They've Gotta Be Adored (The Stone Roses - Stone Roses)

Member Name: bz2886

Product:	The Stone Roses - Stone Roses
Date:	14/08/08 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very consistent, paved the way for many modern bands, a classic

Disadvantages: one bizarre track, nothing much else is wrong

The Stone Roses were a four piece indie/rock band formed in 1984 who were of huge part of the 'Madchester' music scene of the 1980's and early 90's which surged out of the city of Manchester and inspired a whole new brand of music which is still increasingly popular today. This album self-titled after the band wasn't released until 1989, five years after the band formed.

The band was fronted on vocals by Ian Brown, who is now a succesful solo artist after falling out with the Roses' lead guitarist, John Squire. The rest of the band was made up of Gary "Mani" Mounfield on the bass and Alan John Wren a.k.a. 'Reni' on the drums. All the members of the band are renowned within the music industry and all are considered to be very proficient in their own chosen musical field.

John Squire went on to form 'The Seahorses' (an anagram of 'he hates roses'... coincidence?) and Mani joined 'Primal Scream.' Both bands enjoying a reasonable degree of success. Reni is seen by some as one of the most individually talented British drummers of all time and the other band members all held him in the highest esteem. Pete Townshend of 'The Who' even stated that he was the best drummer he'd seen since his own bandmate Keith Moon.

=== The Album ===

The album itself is designed and presented in the abstract style of artist Jackson Pollock and utilises splatters of paint and half lemons to emulate this distinctive style. The interior of the booklet has a few other designs in this style and a couple of pictures of theStone Roses themselves and is a pretty artist concept overall. The CD is very simple, Silver with black print. The album runs to about 45 minutes and consists of 11 tracks.

=== The Tracks ===

[Track 1 - I Wanna Be Adored]

The first song fades in slowly with a tranquil background sound and a simple but prominent bassline, and tepid but competent drum beat and a synthesised guitar rift join in to give the song a downbeat and mellow feeling but somehow it remains vibrant. I quite like this song, especially as an introduction to this album. Alot of the album doesn't follow it's suit, but the song is still a good offering.

-7.5/10-

[Track 2 - She Bangs The Drums]

This song immediately shows it's quicker tempo with a repetetive cymbal tap and plucky bassline, the guitar is very easy on the ear and the lyrics are decent throughout. This is one of the better known songs on the album and was actually the first single the band released from this album. A more perkier track than the first and more characteristic of what was to follow from this band.

-8/10-

[Track 3 - Waterfall]

The drums are boosted by a maraca shake or three and the song is given a nice punchy rhythm and the guitars will be familiar to most people when they hear it, the tune has been used for quite a few adverts, etc. The lyrics are a little cryptic but are actually about a girl who steals a car so she can run away from home and drives it down to the English coast, presumably the port of 'Dover.' A good all round track Some of the Stone Roses' finest lyrics and just about the best song on the album so far.

-8.5/10-

[Track 4 - Don't Stop]

This track is a bit strange to tell you the truth. The instruments appear to be those from the previous track (Waterfall) only they are being played backwards... from finish to start, but with some difficult to understand lyrics put over it. I'm not a fan of this track and doubt many people would be, probably the weakest track on the album.

-3/10-

[Track 5 - Bye Bye Badman]

The songs appears to be another slow one at the beginning with minimal uitar chords and the bass and drums toned down, the lyrics fairly prominent in comparison. As the tempo changes near the chorus, the song ups its pace with a bouncy and pretty cheerful feel to it although i'm inclined to suggest that the lyrics are speaking of a riot policeman and the singer/writer's conflict with him. This is not obvious from the lyrics but I'm quite confident this is what the song is about.

-8/10-

[Track 6 - Elizabeth My Dear]

This song is less than a minute long and is once again, a little abstract. It's short length means that the nature of the track is not too much of a problem. The tune is taken from 'Are you going to Scarborough fair?' by 'Simon and Garfunkel' if I'm not mistaken, although I'm not familiar with the original. It's lyrics speak of the royal family and a desire to overthrow them. Slightly anarchistic kind of track but not really a major point in the album. Definitely interesting so it's quite good actually.

-5.5/10-

[Track 7 - (Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister]

This is a slow, warm song. The instruments are calm and flow their way throughout the track without any serious happenings, but really give the track is subdued mood. The lyrics carry nicely through the chorus and the song is very melodic and personally, I find it very chilled and relaxing. A decent track which paves the way for a couple more toned down (but very good) tracks.

-7.5/10-

[Track 8 - Made of Stone]

I see this as my favourite track on the album and probably my favourite track ever by the Stone Roses. The guitar introduces another lower tempo drum and bass combination, punctuated by poignant and slightly icy lyrics. This song always reminds me of cold, winter mornings walking around on the empty streets. Part because I used to listen to it in those circumstances, but mainly because of the lyrics of the chorus. The song is rather reserved in nature but the bass helps it thump softly along. There is an impressive, but not heavy, guitar solo in towards the end of the song that really makes it stand out amongst the other tracks and serves to remind you of the talent of the band's lead guitarist.

-9.5/10-

[Track 9 - Shoot You Down]

This is the third low-key song in a row now but I feel like I'm kind of in the mood for that now, it's always the way with this album. The signature lyrics evident once again, the depth in them is evident and you can really find yourself trying hard to comprehend the subject the band are getting at sometimes. Each instrument plays a small aprt in the make-up of this song, but the little touches here really move the song along nicely, a very pleasant track.

-8/10-

[Track 10 - This Is The One]

The guitar here is immediately more striking and some will remember it from a couple of holiday adverts in recent years gone by. The tempo hasn't exactly risen much but the peaks of the tune are much more prominent. The lyrics are slightly uncharacteristic here, a lot simpler for once. The song is good but compared to some other the others it lacks that certain special something.

-6.5/10-

[Track 11 - I Am The Resurrection]

The final track is an 8-minute masterpiece. A wonderful way to close the album. The song is opened with a strong, powerful bassline with the maraca drums reappearing for a while. The song's tempo remains relatively slow, but far from a ballad. A good karaoke kind of track in a way. The chorus really picks you up and makes you want to sing along. Some very good lyrics saved for this last track, a memorable song and a close second to 'Made of Stone' as far as my favourites go. The songs winds down after about four or five minutes and plays out the last two or three minutes with a skillful guitar rift and its supporting drumbeat. Very good as far as outros go and rightly, a very popular song altogether.

-9.5/10-

=== Overall ===

This album is more than a cult classic and is one of the top few albums to come out of the UK. High up on many acclaimed 'Top' lists and worthy of it's reputation. This band were sold to me upon this album and forged themselves lengthy careers from its base of masterful tracks. I don't tend to rate an album at 5 stars very often, but this release has very few flaws, and those it does have cannot sour the brilliance which this album clearly demonstrates.

Not just for one kind of music fan, this album should satisfy plenty of open-minded music fans as it does show a tremendously versatile spectrum of influences, which have been used to give the Stone Roses their distinctive flavour and allowed them to develop their own legacy.

I would most definitely recommend this album to most people and I am more than happy to admit that it is one of my favourite albums ever.


Also posted on ciao.co.uk

Summary: A very impressive album, wrth buying for many reasons.