Customer Reviews

The Stone Roses: And the Resurrection of British Pop

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book follows a fairly typical rock bio timeline for The Stone Roses. I was very interested to learn about the "wilderness years" and what happened within the band to make the Second Coming such a rubbish follow up to the brilliant debut. I didn't find the facts very deep or compelling for that section, but the early years info was very good. I'd had no idea they were chugging away at it for so many years before the debut album's release. However, if this book is any indication, John Robb is a sub-par writer, repeating phrases and descriptions in adjacent paragraphs on almost every third page. It becomes infuriating after a while and I really had to push myself to get to the end. I also must take him to task for using "myriad" incorrectly a handful of times (unless that's a British thing, like saying "aluminium"). This book seriously needs an editor if it's going to go into another edition.

The book starts off promisingly with a review of the Blackpool show, but soon falls into a rather muddled writing style. The most disappointing part about this book is that Robb (someone who claims to be there when it happened) fails to interview any of the four Roses. Pretty much every quote is from a previous press interview. So we never really find out why Reni quit or what the band was doing between the two albums or the background behind the fractious recording of 'Second Coming'. Other than that, it's an interesting account of the band, but definitely written from a fan's perspective.

Although the style of this book is at times irritating, it's got to be said that Robb captures the mood of the late eighties perfectly, and does justice to just how important the Roses were in 1989. The most interesting aspect of the book is that it turns it into a pop tragedy of epic proportion, explaining how the Silvertone court case and their five years out basically destroyed the Roses beyond reasonable doubt.

Robb really captures the energy and zeitgeist of the times of the Stone Roses rise and fall. You really feel like you are right there in the thick of the action, the author has a great way with words and is the best man for the job!

best book about the late eighties Britsh music scene, built around a fantastic band..gets as close as you can to what was going on there...brilliantly written with a real feel for the times...

With this valuable book I was able to get agrip on just where The Roses came from and what their music was about. I loved the way it was written with a real feel for music and Robb's style really captures the excitement of being in a band and the obviously great time in manchester of the late eighties...

I thoroughly recommend this book, its one of the best rock books that I have ever read. I was only a so so fan of the Roses before this book but it has left me converted. John Robb captures the spirit and excitement of being in a band with sharp and witty writing. Once IÕd stared reading it I couldnÕt put it down.This book comes highly recommended...

Rarely can sheets of thin paper have captured a place in time so acurately and brought it to a present context, in which we realise how great these 4 mancunians really were. I, for one was not party to Madchester and the Mondays. my D.O.B (25.1.83)would reveale I am living in the aftermath of such greatness only guesing as to how it would have felt as I wanna be adored tumbled across Spike Island and into the Widness evening. With the help of this book I have been brought closer than I could ever come in fantasy to the time and sonds that they called Madchester/baggy. In reality Fools Gold reached 13 in Nov 1989 if only the charts back then had read as well as this book perhaps Ian would have fulfilled his ambition to eclipse U2. READ IT!!!

I started this book and after one paragraph I couldn't put it down. I for one missed the boat as far as The Stone Roses were concerned in 1989 and this book made me feel if I was there. I couldn't put it down. I read it where ever I was, one the toilet even in my pokey office. Buy this book and see why there was a resurection in British Pop music!!

Superbly written, this book wamkes you feel like you were there in the heady rsh of manchester in the late eighties> i'd always love dthe band but the book confirmed my faith. Rock n roll writing this great is so rare, you feel that the author really understands what he's talking about and can actually put it down on paper. Highly recomended