News of the return of The Stone Roses caused me to dig out my copy of their second album. It's an album I never really took to, and generally has been much maligned. Listening to it over the last couple of days has made me appreciate it much more than ever before. OK, it doesn't reach the heady heights of their debut LP, but not many albums do.
There is some really strong material here - the sublime single "Ten Storey Love Song", "Love Spreads", "Breaking Into Heaven" and "Begging You". I can live without the rockist Americana on "Driving South" and Ian Brown's flat vocals on "Good Times".
Some of this material is quite heavy, as it's very much guitarist John Squire's album. And strangely, a lot of it sounds more at home in 2011 than it did in the mid-'90s.
I think this album might have been more successful with a little judicious editing as some of the songs are overlong. Maybe one or two of the weaker songs (such as "Straight To The Man") should have been dropped. I rather like the jokey bonus track which is known as "The Foz" or "Cacophony" but I do feel including it on this album was probably a mistake. I think a lot of fans were overwhelmed by the sheer volume and variety of material. Including the bonus track, there are over 70 minutes of music here.
Don't buy this in preference to their debut eponymous album. But if you have that already, and maybe one of the Silvertone compilations with their early singles on, then this album is worth getting too.
No comments:
Post a Comment