Sci-Fi Lullabies

Sci-Fi Lullabies
Compilation album by Suede
Released 6 October 1997
Recorded 1992 to 1996
Genre Britpop
Length 122:48
Label Nude Records
Producer Ed Buller
Suede chronology
Coming Up
(1996)		 Sci-Fi Lullabies
(1997)		 Head Music
(1999)

Sci-Fi Lullabies is a two-disc compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, consisting of B-sides from the singles that were released from the group's first three albums. It reached no. 9 on the UK Albums Chart, and met with positive reviews. In subsequent years, the record has been hailed as one of the finest B-side compilations in popular music.

Overview

The album spans two discs and displays the band in its most prolific era. The first disc is dominated by tracks written by the Brett Anderson/Bernard Butler songwriting partnership (the exceptions are "Together," "Bentswood Boys" and "Europe is Our Playground") while the second showcases the various intra-band songwriting variations (Anderson/Richard Oakes and Anderson/Neil Codling, plus Anderson solo and compositions contributed to by the whole band) that emerged following Butler's departure and the subsequent recruiting of a new guitarist, Richard Oakes and keyboardist Neil Codling.

The album is not quite comprehensive, missing out around half a dozen exclusive songs released as B-sides by the band during the period it covers. Missing Anderson/Butler B-sides are "Painted People" (from "Animal Nitrate"), "Dolly" (from "So Young") and "This World Needs a Father" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 1), which was the last B-side of the Butler era. Tracks featuring Oakes and/or Codling omitted include "Asda Town" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 2), "Sam" (from "Beautiful Ones") and "Digging a Hole" and "Feel" (from "Lazy"). Live performances released as B-sides (on "New Generation" Disc 2 and "Filmstar" Disc 2) are also not included, neither is Suede's cover of the Pet Shop Boys' "Rent". The track "Eno's Introducing The Band" (from "The Wild Ones" Disc 2) is also not included.

The album is considered an important one for fans of the band, partially because of the wealth of material and partially as many of the songs on the compilation are considered to be as strong as or even stronger than the singles from which they came.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
CMJ New Music Monthly(favourable)[4]
Daily Mail[5]
Entertainment Weekly(A)[6]
Hartford Courant(favourable)[7]
NME(9/10)[8]
Pitchfork(8.8/10)[9]
Pittsburgh Post Gazette[10]
Select[11]

The album was acclaimed by critics, with particular praise directed toward the first disc. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted that CD1 "...is as strong as any of their albums" and that several tracks are "strong enough to be A-sides." Overall he said, "...this is absolutely essential material, confirming the group's status as one of the '90s' greatest bands."[2] Tom Lanham of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Anderson is a "...tireless diarist, judging from this anthology of 27 U.K.-single B sides, each one—like the grim concert staple 'Killing of a Flash Boy'—as fey, somber, and solid as any album track."[6] John Harris of Select said the album plays like "a retelling of the entire Suede movie script" and is "truly as good as most Greatest Hits albums."[11] David Daley of the Hartford Courant also felt the album was akin to a "best of" release, writing: "Far from an assortment of throwaways that didn't make the albums, this essential double-disc, 27-song set contains some of Suede's strongest material... the perfect antidote to Oasis' cartoonish 'Best Band' claims."[7]

Mark Beaumont of NME said that while the second disc resembles a typical B-sides album, the first "stakes a formidable claim as the fourth Suede album in its own right" and is arguably superior to three acclaimed studio albums of the period: Radiohead's OK Computer, Spiritualized's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, and Suede's own Coming Up.[8] Kurt B. Reighley of CMJ New Music Monthly found the compilation to be overlong and, in contrast to other writers, pointed to the second disc as the strongest. He conceded, however, that "there's nary a track among these 27 that wouldn't have made a worthwhile album cut, and a few that merit A-side status."[4] Adrian Thrills of the Daily Mail described the record as "patchy in places", but with "plenty of high points, the most notable being the rollicking raunch of the early 'My Insatiable One' and the melancholic 'My Dark Star'."[5]

The album continued Suede's run of consecutive top ten albums, peaking at no. 9 in October 1997.[12] Despite never placing on any of Billboard's charts, Sci-Fi Lullabies had sold 19,000 units in the US by 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[13]

Legacy

"We were lucky that we came a generation after The Smiths because they upped the ante. They were the first band whose singles I can remember buying for the B-sides. They made me realize that singles mattered and B-sides mattered. Our B-sides were never an afterthought, because it was all about the whole package. The single cover looked like the tracks inside and songs worked with each other. Sci-Fi Lullabies was a chance to bring together some of our favorite B-sides."

 — Mat Osman reflecting on the compilation.[14]

Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club and Scott Plagenhoef of Stylus Magazine spoke of the effort invested in Suede's B-sides, with the band discarding "failed" experiments in favour of high quality tracks.[1][15] Plagenhoef asserted: "Those early B-sides—collected on disc one of Sci-Fi Lullabies remain Suede's strongest collection of songs."[15] Drowned in Sound writer Gareth Dobson recommended the "unimpeachable" Sci-Fi Lullabies along with the band's first two studio albums.[16]

The album has been named as one of the finest in the B-side/rarity genre. Independent critic Simon Price hailed it as "the greatest B-sides album ever made".[17] The A.V. Club included the compilation in its list of 35 essential B-side/rarity/outtakes collections. The article described Sci-Fi Lullabies as being "as good as any of Suede's proper albums", and noted that the band's "...pre-burnout legacy remains remarkably strong, and decidedly incomplete without such flipside classics as 'My Insatiable One' and 'The Living Dead'."[18] NME featured the compilation in their list of "30 Killer B-Side And Rarities Albums You Might've Missed", noting that Suede's B-sides "were as exciting as anything Britpop could muster."[19] The record was also included in a 2013 NME poll of the 500 greatest albums of all time, where it placed at number 448.[20]

Live performances

The Suede B-sides have been an integral part of Suede's live shows as well as Anderson's solo performances. Favourites from disc one include "The Living Dead" and "Killing of a Flash Boy", which were performed at Suede's March 2010 reunion shows in London.[21][22] Anderson and Butler made their last TV appearance on MTV's Most Wanted in March 1994, where they performed the popular "Stay Together" B-sides "The Living Dead" and "My Dark Star". In April 1997, Suede played an entire set of B-sides at a fanclub gig at the London Forum.

Title and artwork

The title of the album was a phrase considered as a title for the band's second album, Dog Man Star, and is a phrase used in the lyrics of the song "Introducing the Band" from that album. The collection is accompanied by a 32-page, full-color lyric booklet designed by Peter Saville. The front cover, which recalls the works of J. G. Ballard,[23] features a destroyed English Electric Lightning aircraft abandoned and used for target practice on a military range in Northumberland. It was taken by noted North East photographer John Kippin.

Track listing

Disc One
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "My Insatiable One"  Brett Anderson, Bernard Butler 2:57
2. "To the Birds"  Anderson, Butler 5:24
3. "Where the Pigs Don't Fly"  Anderson, Butler 5:33
4. "He's Dead"  Anderson, Butler 5:13
5. "The Big Time"  Anderson, Butler 4:28
6. "High Rising"  Anderson, Butler 5:49
7. "The Living Dead"  Anderson, Butler 2:48
8. "My Dark Star"  Anderson, Butler 4:26
9. "Killing of a Flash Boy"  Anderson, Butler 4:07
10. "Whipsnade"  Anderson, Butler 4:22
11. "Modern Boys"  Anderson, Butler 4:07
12. "Together"  Anderson, Richard Oakes 4:29
13. "Bentswood Boys"  Anderson, Oakes 3:15
14. "Europe Is Our Playground" (New version)Anderson, Mat Osman 5:39
Disc Two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Every Monday Morning Comes"  Anderson, Oakes 4:28
2. "Have You Ever Been This Low?"  Anderson, Oakes 3:52
3. "Another No One"  Anderson 3:56
4. "Young Men"  Anderson, Oakes 4:35
5. "The Sound of the Streets"  Anderson 4:59
6. "Money"  Anderson, Oakes 4:04
7. "W.S.D." (full version)Anderson 5:46
8. "This Time"  Anderson, Oakes 5:46
9. "Jumble Sale Mums"  Anderson, Oakes 4:15
10. "These Are the Sad Songs"  Anderson, Oakes 6:20
11. "Sadie"  Anderson, Oakes 5:24
12. "Graffiti Women"  Anderson 4:51
13. "Duchess"  Anderson, Neil Codling 3:55

References

  1. 1 2 Phipps, Keith (29 March 2002). "Sci-Fi Lullabies review". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sci-Fi Lullabies Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2013-08-21. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  3. ↑ Klein, Joshua (20 February 1998). "The London Suede Sci-Fi Lullabies (Nude/Columbia...". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  4. 1 2 Reighley, Kurt B (January 1998). "Sci-Fi Lullabies". CMJ New Music Monthly (53): 43. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 Thrills, Adrian (October 17, 1997). "An Electrifying Return". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers.
  6. 1 2 Lanham, Tom (29 December 1997). "Music Review: The London Suede". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  7. 1 2 Daley, David (8 January 1998). "Sci-fi Lullabies – Suede". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. 1 2 Beaumont, Mark (4 October 1997). "Sci-Fi Lullabies". NME. Archived from the original on 16 October 2000. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  9. ↑ DiCrescenzo, Brent (1 January 1998). "Sci-Fi Lullabies". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 19 February 2003. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Masley, Ed (5 December 1997). "For the Record". Weekend Magazine (Pittsburgh Post Gazette): 29. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  11. 1 2 Harris, John (November 1997). "Sci-Fi Lullabies". Select. Emap.
  12. ↑ "Artist Chart History: Suede". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Caulfield, Keith. "Ask Billboard: Blue Suede Shoes". Billboard.com. 26 September 2008 Archived 10 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ Martell, Nevin (13 April 2011). "Brett Anderson and Mat Osman on Suede's Discography". Filter. Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  15. 1 2 Plagenhoef, Scott. "Modern Life is Rubbish: The Rise and Fall of Britpop". Stylus Magazine. 23 June 2003 Archived 31 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ Dobson, Gareth. "Various – 'Best Of's". Drowned in Sound. 30 October 2003 Archived 9 February 2012 at WebCite
  17. ↑ Price, Simon. "Suede, Royal Albert Hall, London". The Independent. 28 March 2010 Archived 7 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ "Odds and sods: 35 B-side/rarity/outtakes collections as essential as the 'official' albums". The A.V. Club. Archived 27 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. ↑ "30 Killer B-Side And Rarities Albums You Might've Missed". NME. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 500-401". NME. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-10-27. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "Suede Concert at 100 Club, City of London, England". setlist.fm Archived 30 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ↑ "Suede Concert at Royal Albert Hall, London, England". setlist.fm Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ "What pop music tells us about JG Ballard". BBC. Retrieved 28 June 2010. Archived 23 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
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