Customer Reviews

Stone Roses? The Stone Roses (33 1/3)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Stone Roses is a well researched review of a stunning debut album that thrives on the sheer enthusiasm of its author where others in the series have choked on it.

The author also succeeds in striking a balance between the equally interesting rise and fall of the Stone Roses that bookend this fantastic album. The meat of the story is the album itself, well placed in the different contexts of the US and English music markets of the late '80's and supported by a great deal of primary source material from those involved with album and those who witnessed it from the outside.

While the inclusion of a member of the Posies or some obscure English band even many indie music nerds will never have heard of may not be as key as say a lifted quote from John Leckie, they do succeed in bringing the author outside of himself and offering different perspective on the art and artists.

A sure hit for fans of the Stone Roses, `90's Britpop and of course those who appreciate brilliance and Spinal Tap-esque drama fit for "Behind the Music," but with actual music.

The real Stone Roses are cleverly revealed through Music Critic Green's personal experience, growing up in the suburbs, listening to Brit Pop. Each song is a chapter in the book as well as a chapter in Green's life. This book is a must for all Brit Pop fans. It made me want to have coffee with the author and talk about a million other bands. Green is knowledgeable, funny, and easy to read.

The Stone Roses by Seth Green is, so far, one of the best books from the 33 1/3 series by Continuum Books. I think a lot of it has to do with his style which is personal, passionate, engaging, witty, as well as informative. He loves music and knows a lot about it and music can carry very deep personal associations as well. But occasionally it can transcend emotional associations and predictability and become a sort to of personal classic-this album is one of those for him. I think this album has stood the test of time very well, but I'm not sure I can say the same. It is by far the best thing from the late 80s Manchester scene in my opinion, though. So it is befitting that these personal links be explored as well. I think he does a particularly good job of providing the context form which this record was made as well as the context of what it was in relation to other driving forces of music-particularly independent (alternative) or what was then known as college music. I know and understand these references, because Green is the same age as me we and, generally, listen to the same music. However, he was much more passionate and willing to shell-out the cash for the music he needed. for example, he mentions how The Stone roses bridged the gap between indie rock and the rave dance culture. As he states, there was an absence of dance music among what he calls the Westgergians (a truly fitting title for the indie rock guys like me-I didn't really "get" dance music until I came to Japan in 97', but I still profess to be mainly a Westbergian). This was demonstrated by one of my old room mates Gaje, who worked at the college radio station DJing and reviewing records for them, put on what i imagine to be "Elephant Stone or "I Want To Be Adored" when his then room mate, Greg, bust into the room shimming to the record-and if I remember correctly Greg was a Westbergian if there ever was one.

He basically does all this by writing, in essence, a separate essay with a different theme for each song along with a prologue and epilogue. These sections are complete with fitting epigraphs from various sources (songs by Elvis Costello and The Smiths, literary quotes- from Goethe-Byron-Wilde, sound-bites from The Stones Roses, Noel Gallagher. Furthermore, he provides the history of the Manchester scene and the rise of rave culture which begat and influenced this record. He also gets a variety of musicians to make observations about the band and the record (from obscure bands that I used to listen to like The Woodentops, The MIghty Lemons, and Posies). A very enjoyable and nostalgic read-highly recommended.

The Stone Roses was one of my all time favorites and definitly would have been on my desert island discs. Alex just simply reminded me of why that would be. Having talked to him on many occasions, I have found that he is a fountain of musical knowlege, especially in the brit pop genre. As for the person who wanted to have coffee with him, I get to make coffee for him as he comes to my cafe. I am lucky because I get to make conversation with him about music and that is really cool. The Stone Roses record is really remarkable and Alex Green is there to remind us why! Alex is a remarkable person of much knowledge of music and also a real down to earth kind of guy. I am glad to know him and am glad to have gotten to read his book! Great read ...Alex!

I was disappointed by this book. I came in wanting to get lots of good information about the band and the making of one of my favorite records, but really, after reading it, I'm not sure I know much more than I started with. Like several other books in the 33 1/3 series, the author spends far too much time talking about himself and his own circumstances (when he first heard the album, what music he was into at the time, etc.) rather than the album. He glosses over important steps in the evolution of the band, their sound, and the scene. While most people know their general story, it's not like they're the Beatles where their every move has been so well-documented that we're all sick of hearing about it.

His placing of the album in historical context is pretty good but generally underdeveloped. Also, not to be mean, but for a college professor, the writing was pretty darn rough, both stylistically and grammatically. I'm sure if you're a huge fan of this record you'll find the book interesting, but compared to some of the other books in this series that I've read (Forever Changes, Exile on Main St., Pet Sounds, Daydream Nation, and The Ramones would be among the best; In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Doolittle, Village Green, and a couple others are fairly good), I'd rate this book as not being particularly compelling. But hey, it's short, and it's about a really great record and a really interesting part of rock history.

For the uninitiated, the 33 1/3 series by Continuum are little books that deal with classic albums of the past. They range from huge sellers (U2, Bruce Springsteen), cult classic (Neutral Milk Hotel, Love, GBV) and out right classics (Pet Sounds, Low, Unknown Pleasures). Each book the writer is allowed to write anything they deem fits the mood of the album, so you may get a short novella dealing with an album instead of a historical review of the piece. My rating is based on it being from the 33 1/3 series of books and how I rate it compared to others in the collection.

THE STONE ROSES: this was a very fun and personal book by Alex Green. I thought the way he jumped from the "baggy" scene to little instances of his life in which this masterpiece was the backdrop to many events of his life (which the Stone Roses as the soundtrack) was well done. That is exactly what music seems to be, certain songs will bring to my mind events in my past.

Each chapter was a breakdown of each song on the album. There is enough info there to satisfy certain people who want a little bit more about what each song meant. Technical information is very lacking, but I do not care about that omission, why bog down the book with studio tips when you are dealing with a classis fun album that define a scene and generation (an ex-girlfriend of mine grew up during the "baggy" scene and was there at ground zero, I was always jealous about that).

All in all, a good little fun book.

Well done Alex

Well, the album needs no introduction and we all have our stories about what it means to us, which makes it a little irritating that the writer insists on coating this Pollock-inspired masterpiece with so many dull splashes of his own reminiscences.
For example, he mentions that he used to feel "Bye Bye Badman" was an ode to youthful byronics, when in fact it strongly references the Paris riots of the 60's.
Unfortunately, his powers of interpretation and insight haven't improved much, as he claims about "(Song for my) Sugar Spun Sister":

"Until the sky turns green / The grass is several shades of blue / Every member of parliament trips on glue", Brown sings out of nowhere, switching gears and directing this lyrical barb at the hypocrisy of phony and quite possibly chemically addicted English politicians."

Oops...it's clear from the next lines of the song that Brown is actually outlining the kind of crazy conditions that would have to be met in order to seal his girl's love - "It takes all these things and all that time /
Till my sugar spun sister's happy / With this love of mine
It'll take all these things and oh much more"

Sorry, but I found an own goal like that rather consistent with the spirit of this book - it didn't even make me feel like listening to the album again particularly, and that's a fail as far as these kind of books go! More fun is to be had watching the interviews again on Youtube...

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