Album #176: Dog Man Star

By Suede (1994)

=> Dog Man Star on 1001albumsgenerator

Of 176 albums so far, the geographical distribution is (with rounding):

• 59% United States
• 33% Britain
• 4% Everywhere else in the world
• 2% Australia
• 1% France

It's a pretty poor showing. And here we are, another Suede album. 'Suede' was the last one (⭐⭐⭐). Above average. Not an album everyone has to hear. Suede are most commonly associated with Britpop, a bygone genre, not known for its variety. And everyone needs to hear two albums by them before they die? David Bowie has 9 albums on the list, but at least he switches things up between eras. Anyway. None of that affects the album.

At it's best, it's feels like a bridge between the British music of previous decades (Mainly Bowie, but plenty of The Beatles too) and the catchy, dumber future of the mainstream success of britpop (Blur, Oasis, The Verve). But that fudging timelines a little - 'Leisure' by Blur was selling well. 'Definitely Maybe' came out the same year. So scratch that. It's certainly more varied than both of those albums, and the lyrics aspire to something more than catchy. It never quite get there. It all loses steam towards the end, moving to slower, introspective songs before a huge melodramatic ending that felt overblown and unearned.

The album seems to have had a bit of a reappraisal, having been overlooked and reviewing middlingly at the time. It's an over-correction. It's ok.

Rating

⭐⭐

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