"This is a widescreen and ambitious record", says bass player Mat
Osman. "It’s a big stage record and it’s taking it up a gear". The
recording sessions took place Belgium’s ICP Studios, London’s RAK,
Sleeper Sounds, and RMV in Sweden. Their new single "Disintegrate" is available now.
The new album will be released on CD, cassette and various vinyl editions including a store-exclusive picture disc. The deluxe CD features three bonus tracks and there’s also a limited edition ‘flip-top’ box set, which contains black vinyl, the deluxe CD and "a patch, fanzine & tote bag".
In conjunction with the new album, Suede are announcing Suede Takeover – a special concert series over four nights hosted in different venues across London’s Southbank Centre throughout September 2025. The performances will see Suede present their live show "in completely new ways". The first two dates on 13 and 14 September (at the Royal Festival Hall) will be concerts of “loved classics, hits and brand new music", while on the 17 September will see the band play the Purcell Room for an “unusual and intimate off-mic evening". The residency closes on 19 September in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, with Suede’s first-ever full orchestral headline show, in collaboration with the Paraorchestra.
Released on 8 May 1990 "Wilson Phillips" was the debut studio album by the US Band "Wilson Phillips" the album was full of smart, accessible songs, and peaked at No. 2 on Billboard 200, selling over 5 million copies in the USA and 8 millions worldwide. Five singles were released from the album, with "Hold On", "Release Me" and "You're in Love" all reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "Impulsive" reached number four, and the fifth single, "The Dream Is Still Alive", peaked at number 12. The album and its singles earned the group five Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
Wilson Phillips seemed to have arrived out of nowhere, though it was actually the result of several years' hard work by three young, Los Angeles-based vocalists and songwriters with a distinguished Californian heritage. Chynna Phillips was the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips, formerly of The Mamas And The Papas, while the Beach Boys’ legendary Brian Wilson was the father of Carnie and Wendy Wilson.The trio's collective pedigree meant that Wilson Phillips' music inevitably attracted scrutiny.
However, Chynna, Carnie and Wendy were determined to stand or fall on their own merits. Crucially, the trio's collective decision not to rush-release music also worked in their favor. They wrote the songs for Wilson Phillips over a three-year period, with Chynna Phillips telling the Los Angeles Times the group took that time to evolve – the more we practiced, the more we sang together, the easier it became, and we began to have our own sound.
Overseen by producer Glen Ballard and featuring an all-star musical cast including the Eagles’ Joe Walsh, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, and Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne, Wilson Phillips was a highly consistent collection – and a timely reminder that well-crafted pop songs illuminated by sparkling harmonies and catchy melodies will never really go out of style. With almost every song sounding like a potential hit. The lyrics based in part on Chynna Phillips' own personal struggles with drugs and an abusive relationship, struck a chord with listeners worldwide, something which didn't entirely surprise Wilson Phillips. “It’s funny, because I knew when the song was being written that it was inspired by something greater than myself,” Phillips told the Los Angeles Times. “I knew that it was going to touch a lot of people, and it did. And that’s a wonderful feeling.”In the wake of “Hold On,” the Wilson Phillips album also touched music fans worldwide, yielding multi-platinum sales and a series of Grammy nominations as the record decamped inside the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 for a whole year.
Released on 8 May 1990 "Goodbye Jumbo" was the second studio album by Welsh-British band World Party. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and peaked at No. 73 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 36 on the UK Albums Chart. The album spawned three singles "Way Down Now", "Put The Message In The Box" & "Thank You World". In the case of "Way Down Now", the album's lead single, spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and follow-up single "Put the Message in the Box" reached No. 8.
Definitely 1990 was a pretty good year in rock and pop, and this rare-ibis emerged out of nowhere to coquer the radio airwaves, the album was curiously enough one of the best albums of that year according to Q magazine and dozens of critics. Karl Wallinger, formerly of the Waterboys alongside Mike Scott, had embarked on a promising solo career with his band World Party
He confirmed his particular gift for late-period Fab Four-inspired music on Goodbye Jumbo, an album of effortless melodicism and adult pop with allusive lyrics about God, the green revolution, love in many forms and much more. With a tidy 12 tracks, potentially huge hits in the trippy pop of "Put The Message In The Box" and the rocky "Way Down Now", Goodbye Jumbo was the great album that went past just about everyone. Wallinger wasn't a man for swagger: his lyrics were cleverly crafted and his music - which he wrote and often performed almost every part himself in the studio - was subtle, discreetly referenced in his role models sometimes the Stones as much as the Beatles and he could cleverly incorporate a line from Iggy Pop as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Goodbye Jumbo bristles with musical ideas, but they are all contained within the pop-rock format. The gritty "Way Down Now" cuts right back for an intimate central section and the lyrics offer bewildering post-psychedelic confusion; "Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready" is a sly nod to soft psychedelic Curtis Mayfield-soul; he fades up "When the Rainbow Comes" just as the Beatles did with Eight Days A Week and it hits its peak in ringing chords and an optimistic invitation to "step out of the open door . . . build a new house down by the sea". But definitely "Put The Message In The Box" is gentle power pop and slightly prescient in its lyrics if you think that Oasis were on their way
This was an album of the old style where every note in every song mattered, and where each song was memorable and distinctive. It moves easily through different styles but every one is within Wallinger's confident grasp. And it didn't sound overly studied or too clever-clogs. Whether it be a piano-framed ballad like "God on my Side", the studio-funk of "Show Me To The Top" or the trippy "Thank You World", Karl Wallinger proved he had what it took.
Different versions of three songs on Nervous Night — "All You Zombies," "Hanging on a Heartbeat," and "Blood from a Stone" — were originally released on The Hooters' independent album release Amore in 1983.
The album got off to a slow start, the first single, "All You Zombies," peaked at No.58 not bad for a song which actually was based about stories from the Holy Bible. Then, the band got a huge boost on July 13, 1985, when they were featured as the opening band at the American version of the Live Aid benefit concert. Outside of Philadelphia, they were the least known band at Live Aid.
Curiously, the promoter Bill Graham wanted The Hooters to perform at Live Aid, against the wishes of organizer Bob Geldof, who asked in an interview, "Who the fuck are The Hooters?" Ironically, many years later, Bob Geldof ended up being the opening act for The Hooters somewhere in the world.
The second single and the album's opening song, "And We Danced," peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received heavy airplay on the MTV, indeed, The Hooters were nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video for “And We Danced.”
"Day By Day," the second song, became the band's third – and highest-charting – single, and helped propel the album to a No. 12 on the Billboard 200 album chart. And finally "Where Do The Children Go?" was the fourth single released from the album and was a collaboration between The Hooters and fellow Columbia Records label mate, Patty Smyth (of Scandal), peaked at No. 38
Other songs on the album include the rare "Don't Take My Car Out Tonight", "South Ferry Road," which was a faithful cover of Love’s 1966 hit, "She Comes In Colors," The title track, "Nervous Night," did not make it on the LP release, but it did appear on the cassette and CD versions.
The album was a landmark for the band, praising them for the excellent use of dynamics and innate talent for penning hit songs full of melodic hooks, also it had a hard-driving energy and muscular their debut album on a major record label
Released on May 1, 1985, it was Suzanne Vega's debut album primarily recorded at Celestial Sound in New York City and was produced by Steve Addabbo and Lenny Kaye.The album spawned three singles "Marlene On The Wall", "Small Blue Thing", & "Knight Moves".
The album's folk-style and stripped-back arrangements deviated from the prevailing trends of the time, and helped to usher in a new era of singer-songwriters. Suzanne Vega was a critical success and helped Vega's rise to popularity. The singles "Marlene on the Wall", become a top 30 in the UK and the album itself reached the top 20 on the UK Albums Chart.
Due Vega's style, earned her early comparisons were made to Joni Mitchell, Salthough Suzanne Vega's true antecedents were Janis Ian and Leonard Cohen. For critics the key track is "Small Blue Thing," in which the singer pictures herself as an object "Like a marble/or an eye," "made of china/made of glass," "lost inside your pocket," and "turning in your hand." The sharply picked acoustic guitar and other isolated musical elements echo the closely observed scenes everything seems to be in tight close-up and sharp focus.
Often, the singer seems to be using the songs to measure an emotional distance; sometimes, as in the brilliant "Marlene on the Wall," she observes her own actions from a remove. In "Freeze Tag," she tells a companion, "I will be Dietrich/and you can be Dean". The ten songs on Suzanne Vega constitute the self-analysis of a young woman who desires possession without offering commitment. Another highlights of the album are "Some Journey" and "The Queen and the Soldier." Like many of her songs, they are simultaneously passionate and dispassionate, they’re true works of art.
Vega’s 1985 debut was the foot-in-the-door for all of the folk-flavored artists who followed. It helped shift the established musical paradigm. Her lyrics are true poems set to song, forever eschewing generalities for specifics, and her melodies mesmerize.
The album spawned three singles "Cradle Of Love", "L.A. Woman" & "Prodigal Blues." Unlike Idol's previous three albums, Charmed Life did not feature guitarist Steve Stevens, and most of the guitar work was handled by Mark Younger-Smith instead. Idol finished sessions for the album on 5 February 1990. During the following morning, after picking up the final mixes from Conway Studios, he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.Indeed "Love Unchained" was inspired by a friend of Idol's who died in a motorcycle accident.
The whole album experience took two years to assemble, but when it was finally finished, disaster struck. Just hours after wrapping the sessions in February 1990, Idol took his motorcycle out for a ride in Hollywood and suffered a horrific crash which left him in hospital for months. The album was delayed and released on April 30, 1990, it was still primarily a hard rock album, but Idol was determined that it would have a more organic feel than the often technologically-dependent Whiplash Smile.
According to Idol: "The whole idea of (Whiplash Smile) was to get more of an emotional side of me, not just the frustrated or angry side, but it was hard to do because of all the technology," Idol told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. "Instead of it being the freewheeling music of Rebel Yell, it was turning into something very stagnant or standard. So I wanted to get back on this album and tour to more of a real feel – real musicians playing the songs."
Idol achieved that aim with Charmed Life, as the record’s
widescreen rock anthems such as "The Loveless" and "Love Unchained" were
the result of the singer and his band performing live in the studio.
Yet while these raw, anthemic songs were quintessential Idol, he also
proved he could thrive outside his comfort zone on intriguing,
hybridized tracks including the noir-infused jazz of "Endless Sleep" and
hedonistic electro-blues of "Trouble With The Sweet Stuff."
The Charmed Life's three singles were also extremely well chosen. Promoted by a brilliant video directed by David Fincher, the exuberant "Cradle Of Love" peaked at No. 2 in the U.S. while its follow-ups, "Prodigal Blues" and Idol’s pile-driving cover of The Doors" 1971 classic "L.A. Woman" also drew attention to Charmed Life’s inherent quality.
His band the Alarm, was formed in 1981 in Rhyl, Denbighshire, out of the punk era and had a top 20 hit, Sixty Eight Guns, two years later. It typified an anthemic style of song but their unpretentious and down-to-earth approach earned loyal followings on both sides of the Atlantic.
Peters lived with blood cancer for 30 years, following his diagnosis of lymphoma in 1995, and later having chronic lymphocytic leukaemia twice.
Born in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, and lived in Dyserth with his wife of 39 years, Jules - who had fought her own cancer battle - and their sons Dylan, 20 and Evan, 18. He was awarded the MBE in 2019 for his services to cancer care.
Peters - who had worked in the computer department for Kwik Save supermarket - had started the band The Toilets in Rhyl in 1977, after seeing the Sex Pistols play in Chester. After various changes of line-up, notably the introduction of guitarist Dave Sharp, and changes of name, The Alarm played their first gig in Prestatyn in 1981.
They would go on to sell an estimated five million records and also become the first Welsh musicians since Tom Jones and Bonnie Tyler to crack the US, thanks to a support slot with U2 on their 1983 US tour, The Alarm gained a transatlantic following - not an inconsiderable achievement.
Their debut album Declaration was released in 1984. As well as Sixty Eight Guns, it also included another favourite, Blaze of Glory. The band had honed their live performances by extensive touring, and were also reliable "go-to" support choice for big names - which included Bob Dylan, Queen and U2 again - including an appreciative crowd at Cardiff's National Stadium in 1987.
Despite their travels, The Alarm still had strong bonds with their homeland and Peters was able to live quietly in north Wales. The band also released a Welsh-language version of their 1989 album Change, called Newid.
Peters announced from the stage in London that he was quitting The Alarm in 1991 but continued to work with The Poets Of Justice, the line-up including his wife Jules. He reformed The Alarm in 2000 and also worked as the singer for Big Country for a couple of years from 2011. The Alarm has sold more than five million albums and had 16 UK Top 50 singles.
In 2004, as a humorous stunt aimed at the music industry and its obsession with youth, Peters released a single called 45 RPM - a retro-punk song - under the pseudonym of The Poppy Fields. He pretended his group were teenagers from Chester, who mimed along to the video for the song. It entered the top 30. The storyline was perfect to be translated into a film, Vinyl - directed by Sara Sugarman, incidentally from Rhyl, and an Alarm fan.
Peters, who supported U2 and Status Quo on tour and played with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, was first diagnosed with the blood cancer chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) more than 30 years ago.
He underwent numerous drug treatments and rounds of chemotherapy, and had tried experimental therapy to treat his cancer. Last year, five days before he was due to fly to Chicago for a 50-date US tour, Peters noticed that a lump in his neck had appeared overnight. Doctors quickly diagnosed Richter’s syndrome, where CLL changes into a much more aggressive lymphoma.
Last year, in an interview with the PA Media news agency, he credited his thousands of fans with giving him a boost, saying his diagnosis with fast-growing lymphoma had prompted an “incredible” response, with “phenomenal support and prayers from the fans from all directions”.
He added: "I think, with my crazy instinct to try and preserve my life as well as my health, I worked out that I was able to play some British shows in the summer. Luckily for me, they were all at the end of the chemotherapy cycles."
Released in April 1985 "Go West" was the debut studio album by the English pop duo Go West. The album brought the band into the limelight, scoring them a string of top 40 hits in the UK and New Zealand. "We Close Our Eyes" was the most successful single, reaching No. 4 in New Zealand and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The album itself reached No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart. The Album spawned four singles "We Close Our Eyes", "Call Me", "Goodby Girl", "Eye To Eye" & "Don't Look Down".
Go West, formed in London by Peter Cox and Richard Drummie, had been writing songs for the album since 1982. Two songs featured on the album, "We Close Our Eyes" and "Call Me", helped them land a record deal with Chrysalis Records.
This 9 track album opened with lead single "We Close Our Eyes", which gave the duo a #5 UK hit single in 1985. It bursts open with synth/brass riffs that are repeated in the chorus. The vocals are pop-rock styled, set over a perfect 80s solid beat. It’s a fantastically 80s song and absolutely catchy. Next was "Don't Look Down" a song that has plenty of smooth synth blasts that remind me a fair bit of Jump by The Pointer Sisters. The track is particularly catchy in the chorus, and again is packed with the same kind of energy as the previous track. The third track was the group's second single Call Me, which bounces in but is essentially a softer song – musically and vocally.
Next was "Eye To Eye" is up next, and I’m soon reminded me of the lyrics of Kajagoogoo's hit Too Shy. There’s plenty of 80s Obligatory Saxophone here too. It’s quite a nice mid-tempo track. "Haunted." was a song is quite up-beat and relatively catchy too, and has tons of growling electric guitar in it. The vocals here really shine, with plenty of space for them to show off their vocal range. "S.O.S". This bursts open with percussion and a lot of bass guitar. The guitars really go for it in this song, particularly during the chorus. The third single "Goodbye Girl." This was a much slower more ballad-ish track. This slower song must have felt like quite a contrast but it’s the weakest song on the album so far. "Innocence" followed next, with an army of robotic synths and growling guitars before Peter’s vocals slide seamlessly in. The album closed with "Missing Persons." This is a bit of a downbeat drifty song with saxophone, piano, wafting vocals.
The honors of certain tracks on this record was the song "Goodbye Girl" was featured in the first episode of the second season of the 1980s TV series Miami Vice. The song "Call Me" is included on the soundtrack for the popular 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, on the fictional in-game radio station "Flash FM" and on the official soundtrack release.
The first volume – The Sound of the Suburbs – focused on music from the late 70s, whereas this new collection – The Albums 1980 > 1984 – is concerned with music from the early part of the decade we like to call ‘the 1980s’ – but with a twist: None of the tracks were released as UK singles – they are all album tracks or deep cuts as some people like to call them.
So… favourite artists, familiar sounds, often best-selling albums, but not the tracks you'd normally expect on compilations. From Wham!'s first album, Fantastic!, there's "A Ray of Sunshine" and from Make It Big the song 'Hearbeat' is selected. "Frankie’s First Affair" is picked from Sade's Diamond Life album, while from Alison Moyet’s Alf, "Where Hides Sleep" is selected.
The superb title track of Paul Young's No Parlez earns a place on merit, as does a pair of tracks from Duran Duran’s first two albums: "Is There Anyone Out There?" and "The Chaffeur".
In 4CD deluxe hardcover book form, The Albums 1980 > 1984 features 72 tracks in this vein, including Paul Simon’s "Hearts and Bones", Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Black Night White Light", Tears For Fears' "The Hurting", The Police's "When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around" and many more.
The deluxe 4CD includes a 28-page booklet with a track-by-track guide, just like the Yearbooks. A 40-track 3LP vinyl version features each LP pressed on blue, white and pink vinyl
Now That’s What I Call An Era: The Albums 1980 > 1984 will be released on 30 May 2025.
Track List:
CD 1
