It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at.” – Ian Brown, circa 1989
I would argue this is probably the best rock’n’roll statement of all time. For power and effect, it beats Bob Geldof’s primetime on BBC, “Just give us your fucking money” any time. It’s the sort of statement Karl Marx himself would’ve been proud of. In the year that every single music journalist in the country was clamouring for anything with any kind of connection to Manchester (mainly because of The Stone Roses themselves), it was the perfect reactionary statement.
One interpretation of what Ian Brown was saying was: we stand by this record we have produced. We stand by it as a timeless piece of work which defies categorisation. I would say it’s a near-perfect record from start to finish, definitely my favourite album of all time, the album I fell in love with, and in love to, in most people’s top 10, although “controversially” not in Gary Mulholland’s Top 261 (what a wanker).
I still remember Whitey telling me during a Biology class that he’d bought the album, in the week it came out. I soon had a cassette copy. As I remember, it exactly filled one side of a C90, up until the break in “I Am the Resurrection” (could this have been deliberate?), so I didn’t have the rest of Squire’s inspired solo until I bought the album on vinyl. I thought I’d have to do something a bit different, so I bought the American version, which had “Elephant Stone” as an extra track. It’s one of my favourite Roses songs, but I think it spoils the track listing. I always thought as well that “Elizabeth My Dear” would have had more impact as the last song on the a-side, rather than the first song on the b-side (I thought this was the case when listening to my cassette copy), but that’s just opinion.
You can still listen to the album now, and from the first notes of “I Wanna Be Adored”, you’ll feel compelled to listen till the end. Thinking quickly, I can only think of two other favourite albums which I always like to listen to all the way through – “Sea Monsters” by The Wedding Present, and more recently, “In Our Space Hero Suits” by Those Dancing Days, but in the case of the latter, this may be because they’ve carefully placed the two stand-out tracks as the last two on the album.
One thing Those Dancing Days and The Stone Roses have in common are two phenomenally good, and versatile drummers. In the early days, it was Reni’s drumming that helped the band attract attention. But everything about each member of the band – the baggy clothes, long hair, pouts, the splatter paintings, the way they tried to unify people and styles – and of course, the music as well, was cool – hence renaming this edition of the magazine, which is paying tribute to The Stone Roses and their debut album, which has its 20th anniversary this year.
Sadly no interviews as hoped, but there are various articles about the band and the album, plus all the poems and short stories I’ve managed to find room for. Hope you enjoy it. Nick
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