Every Suede Album Ranked

Twice derailed by egomania, hard drugs and Britpop, MOJO’s current co-cover stars Suede continue to sashay on – wiser, sturdier and more creative than ever.  On September 5, the band release their tenth album, Antidepressants, which revives Brett Anderson and co.’s formative suburban post-punk influences (Magazine, The Cult, Crass), while pointing vigorously to the future.

Ahead of Antidepressants’ release, MOJO's Victoria Segal ranks and rates every album from the band to date, from the bedsit glam of their Britpop-heralding 1993 debut to the stark, feral energy of 2022’s middle period highpoint Autofiction.

9.

A New Morning

(Epic, 2002)

Recorded after Anderson cleaned up his act, Suede’s fifth album has its moments – the Haywards Heath Springsteen of One Hit To The Body, Lost In TV’s psychic white-out – but after the distinctive sting of Suede’s earlier work, this competent, non-specific indie was anticlimactic. One good reason to salute this record, though: the band’s “Stalinist” desire to obliterate its memory would eventually spur their re-formation.

8.

Head Music

(Nude, 1999)

Created while Anderson was deep in addiction (see his excellent memoir Afternoons With The Blinds Drawn for bleak details), Head Music was very much Suede “feeling schizo, ever so psycho”, hell-bent on wonky experimentation. Can’t Get Enough carries off the glamtronica racket well, while the ballads – Everything Will Flow, Indian Strings and the diaphanous She’s In Fashion – elegantly veil the worst excesses.

7.

Bloodsports

(Warner Music, 2013)

Sound the horns! After a string of reunion shows, Suede announced a sixth album – a “carnal” cross between Dog Man Star and Coming Up, according to Anderson. It Starts And Ends With You; Faultlines; Barriers: these songs not only erased the disappointments of A New Morning but also blasted a path to a newly creative Suede era. The thrill of the musical hunt, rediscovered.

6.

Night Thoughts

(Warner Music, 2016)

Bloodsports, Anderson said, was still driven by “the feeling that we should try to write pop and rock music.” Admittedly, plenty of that remained on Night Thoughts – not least the hands-in-the-air Outsiders and the Coming Up-worthy Like Kids – but as their comeback gathered momentum, they were increasingly keen to stretch out. The result: a song-cycle inspired by the fears triggered by fatherhood and the strange legacies of family.

5.

The Blue Hour

(Warner Music, 2018)

Inspired by ’70s TV folk-horror Penda’s Fen and glacial Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, Suede broke new ground with this gloriously disconcerting survey of the edgelands, both literal – think barbed wire and abandoned fridges – and psychological. Picking through the hedgerows, they collected songs about dead birds, chalk circles and “the terrors of childhood”, this most urban of bands extending into the rustic strange.

4.

Autofiction

(BMG, 2022)

It’s clear why Suede thought a reset was required here – _The Blue Hour’_s logical next step possibly was a contemporary ballet – but instead of flattening themselves out, Suede amped themselves up, their love of punk (and beyond) fired into these stark, raging songs. The shadows fall darkly, but the sheer feral energy of Turn Off Your Brain And Yell or 15 Again made Autofiction a very bright spot in their catalogue.

3.

Coming Up

(Nude, 1996)

After the personal and musical differences that shattered Suede’s first incarnation, Coming Up was deliberately direct, bringing vital proof that Richard Oakes and Neil Codling were strong signings. Trash and Beautiful Ones hit peak outsider-anthem euphoria; By The Sea kept the romance alive, while Picnic By The Motorway’s carbon-monoxide haze was their own perverse Magical Mystery Tour. High on diesel, gasoline, new possibilities.

2.

Dog Man Star

(Nude, 1994)

As omni-talented guitarist Bernard Butler’s last turbulent stand with Suede, Dog Man Star was almost drowned out by the unhappy story of its making. The drama of these songs (cf. The Wild Ones, New Generation) wouldn’t be overshadowed for long, though. A yearning for something bigger and better still shines through the tumble of film stars, thwarted romance and imminent apocalypse.

1.

Suede

(Nude, 1993)

Have you ever tried it that way? A superb act of world-building, Suede’s debut is a portal – or maybe peephole – into an existence that trembles between desperation, ugliness and ethereal beauty. Animal Nitrate, She’s Not Dead or Pantomime Horse drag the listener into places they shouldn’t be: a bedroom, a car, a troubled mind. Quite the introduction to the band.

"We were always a marmite band – even among our own fans!"

Get the latest interview of MOJO to read our exclusive cover interview with Suede. Plus! Get your hands on the accompanying bespoke CD of rare and unreleased Suede tracks handpicked by the band especially for MOJO! More info and to order a copy HERE!

Photo: Suede, New York, 1994 (Credit: Bob Berg/Getty)