I just wiki'd the Stone Roses and was amused to read that:
Disaster followed on 1 April 1996 when John Squire left the band, to the anger of the remaining members, particularly Ian Brown. Though former Asia and Simply Red session guitarist Aziz Ibrahim was recruited to fill Squire's shoes, Slash from Guns N' Roses offered to play with the band through Doug Goldstein. The Roses rejected stating 'No we hate Guns N' Roses, f*** off!'. The band persevered for another six months before Ian Brown and Mani dissolved the group after a disastrous performance at the Reading Music Festival at which disappointed fans booed the band, and threw things at the stage.
It's sad that they even tried to continue without John Squire. I forgot to mention him on the "Guitar Gods" thread, but he's just about my favourite guitarist. If they'd released more than two albums I'm sure I'd rate him even more highly.
I also think that Slash would have made an interesting replacement for Squire, given that both of them know their way around a wah-wah pedal.
Damn their infernal stone hides for not even considering the possibility.
In 2003, the music magazine NME voted their debut album the #1 greatest album of all time, ahead of Pixies and The Beach Boys.
In June 2004, the British newspaper The Observer listed their debut album as the #1 best British album of all time (beating The Beatles and The Rolling Stones) after compiling the views of 100 newspaper staff and musicians.
In 2006, NME voted their debut album the #1 British album of all time, narrowly beating The Smiths with The Queen Is Dead into second position and Oasis into third with Definitely Maybe
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It is a great album. Not surprised about the Reading bit. I saw them live in Belfast around 1989-90, not long after it had been released. Playing live was never a strong point of theirs, imo. My enduring memory of that need is the relief I felt going to the toilet after drinking on the 100 minute bus journey there!
Aglithophile and conniptionist and spectacular moonbow beholder 16Jul11
To be fair Aziz Ibrahim, Squire's replacement, was (and still is) an exceptional guitarist. The Roses problems were really more to do with the excesses in the five years between their two albums. Louise Wener summed it up really nicely (although she was actually talking about the demise of her own band, Sleeper): "Some of us were doing fast drugs and some of us were doing slow drugs. In the end, it became kinda hard for us all to play together."
Ian Brown was all about marijuana and ecstasy, Squire had become a heavy cocaine user and Reni had developed a serious heroin addiciton. Mani it seems, was the most well adjusted of the four! Ian Brown lays the blame for the Roses' demise squarely on Squire's supposedly coke-fuelled ego, and Squire said recently that, during the recording of The Second Coming, Brown's excessive use of marijuana caused him to be "at best a tuneless knob and at worst a paranoid mess". Certainly though, from the production on The Second Coming it's clear that the bass and drums are rather quiet compared to the vocals and guitar. I'm continually surprised at how well The Second Coming is aging though, even though it was universally panned at the time.
I think a lot of people at the time concluded that Ian Brown was all about the image of the band and Squire was all about the music. I had a friend who for years swore blind that John Squire actually sang on all the Roses songs since the first album and Brown just danced around on stage (that theory was blown out of the water when Squire finally released a solo album, on which his voice sounded a lot like Paul Weller's!) It's interesting that Brown's solo career has gone from strength to strength and it's apparent that, despite not playing an instrument, his musical input was considerable. I have been meaning to get John Squire's solo albums for ages, but I keep forgetting. I remember that the music press were pretty cruel about it, but the newspapers were more favourable and some of my friends liked it too.
I think I might have given away that the Stone Roses are a topic close to my heart, as they were the first band I ever really, really bought into!
Q. Why do Communists drink herbal tea?
A. Because proper tea is theft.
I didn't realise Squire had released solo albums. I clicked on his site the other night, but that seemed to be more about his artwork so I left pretty quick.
Stonemaybe, even if they were rubbish live I envy you for having seen them.
ur-monkey wrote:Honourable mensh: Waterfall, I Wanna Be Adored
Those would be two of my favourites.
Plus the extended version of Fools Gold (for the wah-wah), Begging You (for the backwards guitar), and Ten Storey Love Song (too poppy for some I know, but it's great pop.
John Squire's album came the other day. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
If you listen hard enough, you can hear evidence of the noodly guitar that you'd associate with Squire and there are some very solid rock compositions. Unfortunately, it seems the reviewer who compared Squire's voice was telling a bit of a fib. Imagine, if you will, a man who can't sing a note and has a high, nasal voice that's a bit irritating. Now imagine that same man putting his heart and soul into the best David Bowie impression he can muster.
I was able to grit my teeth through the first four tracks, but then I could take no more. Sorry John
Q. Why do Communists drink herbal tea?
A. Because proper tea is theft.
For every positive emotion I hold towards the Stone Roses there is a negative one as well. Why could they not realise that they were never going to be in a better musical entity than that?
Idiots. Morons.
They produced some of the best music ever, and they were stupid enough to think they could reproduce that in pathetic little side-projects.
To be fair, Ian Brown's solo work has gone from strength to strength. I don't see him ever recapturing the magic of the Roses, but he's making some excellent music still. He's also started doing some Roses songs live, which he refused to do for a long time. Mani's also done well, becoming something of an icon since joining Primal Scream.
It's a shame that Reni's project never got off the ground, as he's an absurdly talented musician (apparently he was the most techincally able drummer, bass player and vocalist in the Stone Roses, and he was none too shabby on guitar either). I much prefer the stuff John Squire did with the Seahorses though. It wasn't a brilliant record (according to rumour, the other three were buskers Squire met on a truip to Cambridge), but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
There are always rumours of the Stone Roses reforming and I think it might be nice if they toured their old material again. I'm not sure how I'd feel about them recording new stuff though, their music was very much influenced by its time and I can't imagine them being able to replicate that so many years down the road.
Q. Why do Communists drink herbal tea?
A. Because proper tea is theft.
you!
