Garage Flower [IMPORT]

Stone Roses

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1998)
• Original Release Date: November 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Import [Generic]
• ASIN: B00000745A
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #185,671 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Official release of their 1986 demo album (produced in Mancheser by the legendary & late Martin Hannett), plus eight previously unreleased tracks: 'Getting Plenty', 'TrustA Fox', 'Tradjic Roundabout', 'All I Want', 'Heart On The Staves', 'Fall', 'Just A Little Bit' & 'Mission Impossible'.14 tracks total. Both the cover & the full color picture CD feature the original artwork intended for it by their guitarist John Squire. 1996 Garage Flower Records/ Virgin Records release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They were once one hell of a garage band, October 6, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

Remember the Stone Roses you look back upon with fondness? They were the band blaring in the car that night you were out with your friends. The sun was setting. It was summer. The evening breeze felt cool on your face. You sang along silently or aloud to Elephant Stone, or Fool's Gold, or Mersey Paradise. They were once one hell of a garage band as this recording can attest.

WARNING: THIS RECORD IS FOR TRUE FANS ONLY (i.e. people that haven't sold back "Second Coming" to purchase recreational substances)!

My unsolicited advice? Get this, "Turns Into Stone", The self-titled record, "Second Coming" and the Sally Cinnamon single. This gives you every decent song the Roses did in its unedited, original form (do yourself a favor and skip "The Compleat" for this reason). Pass on the cheesy remix garbage and box set. Silvertone milked this poor band's back catalog mercilessly. The same can be said for Geffen for that matter (i.e. skip the "Begging You", "Love Spreads", and "Ten Storey Love Song" singles). Ok, enough preaching from me. I've spent enough money on this band to pay for Squire's rehab a few times over. Oh yeah, and try to pick up a copy of "All the Colours Fade" (live at the Hacienda `89). It's a good un'.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not-yet-classic Stone Roses, June 10, 2001

By	R. Riis "rriis" (NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The recordings on "Garage Flower" predate those on the classic "Stone Roses". The music here is not as compelling as that which came later but it is interesting to hear the band honing its sound. Recommended for Stone Roses fans, but initiates will want to start elsewhere.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rougher, rawer, worth a look, March 13, 2004

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Success ruined the Stone Roses after their astounding, groundbreaking debut album and a less-popular follow-up. Now, in a musical era where "garage rock" is a phrase thrown around like frisbees, the title of the Stone Roses' "Garage Flowers" seems quite appropriate. It's rough, gritty and unfinished, but certainly worth a look for the Roses fan.

Starting with the so-so "Getting Plenty," it shifts in a blare of horns and drums to the catchy, unhappy "Here It Comes" ("Give me your life/It's worthless anyhow"). The Roses show their talent for getting adrenaline pumping with the weightily catchy "Tradjic Roundabout," loud percussion-led "So Young," and Beatles-esque "All I Want."

As a connection to their debut album, there's an early cut of "I Wanna Be Adored." It's less coherent and more scattered; it's primarily interesting as a sign of how their music evolved into the gritty, polished sound of "Stone Roses." Additionally, "This Is the One" appears in all its punky, whispery glory, a slightly different version from that of the debut album, but possibly even better.

The sound of "Stone Roses" hasn't yet blossomed in "Garage Flowers." Their sound was still evolving and changing. As a result several of the songs here were released for the first time in "Garage Flowers," still with that slightly scratched, unfinished feeling that you only get in demo CDs. Those expecting the quality of "Stone Roses" or "Second Coming" will be disappointed, but those looking for some semi-good music from the then-evolving Stone Roses will find it here.

The muddier sound makes it a little harder to hear the music at times. They're a little uneven musically, tending to depend heavily either on percussion or guitars. And the melodies are somewhat less complex than they were later in the Roses' career, especially with the shaky filler song "Getting Plenty." However, they are still fairly good, with some of the brilliant, swirling guitar riffs and thunderous drumming that can get your pulse racing in an instant.

The 1986 demo album "Garage Flowers" is a shift down from the rest of the Roses' music catalog, but it's still a worthy release and a curiosity for Stone Roses fans.