Suede is the debut studio album by the English alternative rock band Suede, released in March 1993 on Nude Records. It was recorded in London at Master Rock studios in late 1992 and early 1993 and was produced by Ed Buller. At the time the fastest-selling debut album in British history in almost a decade, Suede debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart, won the 1993 Mercury Music Prize, The three singles, "The Drowners", "Metal Mickey" and "Animal Nitrate" helped to create a media buzz leading to significant hype for a year leading up to the album's release. It was met with generally favourable reviews both in the UK and in the US. Although it remains the group's biggest-selling album in the US, In 2013, NME placed the album at number 78 in its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The year leading up to the release of Suede saw the group dominate the music press, appearing on 19 magazine covers; and unprecedented for a band who had yet to release an album, an appearance on the cover of Q magazine in February 1993, declaring them "The Band of 1993". According to a March 1993 article in The Independent, at the time Suede "had more hype than anybody since the Smiths, or possibly even the Sex Pistols." Some tracks were recorded at Protocol and Angel Recording Studios, though the bulk of the album was recorded and mixed at Master Rock Studios as Buller got on well with the house engineer Gary Stout. In the studio, Buller's method of working was that he would form a close relationship with the band member whom he thought to be most important for the sound and creative input. In Suede's case it was guitarist Butler, which did not go down well with Anderson. Buller would be the band's closest musical collaborator for the years ahead. Anderson liked Buller as a person and for his enthusiasm for Suede. He endorsed his production on the first single "The Drowners"; however, he had different views on "Metal Mickey", feeling that Buller took the "metal brutality" out of the song. Instead of the song ending abruptly after the chorus, which the band demonstrated when performing live, Buller suggested an extended fade-out, which incorporated a key change. Butler would eventually clash with Buller for similar reasons during the recording of the next album, which was an event Anderson could perceive early on. "I think as Bernard got more technically aware, because he always had a fine ear, he very soon saw flaws in what Ed was doing.
Inspired by The Smiths, Suede wanted to ensure the b-sides were of a high standard. Anderson later expressed regret for relegating several tracks recorded in sessions for the singles and album to B-sides. Anderson states, "when it comes to writing, there's something to be said about being unhappy. I know I've been at my most creative when I've been sexually unsatisfied."
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Suede's breakthrough single in the UK was "Metal Mickey". According to Anderson, the song was inspired by Daisy Chainsaw vocalist KatieJane Garside. Butler has noted that its musical inspiration was "The Shoop Shoop Song", famously remade by Cher. At the time he felt that the song's lyrics were more sophisticated than "Animal Nitrate", which he thought were "a bit throw-away." The band were determined to release "Sleeping Pills" as the third single, but were soon over-ruled by Nude Records' owner Saul Galpern, who suggested the former instead.
"Animal Nitrate", a play on amyl nitrite, contained Anderson's most risqué lyrics to date: as their author concurred, "You know it's about violence and abuse and sex and drugs. It's actually quite a hardcore song."
On the other hand, Anderson has elsewhere stressed that the songs are not autobiographical, but "often imaginary situations based on real sentiments, or real situations taken to their logical extreme". When asked about the pervasive use of the word "he" in his songs, Anderson stated that "too much music is about a very straightforward sense of sexuality ... Twisted sexuality is the only kind that interests me. The people that matter in music ... don't declare their sexuality. Morrissey never has and he's all the more interesting for that".
Title and artwork
Before the album was released, the band half seriously considered titles of Half Dog, Animal Lover, and I Think You Stink, all were rejected in favour of Suede.
Release
Suede was released in the UK 29 March 1993 going gold at 10am on the second day of release. It was outselling its nearest rival, Depeche Mode's Songs of Faith and Devotion, by a margin of nearly four to one. It was released worldwide 6 April. "Metal Mickey" was the first single chosen for the American market, going to radio 22 March. In Europe, Sony issued a special introduction EP containing the first two UK singles, "The Drowners" and "Metal Mickey". Three singles had already been released in the UK. "The Drowners" charting at no. 49, "Metal Mickey" at no. 17, and 5 weeks before the release of the album, Suede's first top-ten hit "Animal Nitrate" peaked at no. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. 60,000 in the U.S., and 45,000 in Japan.
Reissues
In June 2011, Suede released remastered and expanded editions of their previous five studio albums. Released in chronological order each week. The expanded version includes the original 11 tracks remastered. Additional bonus material includes demos, all b-sides from the singles released from the album and two unreleased songs. The DVD features the promotional videos for the singles including the US version of "The Drowners" and the band's "Animal Nitrate" performance at the 1993 Brit Awards. The DVD includes two full live sets the band played in 1993; The February appearance at the Sheffield Leadmill and the May show at Brixton Academy. The latter known as Love and Poison, previously released on VHS in 1993. Bonus features include a 2011 interview with Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler discussing the writing of the album. The reissue charted at no. 74 in the UK Albums Chart.
| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev2score = B+
| rev3 = The Irish Times
| rev3score =
| rev4 = Mojo
| rev4score =
| rev5 = NME
| rev5score = 7/10
| rev6 = Pitchfork
| rev6score = 8.4/10
| rev7 = Q
| rev7Score =
| rev8 = Rolling Stone
| rev8score =
| rev9 = Select
| rev9score = 4/5
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10Score = A−
The album itself received generally positive reviews by the UK critics, Keith Cameron of the NME compared Suede to The Smiths; he wrote, "'Suede' faces the same problems [as The Smiths did] and similarly fails to deliver on a few, admittedly trifling, levels". However, he concluded, "This is the solid, quality, ring-of-confidence debut [Nude Records] dreamed the band would produce".
The album was warmly received by most American critics. Robert Christgau called it a "surprisingly well-crafted coming out. More popwise and also more literary than the Smiths at a comparable stage, Suede's collective genderfuck projects a joyful defiance so rock and roll it obliterates all niggles about literal truth." David Fricke of Rolling Stone gave a very positive review, saying: "Suede the band and Suede the record are more than the sum of their brilliantly packaged designer hauteur. There is an undercurrent of doomsday urgency in Anderson's feigned languor, tartly echoed in Bernard Butler's corrosive guitar work." He wrote a very positive assessment of most tracks on the album, with one exception: "there are two 'Animal' songs on the album, of which 'Animal Lover' is one too many." In conclusion, he said: "No matter; they've made the best of this one."
The album featured in the top ten end-of-year best-of lists of NME, Select, Melody Maker, The Face, OOR and Eye Weekly.
Commercial performance
The album charted at no. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, selling more than 100,000 copies in the first week. It spent 11 weeks in the top 40. In March 1993 the British Phonographic Industry has certified the album as gold. Three weeks after entering the chart, it peaked at no. 14 on the US Heatseekers Albums Chart on 26 June 1993. It also charted at no. 8 on the European Top 100 Albums chart, staying there for 16 weeks. As of September 2020, the album has sold 301,000 copies in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company. Much of the total album sales in the UK consisted of the initial rush during the first few weeks. As of September 2019, of all the Mercury Prize winning albums, Suede is the 16th best-selling out of 27; despite being one of only three chart-topping albums on the list. The other two number ones, Arctic Monkeys' debut and Pulp's Different Class are the top-two best-selling Mercury Prize winners.
Legacy and influence
Suede's debut album is regarded by critics as a defining album of the Britpop era, and is often credited for starting Britpop.
Many of the artists who have cited the band as an influence have spoken directly of how the band's first album was an influence. Notable artists are Kate Jackson of English indie rock band the Long Blondes, and American indie rock band Drowners, who took their name from Suede's single of the same name.
Accolades
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Publication
! Country
! Accolade
! Year
! Rank
|-
| Robert Dimery
| UK
| 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
| 2005
|align="centre"| 411
|-
| Alternative Press
| US
| Top 99 of '85 to '95
| 1995
|align="centre"| 94
|-
| Attitude
| UK
| Top 50 Gay Albums of All Time
|
|align="centre"| 27
|-
| Flavorwire
| US
| 30 Essential LGBT albums
| 2013
|align="centre"| *
|-
| Kitsap Sun
| US
| Top 200 Albums of the Last 40 Years
| 2005
|align="centre"| 176
|-
| Melody Maker
| UK
| All Time Top 100 Albums
| 2000
|align="centre"| 47
|-
| rowspan=2| NME
| rowspan=2| UK
| The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever
| 2006
|align="centre"| 30
|-
| The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
| 2013
|align="centre"| 78
|-
| Pitchfork
| US
| The 50 Best Britpop Albums
| 2017
|align="centre"| 13
|-
| rowspan=2| Q
| rowspan=2| UK
| Readers' All Time Top 100 Albums
| 1998
|align="centre"| 60
|-
| 250 best albums of Q's lifetime
| 2011
|align="centre"| 116
|-
| Select
| UK
| The 100 Best Albums of the 90's
| 1996
|align="centre"| 89
|-
| Uncut
| UK
| The 100 Greatest Debut Albums
| 2006
|align="centre"| 99
|-
| Colin Larkin
| UK
| All Time Top 1000 Albums
| 1998
|align="centre"| 96
|-
| Yedioth Ahronoth
| Israel
| Top 99 Albums of All Time
| 1999
|align="centre"| 44
|}
<small>(*) designates unordered lists.</small>
Track listing
2011 remastered and expanded version
Personnel
Suede
- Bernard Butler – guitar, piano
- Brett Anderson – vocals
- Mat Osman – bass guitar
- Simon Gilbert – drums
Additional musicians
- Phil Overhead – percussion
- Simon Clarke – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Ed Buller – keyboards, synthesiser
- Trevor Burley – cello
- Lynne Baker – viola
- Caroline Barnes – violin
- Shelley Van Loen – violin
- John Buller – string arrangement on "Sleeping Pills"
- Suzanne Bramson – session co-ordination
Technical
- Ed Buller – production, engineering
- Gary Stout – assistance
Design
- Tee Corinne – photography
- Pennie Smith – portraits
- Pat Pope – portraits
- Peter Barrett – sleeve design
- Andrew Biscomb – sleeve design
Charts and certifications
Original album weekly charts
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Charts (1993)
! Peak<br />Position
|-
| Australian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 23
|-
|Canadian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 73
|-
| European Top 100 Albums
| style="text-align:center;"| 12
|-
| French Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 34
|-
| German Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 50
|-
| Japanese Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 31
|-
| New Zealand Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 8
|-
| Netherlands Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 77
|-
| Norwegian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 18
|-
| Swedish Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
|-
| Swiss Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center;"| 37
|-
| UK Albums Chart