Coming Up [CD+DVD, Box set]

Despite the brilliance of "Dog Man Star", Suede all but disappeared from the cultural map within a few months of its release. By mid-1995, the Blur/Oasis face-off had become the subject of the Six O'Clock News and Britpop had become Dadrock - dull, wilfully unoriginal and, with its inherent blokey aggression, wholly unedifying. Suede, meanwhile, found themselves co-headlining the short-lived Phoenix Festival with an incoherent Bob Dylan on a disused airstrip in the pouring rain. It didn't look good.

Which made "Coming Up" all the sweeter when it arrived in September 1996. Whether it was a response to the slate-grey cod-anthems of Cast, Ocean Colour Scene et al or otherwise doesn't matter because the decision to go all out and make a noon-bright pop album was a brilliant one, both commercially and strategically. Having picked up Neil Codling by a weird kind of osmosis, they set about the task with a confidence their new material absolutely justified. The early signs for Richard Oakes were mixed but "Together" - issued alongside "New Generation" - showed some real promise despite its empty, rushed production (producer Ed Buller later revealed that the group had planned to re-record it for "Coming Up"). He co-writes six of the 10 songs on the original album including 4 of its 5 singles - opening salvo "Trash" and follow up single "Beautiful Ones" were both highly astute (Anderson addressing - and therefore rallying - his audience) and addictively catchy - Oakes's signature riff for "Beautiful Ones" remains one of their most recognisable and most popular. Oakes also contributed to the T-Rexian glam stomp of "Filmstar", the dreamy "Saturday Night" and "Picnic By The Motorway" which is the audio equivalent of dilated pupils as well as being the absorbing piece here. Codling gets in with the blissful swoon of "The Chemistry Between Us" and Anderson provides the sweetly romantic sob of "By The Sea" unassisted. As it turned out Suede Mark II arrived at the peak of their game but then, they *had* to; after being written off, there was no room for error and the sense of purpose is audible throughout.

Like the other reissues in this series, non-album material is duly swept up and the "DMS" b-sides co-written by Oakes are here as well as almost all the bonus tracks from the "CU" singles - multi-format marketing was as good as mandatory in 1996 so there is actually too many of these to fit on one disc. They start brilliantly; it's actually tempting to fantasise about a Suede album that found room for the darkly twisting "Have You Ever Been This Low?" and the crawling synths of "Europe Is Our Playground", the latter of which appears in its superior original version rather than the syrupy re-recording from "Sci-Fi Lullabies". On the other paw, it's actually a relief that a few minutes have been cut from "Feel", for example. The previously unheard demos reveal little except that several songs began life at a much slower pace than the finished versions, suggesting that the writing process was well underway before the decision to head for a day-glo pop sound. The DVD contains an anachronistic "DMS" era live show but otherwise covers the single videos, some well-shot live footage from late 1996 (featuring Neil Tennant on a couple of songs) and an interview with Anderson, Oakes and Codling. All in, a first class package.

Too much is said of Suede with Butler, Suede without Butler and this can eclipse what the actual emphasis should be on; the music. To put it shortly, this is a post Bernard Butler Suede album, but it certainly is not the worse for it. This is an iconic record, from the sleeve art to the last note of music. It has always been one of my favourite albums ever (which I class alongside Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles), and it has just got even better with a bombardment of extras and b-sides that litterally leaves the discs almost groaning (in pleasure!).

The actualy remaster here, unlike the first two albums, sounds utterly fantastic. The sound is noticeably crisper and sounds fresh and sparkly - as is the songwriting. Initially, I thought it was a bit odd that 'Together', 'Asda Town' and 'The Bentswood Boys' being b-sides from some of the Dog Man Star singles, but I can see why they have been included here. 'Together' in particular is a wonderful song, now better than ever, which acts like a blueprint for this album. Listening with hindsight, rumours that this was considered at one point for re-recording and inclusion of the album proper could've been a more satisfying track than the album's weak point 'Starcrazy', but 'Coming Up' is such a fun, thrilling record that dwelling on flaws seems distinctly against the mood it brings on.

In a commerical sense this was their most successful album, containing no less than five top ten singles. Stylistically, this is a purer pop vein along the lines of classic T.Rex which some may find dissapointing after the granduer of Dog Man Star. Personally I find it a relief, as the album is not lacking in beauty or fragile moments, and unlike Dog Man Star it does not come across as pompous or stuffy. 'Picnic By the Motorway', 'By the Sea' and 'The Chemistry Between Us' are as louche and beautiful as any earlier Suede ballad, while the up tempo songs abound. Creativity was so high at the time, or perhaps the CD1/CD2 demand for b-sides, that this package is almost overflowing with great songs. Arguably, a lot of real gems were relegated to b-sides as they did not fit the "up" good mood of the record. So, things like the wonderfully cold synth epic of 'Europe is Our Playground' or the wonderous tinkling of 'This Time' didn't make the final cut. Thankfully, they are now given their very own disc alongside a plethora of other top notch songs.

The Demos, unlike theh Butler era, offering some very interesting insight - in many cases being radically different from the final versions. The sing-a-long riff of 'Beautiful Ones' is nowhere to be heard on the slower acoustic demo, and likewise 'Pisspot', an early incarnation of 'Trash' has a completely different draft of lyrics and a warmer sound. The b-sides towards the end of the campaign didn't quite keep the quality control up, so things like 'Duchess', while being pleasant, come across as filler. That said, one has to bear in mind here that the band prior to this release were only expected to provide 2 b-sides per release, as opposed to double that amount.

All in all, a superb reissue, with bonus DVD of concerts, interviews and videos. Literally hours of entertainment for a bargain price. Sure, the packaging is a little on the cheap side - the carboard spine will probably be cracked - but ultimately in this download age, I can see why the record label have cut costs to make so much material available at a great price.

I won't repeat the details already listed elsewhere about the contents of this set, but I will say this is one of the finest deluxe reissues I've ever owned by any artist. Elaborate packaging, impressive liner notes, superb sound quality, fantastic DVD material, and the B-sides on Disc 2 in particular could easily function as a stand-alone album--they're that good.

When a band has a creative epiphany like this, quality seems to pour out of nearly everything they record within that brief window. This set captures Suede's moment of serendipitous chemistry and determined songwriting perfectly. It still amazes me that they were perhaps designated for the scrapheap after Bernard Butler left. Who guessed a masterpiece was on the horizon?