Music / The Stone Roses (Album)

I don't have to sell my soul, he's already in me.

The Stone Roses is the Self-Titled Album by The Stone Roses from 1989. It was very influential in the British Alternative Rock scene and effectively paved the way for the Britpop genre that became popular in the 1990s, similar to how Nirvana's Nevermind did the same for Grunge. The album is best remembered for the singles "She Bangs the Drums" and "I Wanna Be Adored".

Tracklist:

1. "I Wanna Be Adored" (4:52)
2. "She Bangs the Drums" (3:42)
3. "Elephant Stone"* (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. "Fool's Gold"* (9:53)

* Was not a track on the album at first, but put on most subsequent rereleases

Personnel:

• Ian Brown: vocals
• Mani: bass guitar
• Reni: drums, backing vocals, piano
• John Squire: guitar

She Tropes The Drums

• Alliterative Title: "Bye Bye Badman", "Song For My Sugar Spun Sister".
• Art Imitates Art: Painter Jackson Pollock is referenced in the song "Made Of Stone" as well as on the cover art.
• As the Good Book Says...: "I Am The Resurrection"
  I am the resurrection and I am the life
• Author Appeal: Republicanism, the May 1968 student riots in Paris.
• Brick Joke: A musical example of this shows up in the eight-minute long "I Am the Resurrection". The first three minutes are dominated by a Motown-influenced groove with a catchy, descending bassline. After Ian Brown finishes his vocals, the band launch into an epic 5-minute funk-rock improvisation. And towards the end, Mani works in the descending bassline again.
• Design Student's Orgasm: The album cover is a painting by John Squire, the band's guitarist.
• The Diss Track: According to John Squire, "I am the Resurrection" was aimed at someone he and Ian Brown knew and hated.
• Echoing Acoustics: Very prominent on this album.
• Epic Rocking: The 8:12 "I Am The Resurrection", and the 9:53 "Fool's Gold".
• God-Is-Love Songs: "I Wanna Be Adored" is more ambiguous, but the lines "I don't need to sell my soul/He's already in me" can easily be interpreted as referring to the Devil.
• Lyrical Dissonance:
  • "Bye Bye Badman" is an upbeat pop-rock song about the May 1968 student riots in Paris.
  • "Made of Stone" is another anthemic, catchy tune whose lyrics reference the 1968 riots again, especially using imagery of burning cars.
  • "Shoot You Down" is laid-back funk-rock song about shooting someone down, also mentioning about how said victim always had it coming.
  • "Elizabeth My Dear" is a Simon & Garfunkel-style ballad (with the melody even borrowed from the old English folk tune 'Scarborough Fair' ) about wanting to dethrone the Queen.
• Longest Song Goes Last: The album closes with either "I Am The Resurrection" (8:12), or "Fool's Gold" (9:53).
• Minimalistic Cover Art: The cover is an abstract image.
• Miniscule Rocking: "Elizabeth My Dear", which is less than a minute long.
• One-Man Song: "Bye Bye Badman"
• One-Woman Song: "Elizabeth My Dear" and "Song For My Sugar Spun Sister".
• One-Word Title: "Waterfall"
• Overly Long Gag: The extended drum sequence near the end of "I Am The Resurrection".
• Rearrange the Song: "Don't Stop" is Ian Brown singing over a demo of "Waterfall" played backwards.
• Record Producer: John Leckie (Pink Floyd, Public Image Ltd., XTC) is often credited as helping the Roses become awesome, which is quite justified when one hears the demos of the songs from their first album.
• Self-Titled Album
• Shout-Out:
  • The melody for the song "Elizabeth My Dear" is based on the English traditional "Scarborough Fair".
  • "I Wanna Be Adored" is used on the soundtrack of Welcome to Sarajevo (1997). The video is a shout-out to Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii concert film.
  • The drum intro to "I am the Resurrection" appears to be lifted from The Pretenders' "Mystery Achievement".
• Single Stanza Song: "Elizabeth My Dear". Thirty words, less than a minute long, and extremely creepy.
• Stop and Go: About 2/3's of the way through the extended jam coda of "I am the Resurrection" During the aforementioned epic 5-minute funky improv, at one point the band stop playing. There's a few seconds of silence before they start again as if nothing had happened.
• Title-Only Chorus: "I Wanna Be Adored".
• Updated Re-release: Later U.K. CD and cassette pressings appended "Elephant Stone" and "Fool's Gold" to the track listing, where these had already appeared on North American editions.

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