STONE ROSES                                                                                                                                                                                         BACK
"THE STONE ROSES"                                                                                                                                                                   

SILVERTONE RECORDS 1989

<TAKEN FROM Q MAGAZINE>

THEY BEGAN AS LEATHER-TROUSERED MANCUNIAN GOTHS, AND THEIR BARREN NAME ALWAYS SEEMED INAPPROPRIATE FOR LEADERS OF THE LOVED-UP CHEMICAL GENERATION. THEY ENDED, AFTER A DAFT FIVE- YEAR HIATUS, IN A WELTER OF DISAGREEMENTS, ACCUSATIONS AND THE HUMILIATING REVELATION THAT SINGER IAN BRROWN COULDN'T CARRY A TUNE IN A BUCKET.BUT FOR A BRIEF SPELL IN-BETWEEN, THOUGH, THE STONE ROSES SEEMED TO RULE THE WORLD. IT REMAINS ONE OF MODERN POP'S MORE CURIOUS STORIES. FOUR DOUR LADS, GRINDING OUT SUB-PEAR OF DESTINY, CLODHOPPING INDIE-ROCK, FALL IN LOVE WITH MDMA AND GET FLUID, FUNKY AND FANTASTIC. THEY WRITE THESE MERCURIAL, TIMELESS ANTHEMS AND BECOME SPOKESMEN FOR THEIR GENERATION ALONG THE WAY. COULD IT REALLY HAVE BEEN SO EASY? IT COULD, IT WAS, AND 10 YEARS AFTER ITS INITIAL RELEASE, THE STONE ROSES' EPONYMOUS DEBUT ALBUM STILL SOUNDS TREMENDOUS. THESE FEBRILE, SPECTRAL SONGS HAVE AGED WELL. I WANNA BE ADORED REMAINS NIGH-ON PERFECT, ITS PETULANT LYRICAL DEMAND FOR ADULATION LIFTED MY GARY "MANI" MOUNFIELD'S PORTENTOUS BASSLINE, JOHN SQUIRE'S GOLDEN GUITAR SHIMMER AND ALAN "RENI" WREN'S - GROUNDBREAKING, BACK THEN - FUNKY DRUMMER SHUFFLE. WATERFALL REMAINS IRIDESCENT, SQUIRE PULLING OFF INSPIRED ARABESQUE SOLOS, AND THIS IS THE ONE IS THE BEST SONG THE BYRDS NEVER WROTE. TELLINGLY, BYE BYE BADMAN AND ELIZABETH MY DEAR PROVED THAT THE ROSES WEREN'T TOO LAZY AND BLISSED-OUT TO FORMULATE THEIR OWN IDIOSYNCRATIC BUT LAUDABLY RADICAL POLITICAL AGENDA. THIS WAS PURE POP ALCHEMY INDEED. THERE ARE BONUS SINGLES, ODDITEES AND VIDEOS THROWN INTO THE REISSUE PACKAGE, BUT IT'S THE ORIGINAL DISC WHICH STILL FASCINATES. THE STONE ROSES COULDN'T HOPE TO TOP THIS DEBUT, AND OF COURSE THEY NEVER DID. LOOKING BACK A DECADE ON , IT REMAINS CLEAR THAT HERE WAS A BAND - AND AN ALBUM - IN A MILLION.


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