Music We Listen To, feat., The Stone Roses
By: William P. Stodden
Tags: Music, Music We Listen To, Alternative, The Stone Roses, Rock

Stone Roses, ca. 1989

Music We Listen To, feat., The Stone Roses

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I’ve really been into the Stone Roses lately.

I wasn’t a huge fan of their music back in the late 80s and early 90s, when they were actually forerunners of the massive explosion of Britpop, which starred bands like Elastica, Oasis, Blur, Pulp etc etc — Their scene was called “Madchester.” The Stone Roses were bigger when I was getting into Public Enemy and Digital Underground. I was maybe a few years too young.

And by the time I was old enough to appreciate their debut record, self titled The Stone Roses, I was full on into grunge, ready to discover their mid-90s younger cousins from Manchester. The first time I really listened to their music was on the excellent soundtrack for the New Zealand movie “Eagle Vs. Shark”, starring Jemaine Clement and Loren Horsely. It was a really kinda cheesy rom com in the quirky vein of Napoleon Dynamite, directed by a then relatively unknown director named Taika Waititi (who went on to direct Thor: Ragnarok, write, star and direct Jojo Rabbit, and star as the murderous bounty hunter robot in The Mandalorian, among other films that you all know now.) Here’s the Trailer

Eagle vs. Shark, 2007

The end of that trailer has “This is the One” by the Stone Roses on it. (It was also in the movie.) When I was listening to the soundtrack for that movie, I thought, man this is an awesome soundtrack with a bunch of indie rock on it, but the standout track on the entire record, for me was the Stone Roses song.

This particular song is what one might call “Jangle pop” at the beginning, with a 12 string guitar bringing the listener through the first verse, as well as some pretty serious rock fanfare throughout. After it goes through a few verses, about how this guy loves this woman, it breaks out into a full on, ultra-lush production bridge into the last chorus and then into the end of the song, with cross-fades and weird warping effects which makes it sound like it has blasted off and is headed out into the echos of time. It is just a spectacular bit of pop-rock that really doesn’t sound like anything else on that soundtrack.

This is the One, by the Stone Roses

That was like 10 years ago when I first heard that song. Fast forward to the age of Spotify, and I decide, of course to check the rest of the record out. If that song itself is so incredibly awesome and well produced, I wonder what the rest of the album sounds like.

Well, needless to say, I was not at all disappointed. This is an entire album of late 80s alternative, but I think it was done late enough to not be cheesy or super heavy college rock, like REM et al was at that time. It was unapoligetic rock, it did not rely on synthesizers, and it really sounded huge! Exactly how the 90s alternative music which followed it sounded. This record could have been recorded in an amphitheater that seats 20,000 screaming fans, easily. That’s the kind of sound it has to it.

The biggest, and best track on the record was, surprisingly not the song I wrote about above, but the song which followed it. This song, called “I am the Ressurection” starts kind of like an upbeat British Invasion song. There is a lot of echo on the vocals, and a fairly stark bass and drum backing which is driving. But when the rhythm guitar kicks in at the end of the first verse, man, you know this song is going to be awesome. There’s a lot of fingering on the lead which sort of hides out in the back of the mix, but pokes its head out occasionally. The song is pretty cool, especially when it finally gets to the chorus. They have a mandolin in the bridge, and then the chorus repeats.

You think the song should be over, and it sounds like it is finishing up after all. But then… with 5 minutes left in the 8 and half minute song, it goes straight into a hard rocking, kinda funky break down… three false stops and endless pinging sounds in the back that is reminiscent of being on a submarine about to get wasted by Russian torpedoes, we break into a distortion filled, feedback bonanza that easily reminds one of the classic end to Santana’s “Black Magic Woman”, with more MDMA and less mota. It’s a huge sign off for the record. What a fantastic song!

I am the Resurrection, by the Stone Roses

There are other great songs on this record too (including the bizarre acid trip of a song called “Don’t Stop” which you are never really sure if they are singing forwards against backward music, or if the song is played backwards, and the lyrics occasionally sound like forwards words, as well as the song called “Waterfall” which you realize is more like a preview to “I am the Resurrection” stylistically, and by the way, containing the same pinging elements you hear later on the record.) The record itself is coherent, as an album should be, and the sonic aesthetic is really enjoyable. It sounds a little dated, but just because producers don’t bother to make big rock records like this anymore (the last one I heard was Veruca Salt’s Ghost Notes from 2016).

Take a listen to The Stone Roses, S/T. We loved it!

Stone Roses S/T on Spotify