Tuesday, 26 February 2008

THE STONE ROSES – LOVE SPREADS (GEFFEN)


THE STONE ROSES – LOVE SPREADS (GEFFEN)

The Stone Roses were always a weird proposition.  I wasn’t into them at the height of Baggy.  Indeed I remember being frightened of those bands and the people that were into them (most notably my friend’s older brothers and friends).  For me The Stone Roses represented those people in the studio audience of The Word that danced and looked awful and terrifying all at the same time.  I was too young to understand, I didn’t know what was going on.  My gut instinct was that crappy people were into the Stone Roses and time has not necessarily proved me wrong.

I think drugs have a lot to do with appreciating the Stone Roses experience.  And that has just never been me.  All I ever heard was the basic repetition, sly guitar and light drums that sounded electronic.  What was going here?

In their absence the Stone Roses managed to take on some kind of mythical indie rock status.  While they were away there was no evidence to tarnish their legacy or their position as music gods and thus the hype grew and grew (their coming album was entitled “Second Coming” for fuck’s sake).  And I must admit to getting caught up in it myself, even to the point I bought this single at the point of entry (day of release).  In my defence it was offered on promotion.  That was how the CD singles charts used to work.  On the week of release many would be on the shelves priced at £1.99 but the following week once they had charted the prices would rise to a more RRP level/degree of £3.99.  So it was buy now or pay more later, which was in the end saw me buy copious/ridiculous amounts of CD singles and part of the reason why I now struggle to move around my apartment.  Indeed I was suckered by the machinations of the music industry just like everyone else.

“Love Spreads” is a lumbering piece of work.  Certainly it didn’t justify the five year wait; this was not a creative high.  That said it is a passable song.  There is something almost nautical in the creaking sound of John Squire’s guitar and when Ian Brown’s vocals finally drop in it seems to add a drive to proceedings, a dull roar.  The lyrical sentiments are somewhat muddied.  To use the line “let me put you in the picture” does feel a term appropriate to an arrogant return from absence.  And that’s not pleasant.  By this stage Oasis was slowing taking over music and their influences were taking notes.  Still, who returns to the fold with an almost six minute song?

Following on the release came “Your Still Will Shine”, a track also lifted from their highly anticipated new upcoming album.  For a fan this must have been cause for concern as the flat construct with its acoustic approach that already felt tired before Brown’s vocals even dropped in.  I wasn’t buying it.

The third track “Blackout” clashes like a healthy hybrid of G-Funk and classic, like Parliament wrestling with the Happy Mondays with a wizard playing piano while Squire is the time and space to breathe and indulge.  And it’s not awful.

The Stone Roses always duped lots of people.

Thesaurus moment: mendacity.

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