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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Give me Head Music instead..., 21 Feb 2006
According to the band's biography, Love & Poison, Suede's music is always an honest reflection of where they're at and no more is this more evident than with their 4th Album, Head Music. The band were perilously close to disintegration with the band's slide into drugs and alcohol abuse and this is reflected in the cold, icy detachment of many of the lyrics and the often brash, loud and gurgling sound of the guitars and symphosizers. This was the band's 'electronic' and 'experimental' phase and whereas Coming Up was all about instant pop frills, Head Music's songs are often long affairs with songs often topping the 5 minute mark. Not that this is a bad thing when Suede are involved though and nearly seven years on from the original release, many of the songs still hold up well today. Asbestos is a gritty, low-life growl of a song which wouldn't look out of place in a 60's/70's mob film. Indian Strings and He's Gone are both touching, personal tracks, the latter including a soaring guitar solo from Richard Oakes, the former integrating more eastern musical influences and doing so brilliantly. Electricity and Can't Get Enough are storming stomps, the fierceness of both always threatening to burst through the speaker at any moment. She's In Fashion is pure summer delight. Gloriously poppy and instantly likeable, it's a wonder how this did not reach the top 10. Savoir Faire is a sophisticated, catchy fare but sadly the clumsy Prince-like lyrics don't quite match the musical output and it's from there that Head Music begins to falter slightly. The catchy yet weak Head Music and Elephant Man see the band slipping toward self-parody while Crack In The Union Jack appears to be nothing more than just a pointless tack-on. Those gripes aside, Head Music is a good album and a very worthy piece in the Suede canon.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some Excellent Singles ..But Not The Greatest Suede Album, 8 Jan 2004
The album starts off with quite an enchanting song, Electricity, carrying that magical Suede mark which is a combination of Brett Anderson's (the lead singer's) voice and searing guitar sounds. Shes in Fashion is softer but more accessible with a catchy feel, as is Everything Will Flow, which has a sweeping sound to it which really works. Cant Get Enough and Head Music are both great tracks, thumping and anthemic. However, the rest of the songs dont really measure up to these, theyre quite weak in comparison to all the songs on an album such as Coming Up ..Although that was an exceptional album, and it must be tough to bring up new material anywhere near as good. So overall its a must for Suede fans and worth listening to the for the singles, but otherwise its quite average.
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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Flawed, 26 Dec 2005
I'm never sure about this album, but it has some truely redeeming points, such as the sleevenotes, which are so glossy that it is not possible to not listen to Head Music every now and again. There are also some really great tracks on here too, but it doesn't quite live up to Coming Up, Dog Man Star or Suede.
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