The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses
Studio album by The Stone Roses
Released	May 2, 1989
Recorded	June 1988-February 1989 at Battery & konk Studios/London, Rockfield Studios, Monmouth/Wales
Genre	Madchester
Length	49:02
Label	Silvertone
Producer	John Leckie
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Clash (10/10 - 2009 Collector's Edition) link Robert Christgau (B-) link
The Stone Roses chronology
The Stone Roses (1989) Second Coming (1994)
Singles from The Stone Roses
"Made of Stone" Released: February 1989 "She Bangs the Drums" Released: July 1989 "I Wanna Be Adored" Released: September 1991 "Waterfall" Released: December 1991 "I Am the Resurrection" Released: March 1992

The Stone Roses is the debut album by English band The Stone Roses, released on Silvertone Records in 1989. It cemented the band's reputation among critics, even today, as one of the most important albums ever.^[1] In 2006, the writers of NME declared the album the greatest British album of all time.^[2].

Background

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The Stone Roses formed in 1984 and released their full-length debut in 1989, having previously released a handful of singles on several different labels. The band came from Manchester, where the so-called Madchester movement was centred. Despite not considering themselves part of this scene, their eponymous debut brought them nationwide success along with such Madchester groups as the Inspiral Carpets and Happy Mondays.

The Roses recorded the album with John Leckie, a notable producer who had worked with Pink Floyd on Meddle. It was released by Silvertone, a division of Zomba Records created to work with "new rock" acts.

The band played a number of high-profile gigs supporting the album, including one at what was regarded as the centre of the "Baggy"/"Madchester" scene, Manchester's The Haçienda nightclub. Andrew Collins wrote in NME: "Bollocks to Morrissey at Wolverhampton, to The Sundays at The Falcon, to PWEI at Brixton - I'm already drafting a letter to my grandchildren telling them that I saw The Stone Roses at the Hacienda."

The Roses' 1990 Spike Island gig, organised by the band and attended by over 27,000 fans, also holds a formidable reputation,

In 1999, on the tenth anniversary of its release, a two-disc special edition re-release of The Stone Roses reached number 9 on the British charts.

Cover artwork

As with most Stone Roses releases, the cover displays a work by John Squire. It is a Jackson Pollock-influenced piece titled "Bye Bye Badman", which makes reference to the May 1968 riots in Paris.

The cover was named by Q magazine as one of "The 100 Best Covers of All Time". In the accompanying article, Squire said: "Ian had met this French man when he was hitching around Europe, this bloke had been in the riots, and he told Ian how lemons had been used as an antidote to tear gas. Then there was the documentary - a great shot at the start of a guy throwing stones at the police. I really liked his attitude." This story was also the inspiration for the lyrics to the song of the same name.^[3] The background of the piece is based on the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. The band visited the causeway while playing a gig at the University of Ulster in Coleraine.^[4]

Critical response

In 1989 the critical response was generally positive and today the album is widely considered to be one of the very best British albums released.^[5] In 1997 it was named the 2nd greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll^{[citation needed]} conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 4^{[citation needed]}, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 29 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever^{[citation needed]}. In 2008, it was named the 5th greatest British album ever by a Q Magazine/HMV poll.^[6]

The music weekly NME initially gave the album 7 out of 10^{[citation needed]} but lavished praise on it in later years. In 2000 it received the "greatest album ever" award at the NME Premier Awards show, and in 2006, the album topped the magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums Ever" list^[7] and recently released a special issue about it's 20th year old anniversary, labelling it as 'the greatest debut album ever'^{[citation needed]}.

In 2005 SPIN magazine ranked it 78 on its list of the 100 greatest albums of the past twenty years^{[citation needed]}. In the same year, when revising "500 Greatest Albums" for book format, Rolling Stone included it as one of the eight new entries placing it at #497^{[citation needed]}. In 2006, Time named it one of "The All-TIME 100 Albums".^[8] In 2003, Pitchfork Media named it the 39th best album of the 1980s.^[9]

Track listing

All tracks written by Ian Brown and John Squire.

1989 UK release

Released March 13th, 1989.

1. "I Wanna Be Adored" – 4:52
2. "She Bangs the Drums" – 3:42
3. "Waterfall" – 4:37
4. "Don't Stop" – 5:17
5. "Bye Bye Badman" – 4:00
6. "Elizabeth My Dear" – 0:59
7. "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" – 3:25
8. "Made of Stone" – 4:10
9. "Shoot You Down" – 4:10
10. "This Is the One" – 4:58
11. "I Am the Resurrection" – 8:12

1989 US release

Released May 2, 1989 (1989-05-02).

1. "I Wanna Be Adored" – 4:52
2. "She Bangs the Drums" – 3:42
3. "Elephant Stone" (UK 7" single version) – 3:04
4. "Waterfall" – 4:37
5. "Don't Stop" – 5:17
6. "Bye Bye Badman" – 4:00
7. "Elizabeth My Dear" – 0:59
8. "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" – 3:25
9. "Made of Stone" – 4:10
10. "Shoot You Down" – 4:10
11. "This Is the One" – 4:58
12. "I Am the Resurrection" – 8:12

1989 US/Australian re-release

Released December 1989.

1. "I Wanna Be Adored" – 4:52
2. "She Bangs the Drums" – 3:42
3. "Elephant Stone" (UK 7" single version) – 3:04
4. "Waterfall" – 4:37
5. "Don't Stop" – 5:17
6. "Bye Bye Badman" – 4:00
7. "Elizabeth My Dear" – 0:59
8. "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" – 3:25
9. "Made of Stone" – 4:10
10. "Shoot You Down" – 4:10
11. "This Is the One" – 4:58
12. "I Am the Resurrection" – 8:12
13. "Fools Gold" (UK 12" single version) – 9:53

1991 UK re-release

Released September 1991.

1. "I Wanna Be Adored" – 4:52
2. "She Bangs the Drums" – 3:42
3. "Waterfall" – 4:37
4. "Don't Stop" – 5:17
5. "Bye Bye Badman" – 4:00
6. "Elephant Stone" (UK 7" single version) – 3:04
7. "Elizabeth My Dear" – 0:59
8. "(Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister" – 3:25
9. "Made of Stone" – 4:10
10. "Shoot You Down" – 4:10
11. "This Is the One" – 4:58
12. "I Am the Resurrection" – 8:12
13. "Fools Gold" (UK 7" single version) – 4:15

1999 10th anniversary release

Disc One

Same as 1989 UK release.

Disc Two

1. "Fools Gold" – 9:53
2. "What The World Is Waiting for" – 3:55
3. "Elephant Stone" – 4:48
4. "Where Angels Play" – 4:15

• Disc two also includes an enhanced portion with music videos, a discography, lyrics and a photo gallery.

2009 20th anniversary release

Disc One

Same as 1989 UK release

Disc Two - The Lost Demos

1. "I Wanna Be Adored"
2. "She Bangs The Drums"
3. "Waterfall"
4. "Bye Bye Badman"
5. "Sugar Spun Sister"
6. "Shoot You Down"
7. "This Is The One"
8. "I Am Resurrection"
9. "Elephant Stone"
10. "Going Down"
11. "Mersey Paradise"
12. "Where Angels Play"
13. "Something's Burning"
14. "One Love"
15. "Pearl Bastard"

• Track 15 was previously unreleased.

DVD - Live in Blackpool (Recorded at the Empress Ballroom in 1989)

1. "I Wanna Be Adored"
2. "Elephant Stone"
3. "Waterfall"
4. "Sugar Spun Sister"
5. "Made of Stone"
6. "She Bangs The Drums"
7. "Where Angels Play"
8. "Shoot You Down"
9. "Going Down"
10. "Mersey Paradise"
11. "I Am The Resurection"

Personnel

The band

• John Squire - guitars, paintings
• Ian Brown - vocals
• Mani - bass
• Reni - drums, backing vocals

Technical personnel

• John Leckie - producer, mixing engineer ("Elephant Stone", U.S. version only)
• Peter Hook - producer ("Elephant Stone", U.S. version only)
• Paul Schroeder - engineer

Charts

Album

Single

References

External links

• Official Website celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the debut album
• The Definitive Stone Roses Discography
• Archived Fan Web Site
• The Stone Roses at MusicBrainz