The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses
Studio album by The Stone Roses
Released	13 March 1989
Recorded	June 1988-February 1989 at Battery & Konk Studios/London, Rockfield Studios, Monmouth/Wales
Genre	Madchester Alternative dance Alternative rock[1]
Length	49:02
Label	Silvertone
Producer	John Leckie
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Clash (10/10) - 2009 Collectors' Edition link Culturedeluxe (9/10) - 20th Anniversary Edition link Pitchfork Media (10.0/10) - 20th Anniversary Edition link Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone - 20th Anniversary Edition link
The Stone Roses chronology
The Stone Roses (1989) Turns into Stone (1992)
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, and is still rated by many as one of the most important albums ever.^[2] In 2006, the writers of NME declared the album the greatest British album of all time.^[3]

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 Haçienda."

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

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 [Brown] 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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 ever released.^[6] In 1997, it was named the 2nd greatest album of all time in a "Music of the Millennium" poll^[7] conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998, Q magazine readers placed it at number 4^[8], while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 29 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever."^[9]

In 2008, it was named the 5th "greatest British album ever" by a Q magazine/HMV poll.^[10]

The music weekly NME initially gave the album 5 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.^[11] In summer 2009, NME released a special issue about the album's 20th 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."^[12] In the same year, when revising the "500 Greatest Albums" for book format, Rolling Stone included it as one of the eight new entries placing it at #497. In 2006, Time named it one of "The All-TIME 100 Albums."^[13] In 2003, Pitchfork Media named it the 39th best album of the 1980s.^[14]

Releases

The album was first released in the UK on March 13, 1989^{[citation needed]}, and in the US on July 25, 1989. In 1999, on the 10th anniversary of its release, a two-disc special edition re-release of The Stone Roses reached #9 on the UK albums chart. In 2009, the remastered 20th anniversary edition was released in several formats: the standard 11-track album (with the bonus track "Fools Gold") on CD and 12" vinyl LP (the LP version includes a bonus one-sided 7" single featuring the unreleased demo track "Pearl Bastard"); a deluxe edition 2CD/1DVD set, featuring the album on disc one, a 15-track collection of unreleased demos titled The Lost Demos on disc two, and a DVD featuring a 1989 live performance titled Live in Blackpool; and a 3CD/3LP/1DVD collector's edition box set, which features:^[15]

• The remastered 11-track album on one CD and one LP
• The Lost Demos on one CD
• The B-sides on one CD and two LPs
• Live in Blackpool DVD
• A 48-page booklet, containing unseen photos and new interviews
• Six 12"-sized art prints featuring John Squire's original single artwork
• A lemon-shaped USB stick, featuring digital files of:
  • The album, the demos, and the B-sides
  • Five previously unreleased "backwards tracks"
  • Six music videos
  • Up at Sawmills: The Making of Fools Gold documentary video
  • Exclusive desktop wallpapers, ringtones, and a 48-page digital booklet

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ian Brown and John Squire. 

1999 10th anniversary release

Disc one

Same as 1989 UK release.

Disc two

2009 20th anniversary release

Personnel

The band

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

Technical personnel

• John Leckie - producer, mixing engineer (on "Elephant Stone")
• Peter Hook - producer (on "Elephant Stone")
• Paul Schroeder - engineer

Release history

Charts

Album

Single

References

External links

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