September 11, 2009

Best of the Best: The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses

(The Stone Roses' self-titled debut)

After posting about the Beatles, I have decided to institute a new section called simply Best of the Best. This section is reserved for the classics plain and simple. The Beatles themselves I had decided were above this categorization - they are in a category of their own. For the other mere mortals this is the best it gets. Thought Best of the Best had a better ring to it then Not The Beatles But Still Very Good.


Kicking off this section is one of the albums I have played most in my lifetime the self-titled album by The Stone Roses. It is somewhat fitting (and a huge compliment to The Stone Roses obviously) for The Stone Roses to be following The Beatles. In the late 80s, British music was stale and completely stagnant. The Smiths had broken up in 1987 and British pop music was in complete disarray. The Stone Roses came along and picked up the pieces where the Smiths had left off - taking the psychedelic pop sounds of the 60s and infusing it with some real rhythm. The Stone Roses pioneered (along with Happy Mondays) this "Madchester" sound and the result are staggering. More importantly they redefined Britpop - their influence on the British music that followed is huge. For starters, Oasis would never had existed without this band for two reasons: 1. they rip off their sound almost as much as the Beatles and 2. the Gallagher brothers decided to start a band after going to and because of a Stone Roses show (truth). Other greats like Beta Band, Spiritualized, Primal Scream - all hugely Stone Rose influenced.



The end of this story (like The Beatles too) is too abrupt. This album was their DEBUT and it is an absolute classic, consistently in discussions for best albums of that decade and of all-time. Legal disputes prevented them from giving it a proper follow-up until five years later with, the still good but nowhere near as good as the debut, Second Coming. By 1996 they called it quits.

Listening to the just released remastering The Stone Roses (20th Anniversary Legacy Edition) ever sonic texture is enhanced, each drum beat crisper, each guitar note more ethereal. This is the version you MUST get (it is $16.99 on iTunes or Lala but worth ever penny more than the other and this is from someone who has only listened to this new version today). It sounds as fresh, new and exciting as it must have been back in 1989.

Key tracks include "I Want To Be Adored", "She Bangs A Drum", "I Am The Resurrection" LINK, "This Is The One" and "Fool's Gold" (this one is epic, awe-inspiring genius - if you listen to one track listen to this one and it will hook you for good).

Listen to all the tracks on the remastered version for FREE once through on Lala.com. If you don't know this site, definitely check it out.

Enjoy,
MD

3 comments:

  1. add kasabian to the list of bands that are constantly caught with their hand in the stylistic cookie jar of the stone roses...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the best rock band is and continue being The Beatles because they did a big revolution at that time, another group you can add in this list is Sildenafil Citrate because they're so popular nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
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