Customer Reviews

Unfinished Monkey Business

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This album is a truely impressive debut from Ian Brown, quite possibly the coolest man on the planet. That it came from nothing is even more impressive. After the collapse of the Stone Roses in 1996, Ian had to learn everything from scratch; guitar, bass, drums, programming, producing. This album displays the different levels Ian achieved - there's lo-fi experiments, acoustic demos, and full-blown productions.

The 3 stand out tracks on this album are "My Star", "Can't See Me", and "Corpses In Their Mouths". The first of these is an excellent take on the "Dear Prudence" riff, with military drumming and neo-asian guitar riffs. Ian voice is on top form, gruff but melodic. His lyrics, too, display a keen intelligence. "Can't See Me" is a loose limbed, monkeyed up jam in the vein of "Fools Gold" from almost 10 years previously. Ian scats a great lyric and joins 2 of his ex band mates for this highlight. "Corpses" is probably the best, one of the most menacing sounding songs for a long time. Ian's lyric is a veiled threat against someone (I wouldn't want to be that someone!), while the music flows around him with Spanish guitar motifs and an extended harmonica solo.

These highlights are well spaced apart on the album, giving room for more experiments. "Sunshine" sounds like an acoustic demo, and although is very basic, shows a man learning his craft and getting there. "Deep Pile Dreams" is a stoned, meandering electronic track, a soundtrack for late-night philosophising. The 2 parts of "What Happened To Ya" are acoustic/electric jams, with long guitar workouts. "Nah Nah" is another albeit minor highlight, if only to hear Ian sing the word "gosh".

All in all, "Unfinished Monkey Business" has a great lo-fi, stoned appeal that reveals more levels on repeated listenings. Ian's voice is on top form, the `pop' songs are great, the experiments are so way out yet so appealing, and he looks great on the cover. Definitely worth investigating. King Monkey Rules OK.

1997's "Unfinished Monkey Business" is the debut solo album from the former Stone Roses lead vocalist Ian Brown, and man, this is a damn weird album. Others have poked fun at the album title saying it's very appropriate--however, although "unfinished" isn't a bad word to describe this album overall, and even better word is "aimless".

Many of the tracks here are Brown solo 'compositions' that feature him on all instruments, and none of them fail to get you thinking, "What the hell is this?"--his instrumental skills seem rudimentary at best, his keyboard/ programmed drumming is at times hilarious, and you're left wondering what the hell he's trying to get at. The album opening "Intro Under The Paving Stones: The Beach" is a baffling sound collage. "Sunshine" is a sloppy, dull lo-fi acoustic ballad with a brief tacked-on keyboard 'coda'. "Lions" features an annoyingly, endlessly repeated chorus line and overblown "soulful" vocals from Denise Johnson, and it wasn't exactly a great idea to mix her to the far left channel while Brown's vocals are to the far right; thankfully, much of the track is instrumental, and it does have some entertainment value despite all the annoyances. "Deep Pile Dreams" is half-baked and thinly performed. The baffling instrumental title track features hilariously amateurish keyboard playing over programmed drums. My CD copy also contains a 'bonus' track called "Come Again" which is basically 7 more minutes of Brown horsing around and it makes annoying use of sampling.

As for the remaining tracks, a majority of them find Brown co-writing with Aziz Ibrahim who also handles a large chuck of the instrumental work. The Indian-flavored "My Star" has a neat little guitar solo although it's extremely brief, and the song just kinda drags along in a frustratingly aimless and repetitive fashion. The main song portion of the sludgy, hard-rocking "Ice Cold Cube" is strong with ear-catching guitarwork, but it proceeds to beat you over the head with the never-ending instrumental stuff going on, and when it finally does end, it does so in 'sudden death' fashion and annoyingly segues abruptly into "Sunshine". "What Happened To Ya Part 1" is a nice, catchy ditty with acoustic rhythm and acoustic slide guitars; it's followed by "What Happened To Ya Part 2" which is basically a lengthy instrumental jam with some voiceovers, and although it's not unlistenable and does have nice guitarwork, it reeks of filler. "Nah Nah", a Nigel Ippinson solo composition, is an acoustic guitar-based tune with a singalong chorus--it's pleasantly catchy, though it's rather slight.

With all of that out of the way, we are left with a pair of hands-down gems. "Can't See Me" finds Brown reunited with his old Stone Roses mates Mani and Reni for an infectiously funky looping groove tune--slamming beats, great Brown vocals, uncannily note-perfect lead guitar from Brown, and great lead bass guitar licks; it's a clear attempt at creating another gem along the lines of the Stone Roses' "Fools Gold", and it works big time. Then there's the mellow-yet-creepy "Corpses In Their Mouths", written by Brown and Ibrahim, with terrific moody lead guitar work and hushed Brown vocals; it does have some rather out-of-place harmonica work from Brown, but it's a minor quibble.


If you're a diehard Stone Roses fan, "Unfinished Monkey Business" is worth checking out--there are lots of intriguing ideas floating around on here, but it sure is wildly erratic and very tough to listen to all the way through.

Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown has continued the legend of the roses with a superb new album "Unfinished Monkey Business" Ian wrote and recorded the album in his bedroom before remixing it and producing it in studios at a later date. Ian has also learnt how to play many new instuments and has therefore made a serious contribution to the album making it a truly solo effort. The standout track of the album is "can't see me". This has essentially been written by all of the roses (except Squire). It features a strong catchy bassline not dissimilar to the fools gold one. Reni style drums and the familiar Brown hushed lyrics all combine to create another stunning track. The good thing about this album is the way no two songs sound alike. It is also fair to say that there is so much happening in the album that it really does get better with every listen. All in all a superb debut solo from one of the most influencial men in British music history.

being a huge stoen roses fan, I was unimpressed with this release. I didn't like the single that much from the beginning but I decided to give the rest of the album a chance because..well, this IS Ian Brown! I have to say that I don't recommend it by virtue (or vice?) of the point that it doesn't follow in the trodden path of the Stone Roses.

IAN BROWN RETURNS TO BEING KING OF BOTH MONKEYS AND COOL PEOPLE WITH THIS STUNNING SOLO DEBUT. CANT SEE ME IS THE BEST SONG OF 1998, WITH MY STAR AND CORPSES BEING THEIR OR THEIR ABOUTS. DEEP PILE DREAMS CONTAINS MORE INSANE RAMBLINGS AS DOES THE FANTASTIC NAH NAH. THIS IS HOW GOOD ALBUMS ARE GONNA BE (EXCLUDING GOMEZ AND SUPER FURRY ANIMALS) IT IS ENJOYABLE AND COOL AND BREATH TAKING. SET TO BECOME ANOTHER STONE ROSES CONNECTED CLASSIC

Ian Brown was the frontman of the Stone Roses before heading solo. This album confirms that he made a poor decision. The album only has three decent tracks. My Star, Can't See Me, and Corpses In Her Mouth. A less than stellar effort from someone who is potentially excellent. The album in itself implies a lack of effort. Unfinished Monkey Business. Unfinished it is, I wonder how it would have sounded if it was finished?