The Stone Roses

Previously known as little more than a second-rate London with its drab, factory-laden landscape, Manchester got a jolt of lurid sex appeal in the late-'80s/early ‘90s, with the emergence of the drug-induced, dance-anthemed Madchester scene. At the helm of this marriage of funk and indie were the Stone Roses; a ne'er-do-well bunch of art school dropouts with a winning combination of piss, vinegar, and something to say.

The band's eponymous debut album, released in 1989 on the now defunct Silvertone Records, was the keystone for the Factory Records "Hacienda" scene that was soon to take over British culture. Much like their municipal brethren, Morrissey and Johnny Marr (of the Smiths), singer Ian Brown and Jackson Pollock-obsessed guitarist John Squire were the chemistry that held the band together. With Ian's aloof, snarled vocals and Squire's subtle mix of punchy, jaunty guitar landscapes, the band solidified themselves at the forefront of the new genre.

Though the band never outshined their debut album on future works, the canon of The Stone Roses became an instant classic. Album opener "I Wanna Be Adored" shows Brown at his misanthropic best, spitting out lyrics like: "I don't have to sell my soul / He's already in me" over Squire's sleek and lazy riffs. Other tracks such as "Elephant Stone," "She Bangs the Drum," "I Am the Resurrection," and "Waterfall" echo the blending of early electronic musings with tried and true guitar pop, while "Don't Stop" and "Fool's Gold" could pass for any club remix out today with their crackling cascade of loops and beats.

As the Madchester scene begat new bands—the Happy Mondays, the Charlatans—with more drugs and disco balls on their minds, the Roses never ditched their rock roots completely. The Stone Roses is a time capsule of youth culture on the precipice of change, and that never goes out of style.

- Danielle Allaire
05.11.07

Since the Stone Roses were the nominal leaders of Britain's "Madchester" scene -- an indie rock phenomenon that fused guitar pop with drug-fueled rave and dance culture -- it's rather ironic that their eponymous debut only hints at dance music. What made the Stone Roses important was how they welcomed dance and pop together, treating them as if they were the same beast. Equally important was the Roses' cool, detached arrogance, which was personified by Ian Brown's nonchalant vocals. Brown's effortless malevolence is brought to life with songs that equal both his sentiments and his voice -- "I Wanna Be Adored," with its creeping bassline and waves of cool guitar hooks, doesn't demand adoration, it just expects it. Similarly, Brown can claim "I Am the Resurrection" and lie back, as if there were no room for debate. But the key to The Stone Roses is John Squire's layers of simple, exceedingly catchy hooks and how the rhythm section of Reni and Mani always imply dance rhythms without overtly going into the disco. On "She Bangs the Drums" and "Elephant Stone," the hooks wind into the rhythm inseparably -- the '60s hooks and the rolling beats manage to convey the colorful, neo-psychedelic world of acid house. Squire's riffs are bright and catchy, recalling the British Invasion while suggesting the future with their phased, echoey effects. The Stone Roses was a two-fold revolution -- it brought dance music to an audience that was previously obsessed with droning guitars, while it revived the concept of classic pop songwriting, and the repercussions of its achievement could be heard throughout the '90s, even if the Stone Roses could never achieve this level of achievement again. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi