my spine
It says 'Oh, do you believe in love there?'
So, slow down
Slow down
You're taking me over
And so, we drown
Sir, we drown
Stop taking me over
Wont someone give me some fun?
As the skin flies all around us
We kiss in his room to a popular tune
Oh, real drowners
So, slow down
Slow down
You're taking me over
And so, we drown
Sir, we drown
Stop taking me over
07 Sleeping Pills (03:50)
Angel, don't take those sleeping pills, you don't need them
Though it's just time they kill
Angel, give me your sleeping pills, you don't need them
Give me the time they kill
You're a water sign, I'm an air sign
Gone gone to Valium, can you get me some?
You're a water sign, and I'm an air sign
Too Siamese to catch the leaves from those trees
Angel, don't take those sleeping pills, you don't need them
though it's just time they kill
you're a water sign, I"m an air sign
Pumped up with Valium, could you get me some?
You're a water sign, I'm an air sign
With sweet F.A. to do today, with sweet F.A. to do today...
...Angel, don't take those sleeping pills
09 Metal Mickey (03:27)
Well she's show showing it off then
the glitter in her lovely eyes
show show showing it off then
and all the people shake their money in time
She sells heart, she sells meat
oh dad, she's driving me mad, come see
We shake shake shake to the trumpet
and through the slippery city we ride
skyline swine on the circuit
where all the people shake their money in time
She sells heart, she sells meat
oh dad, she's driving me mad, come see...
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