| The Stone Roses | review #2 | 1989 |
| Second Coming | 1994 |
| The Complete Stone Roses | 1995 |
The Stone Roses depress me. Not really the music itself (though Ian Brown's vocal style can make even the most upbeat cheery song sound at least somewhat sad, in places), but the fact that they completely wasted themselves. After a huge debut that completely revitalized the whole britpop scene, paving the way for doezens of bands from Oasis to Suede to Blur, they just sort of quit. They got lazy, and when Second Coming disappointed the fans who had been waited for five years for more Roses, they stopped caring. Damn shame. But they sort of deserved it. I mean, almost any band that follows up an album like The Stone Roses with an album like Second Coming does. But that's for later.
The Stone Roses were the hugest thing to happen to British music in the 80s. Yeah, there's been The Smiths in the mid-80s and Joy Division in the very early 80s, but neither of those were like this. The Stone Roses revived britpop, which really hadn't been this big since the 60s. In the late 80s while in America peaople were going nuts over It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Sign O' The Times, the Brits had the Stone Roses (or more specifically, their debut). Lucky bastards. By shifting from all out poppiness to shoegazer to dance to epic jams, they didn't create something new, but they did what was already made even better than most of the originators of such styles. It breathed life into a tired British music scene, they say, and I believe them. It's a band like this that can have the magic to do somethng like that.
--Robert Grazer
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(Robert Grazer's review)
HIGH POINTS: I Am The Resurrection, Made of Stone, I Wanna Be Adored, Sugar Spun Sister, She Bangs the Drums, Elephant Stone, Bye Bye Badman, Waterfall, Shoot You Down, This Is The One. LOW POINTS: Don't Stop.
Before I started writing this review I thought I could get away giving it a nine, using "Don't Stop" (which is a rather dumb experiment that really doesn't work on such a melodic album at all) as an excuse. Or maybe I could complain about "Fool's Gold" being too long too, but even though it's a bit overlong, it's still an incredible song. But I no longer think it's possible to deny this album a 10. The Stone Roses is so damn good that there's more than enough exceptional material to make up for a couple of minor missteps. I've listed ten highlights above. That's nearly the whole damn album. From what I understand, the highlights are supposed to be in descending order of quality, but what I've listed up there is mostly equal in quality, since there's no way I could pick a single best song from what's here.
And the album's HAPPY. I'm the kind of guy who really prefer down, Joy Division or Katatonia or My Dying Bride sort of things, or, if you're going to make it positive, at least do so something on a particularly 'deep' and 'uplifiting' level, like Phil Keaggy. I mean, purely HAPPY music? Some early Beatles is good, but I still hardly listen to it. But The Stone Roses? They're too fucking great to be displease me simply because they're a happy band. That actually works to their advantage. In fact I often consider them to be the anti-Smiths (it's odd how you often see this and The Queen Is Dead paired in various best-of lists). Musicially, they do have some similarities, but Ian Brown wants you to enjoy your life because you've got your girls and things are going great. Morrissey wants you to end your life because your girl dumped your heart into the pit of hell and things couldn't be worse. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration on the part of the Smiths, but the basic idea still holds.
And what of the specific songs? You'd be hard pressed to find a better opening stretch than this sucker's got. We open with "I Wanna Be Adored", a shoe-gazing statement that surpasses even those by My Bloody Valentine. I mean, can you NOT sing along to that chorus? Those verses? Such an upbeat and cheerful way to start an album -- and the song is about selling your soul to the devil! I think. Then we're off to "She Bangs the Drums", a great bass line backed but an amazing vocal melody ("I can feel the earth begin to move/I feel my needle hold the groove"), and an equally amazing and fully entertaining guitar solo, not like the tired crap on the next album.
Then "Elephant Stone" has one of the best intros EVER, and a dancy pop beat that'd be pretty hard to beat. And then the vocals chime in and I'm in heaven. I mean, if there's one album that shows more great vocal melodies than any other, I'd put my money on this one here. And Ian Brown's vocals are perfect for it too. His soft (almost whisper-like at times), British style works wonders with music like this. All vocalists should study this. And it's probably great studying for bassists and guitarists too. Anyway next up, the riff to "Watrerfall" is another winner, bouncing back and forth, one of the best riffs ever, in fact. A shame they had to try to ruin it with the backwards playing of the following "Don't Stop", but hey, with music this great, you can't go wrong. Even if you try.
Then (after "Don't Stop") we hit a mellower note with "Bye Bye Badman", but it's still just as bouncy and melodic as the tracks before hand, and I don't know if there's any way to dislike the "I-I-I've got bad intentions" line. Then we have the quick minute long "Elizabeth My Dear", which I'm sure you could discount as filler if you wanted too, but I'd call you wrong, since with such a simple yet fantastic guitar line. I read that this track was ripped from "Scarborough Fair", but who cares? Y'see? that's when the fact that it's under aminute works to its advantage. Or something like that. Anyway "(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister" carries on another great guitat line, backed by more cool bass notes, bulding up until BAM! "Until the sky turns greee-een/And grass is several shades of blue/Every member of Parliament trips on glu-ue", Brown belts out one another of the greatest vocal melodies ever, and the song ends on another happy note -- and the consistent quality is still going!
"Made of Stone" is a track that's often voted best on the album by fans, and they certainly have a point. I know it was my favorite for awhile. It kinda follows the same pattern as the previous tune, but a) that's NOT a bad thing at all and b) they still don't sound the least bit 'samey' or whatever. I mean, you've got to love the "Sometimes I fantasize..." chorus with the bass line from heaven behind it. Damn great stuff. Next we hit porbably the mellowest, slowest number on here in "Shoot You Down", and the "I'd love to do it and you know you've always had it coming" line bringing back memories of the guitar line from the opener, but it's not like that's a bad thing or anything. No, it's fine with me. It would work even better if there were a concept flowing here. I used to consider the track weak, but we've all made mistakes, and, that was one of mine. Forgive me, please.
Then we wind things up with a bang. A couple of them, actually. "This Is The One" is extremely climactic, the final chorus soaring and screaming "THIS IS THE ONE SHE'S WAITED FOR!" but still maintaining the completely sorrowless and upbeat mood. And the build up to that is beautiful too. In fact I had the "I'd like to leave the country" bit flowing through my head when I decided to give this sucker the full score. The it's off to epic-land with "I Am The Resurrection", which bulds up around a delightful (and successsful, of course) variation on The Beatles' "Think For Yourself", once again building up to a climax, but there's so much more than just the gorgeous shout of the song's title. No, we get a five minute jam to end the song that's really ahead of most other jams I've heard, so fucking catchy and melodic and it passes even most of the best jams by most prog bands, and probably almost all Maiden instrumental sections too. It's that good.
"Fool's Gold" is a fantastic dance song to finish things off, and it sounds so much ahead of its time, foreshadowing a lot of the dance music that would surface in the 90s. The album version is kind of long (though the shortened single version is near-perfection) but it's still worth most of its nine plus minute time. And so that's that. In Britain, this WAS the biggest thing to happen to music in the 80s, and unlike Oasis (who has had the same statement made about them concerning the 90s), this is worth pretty much all the hype. And that hasn't worn down either. Critics and fans still list this as one of the absolute greatest albums of all time. Which it is. There are only two words that could describe a negative review for this album: sick joke.
HIGH POINTS: I Am the Resurrection, I Wanna Be Adored, Made Of Stone, Bye Bye Badman, She Bangs The Drums, Elephant Stone, Waterfall. LOW POINTS: Don't Stop.
Hearing about the Stone Roses for the first time was sort of like hearing that Jesus himself had returned to Earth. They were described as "infinitely wonderful, fantastic, superlative popsters who share glory with the Beatles even twenty years later" or something like that. It was outrageous. I absolutely refused to believe that any indie pop band from the 80s could possibly compete with the Fab Four. Nevertheless, I was curious, so I tried to track down this "infinitely wonderful" album and give it a spin. Strangely, it also happens to be infinitely unfindable for whatever reason. After months of looking, I finally came across a copy in a rather bizarre record store in Helena, Montana during my summer vacation. ...but that's a different story entirely.
Even though I played it in the car coming back, I waited until I got home to listen to it seriously. The way I see it, the best way to digest new music is to sit in a room alone and really pay attention to it, not flip off truckers as it's playing in the background. So, I listened to it when I returned and, to my surprise, I...kinda liked it. It had this really cool opener called "I Wanna Be Adored," with a feedback-laden intro similar to King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" (only this one doesn't blast you out of your seat after thirty seconds), creating a fascinating and dramatic buildup. The song didn't provide much in the way of lyrics, it was mostly just singer Ian Brown chanting the title over and over, but there was something about it that was so captivating that it just wouldn't let me go. Several spins later, it's easily the most addictive song on the album. I could listen to it a dozen times in a row and not get tired of it. I speak from experience.
Amazingly, the album doesn't let you down after the first song or bore you with a dozen more that all sound the same. The humble listener is, instead, given "She Bangs The Drums," a sunny and upbeat love song about, well, a girl that plays the drums. The song is so genuinely happy that it never fails to bring a smile to my face. There are no words to describe the way I feel. They follow that up with "Elephant Stone," which has a great dance groove and a melody that will get stuck in your head for weeks on end, and "Waterfall," whose guitar riff just sounds like water rushing over a fall. The melody is great once again, the vocals are in top form, and the song is another winner.
If you loved "Waterfall" once you'll love it a second time, especially if it's backwards! Right? ...right? Um, no. See, the boys had a little something for taking their pre-recorded songs, playing the tapes backward, and putting forward vocals on top of it. "Don't Stop" is precisely this - the instrumentation for "Waterfall" run backwards, with Brown singing a new forward vocal on top of it. It's a hideous mess that interrupts a fantastic four-song opening stretch. I'm willing to forgive this failed experiment, though, especially when it's followed by the somewhat slower "Bye Bye Badman," which captures the album's most beautiful moment with its chorus. My heart just melts when I hear Ian Brown sing "here he comes/got no questions, got no love." It's gorgeous.
"Elizabeth My Dear" is next, and it's under a minute long, making me wonder why it's even here. See, I personally liked it more when it was called "Scarbrough Fair," but who knows? Someone might think it's the best song on here, but I can only regard it as a throwaway. A nice throwaway, but still a throwaway. The succeeding "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" is an actual song, though. Even though it might not stand up to other great prostitute songs, such as the Police's "Roxanne" or [insert any rap song from the 90s here], it's still perfectly enjoyable although a little unmemorable.
The album hits perhaps its "downest" moment with "Made of Stone," but that doesn't matter when the lyrics are as intriguing as they are and the delivery is great. It's considered by many people the best song on the album. I can certainly see why. It's a great song. Have you noticed, though, that these songs all have the word 'stone' in them? "Elephant Stone"? "Made of Stone"? The Stone Roses? I smell conspiracy. "Shoot You Down" and "This Is the One" are fun ditties, too, but by this point, I'm usually impatient to get to the album's centerpiece.
The ultimate high point of the record comes in the form of the eight minute "I Am the Resurrection," which is simply one of the best pop songs ever written, as far as I'm considered. The song itself is only about three and a half minutes long, but it's so incredibly catchy that, even if your skull is made of Teflon, you'll have a hard time not getting it stuck in your head. The lyrics are strangely bitter and hateful, but they combine it with one of the bounciest melodies in the universe. When we finally get to the chorus, I'm in heaven. They don't leave the listener in the lurch after the song itself is over, though. The song ends with five minutes of superprofessional jamming that kicks far more ass than it was intended to, I'm sure. It is honestly one of the best jams I've ever heard, even after listening to countless prog and metal albums. Yes and their Tales From Topographic Oceans can stuff it, for all I care. "I Am the Resurrection" really defines aural bliss for me.
What the album really doesn't need is yet another epic, but this lovely US version of the album sticks the ten minute funk-dance number "Fools Gold" onto the end of the album. The song itself is certainly very well done, but ten minutes is a little overlong for just about any dance song, and "Fools Gold" doesn't really belong here. It's enjoyable once in a while, but I usually just turn my stereo off after "I Am the Resurrection," anyway.
It's still nearly impossible to compare the Stone Roses to the Beatles, but I can certainly see where the person I heard describing them came from. While the album has a few noticeable flaws, they're all relatively minor and forgettable, especially when you have so many great, catchy songs. In the end, I didn't like Helena, Montana at all, but I can safely say that my trip there was made worth it for this album alone. It blew me away.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: Tears, Your Star Will Shine, Straight to the Man, How Do You Sleep. LOW POINTS: Daybreak, Breaking into Heaven, Driving South, Ten Storey Love Song, Begging You
God, I'm going to have to try to keep this one short, since what I've got to say about it is like what everyone else has to say about it. Legions of fans were disappointed by this album, and it really isn't hard to see why. The band have really forgotten how to pen a decent melody, and even worse, to quote Evan Streb, "the Roses have gone all Led Zeppelin on our asses". If the Stone Roses had gone in for the harder sound but still their melodic ability, they'd have been able to make a successful album. Likewise, if they'd still just maintained their sound, even as just a continuation of the debut and without any truly great songs on its own, I probably could have found a way to enjoy it as well. But no, not this time. People say that if another band, not the Roses, had made this, it would have been better received. Sounds about right. The problem is that we ARE talking about THE Stone Roses here, and something like this is just not acceptable.
Most of the songs I have listed as highlights aren't even that great. "Tears" is pretty good, a pretty enough tune to be the album's best song. It does drag a bit toward the end, but it's still a good enough song. "How Do You Sleep" sounds good on the surface, but the more I think about it, it just sounds like generic brit-pop. It's still a decent tune, I suppose. "Your Star Will Shine" is another good tune, or maybe it's just that I'm ready to accept anything after a miserable opening stretch. It at least makes an attempt to recapture the atmosphere that they were able to create before, and I'll give them some praise for that. "Straight to the Man" has a pretty good groove to it, a decent song to move around to, if you're that type. And the other highlights... oh, there are none.
And the lesser songs... ugh. Needless to say this album overflows with mediocrity (even the acclaimed "Love Spreads", which I really don't find myself enjoying much at all. It's kinda decent, but it just doesn't really seem to have any lasting value for me. Catchy, but not really worth it or anything special), but it's the opening stretch that really makes me sick, and prevents me from even considering upping the rating any. They strive to be epic with the pointless "Breaking Into Heaven," but it goes nowhere, does nothing. And the build-up from the beginning... Remember how "I Wanna Be Adored" had that great slow build up for about a minute and a half? Here we get a completely dry build up that goes on for four and a half minutes. No kidding. What the hell were they thinking?
Then its "Driving South", which comes out as a complete bore - proving that the first track on this album was not a misstep, the Stone Roses are finished. There's far too much emphasis on solos that really aren't that good at all. "Ten Story Love Song" is another acclaimed tune that really annoys me to no end. In all honesty, the music is decent enough, but the lyrics are simply atrocious, and it kills the rest of the song for me. "Daybreak" is probably the worst offender, though. A six-minute bore that lacks everything that made the band great in the first place. There's no good bass line, there's not catchy melody, hell, even Ian Brown's vocals suck on this one. And it six and a half-minutes long. They really didn't know when to quit.
Except after this album. The Stone Roses only stuck around for a couple more years, and didn't make another album after this one, which is a relief, as I would've hated to see them smear their good name any further. On most levels this album is mediocre enough to squeeze by with a five, since only of few of the songs are truly bad, but just to emphasize how much of a disappointment this is after such an amazing debut statement, I'll drop the rating another point. Second Coming really separates who were fans of The Stone Roses, and who were fans of The Stone Roses. What I mean by that is that if you were a fan of the first album, you're going to hate this. But if you were a fan of the band themselves, you might like it. Unfortunately, there's no way to know that unless you get the album for yourself. But for safety purposes, download it first.
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COMMENTS
I've always been confused by the critical hammering this album receives. I love both the bands albums but in all honestly I tend to feel that the debut is slightly overrated (the best album of all time, come on guys) and the follow up criminally overlooked. After five years out I don't really know what people expected Squire to produce. A remake of the first album would have been slammed five years later and he would no doubt have been slammed as un-ambitious or a one trick pony. The guitars on Second Coming are alot heavier than the previous album and they are obviously Zeppelin influenced. That appears to be the biggest gripe about Second Coming and unfortunately the mere mention of a link to the great rock dinosaurs was enough to send many of the bands fans diving for cover. Personally I think the heavier style works well, my only gripe being that Browns vocals are painfully thin at times. Despite all the criticism that Second Coming receives alot of the material isn't that far adrift from the debut surely, the first album closed with a lengthy guitar workout which no one objected to, so to me it was never a total surprise when the follow up veered off in this direction. This is a solid album and criminally underrated, Squire's playing is top notch throughout and this set grows and grows with repeat plays. Is this really the album the majority claim it is, don't dismiss it, it's too good to be ignored.
I personally think that both albums are great. Obviously Second Coming isn't as good as their first self titled album but it's dam near close. Breaking Into Heaven I feel is a truly powerful and moving song. The intro I feel is fantastic, when the drums kick in and it rises to a creschendo and finally when the actual song begins is very powerful indeed.
I do agree however that Driving South lacks the deep and melodic sound present in the first album and many of the songs on Second Coming. Daybreak is a funky, catchy and upbeat song and Reni's drumming is maginificent throughout. The main let down of the album is the forgettable Begging You, but hell bad song outa two albums isnt bad going at all. Tightrope is also another great song. Good Times is a catchy upbeat song and Tears is very powerful. How Do You Sleep is sublime, an incredibely rich and enjoyable song.
It is unfair to compare Second Coming with their first album as in all honestly it will always come up short. But looking at Second Coming as an album on its own shows the Roses' progession and overall how great a band The Stone Roses truly where.
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