It’s 1994, the term known as Britpop is in full swing. Oasis, Pulp and Blur have both released massive commercial break through albums. Brilliant new bands such as Supergrass and Marion are releasing debut singles. It seems like a new movement is taking place.
Meanwhile the legendary The Stone Roses are preparing to release their second proper studio album of new material. Five years since the release of their monumental debut album, the music scene has moved on massively. So, 27 years on from the release of Second Coming how in retrospect does it measure up?
We all know about the disputes etc that took place but as a fan all that has ever concerned me is the quality of the record. We can read gossip in so called tabloids. He said that, she did that but what about the songs?
Mani was quoted saying that they definitely lost momentum in between the albums but personally I think critical reviews do the album a huge disservice. What band wouldn’t be proud of such corkers as ‘Love Spreads’, ‘Ten Storey Love Song’ and my favourite Roses single ‘Begging You’? I do realise I may be in a massive minority there but I love it and it was great hearing it live again on the stadium tours.
The album starts with an absolute epic in ‘Breaking Into Heaven’. The intro is so monumental that you listen wondering if the song will ever start.
As the album goes on you realise that Squire’s genius guitar playing takes precedent on the album. Is that really bad thing? Squire goes Led Zep. ‘Your Star Will Shine’ which along with ‘Good Times’ and ‘Tears’ are amongst the best things they’ve ever written. Definitely a massive rock n roll sentiment with Good Times.
The album was always going to suffer with expectation following a previous classic record. See ‘Be Here Now’ for an example. My friend who at the time worked at a record store remarked that a customer said to him when buying the album “this better be F*****g good”. In my opinion it is. Give it another listen.