One of the reasons that Suede's (or, as they are sometimes known in the United States, the London Suede) Sci-Fi Lullabies Vol. 1 was so magical was that the group was producing some incredible music at the time. Vol. 1 was a collection of B-sides from the group's first three albums, barely containing a lousy song.
This meant many songs would not make their original albums, but were still good. Like the Smiths, the trick to Suede is that they have always cared about every track they recorded. They were not always going for hits. And if you were a fan of the band, as unique as they were, you probably would love nearly everything it produced.
1997's Vol. 1 is not only a great collection of B-sides. It is arguably one of the best B-sides collections any group has ever produced.
Suede's Sci-Fi Lullabies Vol. 2 is a mixed bag
So, the recently released (for Record Store Day in the UK) Sci-Fi Lullabies Vol. 2 had a lot to live up to. The problem with any B-sides album, though, is that the songs are likely to only be as good as the period in which they were recorded, mirroring the studio albums the band put out. The rest of the catalog has been inconsistent since Suede's third album, Coming Up.
In other words, Vol. 2 is not as good as Vol. 1, and probably never could have been. Does that mean the four-vinyl set is terrible? Not at all, but the number of gems is less on the second volume. Unfortunately, the songs also tend to be a string of bangers versus a row of melancholic pieces because of how the singles from the periods were released.
We also get unintentionally misled at the beginning of the set. Opener "The Sadness in You, The Sadness in Me" is fantastic, and the second track, "Dawn Chorus," is quite good, too. This is where the inconsistent quality begins. "Let Go" is just too poppy (the hand claps are fun, though) and "Crackhead" seems to miss its message.
Again, this is not a bad collection of songs overall; it is just not near the brilliance of Vol. 1. The engineering of the tracks is excellent, as is always the case with Suede work, and the songs are well thought-out, but some ideas should not have become songs.
The tracklist is as follows:
Side A
- Sadness in You
- The Sadness In Me
- Dawn Chorus
- Let Go
- Crackhead
Side B
- Cheap
- Simon
- What Violet Says
- Still waiting
- Manipulation
Side C
- You Don't Know Me
- Days Like Dead Moths
- Since You Went Away
- Heroin
- Leaving
Side D
- God's Gift
- There Is No Me If There is No You
- Darkest Days
- The Prey
- Blinded
There are many songs worth multiple listens, but some standouts include the first two tracks, "Manipulation" and "Darkest Days."
Rank: 6 out of 10