Sunday, December 28, 2008

Underated Band of the Week: The Stone Roses

The week's Criminally Underrated Band of the Week is The Stone Roses. It's tough for me to write about the Roses - they truly are so significant that it feels trite for me to have to compose some short blurb about them. They only made two albums, but their impact is still felt today.

The self-titled debut, Stone Roses, is one of the greatest albums ever made and it sounds like a greatest hits package. Each and every song is perfectly crafted - this is the best pop album made since the Beatles, and perhaps is the finest pop album ever. It is perfect - every piece is placed with intention. Produced by John Leckie (The Verve - A Storm in Heaven, George Harrison - All Things Must Pass, The Bends - Radiohead, Showbiz - Muse), who is one of my top five producers of all time, gives the album an identity by wrapping everything in a beautiful reverb that is not over the top, but just right. The band sounds live, though there are plenty of overdubs. Very well mixed and original without being overtly "experimental".

Led by childhood friends Ian Brown (vocals) and John Squire (guitar), the Roses featured the finest pop songwriting combination since Lennon and McCartney. The Roses floated around Manchester for over 5 years before being signed, and the duo worked their craft on this collection of flawless tunes. The rhythm section was second to none in rock history - Mani (bass) and Reni (drums) are incredibly intuitive and powerful players. Years before being signed Pete Townshend (who knows a thing or two about drummers) called Reni the best drummer he had worked with since Keith Moon. Mani eventually became an integral member of (the vastly underated) Primal Scream, defining it's late run of brilliance (Vanishing Point, XTRMNTR, etc.).

Anyway, their debut album invented Brit Pop, setting the stage for the 1990's - Oasis, Suede, Blur, etc. The Roses disappeared in the wilderness for five years, returned in 1995 with the much maligned Second Coming (which is not as bad as writer's would have you believe, and is actually quite excellent), but by then Oasis had stolen their audience, pop, and crown. The story of The Stone Roses is one of the great stories in rock history.

There are so many clips I could have inclued - I went with this classic, from 1989. The clip is set up by Tony Wilson, former head of Factory Records and subject of the film 24 Hour Party People. Enjoy.