Suede - Dog Man Star (1994) (1 Viewer)

pete

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3.75 star(s) Rating: 3.75/5 4 Votes
Title: Dog Man Star
Artist: Suede
Released: 1994

Tracks:
1 - Introducing the Band - 2:38
2 - We Are the Pigs - 4:19
3 - Heroine - 3:22
4 - The Wild Ones - 4:50
5 - Daddy's Speeding - 5:22
6 - The Power - 4:31
7 - New Generation - 4:37
8 - This Hollywood Life - 3:50
9 - The 2 of Us - 5:45
10 - Black or Blue - 3:48
11 - The Asphalt World - 9:25
12 - Still Life - 5:23
13 - Modern Boys - 4:49

Overview:
Dog Man Star is the second album by English alternative rock band Suede, released in October 1994 on Nude Records. It was the last Suede album to feature guitarist Bernard Butler, due to growing tensions between Butler and singer Brett Anderson ending with Butler leaving the band before the album was completed. Dog Man Star is more downbeat than their debut and chronicles Suede as they parted from the "Britpop pack".
Although it did not sell on the same scale as their chart-topping debut Suede (1993), Dog Man Star reached number three on the UK Albums Chart. Released to an enthusiastic critical reception, it is considered by many to be Suede's masterpiece.
In early 1994, when Suede were about to release the standalone single "Stay Together"-their highest charting single, which reached number three on the UK Singles Chart-the morale within the group was at an all time low. Butler's father had died just as the band were about to begin their second American tour. The first week of the tour was cancelled, and Suede flew back to London from New York. When the tour did resume, Butler distanced himself from the rest of the band far more than before. Recently bereaved and engaged, according to Butler, "they got really resentful of the fact that they were on tour with someone who didn't want to party". He even travelled separately, either alone, by taxi, or on the tour bus of support act The Cranberries. Then in Atlanta, Suede suffered the ignominy of having to open for The Cranberries, who'd been given a friendlier reception than the headliners and received the support from MTV as well. By New York they'd had enough and the last few dates were cancelled. According to drummer Simon Gilbert, Butler was becoming unworkable and intolerable, and the band could not function together any longer.
To record Suede's next album Anderson moved to Highgate, and began to write lyrics influenced by heavy drugs while living in a secluded Victorian mansion. "I deliberately isolated myself, that was the idea," Anderson later explained. The album was later described by one journalist as "the most pompous, overblown British rock record of the decade", which Anderson puts down to his use of psychedelic drugs. "I was doing an awful lot of acid at the time, and I think it was this that gave us the confidence to push boundaries." Anderson has said that he thrived on the surreal environment he lived in at the time; next door were a sect known as the Mennonites, who would often sing hymns during Anderson's drug binges.
 
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It's excellent from start to finish. I'm not 100% sure about Introducing The Band. I like it but We Are The Pigs would really have opened the album with a kick. Then again, it also works as track 2 so it's fine. Top marks.
 
It was the top voted yes, so the NOMINATION DISCUSSION thread has been closed and an actual ALBUM CLUB thread has been started.
 
it’s from a time when an album could still be released in the expectation that it could be a SOCIAL EVENT that would DISTIL THE ZEITGEIST in a GLOWING JEWEL of CULTURAL RELEVANCE. that doesn’t really happen to albums anymore. every band was a potential sally-rooney-novel-cultural-equivalent in 1994.
 
it’s from a time when an album could still be released in the expectation that it could be a SOCIAL EVENT that would DISTIL THE ZEITGEIST in a GLOWING JEWEL of CULTURAL RELEVANCE. that doesn’t really happen to albums anymore. every band was a potential sally-rooney-novel-cultural-equivalent in 1994.

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Suede's bassist pulling some seriously Sleeperbloke Britpop moves in this performance, not really the wasted rock god thing Brett is going for

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I was just a bit too young in 1994 to be into music so i'd never listened to this album before, i'm enjoying it quite a bit I have to say. I like the hyper emotional second side.
 
Okay, have to admit I'm a Suede fan. I have all the albums. I know this one inside out, but had a quick refresher listen.

(Apologies for the inevitable typos)


1 - Introducing the Band - 2:38
A droning, lo-fi bass & drum vamp. Nice towering guitar line over the top & Gothic, baritone multi tracked vocals. Everything soaked in reverb. I really like the lyrics. Yeah it’s a bit silly, but so what.
I remember my brother thinking the “die numb” Indian style vocal loop was really weird. I thought it was cool.


2 - We Are the Pigs - 4:19
Tasty intro part. Great song with cool guitars throughout. Buzzy, scratchy, & pretty rough when you listen close. The acoustic underpinning everything. One of my favourite guitar players in his prime. IMHO once he left Suede he stopped being an interesting guitarist. Like his main inspiration Johnny Marr he was young & headstrong when he left the band. He didn’t realise what he was good at was working with a unique singer & lyricist. Although I’d say Brett Anderson is way easier to deal with than Morrissey. Bit of a pagan vibe with the kids singing at the fade. Excellent.


3 - Heroine - 3:22
I love the intro to this. Two snare hits & straight into the verse with a line from Lord Byron. Love the guitars on this. That arpeggiated guitar part in the verse & the wobbly modulation effect. Love that sound. That big “whomp” change at 01.15 into the bridge. Deadly. Kudos to Mr Osman on the bass. Probably my favourite song on the album.


4 - The Wild Ones - 4:50
Great song & some of Bernard Butler’s best guitar playing. It could work as an instrumental.
Soulful & melodic, with a lovely edge of break up guitar sound. Rickety sounding acoustic with loads of character at the intro & a huge sounding vocal. Great song.


5 - Daddy's Speeding - 5:22
Love this. Melodramatic & pretentious. Great lyrics. The piano is very soundtrack-esque. It really adds tension. There’s a really cool keyboard stab behind the “ Oh oh’s” Lovely big explosion at the end to release all that build up. Tinkling piano as the debris falls from the sky in slow motion. In the distance there’s some sloppy blues guitar being played in a cave. No sign of sophomore slump yet.


6 - The Power - 4:31
The first weak track on the album. I like the verses. The chorus is just okay. Some nice bass parts. I think this was completed by a session guitarist as BB had left the band. Over all Its alright…ish, but should have been a b side. It has an annoying, lazy la, la la la part at the outro which plagued a lot of these bands at the time. Everyone blatantly trying to be anthemic, so the crowd could sing along. It’s lame. The worst offender being all around the world by oasis.


7 - New Generation - 4:37
Very obviously a single (it was) Great stomping intro. Love the guitars. The brass parts give it a 60’s R&B feel. I love BBs bigsby mangled guitar riff during the chorus. Cool outro guitar part. The outro is a variation of the intro. Really good song.


8 - This Hollywood Life - 3:50
Some saucy sax, tons of reverb & a great high gain guitar sound on the intro. I love the little bigsby rattle before the drums kick in. Nice bassline from Matt Osman, an underrated bass player. Brett really mincing it up. There’s loads of cool, loud gritty guitars. The song is good.... but is carried along by the momentum.


9 - The 2 of Us - 5:45
Nice piano part. Really evocative. I like the change into the chorus & the abstract jazzy solo.
Its very much set in Suede world. The two star crossed lovers living in urban bohemian squalor. In the gutter but looking at the stars & all that. They take drugs but have perfect pale skin & look like eastern European models. Photogenic junkies. How come I never see junkies who look like that? Anyway it’s a good song. Another one I’ve grown to like.


10 - Black or Blue - 3:48
Another atmospheric ballad. It took me ages to like this one. Its very melodramatic. Very Scott Walker before I liked or even heard of Scott Walker. Actually this album was my SW stepping stone years later. Love that modulation effect on the guitar (chorus or rotary) The way he sings “I don’t care” makes you want to give him a slap. I think that was the problem I used to have with it. But I don’t mind it now. Maybe I actually grown up a bit since I was 19. Some cool instrumental touches. I like it.


11 - The Asphalt World - 9:25
Love this. Its sprawling and over the top. Very 70’s rock, Pink Floyd-esqe in parts. Supposedly it caused loads of arguments. Bernard Butler wanted it to last twice as long as it is. I love the rolling, splashing drums. There’s a cool breakdown part. Love the distorted Hammond stabs near the end.


12 - Still Life - 5:23
Some nice parts & well sung but, it just all gets too phantom of the opera for me (the musical, not the iron maiden song) I like the “into the night” refrain. The big string part is ridiculously pompous. It reminds of the theme to black beauty. A horse running through fields in slow motion. Not a song I would listen to much. Least favourite on the album.
 
Okay, have to admit I'm a Suede fan. I have all the albums. I know this one inside out, but had a quick refresher listen.

(Apologies for the inevitable typos)


1 - Introducing the Band - 2:38
A droning, lo-fi bass & drum vamp. Nice towering guitar line over the top & Gothic, baritone multi tracked vocals. Everything soaked in reverb. I really like the lyrics. Yeah it’s a bit silly, but so what.
I remember my brother thinking the “die numb” Indian style vocal loop was really weird. I thought it was cool.


2 - We Are the Pigs - 4:19
Tasty intro part. Great song with cool guitars throughout. Buzzy, scratchy, & pretty rough when you listen close. The acoustic underpinning everything. One of my favourite guitar players in his prime. IMHO once he left Suede he stopped being an interesting guitarist. Like his main inspiration Johnny Marr he was young & headstrong when he left the band. He didn’t realise what he was good at was working with a unique singer & lyricist. Although I’d say Brett Anderson is way easier to deal with than Morrissey. Bit of a pagan vibe with the kids singing at the fade. Excellent.


3 - Heroine - 3:22
I love the intro to this. Two snare hits & straight into the verse with a line from Lord Byron. Love the guitars on this. That arpeggiated guitar part in the verse & the wobbly modulation effect. Love that sound. That big “whomp” change at 01.15 into the bridge. Deadly. Kudos to Mr Osman on the bass. Probably my favourite song on the album.


4 - The Wild Ones - 4:50
Great song & some of Bernard Butler’s best guitar playing. It could work as an instrumental.
Soulful & melodic, with a lovely edge of break up guitar sound. Rickety sounding acoustic with loads of character at the intro & a huge sounding vocal. Great song.


5 - Daddy's Speeding - 5:22
Love this. Melodramatic & pretentious. Great lyrics. The piano is very soundtrack-esque. It really adds tension. There’s a really cool keyboard stab behind the “ Oh oh’s” Lovely big explosion at the end to release all that build up. Tinkling piano as the debris falls from the sky in slow motion. In the distance there’s some sloppy blues guitar being played in a cave. No sign of sophomore slump yet.


6 - The Power - 4:31
The first weak track on the album. I like the verses. The chorus is just okay. Some nice bass parts. I think this was completed by a session guitarist as BB had left the band. Over all Its alright…ish, but should have been a b side. It has an annoying, lazy la, la la la part at the outro which plagued a lot of these bands at the time. Everyone blatantly trying to be anthemic, so the crowd could sing along. It’s lame. The worst offender being all around the world by oasis.


7 - New Generation - 4:37
Very obviously a single (it was) Great stomping intro. Love the guitars. The brass parts give it a 60’s R&B feel. I love BBs bigsby mangled guitar riff during the chorus. Cool outro guitar part. The outro is a variation of the intro. Really good song.


8 - This Hollywood Life - 3:50
Some saucy sax, tons of reverb & a great high gain guitar sound on the intro. I love the little bigsby rattle before the drums kick in. Nice bassline from Matt Osman, an underrated bass player. Brett really mincing it up. There’s loads of cool, loud gritty guitars. The song is good.... but is carried along by the momentum.


9 - The 2 of Us - 5:45
Nice piano part. Really evocative. I like the change into the chorus & the abstract jazzy solo.
Its very much set in Suede world. The two star crossed lovers living in urban bohemian squalor. In the gutter but looking at the stars & all that. They take drugs but have perfect pale skin & look like eastern European models. Photogenic junkies. How come I never see junkies who look like that? Anyway it’s a good song. Another one I’ve grown to like.


10 - Black or Blue - 3:48
Another atmospheric ballad. It took me ages to like this one. Its very melodramatic. Very Scott Walker before I liked or even heard of Scott Walker. Actually this album was my SW stepping stone years later. Love that modulation effect on the guitar (chorus or rotary) The way he sings “I don’t care” makes you want to give him a slap. I think that was the problem I used to have with it. But I don’t mind it now. Maybe I actually grown up a bit since I was 19. Some cool instrumental touches. I like it.


11 - The Asphalt World - 9:25
Love this. Its sprawling and over the top. Very 70’s rock, Pink Floyd-esqe in parts. Supposedly it caused loads of arguments. Bernard Butler wanted it to last twice as long as it is. I love the rolling, splashing drums. There’s a cool breakdown part. Love the distorted Hammond stabs near the end.


12 - Still Life - 5:23
Some nice parts & well sung but, it just all gets too phantom of the opera for me (the musical, not the iron maiden song) I like the “into the night” refrain. The big string part is ridiculously pompous. It reminds of the theme to black beauty. A horse running through fields in slow motion. Not a song I would listen to much. Least favourite on the album.
Now I want to listen to it
 
OK. First listen. On speakers.I'm usually more Slade than Suede..but I'm here for this.
 
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