The Stone Roses (album)

Template:Album infobox The Stone Roses is the debut album by The Stone Roses, released in March 1989. The album is regarded as one of the most significant of the "Madchester" era, and established the Roses as - for a time - one of the most important bands in Britain.

Contents

1 About the album 2 Track-by-track description 3 Cover artwork 4 Critical response 5 Track listing 5.1 1989 release 5.2 1999 10th Anniversary release 6 Credits

About the album

The Stone Roses had been formed in 1984, yet 1989 saw their debut full length release (the band had released a handful of singles in the previous years, on a variety of labels). The band was from Manchester, arguably where birth of British Rave culture occurred, and the certainly where the afore-mentioned "Madchester" movement was centered. Despite not considering themselves as a "Madchester" group, with their eponymous debut The Stone Roses found themselves riding a wave of success along with related dance rock hybrid groups like The Happy Mondays and New Order. The Roses recorded the album with John Leckie, a notable producer who had worked with Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon and it was released by Silvertone, a division of Zomba Records created to sign what they called "new rock" acts. The album reached #19 on the British charts, and in 1989 the Roses played a number of gigs supporting the album. Several of those gigs are now regarded as "legendary", including the one at what was arguably the centre of the "Baggy"/"Madchester" scene, the nightclub The Haçienda. Andrew Collins in NME wrote: "BOLLOCKS TO Morrissey at Wolverhampton, to The Sundays at The Falcon, to PWEI at Brixton - I'm already drafting a letter to my grandchildren telling them that I saw The Stone Roses at the Hacienda."

On its tenth anniversary in 1999, a two-disc anniversary edition of The Stone Roses re-entered the British charts, reaching number 9.

Track-by-track description

1. The album opens with "I Wanna Be Adored", a song the Roses had been performing live since just after their inception. It begins with the swirling sounds of a steam train before Mani's recognisable, throbbing bass line kicks in. Singer Ian Brown plays with the ideas of stardom and being seen as something of a deity. "I wanna be adored/I wanna, I gotta be adored" he whispers.
2. Next is "She Bangs The Drums", possibly the Roses' second most famous song, behind the 1990 single "Fools Gold". Clocking in at 3 minutes and 44 seconds, the song is energetic with another recognisable bass line and John Squire's shimmering guitars. Somewhat curiously, while Ian Brown was responsible for the lyrics in the verses, Squire was responsible for the lyrics that make up the chorus.
3. "Waterfall" is a song that musically harkens back to the lighter side 60s pop, being reminiscent perhaps of The Byrds. According to Ian Brown it is "...a song about a girl who sees all the bullshit, drops a trip and goes to Dover. She's tripping, she's about to get on this boat and she feels free." Brown has occasionally picked issue with John Leckie's production on this song, saying that the bass and drums on the song were mixed too low.
4. "Don't Stop" represents the more experimental side of the Roses. The song is actually a demo of "Waterfall" played backwards, with vocals (and apparently some cowbell) dubbed over. The band played the vocal-less track to producer John Leckie who told them "That's got to go on the record." John Squire took an unusual approach to writing the lyrics, "I wrote the lyrics by listening to waterfall backwards and writing down what the vocals might have been. It's fun doing that because you sort of remove your involvement from the song, you don't really know what's going to come next." "Don't Stop" is Ian Brown's favourite song on the album.
5. Track five is "Bye Bye Badman", a pleasant, jangly pop number in line with "She Bangs The Drums" and "Waterfall". Backed by a number of guitar tracks, the difficulty in reproducing these live is probably the reason for the Roses never performing it. Despite musically being light, the lyrics were apparently inspired by the 1968 student riots in Paris, France.
6. Next is "Elizabeth My Dear", a short piece (clocking in at 56 seconds) where Ian Brown, almost whispering with John Squire accompanying on guitar, decrys the monarchy. "My aim is true, my message is clear/It's curtains for you, Elizabeth my dear". Initially the song caused some outrage among the British tabloids, with Brown - on live television - only fuelling the fire when he talked of putting a blanket over the Queen Mother's head.
7. "(Song for my) Sugar Spun Sister" is track six. The lyrics have psychedelic tones, accompanied by a darker edge. "Her hair/Soft drifted white/Snow white/We all die tomorrow". "Until the sky turns green"/The grass is several shades of blue/Every Parliament member is tripping on glue."
8. "Made of Stone" was the album's lead single, as well as the Roses' breakthrough song, and is one of the harder numbers on the album. The guitar hook and bass line are now considered classic, and Ian Brown combines one of his stronger vocal performances with some of the Roses' most startling lyrics. "Sometimes I/Fantasise/When the streets are cold and lonely/And the cars they burns below me/Don't these times/Fill your eyes?".
9. "Shoot you Down" brings down the tempo, and allows John Squire a showcase for his guitar playing. It was the last song the Roses recorded for the album. Ian Brown sings of violently ending a grudge "I'd love to do it and you know you've always had it coming". Mani and Reni's respective backing bass and drums are subtle, working in the context of the song.
10. "This is the One" was the product of record producer Martin Hannett locking the Roses in a room and not letting them out until they had written a song. The song is perhaps the one from the album with the most audible influence to songs acts such as Blur and Oasis would produce in the years after. John Leckie admits it was one one of the harder songs to record, "This is the One caused the most problems. There was always a big question as to whether it should go on the record. It worked real well live, a bombastic thing that got faster and faster and was a bit Nirvana-ish. But we had to work hard on getting the dynamics right and making the speed changes work smoothly." With its possible biblical references, "This is The One" serves as a fitting opener what is the final song and what many argue to the centerpiece of the album...
11. The final song, "I am the Resurrection" is undoubtedly one of the Roses' classics. It also lyrically bookends nicely with the album's opener; with the band's legendary ego in full force Ian Brown proclaims "I am the resurrection and I am the light/I couldn't ever bring myself/To hate you as I'd like" with a fury and venom usually uncharacteristic of him as a vocalist. Combined with Reni's pounding introduction, a funky Mani bass line and some of John Squire's most highly-regarded work on guitar the songs served not just as a closer to the album, but almost all the band's live sets from when it was first performed until their demise.

Cover artwork

As with most Stone Roses release, the cover displays a work by John Squire. It is a Jackson Pollock inspired piece, titled "Bye Bye Badman". The cover was named by Q magazine as one of "The 100 Best Covers of All Time"; in the accomanying article, Squire had this to say: "lan had met this French man when he was hitching around Europe, this bloke had been in the riots, and he told lan how lemons had been used as an antidote to tear gas. Then there was the documentary - a great shot at the start of a guy throwing stones at the police. I really liked his attitude." This story was also the inspiration for the lyrics to the song of the same name.

Critical response

In 1989 the critical response was generally positive; today the album is widely considered to be one of the best British albums ever released. In 1997 it was named the 2nd greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 4. In 2003 NME magazine voted it to be "the best album of all-time", which is somewhat ironic in that upon release they rated it a good, if unspectacular 7 out of 10.

Track listing

1989 release

1. "I Wanna be Adored" (4:52)
2. "She Bangs the Drums" (3:42)
3. "Waterfall" (4:37)
4. "Don't Stop" (5:17)
5. "Bye Bye Badman" (4:00)
6. "Elizabeth my Dear" (0:59)
7. "(Song for my) Sugar Spun Sister" (3:25)
8. "Made of Stone" (4:10)
9. "Shoot you Down" (4:10)
10. "This is the One" (4:58)
11. "I am the Resurrection" (8:12)

Note: The United States version appends the Roses' earlier single, "Elephant Stone" after "Waterfall" and adds "Fools Gold" as the final track.

1999 10th Anniversary release

1. "I Wanna Be Adored" (4:52)
2. "She Bangs the Drums" (3:42)
3. "Waterfall" (4:37)
4. "Don't Stop" (5:17)
5. "Bye Bye Badman" (4:00)
6. "Elizabeth My Dear" (0:59)
7. "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" (3:25)
8. "Made of Stone" (4:10)
9. "Shoot You Down" (4:10)
10. "This Is the One" (4:58)
11. "I Am the Resurrection" (8:12)

1. "Fools Gold" (9.53)
2. "What The World Is Waiting For" (3.55)
3. "Elephant Stone" (4.48)
4. "Where Angels Play" (4.15)

The second disc also included an enhanced portion with music videos, a discography, lyrics and a photo gallery.

Credits

• John Squire - guitars, paintings
• Ian Brown - vocals
• Mani - bass
• Reni - drums, backing vocals
• John Leckie - producer
• Peter Hook - producer (song "Elephant Stone", US version only)
• Paul Schroeder - engineer
• Ian Tilton & Simon Taylor - photography

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