Toofunkyinhere said:

rialb said:

The quality doesn't bother me too much but I've only watched the first one and part of the second. If the majority of the footage is amature from the crowd stuff I may change my tune. Some people were disappointed that the Introducing the Band concert wasn't included but I think that's still available as a separate dvd.

It's a bit strange that the Dog Man Star promo videos were excluded. I've already got them on the Lost in TV dvd but they really should be on the new dvd too.

I guess the thing that impresses me is that the dvd's all appear to be 2-3 hours long. Too often you get a dvd with a cd and it only runs 10-20 minutes. There's a fair bit of content to these ones.

Yeah i'll have to watch the Dvd's again to make a better assesment (i've only given them a once over really), but yeah i felt at the time maybe better footage could've been used, maybe they didn't have the rights?. "Coming Up" and "New Morning" do have a semi-proffesional concert each which aren't too bad, there wasn't much on the "Dog Man Star" dvd to keep me coming back and i haven't seen the "Suede" or "Head Music" dvd's yet so i can't comment on them. Still i shouldn't be too picky, your right these reissues are so generous and such great value for money, easily the best i've come across, real beautiful packages.

And yeah i agree with you on "Eno's introducing the Band", very strange inclusion, i wonder if Eno had anything to do with the song?

I can tell you that the first dvd features a fairly poor quality concert shot from the audience and one professionally shot concert that unfortunately includes some irritating editing. There are quite a few slow motion shots and "experimental" camera work. It was officially released as Love and Poison on VHS.

rialb said:

Toofunkyinhere said:

Yeah i'll have to watch the Dvd's again to make a better assesment (i've only given them a once over really), but yeah i felt at the time maybe better footage could've been used, maybe they didn't have the rights?. "Coming Up" and "New Morning" do have a semi-proffesional concert each which aren't too bad, there wasn't much on the "Dog Man Star" dvd to keep me coming back and i haven't seen the "Suede" or "Head Music" dvd's yet so i can't comment on them. Still i shouldn't be too picky, your right these reissues are so generous and such great value for money, easily the best i've come across, real beautiful packages.

And yeah i agree with you on "Eno's introducing the Band", very strange inclusion, i wonder if Eno had anything to do with the song?

I can tell you that the first dvd features a fairly poor quality concert shot from the audience and one professionally shot concert that unfortunately includes some irritating editing. There are quite a few slow motion shots and "experimental" camera work. It was officially released as Love and Poison on VHS.

The Coming Up concert does go out of synch towards the end which is unfortunate, and it does look quite dated, has similar "experimental" camera work, but i guess thats to be expected considering the age, also interesting watching the other concert (which is shot on a handy-cam) , Richard Oakes first ever concert with the band and his guitar stops working!, i think this is my favourite of the dvd's thus-far.

[Edited 7/24/11 18:28pm]

I gotta admit, i haven't paid too much attention to the DVDs, apart from the interviews - which were excellent, but they obviously steered way clear of drug issues and inter-band drama. Which is fine really... i am more interested in the music.

I did skim the videos; being in the US and never having bothered in recent years to track them down on YouTube, many were new to me.

But I couldn't be happier w/ the sets overall. I agree it would have been nice to have some of the earlier stuff, but it's widely available on the interwebs. I don't think Stay Together and it's associated b-sides should have been on the first disc - they are definitely more in line stylistically w/ Dog Man Star. Bret actually chose those 2 killer b-sides - "My Dark star" and "The Living Dead" as tracks he would have included on his revised DMS. They are 2 of my favorite Suede songs... incredible.

Has anybody read the "Love and Poison" book? I read another book on Suede, it was pretty interesting, but it was more just a compilation of already published interviews and stuff.

NoVideo said:

I gotta admit, i haven't paid too much attention to the DVDs, apart from the interviews - which were excellent, but they obviously steered way clear of drug issues and inter-band drama. Which is fine really... i am more interested in the music.

I did skim the videos; being in the US and never having bothered in recent years to track them down on YouTube, many were new to me.

But I couldn't be happier w/ the sets overall. I agree it would have been nice to have some of the earlier stuff, but it's widely available on the interwebs. I don't think Stay Together and it's associated b-sides should have been on the first disc - they are definitely more in line stylistically w/ Dog Man Star. Bret actually chose those 2 killer b-sides - "My Dark star" and "The Living Dead" as tracks he would have included on his revised DMS. They are 2 of my favorite Suede songs... incredible.

Has anybody read the "Love and Poison" book? I read another book on Suede, it was pretty interesting, but it was more just a compilation of already published interviews and stuff.

I do agree that stylistically the "Stay Together" single fits better on Dog Man Star but I don't think that it would have been that much out of place on the Suede reissue. More importantly that would have eliminated the need to trim some of the tracks. For example "Stay Together" has roughly a minute shaved off of it. If you moved it to the Suede reissue there would have been room for the full version and that would have left some room for some of the Dog Man Star b-sides that were placed on the Coming Up reissue and we could have had the full versions of "Asda Town," (over a minute shorter than the original) "W.S.D." (also over a minute shorter) and "Feel" (which is three minutes shorter). As you pointed out these tracks are all easily available online but if you juggle the tracklisting around a bit there was room to include the full versions. That and the absence of the Dog Man Star era videos are the only flaws I see with these reissues.

It's funny, there are bootleg cd's now that run close to 90 minutes but these ones mostly run about 79 minutes. That extra ten minutes also would have been helpful in avoiding the need to edit tracks.

Unfortunately I have not read Love and Poison. I only became aware that it existed recently and copies are going for over fifty dollars on amazon. With the band reunited I'm hoping that maybe there will be an updated edition released.

What was the title of the other book that you read?

rialb said:

NoVideo said:

I gotta admit, i haven't paid too much attention to the DVDs, apart from the interviews - which were excellent, but they obviously steered way clear of drug issues and inter-band drama. Which is fine really... i am more interested in the music.

I did skim the videos; being in the US and never having bothered in recent years to track them down on YouTube, many were new to me.

But I couldn't be happier w/ the sets overall. I agree it would have been nice to have some of the earlier stuff, but it's widely available on the interwebs. I don't think Stay Together and it's associated b-sides should have been on the first disc - they are definitely more in line stylistically w/ Dog Man Star. Bret actually chose those 2 killer b-sides - "My Dark star" and "The Living Dead" as tracks he would have included on his revised DMS. They are 2 of my favorite Suede songs... incredible.

Has anybody read the "Love and Poison" book? I read another book on Suede, it was pretty interesting, but it was more just a compilation of already published interviews and stuff.

I do agree that stylistically the "Stay Together" single fits better on Dog Man Star but I don't think that it would have been that much out of place on the Suede reissue. More importantly that would have eliminated the need to trim some of the tracks. For example "Stay Together" has roughly a minute shaved off of it. If you moved it to the Suede reissue there would have been room for the full version and that would have left some room for some of the Dog Man Star b-sides that were placed on the Coming Up reissue and we could have had the full versions of "Asda Town," (over a minute shorter than the original) "W.S.D." (also over a minute shorter) and "Feel" (which is three minutes shorter). As you pointed out these tracks are all easily available online but if you juggle the tracklisting around a bit there was room to include the full versions. That and the absence of the Dog Man Star era videos are the only flaws I see with these reissues.

It's funny, there are bootleg cd's now that run close to 90 minutes but these ones mostly run about 79 minutes. That extra ten minutes also would have been helpful in avoiding the need to edit tracks.

Unfortunately I have not read Love and Poison. I only became aware that it existed recently and copies are going for over fifty dollars on amazon. With the band reunited I'm hoping that maybe there will be an updated edition released.

What was the title of the other book that you read?

I'm wondering if some of the editing came down to revisionist history. "Feel" in particular probably needed the editing; and given the band's stated dislike for "Stay Together" they might have felt the opportunity presented itself to trim it a bit. I do think the snipping of "Asda Town" was a shame, though.

I'll check on the Kindle when I get home tonight, can't remember the name of the book, but I'll post it later. It was a pretty decent read.

My favourite B-sides from Head Music: Leaving, Popstar, Jubilee, God's Gift, Crackhead, Let Go, Since You Went Away, Situations, Read My Mind. Quite a few, I'm pretty impressed now i've listened a few times.

Just been listening to some of the Bernard Butler solo stuff on youtube sounds pretty good, might have to check out the album "People Move On".

Toofunkyinhere said:

Just been listening to some of the Bernard Butler solo stuff on youtube sounds pretty good, might have to check out the album "People Move On".

I've got his first two solo albums and there is a lot to like on them. The downside is that he is a fairly weak singer and both albums would have benefited from having a proper vocalist having a go at them. The instrumentation and production are top drawer. I haven't listened to either of them in ages, I'll have to dig them out.

rialb said:

Toofunkyinhere said:

Just been listening to some of the Bernard Butler solo stuff on youtube sounds pretty good, might have to check out the album "People Move On".

I've got his first two solo albums and there is a lot to like on them. The downside is that he is a fairly weak singer and both albums would have benefited from having a proper vocalist having a go at them. The instrumentation and production are top drawer. I haven't listened to either of them in ages, I'll have to dig them out.

Yeah his voice is definately "unique" quite nasal/country-ish i quite like it though, the guitar playing sounds incredible and the few songs i've heard sound pretty catchy and soulful. Which album do you think is better?

[Edited 8/2/11 18:20pm]

What do you guys think of The Tears album?

rialb said:

What was the title of the other book that you read?

Suede: The Wild Ones by Dave Thompson. A good read, it pretty much talks at least very briefly about every track. It's very focused on the music.

NoVideo said:

What do you guys think of The Tears album?

I think it's very good, i tend to avoid the last 2 songs though they leave me a bit cold and "Co-Star" i usually skip aswell if they finished the album at "The Asylum" it would suit me perfectly overrall though i think it's a really good album, some very nice guitar work (love the solo on "Fallen Idol"), i think "Autograph" is my favourite song just a great tune.

Toofunkyinhere said:

rialb said:

I've got his first two solo albums and there is a lot to like on them. The downside is that he is a fairly weak singer and both albums would have benefited from having a proper vocalist having a go at them. The instrumentation and production are top drawer. I haven't listened to either of them in ages, I'll have to dig them out.

Yeah his voice is definately "unique" quite nasal/country-ish i quite like it though, the guitar playing sounds incredible and the few songs i've heard sound pretty catchy and soulful. Which album do you think is better?

[Edited 8/2/11 18:20pm]

Honestly, I haven't listened to either of them in a long time. They are both pretty good, I do not think that one is clearly better than the other. If memory serves met the second one is a bit more rock. I think the first one has some quieter, acoustic songs mixed with harder rock songs. If you were just going to get one I would probably say get the first one just for the little bit of extra variety on it but they are both worth hearing. They are not in the same league as the first two Suede albums but if you really like Bernard era Suede you should find stuff to like on his solo discs.

NoVideo said:

What do you guys think of The Tears album?

I liked it better than Head Music and A New Morning but not as much as the first three Suede albums. I have not heard any of Brett's solo albums so I can't compare it to them but I would rate the Tears album quite highly, better than Bernard's solo discs for sure. I was a bit skeptical about what it would sound like but I remember being pleasantly surprised.

rialb said:

NoVideo said:

What do you guys think of The Tears album?

I liked it better than Head Music and A New Morning but not as much as the first three Suede albums. I have not heard any of Brett's solo albums so I can't compare it to them but I would rate the Tears album quite highly, better than Bernard's solo discs for sure. I was a bit skeptical about what it would sound like but I remember being pleasantly surprised.

I've heard a couple of Brett's solo album's, "Self Titled" and "Slow Attack", both are decent i'd say there's four or five really good songs on either but i prefer The Tears album. I actually really like "A New Morning" though, i'd rate that one and The Tears album about even, both better than "Head Music"."Dog Man Star" and "Coming Up" are always gonna be my favourites though i think.

Interestingly it sounds like Brett Anderson is putting out another solo album in a month or so!, took me by surprise, it's so soon and out of the blue! i was half expecting another Suede album to be in the pipeline instead, maybe later...

[Edited 8/3/11 16:13pm]

Toofunkyinhere said:

rialb said:

I liked it better than Head Music and A New Morning but not as much as the first three Suede albums. I have not heard any of Brett's solo albums so I can't compare it to them but I would rate the Tears album quite highly, better than Bernard's solo discs for sure. I was a bit skeptical about what it would sound like but I remember being pleasantly surprised.

I've heard a couple of Brett's solo album's, "Self Titled" and "Slow Attack", both are decent i'd say there's four or five really good songs on either but i prefer The Tears album. I actually really like "A New Morning" though, i'd rate that one and The Tears album about even, both better than "Head Music"."Dog Man Star" and "Coming Up" are always gonna be my favourites though i think.

Interestingly it sounds like Brett Anderson is putting out another solo album in a month or so!, took me by surprise, it's so soon and out of the blue! i was half expecting another Suede album to be in the pipeline instead, maybe later...

[Edited 8/3/11 16:13pm]

I have to plead ignorance as far as A New Morning is concerned. I listened to it quite a bit when it was initially released but I have rarely returned to it since. I'm definitely going to give the reissue quite a few spins when I finally get my hands on it.

NoVideo said:

rialb said:

What was the title of the other book that you read?

Suede: The Wild Ones by Dave Thompson. A good read, it pretty much talks at least very briefly about every track. It's very focused on the music.

Thanks for the information. Hopefully I can track down a copy. Love & Poison is now quite rare and expensive.

Finished the Dog Man Star dvd. As others have pointed out there wasn't really any mention of the circumstances surrounding the recording of the album or why Bernard split. I believe that Brett has mentioned that it is still difficult for him to talk about and that now that he and Bernard are on friendly terms he does not want to bring up unpleasant memeories from the past. I can understand that but it is kind of the elephant in the room during the interview.

I haven't watched the Head Music or A New Morning dvd's yet but I'm guessing that Dog Man Star is the shortest. I guess there really wasn't a ton of material to use from that era that featured Bernard but that makes the absence of the promo videos that much more puzzling. I definitely would have enjoyed seeing more of the recording session footage.

I also dipped into the Coming Up dvd. I thought I noticed the cover of Blur's The Great Escape pinned to the wall during the interview segment.

Definitely some interesting camera angles during the 1994 footage with Richard. Funny that both Bernard (in the acoustic Dog Man Star dvd performance) and Richard (during "So Young" on the Coming Up dvd) had trouble with their guitars. It didn't exactly make for riveting viewing but it's interesting that footage like that was included.

Don't get too excited, i think i'm about the person who actually likes "A New Morning", although the demo's seem to be getting a fair bit of praise on that album because they're slightly "rougher" and more "real" sounding than the finished product.

Yeah the "Dog Man Star" dvd is probably the most dissapointing of the dvd's for me, i think they missed a trick not including the music videos and the "Introducing the Band" concert.

Toofunkyinhere said:

Don't get too excited, i think i'm about the person who actually likes "A New Morning", although the demo's seem to be getting a fair bit of praise on that album because they're slightly "rougher" and more "real" sounding than the finished product.

Yeah the "Dog Man Star" dvd is probably the most dissapointing of the dvd's for me, i think they missed a trick not including the music videos and the "Introducing the Band" concert.

I like "A New Morning", i just think that they sequenced it wrong and some of the best material got left as b-sides. But I think there is a great album there hidden away. Some of the songs are really beautiful... like "Oceans" and "Untitled", in particular.

A New Morning is, by a wide margin, the Suede album that I am least familiar with so I may not be as qualified to critique it as I am their other albums but to me the "problem" with the album was that it lacked killer singles. Head Music may have been uneven but "Electricity" and "She's in Fashion" were great singles. I'm not sure that any of the singles from A New Morning are as good as the best from the other albums.

However, my relative unfamiliarity with the album makes it the reissue that I am most anxious to revisit. With the other four albums I was very familiar with them and most of the related b-sides so there wasn't necessarily a lot to sink my teeth into with the reissues but A New Morning is almost like a new album to me. I didn't buy Singles so I've never heard "Attitude" or the related b-sides. There should be a fair bit of material on the A New Morning reissue that is "new" to me.

I would agree that "A New Morning" lacked strong, obvious singles - with the notable exception of "Obsessions". "Positivity" in my view is a nice song, and worthy of being an album track, but it was a poor choice as a first single to launch a new album project. "Obsessions" would have been far better.

"Lost in TV" - although mellow - is a gorgeous song, richly layered, beautifully produced.. it might have been a good 2nd single, although I don't think it would have charted highly (but then, the DMS singles didn't chart highly either).

Beyond that it's a flip of the coin: "Beautiful Loser", "One Hit to the Body", "You Belong to Me" all could have been singles. But the strongest material isn't all that commercial: "Untitled... Morning", "Oceans", and some of the key b-sides like "Simon" and "Cheap"

I'll be interested to see what you think of it when you get around to revisiting it. I really enjoyed it because although I was familiar with it, it was the album I was *least* familiar with, and I think it gets a bad rap. Although much of that was self-inflicted by choosing the wrong tracks for the album, and the wrong first single.

NoVideo said:

I would agree that "A New Morning" lacked strong, obvious singles - with the notable exception of "Obsessions". "Positivity" in my view is a nice song, and worthy of being an album track, but it was a poor choice as a first single to launch a new album project. "Obsessions" would have been far better.

"Lost in TV" - although mellow - is a gorgeous song, richly layered, beautifully produced.. it might have been a good 2nd single, although I don't think it would have charted highly (but then, the DMS singles didn't chart highly either).

Beyond that it's a flip of the coin: "Beautiful Loser", "One Hit to the Body", "You Belong to Me" all could have been singles. But the strongest material isn't all that commercial: "Untitled... Morning", "Oceans", and some of the key b-sides like "Simon" and "Cheap"

I'll be interested to see what you think of it when you get around to revisiting it. I really enjoyed it because although I was familiar with it, it was the album I was *least* familiar with, and I think it gets a bad rap. Although much of that was self-inflicted by choosing the wrong tracks for the album, and the wrong first single.

I won't get a chance to listen to it until the 26th of August (that's when my birthday is and my sister bought me the Head Music and A New Morning reissues as a gift). I'll try to keep this thread alive by bumping it maybe once a week until then. Of course I could just listen to the single disc version but I think I'll wait and save the experience for the deluxe version.

What are your (or anyone else's) thoughts on Brett's solo discs? I'll have to get at least one of them, it probably makes sense to start with the first one.

I think they should've released "Beautiful Loser", I think that song was crying out for airplay. The B-sides disc makes for a great listen, probably more upbeat and poppy than the actual album!, which is unusual, it's usually vice-versa.

The two Brett Anderson solo album's i've heard are pretty decent rialb, they are both quite a lot different to the Suede sound (although you can't mistake his voice), much more low key and very melancholic, not really intended for the charts. The first one has some really beautiful "wintry" sounding songs and string arrangements, and a couple of upbeat songs, it's the most conventional sounding album and probably is the one you should get first. The other album i've heard is "Slow Attack", it's got a more pastoral/folky sound, with quite a lot of focus on woodwind instruments and acoustic guitars,it doesn't contain any upbeat songs but i think this album has some really beautiful melody's on it, i think his voice is at its best on this one and it seems to get the most acclaim from other people (from reviews on amazon). The other album "Wilderness" i havent heard but it's meant to be really sparse, very few instruments. I'd definately check them out rialb.

[Edited 8/5/11 20:43pm]