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

As a massive Stone Roses fan I think I may have set my sights too far above the horizon with this book. In a never-ending quest to hush the voice in side my head that begs for more info regarding the Stone Roses, and this album in particular, I was looking for those little nuggets of information that would add to the lore of this band. What this is, instead, is a song-by-song look at the record put into its contemporary context and the author's personal affiliation with it. If I were to write a book on the record I would approach it the same way so no harm, no foul. Unfortunately, I have my own relationship with this record which is fed by experiences and information I have collected over the years on it so now I am reading this through someone else's experience.Overall, I like this entry in the 33.3 series and I would say is a nice companion for any SR fan. I cannot not fault it for being a personal journey through the record nor can I fault it for the paucity of new info surrounding it. I will take anything I can get and I definitely made me put it on the turntable.

Books in this series can be hit or miss. This is a great one and gives fascinating perspectives, from a fan, the band and the music press at the time (and since). If, like me, you’ve lived with this album for 30 years and you have memories sparked each time you hear it, then you will live this book. I thought I knew this album inside out, I thought I’d heard every note and lyric. The book gave me even more and unlocked secret nooks and crannies I didn’t know were there. Just loved it.

Never paid much attention to The Stone Roses until this slim volume. As I read and listened, it became more appealing with each listen. Greene’s epilogue and take on what happens to our favorite music over time is brilliant.

Great read on an all-time classic album. Adored every page. If you love this band, grab the book. Don’t miss out

In the first handful of pages, the author names and shames a babysitter from his youth as being ugly. Yes. He actually names a real person. And calls her ugly. For no good reason. That alone is enough to make one give this a thumbs-down, but he gives us oh so much more. Like endlessly driveling on about his cherished egotistical youth as he incorrectly analyzes lyrics. And as he drapes the pages in, at best, high-school-newspaper-level music journalism. And self-aggrandizing tales about girls and his thoughts and his friends and...it's basically permeated throughout with low-grade masturbatory "check it out I'm quite cool, really"-isms. There's just so much fluff here, and little of it is creative or engaging to actually read. And Alan McGee of Creation Records didn't say "balletic" in the interview—he said "balearic". I get it, it was an audio interview that the writer taped and McGee's thick Scottish accent isn't easy to grok for the average yank. But here's the thing: if the writer actually had any background here, he'd have intuited that the word used was "balearic." But he didn't; he lacks the knowledge of the necessary music and movements of the era. Such lack of knowledge is really a barrier to a rounded understanding of the Roses and in forming useful ideas that are worth sharing with others. I have no idea why this particular writer was allowed to take this title out of consideration for future writers in this series, but dang. What a waste of an opportunity. Like another reviewer on here said: if a 33 1/3 book actually fails at simply making you want to listen to the album again, it really can't even make it over the lowest hurdle to justify its own existence.

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

This is my favourite album of all time. It changed my life & that of many of those around me at the time. It was profoundly & uniquely British & still resonates with the feeling of that second summer of love. Why then did the 33RPM series, which I deeply admire, chose an American to write this book? That's not some parochial or racist view, but how could someone who had not lived in the UK through this period, experienced thatcher's Britain & the sense of rebellion in the air through the birth of acid house understand what it meant? Instead, in this absence of understanding, we get hundreds of quotes & soundbytes from those who were there. However even this fails. Yes, there is (obviously) Manchester journalist royalty in John Robb included, but asking Adorable why the Stone Roses were a seminal band is like asking Paris Hilton about fiscal policy - out of their league, with no clue or earned right to be commentating. The writing is also terrible, being littered with flowery adjective after flowery adjective (often the same one repeated in neighbouring paragraphs), which gives it the feel of an essay by a school boy who's just been given a thesaurus for Christmas. A real shame.