Second Coming [VINYL]

Because The Roses did an exclusive with the Big Issue the critics gathered like sheepish vultures, this album is majestic, "tears" alone is worth a tenner of anyone's money.

Personally, this'll put the cat among the pigeons, I think it's as good as their debut, I ain't kidding. ESSENTIAL KIT!

When this came out it had very mixed reviews so when I bought it shortly afterwards having only heard Love Spreads and Your star Will Shine I was prepared for dissapointment.

However sitting in a darkened room with this on the headphones certainly told me all I needed to know about this great LP. From the very start of Breaking Into Heavens weird and wonderful middle of a swamp intro the Roses have your attention. Breaking into Heaven is a totally different sound to the Byrd like sound on the first album it's darker heavier but by no means poorer. After a tantalising 11 minute beginning you go into Driving South which has been used many a time on TV as background music, Soccer am ,Top Gear etc perfect driving guitar music with ian Brown rasping vocals telling us that he sure as hell aint pretty and he sure as hell can't sing-bit harsh but a nice twist on the usual self confidence. From here we get the sublime Ten storey Love Song which as many have said could have been slotted easily onto the debut LP. The track after this Daybreak changes the feel of the CD yet again fronm almost poppy to almost funky-love the slow down speed up tempo change and simplistic name checking of destinations 'from new york city to addis ababaaaa'. Nice tune which takes us onto the slower more thoughtful Your Star will Shine which is nice without blowing you away. Straight to the man is a bit more up tempo and is again nice without pulling up any trees, what it does do is keep the flow of the LP going.

Now the Roses being the Roses they don't settle for letting the whole package peter out they come back with a real blaster the high tempo technoesque Beggin You another track heard a lot outside the confines of the Cd. The next track Tightrope is a lovely acoustic number which you find yourself singing a lot after a few plays. After this we get back to the Guitar Rock with john squire proving why he was held in such high esteem as a guitarist. Firstly Good Times picks up the tempo again followed by my personal favourite the awesome 'Tears' which starts slowly with a nice bit of acoustic guitar in the background and then goes all electric on us. "Ive seen the future in the tracks of your tears' sings a wise sounding Ian forseeing the end of many a relationship!

'I've seen your severed head at a banquet for the dead all wrapped up for dinner looked so fine' How Do You Sleep is classic Stone roses with a fantastically acidic lyric that grabs you by the nads right from the start. Great song and fairly close to the style of the first album but yet a bit darker and less optimistic.

That's brings me onto the last track the majestic Love Spreads which was released as a single prior to the album release. The first time I heard this on Radio 1 (i think) I had tears in my eyes because i had waited so long for new material from these guys and they came back with something so different yet still so 'them' and yet so amazingly good.

In short (if you can't be arsed to go through my rambling review) if you liked the first CD or if you half like the idea of the Roses, their mystique and great guitar music buy this CD and treat it as a complete work not as individual tracks. You will not be dissapointed.

This is not the best album ever made but it IS my favorite. For many years I preferred The Stone Roses but with age I gravitated more and more to the Second Coming. In places (e.g. Driving South and Tears) it has a very very heavy sound and that probably turned off the fans who liked the jingly jangly pop of their earlier singles. However, the improved production, layered guitars and bigger sound really makes the first album sound light weight by contrast.

The Second Coming has a depth that is only really revealed with repeated listens. In many respects, it's Squires'album, he wrote most of the tracks and his guitar playing dominates the music. In places, (e.g. Love Spreads and Good Times) it is absolutely virtuoso and compares with greats like Hendrix. It's definately an album that's dominated by the music rather than the vocals but in places (e.g. Tightrope) the lyrics are just pure poetry. Browns snearing, rasping, accented delivery is perfect for the sound.

Whilst not as immediate as other records, the songs are definately of a consistently high standard and the album only seems to dip with middle tracks Star Will Shine and Straight to the Man. My favorite track is actually one that I would routinely skip over when I first bought the album. Daybreak. Their playing on that is amazing and every single listen seems to reveal another hidden nuance. Most will probably prefer Ten Storey Love Song which is the most 'poppy' track and the most like the first album.

It's probably a marmite album that will suit certain tastes. Personally, I love it.