Posts Tagged ‘stone roses’

Already the subject of much industry hype before they’d barely had time to build a website, you might forgive Slough-based rising stars Brother (Leonard Newell, Josh Ward, Samuel Jackson, Frank Colucci) for attempting to avoid the tag of the ‘next big thing’. Not a bit of it. “We’re going to embrace it and prove them right,” singer Lee Newell told Live4ever in a recent exclusive interview. It sets the tone for a chat which showcases all the confidence and passion of a band destined for big things.

Just a few days after accusing former Joy Division/New Order member Peter Hook of ‘living off Ian Curtis’ blood money’ in the aftermath of their project Freebass ending acrimoniously, Primal Scream’s Mani has now apologised for the actions which he claims were ‘completely out of character’.

Not long after ex-Smiths member Andy Rourke suddenly broke all ties with the supergroup, the remaining members of Manchester bass playing collective Freebass have confirmed the band have split up before the release of their first album.

Rumours of a Stone Roses reunion usually stir every few months, but if there was any lingering doubts about the future of the band who split in 1996, they appear to have been firmly laid to rest by former guitarist John Squire who has told The Independent Online he has turned his back on music permanently to concentrate on art.

Ian Brown has set his price for a Stone Roses reunion and it seems like a good deal , then again it’s quite doubtful it would ever happen at second glance.

Ian said that he would reform The Stone Roses only if he was reduced to “begging on the streets”.

Brown is scheduled to play on the Main Stage at this weekend’s Reading And Leeds Festivals explains he’s disheartened by bands who reunite simply to cash in on their former glories.

“Maybe if you see me begging on the streets you might find me doing The Stone Roses the next day,” he said. “We did it because we wanted to change the world, we didn’t do it because we wanted to be millionaires.”

Speaking to the NME Brown admitted that there were a couple of exceptions to the reunion rule.

“I was glad when the Sex Pistols got back because they never really got paid,” he explained. He added that he was also pleased The Specials together again.

Former Stone Roses bassist Mani has hit out at today’s bands, saying they are dull and too career driven. Commenting on The Stone Roses’ eponymous debut, which has been re-mastered to celebrate it’s 20th anniversary, Mani said: “Twenty years on and it is still fresh and stands out amidst a torrent of mediocrity, career-orientated, dull as dishwater, safe, unimaginative music that dares to challenge for our crown.”

“We were light years ahead of our time, and The Stone Roses’ album will always remain light years ahead of the new so-called super-groups. Read ‘em and weep guys, you all know who you are! Back to school with you and try harder. Listen and learn from the masters.”

“Rock stars should quit before they’re 40.” So said Noel Gallagher, not long after Oasis first burst onto the music scene in 1994.  Should Noel and men like him have followed their advice and got out while they were still at their peak or do they remain a relevant force to this day?

When the Sex Pistols careered into people’s living rooms on the night of December 1st 1976, when they appeared on Bill Grundy’s Today programme using some choice language, they epitomised the anger being felt by their contemporaries. It was an anger and resentment that was channelled perfectly into their one and only studio album, ‘Never Mind The Bollocks…Here’s The Sex Pistols’. Bringing punk to the wider public’s attention, it generated love and hate in equal measure, virtually overnight the band were the most notorious rock stars in Britain. Their story was a short-lived one however, and after sending shock-waves through their homeland with their debut release, the band would split just a few months later, ending with Lydon slumped on a stage in the US asking the crowd: “ever feel like you’ve been cheated?” Certainly no music fan felt cheated, they had entered in a blaze of glory, delivered an album of immense quality and importance, then they were gone, almost as quickly as they came. For twenty years they remained untouchable, the consummate example of the advantages of a band which gets out while they’re at their peak. That was, before lures of a comeback proved too hard to resist, and they entered into the other side of the debate.

Ian Brown has publicised details for his forthcoming sixth solo album, titled ‘My Way’, which is set to be released on September 28th, following the lead single ‘Stellify‘ hitting the shops on September 21st.

The ex-Stone Roses frontman has said that the album drew inspiration from Michael Jackson’s career defining 1984 album, Thriller, even going as far as calling it “our blueprint”.

He went on to say that The King of Pop had died as they wrapped up mixing the album, seeing it as a “good omen” as the album mastering concluded. Brown spoke of how Jackson had inspired a certain mentality when making the album to such an extent that if a song wasn’t good enough, it was scrapped from the recording sessions at Manchester’s Battery Studios.

The album reunites Brown with longtime producer Dave McCracken who is known for being behind the mixing desk for Brown’s earler albums ‘Golden Greats’, ‘Music of the Spheres’ and ‘Solarised’.

It’s Brown’s sixth LP since parting ways with John Squire, Mani and Reni after The Stone Roses’ badly recieved sophomore album ‘Second Coming’, but since then the Manchester icon has covered a lot of ground including collaborating with Noel Gallagher and Sinead O’Connor.

More recently The ‘Roses seminal debut album singles are being reissued celebrating the legendary self-titled records twentieth anniversary.

Here’s Ian performing “Keep what you’ve got” with buddy Noel Gallagher of Oasis :

Legendary Manchester band The Stone Roses are to re-release five singles this summer as part of the band’s celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of their self-titled debut album.

From July 6th, one single will be released each week via vinyl and download. ‘Elephant Stone’ will come first, with ‘The Hardest Thing in The World‘ as a b-side. It will then be followed a week later by ‘Made Of Stone‘, with ‘She Bangs The Drums, ‘Fools Gold‘ and ‘One Love’ completing the set.

The album itself, which is regarded as one of the greatest British albums of all time, is also to be re-released in two forms on August 10th. A ‘collectors edition’ will come with various extras including CDs, DVDs, vinyls and artwork, while the ‘legacy edition’ will come with a bonus DVD of the band’s legendary Blackpool gig, along with a ‘Lost Demos’ CD.

The band have recently being subject to rumours that they are set to reform, but despite bassist Mani’s apparent eagerness to work with the band again, former guitarist John Squire has consistently denied it will happen.