Suede "A New Morning" (Skylarker edition) (polishing a turd)

Skylarker

People come second, or possibly third.
Suede's one of my favorite bands of all time. A New Morning, their 2002 5th LP and swansong (before reuiniting a decade or so later) is their worst album....and easily one of the worst albums of all time by anyone.

But.

It isn't entirely without merit.

While even the best possible presentation of this era of the band should come with a a pair of 3-cringe glasses, there was still to be had a microscopic glance at the powerhouse that had made DogManStar only eight years earlier.

By replacing some of the original album tracks with b-sides and bonus cuts, some tasteful custom edits, a general re-sequencing, and a little pixie dust, I think I've made a version of this album that, if not enjoyable is at least listenable.

Some highlights salvaged from the official version:

Positivity (great pop song)
Lonely Girls (sounds like Pearl Jam's Given to Fly which in turn, I think, is based on a led Zeppelin song, but who cares.)
Lost In TV (sounds a lot like Anderson's later project The Tears. Definitely the direction he was going in. Great chorus.)
One Hit To The Body (glam rock greatness)

Some highlights from the album sessions left off the official LP:

Simon (Goofy but good b-side about a Vietnam vet or something)
Oceans (absolutely gorgeous divorce/break up song...how Brett wrote this and U.F.O. for the same album is beyond me...stupidly buried as a "hidden track" on the original CD pressings)
One Love (a dumb song but an absolutely single-worthy track absurdly left off the record)
Golden Gun (demo)...
Just a cool sounding song. The finished version, I think, was a b-side to one of the singles. Nothing earth shattering. I can't remember where I found the demo version (maybe the reissue but I feel like I've had it longer than that...). I feel like the demo is just slightly less glitzy than the official version.
Rainy Day Girl (Remember every sad alt-rock girl you dated in the 90s? This song's about her.)

Anyway. Enjoy.

Tracklist:

Morning
Positivity
Golden Gun (demo)
Rainy Day Girl
One Love
Simon
One Hit To The Body
Lonely Girls
Lost In TV
Oceans
You Belong To Me


Download here
 
Suede were also one of my fave bands, I think the first three lps were fantastic. The BB years, were a wonderful time, unlike with the Smiths I was old enough to be there and I was.
From the moment I heard their first radio session, before they even had a record out, I was there. At most gigs. From the Camden under world, onwards. Gig after gig. Its was fantastic

I don't actually think they managed to make one great LP, and I do not think they were remotely original either, you could quite clearly see where they stole from, and it was a bit forced at times and a bit too pretend.
But there was enough that was real, enough that was pure talent and enough that fantastic, to make Suede worth it

Like The Smiths, and lets face it, because of how much the smiths meant to both Brett and Bernard, they keyed into slices of English life, and they done so with care and feeling. They saw heart of the matter.

They were not pretenders like Gene , who quite obviously did not understand Morrissey or the Smiths, For Gene it was a case of lets try and ape Morrissey and so get a position like his in pop culture.
Basically Morrissey is cool, I want to be cool like him. i dont get him and understand and connect with him. but i will try and copy him anyway. That was Matrins way . This is why when Morrissey became uncool , Martin decided to stick the boot in, as he's a fake and just wants to be with the popular kids.
Morrissey didnt really like Gene and thought martin was pathetic, so it doesn't bother him.
Brett and Bernard did get it. You wont hear Brett say a bad thing about M, in public, because M meant too much to him and he is loyal .A true fan.
M, I think, became quite a big Suede fan, more than he will admit, from covering their song to trying to steal a few musical idea's ,Ganglord is but one song based on a suede song and of course. he tried to get BB to join the band, for a bit. Im gutted to this day, that that didnt happen.
I hear it was Johnny that told him not to do it, I actually hate johnny for doing that ,


Edit. The B side idea was nice
I don't suppose you would like to re produce The Outsiders lp would you? That is a great lp that was killed due to bad production
It sounds like they are playing underwater
 
Suede were also one of my fave bands, I think the first three lps were fantastic. The BB years, were a wonderful time, unlike with the Smiths I was old enough to be there and I was.
From the moment I heard their first radio session, before they even had a record out, I was there. At most gigs. From the Camden under world, onwards. Gig after gig. Its was fantastic

I don't actually think they managed to make one great LP, and I do not think they were remotely original either, you could quite clearly see where they stole from, and it was a bit forced at times and a bit too pretend.
But there was enough that was real, enough that was pure talent and enough that fantastic, to make Suede worth it

Like The Smiths, and lets face it, because of how much the smiths meant to both Brett and Bernard, they keyed into slices of English life, and they done so with care and feeling. They saw heart of the matter.

They were not pretenders like Gene , who quite obviously did not understand Morrissey or the Smiths, For Gene it was a case of lets try and ape Morrissey and so get a position like his in pop culture.
Basically Morrissey is cool, I want to be cool like him. i dont get him and understand and connect with him. but i will try and copy him anyway. That was Matrins way . This is why when Morrissey became uncool , Martin decided to stick the boot in, as he's a fake and just wants to be with the popular kids.
Morrissey didnt really like Gene and thought martin was pathetic, so it doesn't bother him.
Brett and Bernard did get it. You wont hear Brett say a bad thing about M, in public, because M meant too much to him and he is loyal .A true fan.
M, I think, became quite a big Suede fan, more than he will admit, from covering their song to trying to steal a few musical idea's ,Ganglord is but one song based on a suede song and of course. he tried to get BB to join the band, for a bit. Im gutted to this day, that that didnt happen.
I hear it was Johnny that told him not to do it, I actually hate johnny for doing that ,


Edit. The B side idea was nice
I don't suppose you would like to re produce The Outsiders lp would you? That is a great lp that was killed due to bad production
It sounds like they are playing underwater
you are quite, quite insane. So judgemental and badly informed about artists and people with careers and fanbases. No wonder Morrissey has quite mad in the echo chamber of his unquestioning fundamentalists
 
Suede were also one of my fave bands, I think the first three lps were fantastic. The BB years, were a wonderful time, unlike with the Smiths I was old enough to be there and I was.
From the moment I heard their first radio session, before they even had a record out, I was there. At most gigs. From the Camden under world, onwards. Gig after gig. Its was fantastic

I don't actually think they managed to make one great LP, and I do not think they were remotely original either, you could quite clearly see where they stole from, and it was a bit forced at times and a bit too pretend.
But there was enough that was real, enough that was pure talent and enough that fantastic, to make Suede worth it

Like The Smiths, and lets face it, because of how much the smiths meant to both Brett and Bernard, they keyed into slices of English life, and they done so with care and feeling. They saw heart of the matter.

They were not pretenders like Gene , who quite obviously did not understand Morrissey or the Smiths, For Gene it was a case of lets try and ape Morrissey and so get a position like his in pop culture.
Basically Morrissey is cool, I want to be cool like him. i dont get him and understand and connect with him. but i will try and copy him anyway. That was Matrins way . This is why when Morrissey became uncool , Martin decided to stick the boot in, as he's a fake and just wants to be with the popular kids.
Morrissey didnt really like Gene and thought martin was pathetic, so it doesn't bother him.
Brett and Bernard did get it. You wont hear Brett say a bad thing about M, in public, because M meant too much to him and he is loyal .A true fan.
M, I think, became quite a big Suede fan, more than he will admit, from covering their song to trying to steal a few musical idea's ,Ganglord is but one song based on a suede song and of course. he tried to get BB to join the band, for a bit. Im gutted to this day, that that didnt happen.
I hear it was Johnny that told him not to do it, I actually hate johnny for doing that ,


Edit. The B side idea was nice
I don't suppose you would like to re produce The Outsiders lp would you? That is a great lp that was killed due to bad production
It sounds like they are playing underwater
What an incredible read. Thank you for posting. I was at university when Suede emerged from Grunge-infested water of the early 90s and they meant the world to me. I agree that, as much as I love them, the first 3 albums are not perfect...but DogManStar is as close as they got...even when it gets a little overblown. I've seen them on their last two trips to Nottingham and they are a brilliant live band - they always have been. They may all be the wrong side of 50 (apart from Richard, obviously, he is 23, having joined the band when at primary school) but nobody seems to have told them and Brett clearly loves performing. He had the biggest grin on his face for the entire 2 hours when they played in April '19, despite singing himself hoarse and losing 3lbs in sweat.

Gene? Well, I have 3/4 songs on the iPod which make an appearance every now and then (You'll Never Walk Again and Olympian are great songs) but they never recovered from the ToTP performance of 'For the Dead' when Martin did his Stars in Their Eyes Moz impression. He made himself look a right tit.

Bernard in the band? That could have been wonderful. Oh well...
 
Suede's early shows were astounding, weren't they? You're absolutely right that they weren't very original but holy crap they knew how to take from certain influences and melt them together in incredible ways.

And yes! Saw them on their Coming Up tour late last year and it was the most raucous, high-energy mass singalong, just superb. Brett still camps it up like nobody's business, brilliant fun.
 
I don't actually think they managed to make one great LP, and I do not think they were remotely original either, you could quite clearly see where they stole from, and it was a bit forced at times and a bit too pretend.
But there was enough that was real, enough that was pure talent and enough that fantastic, to make Suede worth it

What on earth are you talking about? The self titled debut and Dog Man Star are both incredible albums.
 
What on earth are you talking about? The self titled debut and Dog Man Star are both incredible albums.
Both are brilliant and they mean a great deal to me...but not without flaws. 'Moving' and 'Animal Lover' on Suede and 'This Hollywood Life' and 'Black or Blue' of DMS are snags compared to the rest of the album. Am I being picky? There were some incredible B-Sides available ('My Insatiable One', 'High Rising', 'Killing of a Flash Boy' etc.) that would/could have made the albums even better.

The DMS tour (Sheffield particularly) was spectacular and celebratory - I loved the films that back dropped some of the songs. They were a force of nature at this time, despite BB jumping ship.
 
DMS is brilliant, every track, yes there a lot of excellent b-sides which would fit on the album but I would not change it
 
Dog Man Star & Sci-Fi Lullabies get constant rotation here - excellent catalogue of songs that I wouldn't be without.
Regards,
FWD.
 
I like the original album a lot. Even though it was clearly a distancing from the style of the 90s. The record was light as a feather and failed critically. The lead single "Positivity" was strong! Of the additional B-sides and session tracks, I especially liked:

One Love
UFO
You belong to me


The development the band took after that, especially with "Golden Gun§" or "Attitude", I didn't like at all and reminded me again of the failed "Head Music" album. A shrill, clanging sound. Tuneless!

I am fine with the deluxe edition and would'nt change the original running order of "A new morning". Stephen Street did a good job with the strip down of the whole SUEDE wall of sound, imao.

The demo for "Refugees" shows that the band was at the end. What The Tears then made out of it was a classic SUEDE 93 stomper.
 
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A New Morning is an awful album and I wish it had never been made. Paws-a-tivity is horrendous.

The only song from that era that is decent is Simon. Which, by the way, is about the suicide of a friend of Brett's, not a Vietnam vet.


❤️
 
A New Morning is an awful album and I wish it had never been made. Paws-a-tivity is horrendous.

The only song from that era that is decent is Simon. Which, by the way, is about the suicide of a friend of Brett's, not a Vietnam vet.


❤️

Oh. I swear I heard it was about a vet. But OK.
 
Great band. Saw them twice in November. First half of the show they covered Beautiful Ones in chronological order. Sublime. X

beautiful ones (box set)🥰 and Sch-Fi Lullabies can often be found spinning in Janice Chateau
 
A New Morning is an awful album and I wish it had never been made. Paws-a-tivity is horrendous.

The only song from that era that is decent is Simon. Which, by the way, is about the suicide of a friend of Brett's, not a Vietnam vet.


❤️

Is the opening line really "open your ass and live again?" :paranoid:
 
Is the opening line really "open your ass and live again?" :paranoid:
"Open your eyes and live again" :)

While I would rank ANM last just after Head Music, I don't hate it and have come to appreciate it a bit more over the years. I'll admit that it's patchy and uneven but it has its moments and it was nice to hear a more stripped-down Suede and Brett's voice finally free of vocal distortions. What I don't think has aged so well is Head Music (but really great b-sides).
 
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ANM could have been great if they’d followed the folksy path of Lonely Girls and Lost in TV, both still favourites of mine
 
M, I think, became quite a big Suede fan, more than he will admit, from covering their song to trying to steal a few musical idea's ,Ganglord is but one song based on a suede song
Am I the only one who thinks that music-wise First of the Gang is based on Suede's Trash?
 
Am I the only one who thinks that music-wise First of the Gang is based on Suede's Trash?
No, you are not the only one who thinks this. First of the Gang is remarkably similar to Trash, so much so that I think it must have been intentional. I wonder if Morrissey liked Trash a lot and instructed Alain to write a song based on it.
 
Am I the only one who thinks that music-wise First of the Gang is based on Suede's Trash?

Some of it was repurposed from the Johnny Panic song "Stay With Me" - whereas "Irish Blood, English Heart" and "Don't Make Fun Of Daddy's Voice" were purely "Not Bitter But Bored" and "Paranoia" with new sets of lyrics.

I've always thought the guitar parts on the outro of "Obsessions" and "First of the Gang To Die" were very similar.
 
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