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The Stone Roses: A Timeless Debut That Defined Madchester and Inspired Britpop

Writer's picture: Victor StrangesVictor Stranges
I was working in a suburban record shop that still carried vinyl in 1989. CDs had, by then, outstripped sales of vinyl. Some may remember this, but in 1989 cassettes seemed to outsell everything as cassette players were still in virtually every car. In the store, I remember we stocked The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut LP on vinyl.
The Sones Roses - Self Titled (1989)

This was before the internet, and we heard this was a great album through word of mouth or, if you were fortunate, from a review in one of the overseas British music magazines.

The Manchester scene at the time was alive with pill-popping acts like Happy Mondays providing a soundtrack to the ecstasy crowd, wearing floppy hats and baggy trousers. Closely aligned with the indie dance scene, there was something unique happening in Manchester. In came The Stone Roses.


The Stone Roses themselves believed their music was better than any other band in the world. But was their hubris warranted? While it’s debatable if they were “better” than whichever band you might name, their self-titled album is widely considered one of the best debut albums of all time.


Like Patti Smith on the opening line of her debut album, Horses (“Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine”), The Stone Roses’ singer, Ian Brown, asserted a different spiritual claim on the first line of their album’s opener, I Wanna Be Adored: “I don’t have to sell my soul, he’s already in me.” The brooding minute-and-a-half lead-up of Gary "Mani" Mounfield’s bass cascades into John Squire’s glorious guitar avalanche as drummer Alan John "Reni" Wren hits his stride. This is a triumphant opening to an album full of surprises and unexpected turns.


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The Stone Roses was recorded at Battery Studios and Konk Studios in London and Rockfield Studios in Wales between 1988 and 1989, produced by John Leckie. The band enjoyed enough creative freedom in the studio to craft songs ranging from under one minute to nearly ten minutes. Though they had an indie band sound, there was a distinct 1960s sentiment throughout the record. For example, the musical bed of Simon & Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair is repurposed in the band’s 59-second song, Elizabeth My Dear, while the pastoral guitar leads in I Am the Resurrection bring to mind Roy Orbison’s Oh, Pretty Woman drum intro.



I often think about why I still love this record today. Perhaps it’s that timeless sentiment—one foot in musical tradition and the other looking forward. It summarised what came before 1989 in Manchester and laid a foundation for what was to come, influencing bands like Oasis.

Guitarist John Squire shaped a generation of rock guitarists with his psychedelic approach.


His style wasn’t about shredding or power chords but subtle, melodic designs entwined with brilliant songwriting. Tracks like Waterfall, She Bangs the Drums, Bye Bye Badman, (Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister, and Made of Stone remain categorically timeless. For a softer side of the album, Shoot You Down exemplifies Squire’s delicate guitar work, Mani’s bass trances, Reni’s understated drum shuffles, and Brown’s mysterious, softly sung lyrics.


The album wasn’t without its nods to the Madchester scene. Tracks like Fools Gold, clocking in at 9 minutes and 54 seconds, became anthems. I can’t tell you how great it was in 1989 to walk into a mainstream club and hear Fools Gold pumping through the PA system.


One of the album’s most affecting tracks is This Is the One. The song precedes Nirvana (or Pixies) in its quiet-to-loud dynamics. Though not as pronounced or ironic as the 1990s grunge acts, it’s braided with a 1960s musical obsession. Its lyrics are beautifully simple, sometimes indecipherable, yet always melodic.


According to Sean Sennett and Simon Groth in their book Off the Record: 25 Years of Music WritingThe Stone Roses"virtually invented 'Madchester' and built a template for Britpop" with their debut offering. While the record shared some fellowship with rave culture, Angus Batey argued in The Quietus that it was more of a 1960s-inspired jangle pop album. He noted that aside from Fools Gold, the album featured little or no influence of dance beats or grooves, with stronger ties to The Byrds’ guitar sound and classic songwriting smarts.



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