Stone Roses - Second Coming - 1994

Having gotten into the Stone Roses too late to appreciate their debut and rise to fame, I eagerly anticipated their release of Second Coming.  We all know that Second Coming was a long time coming, so by the time this hit the shelves, the craze was through the roof.  I prepared myself to me amazed....

Meh.

I thought my dreams had come true while I listened to Breaking Into Heaven for the first time.  And, by all rights, it's a spectacular song, one of their best.  But, as the album progressed, I began to wonder why I had even gotten so excited.  Yes, the songs are better than a lot of other songs by a lot of other artists, and this album still ranks up there in one of the best Brit Rock albums.  But, I would probably put it in the 120s or 130s in ranking.  I expected way more than I got.

Yes, I still collected all the singles and all the b-sides, and I know this album inside and out.  But, when I think of the best of the Stone Roses, hardly anything comes from this album.  Sorry, guys.

But, if you are a Ian Brown/Stone Roses completist, you have to have it.  I even have those shitty albums by John Squire, too....

Stone Roses - Second Coming - 1994

Stone Roses - B-sides from the first album - 1989-91

Obviously, Second Coming was not very good.  They had taken too much time off as a band, the magic wasn't there anymore, and Ian was ready to move off on his own, to become the Godfather of Britrock. (Noel Gallagher is the Prince)  So, collecting the b-sides from the first album sort of gives us the "coulda bin" second album of the Stone Roses.

There were several great tracks laid on the flip side.  Mercey Paradise, The Hardest Thing In the World, and Something's Burning were, IMHO, better than some of the album tracks from the first album, and also Peter Hook's Elephant Stone is better than the original.  Honestly, I'm not sure if I have all the b-sides and official remixes, and I am unsure if there are any unreleased tracks from this era or any quality fanmade mixes. So if anyone out there spots a hole, let me know.

As with the original covers, all the cover art for the Stone Roses were painted by John Squire, so I selected two of his works that weren't on any of the covers.  I hope this one will be able to slide right in behind their first album.

This is a good listen, so enjoy, and have a great Saturday night!

Stone Roses - B-sides from the first album - 1989-91