| 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 | ||||
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Sci-Fi Lullabies is a compilation album by English alternative rock band Suede, consisting of B-sides from the singles that were released from the band's first three albums.
Contents |
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 1 and "Filmstar" Disc 2) are also not included, neither is Suede's cover of the Pet Shop Boys' "Rent." The track "Together" is included despite technically being a double-A side (with "New Generation") not a B-side, while the non-album single "Stay Together" is not present despite its B-sides being included and it not being available elsewhere. 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 or even stronger as the singles from which they came.[1]
The album received praise from most critics on release. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, who awarded the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, noted that the first disc "...is as strong as any of their albums" and that the majority of the songs are "all 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] Mark Beaumont of NME said that "CD1 stakes a formidable claim as the fourth Suede album in its own right. Better than OK Computer."[3] John Harris of Select gave the compilation 4 stars out of 5 and wrote: "Sci-Fi Lullabies exhaustively empties their under-the-stairs cupboard, and it's like a retelling of the entire Suede movie script." He concluded by saying that "this is truly as good as most Greatest Hits albums."[4]
Tom Lanham of Entertainment Weekly gave the compilation an (A) rating, saying 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."[5] Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the compilation a highly positive review, saying "...that Suede would not simply treat its B-sides as opportunities to unload half-baked and failed ideas. In fact, this collection has more consistency than many acts' studio albums, dispensing moody, catchy melodramatics while maintaining a remarkably high level of quality."[6] Despite never placing on any of Billboard's charts, Sci-Fi Lullabies has sold about 19,000 units in the U.S. per Nielsen SoundScan figures.[7]
The collection is widely regarded as Suede's best output and is often recommended along with their first two albums.[8] Scott Plagenhoef of Stylus Magazine said that "Suede set the track record of making each EP’s release an event, not tossing filler or failed experiments on the back of singles releases. Those early B-sides—collected on disc one of Sci-Fi Lullabies remain Suede’s strongest collection of songs."[9] The album is considered to be one of the finest of the B-side/rarity genre, being described recently by The Independent as "the greatest B-sides album ever made".[10] The A.V. Club included the compilation in its list of 35 essential B-side/rarity/outtakes collections. The article said that "...Suede’s pre-burnout legacy remains remarkably strong, and decidedly incomplete without such flipside classics as 'My Insatiable One' and 'The Living Dead'."[1]
The Suede B-sides have been an integral part of Suede's live shows as well as Anderson's solo performances. Notable 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.[11][12] 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 notably played an entire set of B-sides at a fanclub gig at the London Forum.[13]
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,[14] 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.
| Disc One | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(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. | Title | Writer(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." | 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 | ||||||
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