The Stone Roses - All For One

1.    Who are these legends? 

The Stone Roses are an indie psych rock band from Manchester, England. Started in 1983 and still going strong they have two long players on their immortal roll of honor. All For One (May'16) is the lead single from The Stone Rose's third album, Third Eye, due for release this year. All For One is the first new music from The Stone Roses in 21 years.

2. What have The Stone Roses got in the tank?

All For One comes on with a swinging riff and sounding more direct, like Oasis, and with the same anthemic sing-along pay off. All For One is an upbeat, snappy tune with Ian Brown's detached trademark vocals providing the trippy vibe of yore. A stellar comeback.

3. Who do The Stone Roses sound like? 

The Telegraph compared aspects of All For One to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and The White Stripes. The Stone Roses have generally been compared to Oasis, The Happy Mondays, The Charlatans, Primal Scream and The Smiths. 

4. What have the press said about All For One? 

"Has undoubtedly got anthem potential" - Manchester Evening News.

"Stone Roses circa the 90's, but with a revitalised spirit" - Consequence Of Sound.

"A starry-eyed psycedelic jangle with some old school blues-rock swagger to it" - Stereogum.

5. Which bands had a hand in The Stone Rose's magic sound? 

Some of the key Stone Rose's influences are The Smiths, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, T. Rex and The Clash.

6. Why should I give All For One a blast? 

All For One is a belter that brings something fresh and something nostalgic together for the old fans while introducing new fans to a pivotal band of the nineties without alienating their modern sensibilities. A classy balancing act has been achieved with All For One and it's 'we are all in this together' message continues in the fine Northern traditions of solidarity and is ripe for all ears.



7. What are The Stone Rose's classics? 

Fool's Gold is the band's most successful song, a modest top ten or twenty hit around the world, a tight dance masterpiece led my a drum masterclass and the only ten minute song worth listening to. She Bangs The Drums is an intense, euphoric banger with the best bass intro to an indie rock song ever. Made Of Stone is a melancholic sing-along that still charges at windmills, has a fiery John Squire lead break, and is the best song The Stone Roses ever made.

8. Any more words? 

All For One was produced by Paul Epworth who has worked for Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Primal Scream, Adele and U2 to name a few. 

In 2004 one hundred musicians and critics voted The Stone Rose's debut album The Stone Roses (1989) the best British album of all time in The Observer, ahead of The Beatle's Revolver, The Clash's London Calling and Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.

"Inside of me, for all to see

In harmony, all one family"

The La's are an indie jangle pop band from Liverpool, England. Formed in 1983 they periodically reform but have only one piece of gold in the vault, the debut self-titled album The La's (1990).  There She Goes (1990) was one of four singles from the album but is far and away The La's most popular song and a minor chart hit in the US and a top ten hit in the UK. Consequence Of Sound said There She Goes has "one of the most memorable opening riffs in pop rock" and is "one of rock's most memorable and poignant love songs." While The La's largely eluded the adulation heaped on their peers, nonetheless, There She Goes is emblematic of the revolutionary, effervescent, milieu that British indie music enjoyed in the early nineties. 

"And I just can't contain

This feelin' that remains"

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Blur

Blur were big in 1997 with Song 2 and some people know their earlier 1995 number one hit Country House too. Check out their reunion gig live in London's Hyde Park for a tit-ripping version of that precious jewel. Country House was a storming victory in a sometimes bitter war that Oasis and Blur fought for King Of Britpop, and Oasis ultimately won. Noel Gallagher said at the time he hoped both Blur’s Damon Alburn and Alex Jame’s would “ ...catch AIDS and die.” Spurred on by the media both bands released singles on the same day and Oasis’s Roll With It (live in Manchester ‘96 version here) sold 60 000 less copies and sat at number two on the UK charts. For many people Blur were of biblical proportions in the canon of English music lore and one of The Only Bands That Matter, much like 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s The Clash. 2015 saw Blur release their first album in 12 years The Magic Whip (Apr’15) an album London’s Daily Telegraph called “...a triumphant come back” and "...everything fans could have hoped for.”  Clash magazine dubbed it "...an imperial return." It went straight to number one in the UK.

 

On The Magic Whip is this campfire sing-along in the tradition of the gospel standard Stand By Me, The Beatles Carry That Weight, Big Bang's We Like To Party or more relevantly, Ages and Ages divine, spiritually uplifting gem, Diversionary. 15 years after Song 2 was important; and check out this andrenelin injecting Glastonbury 2009 live version to appreciate it’s majesty; Ong Ong (Jun’15) shows that Alex James still has some of the greatest song writing licks the world has ever seen. While Ong Ong is no life changer, and you won’t be rushing out to carve ‘for real’ on your arm after hearing this one, it is a nostalgic reminder of one of the best rock bands ever. Called "joyous" by Rolling Stone and "simple and chant-centric" by DIY magazine, Ong Ong, and the The Magic Whip, were inspired by a five day stay in Hong Kong and has an appropriately nautical feel. Ong Ong has sixties melodies and irrepressibly pops in the verses while bringing a laidback singalong bounce to the choruses. It's a shoe in for one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“I wanna be with you
On the slow boat to Lan Tau,

through misty seas..
I wanna be with you.”

 

Shit you need to know:
 

Ong Ong is the second single off Blur's eighth album. The song was called by Uncut a “...singalong...with a Faces stomp and a beery chorus.”

The new album was inspired by Hong Kong specifically and cities generally. "There's nothing pastoral about it", Albarn said, "it's very urban".

The band from London started in 1988 influenced laterly by bands like The Beatles and The Kinks.

The bands initial influences were the likes of The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr and The Stone Roses.

Singer Damon Alburn was in Gorrillaz (best British group and album 2006) and are most remembered for the alternative hip-hop tune Feel Good Inc. (2005). 

Damon Alburn joined bass player Paul Simonon of The Clash in the band The Good The Bad and The Ugly  (2005 - 2006) and had both Paul and Clash guitarist Mick Jones record on, and tour in support of, the 2010 Gorillaz album Plastic Beach.

Damon Alburn recently criticised the ‘selfie generation’ for a lack of political engagement in modern music.

For more rather spiffing Blur songs give this year's Lonesome Street a listen, or the old classics Beetlebum and Boys and Girls.

Today’s two for one is courtesy of English alternative rock band The Verve. Bittersweet Symphony (1997) was a number two British chart single and a Brit and Grammy Award’s winner. It’s a stone cold classic and this is the 2008 live version at Glastonbury. Sublime.

“Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die.”