The record Ian Brown called “the best UK album ever”
No artist is looking to make the album of their generation whenever they go into the studio. More often than not, most musicians want to make something that reflects their lives every day and hope that it resonates with someone who feels the same way. Although The Stone Roses may have indicated what England sounded like in the pre-Britpop years, Ian Brown thought that one album indicated everything the country stood for.
When Brown first got started, though, it was easy to see them as yet another entry in the “baggy” scene going on in Manchester. Much like other acts like the Happy Mondays, the band took the aesthetics left over from the dance clubs and put a sense of rock and roll back into it, featuring brilliant melodies on songs like ‘She Bangs the Drums’ and ‘Waterfall’.
Outside of the fantastic melodies, the actual shot in the arm the group needed was the addition of John Squire on lead guitar. Rather than cater to the simplistic sounds emanating from the grunge movement overseas, Squire knew his strengths as a player and wasn’t afraid to use them, often going on long tangents with his instrument that made for musical ecstasy whenever he took a solo.
The outfit’s penchant for crafting great hooks was only matched by their complete disregard for the typical press junkets. Throughout their time together, the band never made anything that the mainstream wanted to hear, making for cagey interviews whenever they would perform and making a mockery of those willing to craft their legacy in real time.
Then again, this was far from the first time any artist had tried toying with the idea to get what they wanted. Before The Stone Roses had even started, the first wave of punk rock brought a similar approach to music, looking to make the songs they loved and not caring what any of the press outlets cared to say.
Although many were able to spit in the face of the mainstream, none seemed to have a chip on their shoulder quite like the Sex Pistols. From the first time they started making music out of the British underground, John Lydon was practically seething with rage when Nevermind the Bollocks first hit the shelves, singing songs that went against what was considered decent behaviour on songs like ‘God Save the Queen’ and ‘Anarchy in the UK’.
While many fans looked on in horror, the chosen few couldn’t get enough of what they were doing. Instead of reverting to the sounds of older outfits like The Beatles, Brown knew that he had found his calling as a musician when he heard the record for the first time, determined to start a group of his own.
Looking back on his early days, Brown would count Nevermind the Bollocks among the most important records to come out of England, telling The Guardian, “My mate bought three copies of Anarchy in the UK from Woolworths in Manchester the day after [their notorious appearance on] the Bill Grundy show. Then we bought God Save the Queen and Pretty Vacant the days they came out. We couldn’t wait for the LP, and when it came out, it blew us away. I still think it’s the best UK album ever made.”
Just like Sex Pistols’ career, though, Brown would end up having a similar trajectory, only making two projects with The Stone Roses before calling it quits. While there have been off-and-on reunions from the original lineup over the years, Brown took Lydon’s lead by preserving the legacy with only their two albums.