"You adore me."
The Stone Roses could be the biggest and the best band in
the world, if they didn’t waste themselves. In fact, they saved the whole British
musical scene in 1989, by bringing new music, and oh Lord was that music good.
In fact, they formed in 1984, played various gigs and recorded occasional demos
and singles, but they got their breakthrough only in 1989, and managed to prove
it, due to big success of their “Fool’s Gold” single, non-stop touring and Stone
Roses mania all round the world. I must tell their success was deserved – the
guys managed to come with the original mix of jangle guitar pop, funk, and whatever
else. Plus, they were really great songwriters. Really. Guitarist John Squire
was the driving force behind them, and he wrote almost all music and played
some of the most awesome guitar. Vocalist Ian Brown was the face of the band
and had a really cool voice (unfortunately, it could fit only to jolly pop songs
and nothing more). Finally, there was a rhythm section – one of the most brilliant
rhythm sections in the history of music. OK, they weren’t as great as Entwistle/Moon,
for example, but these two guys, bassist Mani and drummer Reni, while being
one of the best players around, had funk in their blood. Due to them, you can
easily groove and dance to any The Stone Roses song.
Unfortunately, they wasted themselves too fast. They were recording their second
album for almost four years and when it came out, nobody was ready to it. Moreover,
nobody was ready for the “new” The Stone Roses. John Squire decided to make
the mix of new dance rhythms and good old Led Zeppelin. And if their second
album can boast the best Squire playing around, the songs weren’t on the same
level as the pop gems on the debut. And, after all, Reni left the band just
after the release of The Second Coming (their second album’s title), and they
toured without him. John Squire left right after the tour, so Mani and Ian Brown
carried on the band together, picking up some other bunch of guys. Finally,
it all led to 1996 gig in Reading, where Ian Brown was drunk on stage and lost
all ability too sing, and though new guys played awesome, nobody could save
The Stone Roses from Brown’s singing. That was a real shame, so the band disbanded
pretty soon.
But, still, their debut is fucking good.
I spent two days in question what version of this album I
need to review. US version has terrific “Fool’s Gold” and “Elephant Stone” on
it, but, on the other hand, the UK version is the original one, and I must review
the original album, right? So I’d stick to the UK version now.
Well, first of all, I must say that this album isn’t certainly the best album
ever. It’s one of the best ever, though. A mix of ordinary jangle pop songs,
classic rock-level melodic hooks, funk and dance music, this album is great.
GREAT. None of the songs is bad or something like that (except “Don’t Stop”,
but that’s another story), each one of them is so great and heaven-like, that
I just can’t help myself and love it. “I Wanna Be Adored” opens the album with
its’ classic build-up, half-chanting and the verses, awesome melody and brilliant
short instrumental break in the middle. It’s a brilliant song and there’s nothing
more to add.
“She Bangs The Drums” sounds like early R.E.M., only 1000 times more lifeless,
100000 times more catchy and 1000000 time more interesting. The harmonies in
the chorus are way too memorable to be just “good”. You can’t get them out of
your head, and that’s a fact! “Waterfall” can keep alive even the saddest and
the most suicidal person in the world. Cheerful hooks in the chorus, melody
that is full of life and brilliant Squire’s riff. And than this man goes crazy
in the long instrumental ending. Amazing stuff.
“Don’t Stop” is too weird for any band. It’s “Waterfall” run backwards with
new Brown’s vocal. Interesting, but too needless. “Bye Bye Badman” is so much
better – it’s yet another song that is full of life and joy, even though it
sounds deadly serious (especially when you know what it is about). “Elizabeth
My Dear” is good old “Scarborough Fair” with changed lyrics. Many people see
it as filler, but I love it. Short and catchy.
And have you heard “(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister”? The greatest song about
prostitute ever written. Period. Bass, drums, guitars – it’s all ideal and it’s
all catchy. And it’s got the best Brown’s vocal performance ever. “Made of Stone”
is even better, with Mani’s going crazy and totally fantastic chorus. “Shoot
You Down” is calm and sweet, with Brown giving a really outstanding performance.
Once Reni’s get a chance to play those fantastic drums in the second half, you
know you can’t be wrong with this song. And “This Is The One” is mindblowing.
This is the one, this is the one, this is the one...” You know, nobody buy Roses
could write this one.
And it all ends with “I Am The Resurrection”. The vocal part has the best melody
on here, and it is just CATCHY. Catchy as hell. “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND I
AM THE LIIIIIIIIIGHT” screams Ian. Why not? These guys rescued music in 1989.
Anyway, the song (and the album) ends with a killer five minutes of jamming.
Tight rhythm, fantastic guitar soloing and everything like that. And the great
acoustic part at the end. The guitar sound like it has come from the sky.
That’s it. One of the best album ever. And do you wonder what I think about
the US version? Do you? Well, you don’t, but I must tell you that the US version
is even better. With a classic pop killer “Elephant Stone” and ten minutes of
dance rhythm and funky heaven of “Fool’s Gold”, that edition only adds to the
great album. Thank God that Yankees were smart enough to include these songs
on the record.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?
Well, people seem to hate this album. I kinda like it, I must
tell you, simply because it has some really strong numbers. John Squire wrote
almost every song on here, and, I must tell, he wrote them when he really heavy
listened to some Led Zeppelin. These songs are Led Zep hard rock mixed with
new rhythms and technologies. Riffs rule, and Squire solos like God, but does
that make the album good? Short answer: no. The songs itself are catchy and
fine, so it makes it good. And though Ian Brown sound awful (he can’t sing any
hard rock, believe me), the album is still good due to quality of material.
The opener, “Breaking Into Heaven”, is an epic, 11 minutes long track that never
bores and ROCKS. The four-minute introduction with sampling and Reni drumming
rehearsal wasn’t very necessary. Squire kicks ass, because his riffs are so
clever and his guitar soloing is very driving. More guitar soloing comes in
“Driving South”. In fact, John plays there around six or so solos, and that
saves the song, because it lacks any melody and Ian Brown sounds like he has
just came from coma.
“Ten Storey Love Song” tries to bring us back to the time of debut, but it doesn’t
succeed. “Daybreak’ is cool and funky, but bores me really fast. On the other
hand, the song like “Straight To The Man” is cool and funky too, but it doesn’t
bore, because it has excellent melody. It’s the only Brown penned song on here,
by the way. And in between these two funk works, there is short and sweet “Your
Star Will Shine” – a song that John dedicated to his new born child. Sounds
like the third Led Zep album, but that’s not a bad thing, after all.
“Begging You” IS a bad thing – bad bad techno with no hooks or melody around.
Even cool robotic riff can’t save it. U2 would re-write it as “Discotheque”,
and that song is so much better. “Tightrope” sounds like the third Led Zeppelin
album once again, but it isn’t as great as “Your Star Will Shine”. “Good Times”
is pretty cool, though. Hilariously dumb, of course, but it’s the only time
you can hear The Stone Roses doing blues. And they do it quite good, I must
admit.
People often compares “Tears” to “Stairway To Heaven”, and I can’t disagree
– it is attempt in making new “Stairway To Heaven”. A good one, even though
it’s quite cheesy. “How Do You Sleep” is unemorable, but the closer, the hit
single “Love Spreads” is great. It returns us to the same rocking vibe as “Breaking
Into Heaven”, for example. And I must tell you that the song’s catchy chorus
can easily be comparable with the best stuff from the band’s debut. I especially
like the ending when it repeats and repeats all over again. Great stuff.
OK, so I simply don’t understand why everybody hates The Second Coming so much.
It’s not what you expect from The Stone Roses after listening to their self-titled
debut, but it’s a good album, for fuck’s sake. There’s a reason to own it, even
if you don’t like it – just because it’s The Stone Roses. And John Squire, of
course! Show me one modern pop guitarist who has even a tiny bit of Mr. Squire’s
talent. Ah, don’t wreck your brain – you can’t tell the name.
At last someone speaks some sense regarding this awesome album,
Second Coming is every bit as strong as the bands first album, it's just a little
different. OK it's got Zeppelin written all over it but so what, did anyone
really expect Squire to produce another baggy, jangly set four years down the
line. If he'd tried to repeat the original formula after such a break he'd have
been accused of being unambitious, out of step with the times and resting on
his laurels. I'll never understand why it was so badly received by so many,
after all it's not as far adrift from the first album as most claim it to be.
Wasn't the tail end of "I am the Resurrection" a window to the future
in the same way as "Tomorrow Never Knows" all those years earlier.
I guess many fans were alienated by the heavy guitars on this set and the mere
mention of the Zeppelin influence, but as one door closes another one opens
and there should have been a new band of devotee's singing this albums praises.
Oleg, we are inevitably in a minority here my friend, you have scripted a fair
and accurate review here, continue to spread the gospel, this album is simply
to good to be ignored.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?