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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's Like Suede On Acid..., 27 April 2004
One can only wonder what Suede would have go on to achieve if Anderson andButler had not fallen out. The debut and this spectral masterpiece of analbum could easily stand up to any bands first two albums ever, TheBeatles and The Smiths included. Dog Man Star is very much a winter album.Lyrically it is a very paranoid, reclusive piece. It is alleged that Brettlocked himself in his flat in the middle of nowhere with a mountain ofL.S.D. to write it. Bernard's guitar work is incredibly atmospheric anddense, particularly on the near-ten minute Asphalt World the final cut ofwhich upset him due to it's severe edit! God knows what the demos musthave sounded like. By a mile suede's finest album, it is an undeniablyEnglish work, Syd Barrett, Julian Cope, Kate Bush, and yes, Bowie and theSmiths are all in there somewhere. There are a few up beat glam-stompers,New Generation being the best up-beat number, but most of the set isdrug-addled and claustrophobic. Daddy's Speeding is the oddest track, afeedback entrenched eno-style piece about James Dean that eventuallycollapses under it's own weight. The opener Introducing the Band couldalmost be off Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and Heroine surely IS a DavidBowie song. The reason Dog Man Star is such a work of genius though, isthe last four tracks. Roughly 25 minutes of music that is so enormous thatif Brett and Bernard had stayed together, they would have probably landedon the moon. The 2 Of Us is a dark, sparse romantic ballad written about apossibly imaginary lover, Black or Blue is another drug track which couldbe out of a particularly creepy West End musical, The Asphalt World iscolossal and features Butler's best ever guitar work and closer Still Lifeis the last track because it simply can't be followed, so vast andglorious is the orchestral outro. So there you have one of the greatestever english songwriting teams, splitting up under the strain of their ownambition. Please buy Dog Man Star, it proves that Suede are arguably themost underated band of all time.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phil Spector meets David Bowie at Lou Reed's House, 29 Jan 2006
...and Johnny Marr pops around for a spot of tea.By the sounds of things they weren't just drinking tea...Dog Man Star is truly sensational. When one compares this effort to what immediately preceded and proceeded it (in Britain at least), nothing else compares with the over-produced, orchestral bombast (notably on Still Life), the claustraphobic intensity (The Two of Us), and brooding menace(Asphalt World) which it exudes. A tip: listen to the latter track whilst driving around a hole of a town, perhaps Weston Super Mare, very late at night. You might have to lock the doors and windows of your car and/or not stop at traffic lights, but it is worth it in order to soak up the seedy atmosphere of low-rent, burnt-out, drug-frazzled 'glam'. It works best if your car is a shitty old Ford (either an Escort or a Probe for apt comedy value). The Asphalt World aside, the rest of the album, as another reviewer mentioned, is best heard through headphones on a Discman turned up to a level not entirely healthy for one's ears. Even if you do go deaf as a result, chances are there's nothing much worth listening to after having sat through Suede's sophomore set. While it would be thoroughly misleading to say that the album is one of light and shade (it is unrelentingly bleak), it is characterised by a variety of different styles. Unlike, say, Coldplay, who have two modes (1.bland, and 2.paint-dryingingly, fist-eatingingly, nondescript vapidity), Suede run the gamut from up-tempo glam-rocking in New Generation, through fuzz-guitar-enhanced Smithsian janglepop (Heroine), ending up with the overblown chamber music of Still Life. They even throw in some Eno-ish nuggets of experimentalism (Introducing the Band, and Daddy's Speeding) which, surprisingly, work a treat. I first heard this album around eleven years ago, and I loved it. Having endured the last eleven years, which have been one disappointment after another where music is concerned, it has increased in my estimations. Dog Man Star is better than anything else Suede ever did (yes, including their fine debut). I would go so far to say that it was the best album of the ‘90s. Buy this album and listen to it repeatedly by yourself when you have the time to give to it the attention, not only that it deserves, but that it commands.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Greatest Album of the 90's, 9 Nov 2003
An album of great depth and lyrical beauty. Dog Man Star is a masterpiece from one of the most overlooked bands of the 90’s. Open the blinds in your mind and indulge in one hell of a ride. The first half of the album posseses the more straight forward rock numbers reminiscent of their debut but better (We Are The Pigs, Heroine, New Generation), interspersed with some truly innovative songs such as the opener Introducing the Band and the eerie Daddies Speeding. The Wild Ones is a more straight forward romantic pop song with a truly memorable melody. DMS is an incredibly adventurous record that oozes with possibility, and has terrific depth…there’s so much going on and like all classics it will keep you interested for years. The piano led The 2 of Us has to be one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded and makes Coldplays The Scientist seem shallow, some achievement!(My favourite lyric: the snow might fall and write the names on the silent page). The epic The Asphalt World and its unique structure propel the album into the stratosphere and the closing track Still Life is one of the great album endings. There are no weak songs on this album.
I think most people remember Suede for their later more poppy stuff, but to me they became a different band after this album and not nearly as good. Anderson and Butler are one of the all time great song writing partnerships and Dog Man Star is a very special album. It takes a few listens to realise its real power but this is a trademark of many great albums. I urge people to listen to this forgotten album and to remind themselves how great British music can be.
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