Innovative British rockers Suede (aka London Suede) came to prominence in the early 1990’s. The immense critical acclaim came to a grinding and unfortunate halt when an ongoing feud between the songwriting team of guitarist Bernard Butler and vocalist Brett Anderson caused a major rift in the band and led to the departure of Butler immediately before the release of 1993’s Dog Man Star.
And while Dog Man Star is unquestionably brilliant, the music that followed wasn’t on par with that of the early incarnation of the band once rightfully dubbed “The Best New Band in Britain.” Suede replaced Butler with a young protégé by the name of Richard Oakes who at just 17 possessed a style admittedly and clearly influenced by Butler. In addition to Oakes, Suede also added keyboardist Neil Codling (cousin of drummer Simon Gilbert) to the lineup. What followed were two mostly mediocre albums�’s Coming Up and 1999’s Head Music.
For fans expecting something as excellent as the first two Suede albums, this would prove to be a major disappointment. And to critics who already questioned the band’s actions, neither Coming Up nor Head Music seemed to support their argument. Both albums use much the same formula—spit polished and self-confident glam rock bravado spiked with keyboards. Of course, this isn’t a new thing to Suede. Whereas the earlier releases only touched on glam amongst largely dark and often brooding soundscapes these more recent releases offer just glam.
Head Music is disappointing for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most troubling of my many qualms is that the album is very, very predictable. There’s little question that Suede can record a good songs that make for a quality album. But, in truth, this is not in the least bit representative of the band. It seems like they got too comfortable with themselves and came to appreciate the keyboards and swaggering attitude associate with glam a bit too much. There are sporadic flashes of the band that was once so very great, but these glimpses last ever so briefly.
Best left shelved so as to not sully one’s high regard for Suede, Head Music really isn’t as bad an album as I’ve made it out to be. There are some decent songs and there are some entertaining (and sometimes humorous) stomps but on the other end of the spectrum there are also some songs that are stagnant and repetitive not to mention a few that are utterly awful. But I’m certain that to massive fans of Suede the few good songs outweigh the few bad ones…it’s just that Head Music isn’t for the casual listener nor is it a proper place to begin a relationship with Suede.
Why, you ask…well the fact is that the formula is tired to say the very least. Anderson and company know exactly what they do well and they tread the same path time and time again beginning with Electricity and wrapping up with Crack in the Union Jack. Neither of these songs strikes a chord. But somewhere in the middle Head Music picks up enough for me to give it a conditional recommendation.
Despite the fact that Savoir Faire could initially be mistaken for Genesis’ We Can’t Dance it soon morphs into something thicker and darker and thus more in tune to my taste. It’s a hip, entertaining, and even quirky offering that ranks among the album’s best. Skipping over the repetitive, Jesus Jones-meet-James thumping of Can’t Get Enough the album markedly improves with the organic, almost acoustic Everything Will Flow. It is with this song that I’m reminded ever so slightly of the Suede I love of the early 1990’s. Anderson’s voice gloriously shines as the arrangement supports—not outweighs—his performance.
Stepping into the ill-fitting waters of trip-hop Suede stumbles on She’s in Fashion and continues in a similar downward spiral for a few tracks up until Elephant Man. A rousing good time track which combines glam with true rock n’ roll it proves to be one of the catchiest and appealing tracks of the entire album. It seems the band was trying something new here; this is of course something that is distinctly missing from Head Music. Indian Strings too is a decent enough song, but doesn’t offer up enough to hold my attention.
Head Music isn’t an awful album, but it is much less than I’ve come to know and appreciate from Suede. It seems that by 1999 the band had already worn out their welcome. But with that said at least we were given two excellent releases in 1993’s Suede and 1994’s Dog Man Star (my personal favorite). If you’re new to the British band, I suggest you skip Head Music and for that matter Coming Up and check out the earlier works. Otherwise you’ll wonder what the heck all the hype is/was about.
Rating: 3/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Electricity
02. Savoir Faire
03. Can’t Get Enough
04. Everything Will Flow
05. Down
06. She’s in Fashion
07. Asbestos
08. Head Music
09. Elephant Man
10. Hi-Fi
11. Indian Strings
12. He’s Gone
13. Crack in the Union Jack
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