Sound Of McAlmont & Butler

It’s just over 30 years ago that former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler and ex-Thieves frontman David McAlmont unleashed the extraordinary single ‘Yes’ at the beginning of a summer awash with Britpop and Ibiza rave. With its instant-classic sound, augmented by soaring ’60s strings, it sounded epic and most definitely unlike anything else at the time. Rightly, today it’s considered a stone-cold classic.

When it followed in the December of the same year, the album ‘The Sound Of’ was an immensely satisfying and beguiling mix of classic songwriting, immaculate production, and blending of rock and soul. The album was also singled out by critics as one of the year’s very best. ‘The Guardian’ newspaper awarded it a maximum 5 stars while ’The Times’ critic commented: “the monumental climax to the seven-minute-long 'You Do' provides a fitting end both to the album and to a relationship that shook so hard that perhaps it had to shatter.”

For this timely reissue the original album has been newly mastered for enhanced audio quality. As well as the original album on Disc 1, there’s a second disc of demos and alternate mixes. Mastering from the original studio tapes was overseen by Bernard himself and undertaken by his longtime studio partner George Shilling.

CD 1
1. Yes [full version]
2. What’s The Excuse This Time?
3. The Right Thing
4. Although
5. Don’t Call It Soul
6. Disappointment / Interval
7. The Debitor
8. How About You?
9. Tonight
10. You’ll Lose A Good Thing
11. You Do [full length version]

CD 2
(Bonus Tracks)
1. Yes [demo]
2. Yes [four track demo]
3. Yes [instrumental]
4. You Do [demo]
5. You Do [mix 1]
6. Don’t Call It Soul [demo]
7. Don’t Call It Soul [original single version]
8. How About You? [original single version]
9. Tonight [Oompah demo]
10. Tonight (Overnight)
11. What’s The Excuse This Time? [355]
12. Yes [BB & Nigel Godrich 1995 remix]
13. The Argument [outtake from the “Tonight” session]