Stone Roses, The

If you like Britpop AT ALL, you need to know The Stone Roses. This is their self-titled 1989 masterpiece, and let me tell you, no one is happier to see this sucker in our library than I am. It’s all here -- the tambourine highhats, the sleighbell snares, the jangly moonbeam guitars, the airy lullaby vocals, and the by-now-trademarked “wall of sound” that would all but define the entire Madchester scene.

The Roses are without question one of the finest acts to ever emerge from Britain. Their history, admittedly, is discouraging: They stormed on the scene in the late 80s, released a smash debut that defined a musical genre, toured halfheartedly, and promptly disappeared into obscurity. Oodles of bands were influenced by these guys (Oasis, Blur, Pulp, etc), and Britpop probably wouldn’t exist without them, but talk about a slow suicide. Contrast with their sophomore effort Second Coming (ho, ho), which everybody hated.

Tracks 1-11 (the whole of CD 1) are the original LP.
On CD 2: 12 & 13 were on the US CD release -- “Elephant Stone” between 2/3 and “Fools Gold” as the last cut, albeit a ten minute version. Either is worth popping out the second disk. 14 & 15 were non-album singles (i like 15). 16-18: demos.

try: 1-13. seriously. start with 2 and 10, if you’re new.
FCC clean

THE LP (no subtitle on CD)
*1. there are 15 words in this song. haunting, hypnotic, simple, great. slow/soft start, however -- not much going on for the first 40 seconds. could fade at 10 sec to end.
**2. happy happy! mid-fast, bouncy, bass-driven jangle rocker. cymbals like whips, people.
3. relaxed. bubbly jangle guitar riff underlies the track. gentle vocals, pretty harmonies.
4. “waterfall” (track 3) played backwards, with additional nonsense vocals. sick!!
5. chill verses, faster drum-clack choruses. awesome scale-step prechorus.
6. a short (0:56) acoustic cover of “scarborough fair”, with different lyrics. this song is a slam against queen elizabeth.
*7. there is STRUMMING on this track. revelatory, oppositional-vocals chorus. lays into a drum groove on the second verse. one of my all-time favourite roses songs.
*8. eerie descending minor guitar, ominous vocals. poppy harmony-laden chorus. always seems to be speeding up.
9. the odd duck -- beachy and silly. heavy on the bass. somehow reminds me of a cross between “why don’t we do it in the road” and “kokomo”.
**10. fucking gorgeous. seriously, do you prefer your heart in your chest or out of it?
*11. to quote an old professor of mine (who was speaking of nietzsche at the time), the first time i listened to “i am the resurrection”, i cried, because i knew i would never hear it for the first time again. here’s a track that manages to go there and keep going, and pretty much never come back. if this isn’t what rock n roll is all about, kids, i don’t know what to tell you. (false ending -- play all!)

RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS
*12 (1). funk bass, wa-wa guitar, bongo jam. infectious as hell. shorter and more abrupt than the original version (ie, they cut the sections without vocals). i know you groove to this in your car.
*13 (2). mid-fast, busy dampered drums (ie cymbals-like-timpanis). super airy vocals.
14 (3). mid-fast. beamy jangle electric, big sustained melodic vocals. less polished than their other stuff, but hey.
*15 (4). soft start. dirty wa-wa guitar + busy solo electric + troublemaking vocals. verses have a wicked edge -- chorus is poppier. second half: jam!
16-18 (5-7). demos. of collectible interest. play the originals.