life changing...

This album is regarded by many as more of an event than a record. Its impact and continual influence on British indie culture is difficult to describe but easy to understand once you hear it. Despite being the posterboys for the Madchester scene, The Stone Roses contains little, if any, dance music and is instead written in a classic English psychedelic tradition, containing guitar anthems with memorable lyrics, fantastic musicianship, and, of course, arrogance to spare. Despite Ian Brown's limited vocal ability, his stoned delivery was a perfect match for John Squire's heavenly (there's no other word for it) guitar work. The rhythm section of Gary Mounfield and Reni was the best of their generation and gave the airy, light songwriting a bit of beef and a near-funk sound (their second LP would be much more thick and would rely heavily on these two). The success of this record would bring them a huge deal with the majors, but legal hassles, egos, drugs, and just plain laziness meant that the follow-up would take five years and practically guarantee an anticlimactic follow-up, one of the few promises the band did deliver on.