Suede are an English
alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up was
Brett Anderson (singer),
Bernard Butler (guitarist),
Mat Osman (bass guitarist) and
Simon Gilbert (drummer). By 1992, Suede were described as "The Best New Band in Britain",
[1] and attracted much attention from the British music press. The following year their debut album
Suede, went to the top of the charts by becoming the fastest-selling debut album in almost ten years. It won the
Mercury Music Prize and helped foster
Britpop as a musical genre. However, the band's lush follow-up,
Dog Man Star
(1994), showed Suede distancing themselves from their Britpop peers.
Although it is often regarded as the band's masterpiece, the recording
sessions for
Dog Man Star were fraught with difficulty, and ended
with Butler departing the band after confrontations with Anderson and
musical differences with the other members. Its sales suffered due to
these events, however it was met with a generally enthusiastic reception
on release and has, over time been lauded with universal acclaim from
critics.
