Head Music

Neo-swinging London psychedelic popsters are back with a platter of mysterious melodies and lysergic atmospheres recalling the best of many previous eras of rock and pop. The salacious "Can't Get Enough" rocks like a cross between "Ballroom Blitz"-era Sweet and mid-1960s Pink Floyd. The forlorn ballad "Down" recalls pre-glitter Elton John and ZIGGY STARDUST-era David Bowie. The moody/dreamy, mod-ish "Asbestos" wouldn't be out of place in the soundtrack of a mid-1960s romantic spy thriller (the on-the-beach or the sidewalk-cafT scene). Singer Brett Anderson sings a bit like a subdued yet seductive Bono, and the Suede mix trippy-ness, street-rat-wannabe trashy-ness, catchy tunes and crunchy yet restrained rockin' guitars for a distinctive, hedonistic listen. Fans of old and "new" psychedelia should check out this Suede release.

Q (1/00, p.87)
- Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1999."

Rolling Stone (6/10/99, pp.122-123)
3 out of 5 - Good - "...HEAD MUSIC finds these glitter gold diggers still on a creative roll....a truly glorious rush of sexy guitar trash."

Spin (7/99, pp.131-2)
- 7 (out of 10)
- "...HEAD MUSIC embraces the supposed contradiction of rocking out with a dance-music mentor....a hard precision that brings back the brutality of early Suede while lending a complex sheen to simplistic material..."

Q (6/99, p.108)
- 4 Stars (out of 5)
- "...this, their fourth proper album, is rooted more in rhythms and electronics than their previous offerings....easily - almost effortlessly - their best and most wholly realised album to date..."

Melody Maker (5/1/99, p.37)
- 4 1/2 stars (out of 5)
- "...quite possibly [their] best 'proper' album....[it] remains suedier than the suediest piece of suede in the World of Suede showrooms. It is, in short, absoruddylutely marvellous..."

New Musical Express (5/1/99, p.38)
- 7 out of 10 - "...It's sex, it's drugs, it's suburban ennui, it's frequently hilarious....Suede may be writing some of the most exciting pop of their career..."

Alternative Press (8/99, p.90)
- 4 (out of 5)
- "...dramatic, fey and fearless as its predecessors....their best album yet..."

Guitar Magazine (7/99, p.96)
- "...Anderson's songs have become more blatantly erotic odes to excess, from sex and stardom to drugs and the high life....[he] proves...to be a skilled melody writer..."

CMJ (5/17/99, p.3)
- "...The record slams glam-rock into post-punk, leaving only incandescence in its wake....Ranging from hooky rock rampages to woeful symphonic ballads, HEAD MUSIC is a triumphant release...casts these charming men as the prime contenders to save the Britpop empire."

Magnet (8-9/99, p.80)
- "...most ruefully fantastic....The band's songs...are odes to the utter worthlessness of it all, burnt up on the edges with narcotics and romance....The London Suede is brighter than ever."