Coming Up [Audio CD]

Suede: Coming Up - CD - Nude Records NUDE 6CD Amazon.co.uk Featuring five hit singles, ("Trash", "Beautiful Ones", "Saturday Night", "Lazy" and "Filmstar"), this is the first album following the departure of guitarist and songwriter and the addition of Richard Oakes (guitar) and Neil Codling (keyboards, backing vocals, cheekbones and posing). Coming Up is Suede at their most commercial, with Brett's unmistakable voice crooning intentionally simpler and more direct numbers, eschewing the experimental and large-scale nature of their previous double album Dog Man Star. The wonderfully evocative and melancholic likes of "By the Sea" and "Saturday Night" showcase the pathos of Anderson's lyrics, as well as new boy Oakes' unexpectedly accomplished backdrops, and there is something about Brett's delivery that gets you in the stomach. Less one-dimensional than both the band and the press claimed, the album ranges from the smacked-out suburban nihilism of "Picnic By The Motorway" to the rousing orchestral climax to "She". Suede's most accessible--and probably most consistent--work to date. --Ronita Dutta