The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses' debut album is bold and at times chaotic. The dreamy, riff-heavy guitars stand out while blending in surprisingly well with the other instruments, giving the album a unique sound and texture you wouldn't very often find during its era. The lyrics also fit in nicely with the vibe of the album as a whole, which I really like. Overall, a 4/5.

"The Stone Roses" is the kind of music your mom wishes your new boyfriend would listen to. It’s tuneful and well made, but rarely risks being impolite. The songs glide on elegant basslines and chiming guitars, with detached, almost conversational vocals. Copious amounts of reverb give it an airy, dreamlike atmosphere throughout. The lack of musical bite makes some tracks land as toothless power pop for me, which is probably not the intention. Take the opener “I Wanna Be Adored.” It’s a strong track with a lush arrangement, but it feels like it’s being sung by an ambitious young man who simply believes in himself. The line “I don’t need to sell my soul, he’s already in me” is meant as blasphemous swagger, yet in this musical context it reads more like he doesn’t need drugs or deals with the devil to get what he wants. The perfect in-law. Some of the tracks have very gritty lyrics that the music doesn’t support. “Bye Bye Badman” is about brutal street riots: “I want to throw stones at you man, I want you black and blue and I wanna make you bleed.” Words fit for a death metal song, but delivered so politely that it almost makes me wonder if the stone-throwing is some kind of biblical reference. It’s difficult to hate this album though - it’s full of tracks that are pleasant to the ear. The bassline in “She Bangs the Drums” is very groovy and makes you want to dance. I enjoyed the jangly guitar riff in “Waterfall” and the overall flow of the track. “Made of Stone,” a song about the gruesome death of Jackson Pollock, has a very anthemic chorus that makes you want to ignite a lighter and wave it over your head. Overall, a very respectable showing, especially for a debut. I just wish it had more balls and wasn’t so damn agreeable all the time. A decent 3 for me.

The Stone Roses is the album of my youth. Every time I listen to it, it brings back so many wonderful memories, and even after more than 30 years, it still sounds as good as ever. There are very few albums that mean as much to me as this one. I absolutely love the sound of this record. John Squire's guitar playing is beautiful, and some of the riffs are genuinely iconic. Just listen to "Waterfall". What an incredible piece of music! The guitars, bass and drums all work together perfectly, creating a sound that is instantly recognisable as the Stone Roses. What makes this album so special is its unique sound and texture. The production is superb, somehow managing to sound polished and beautifully put together while still feeling loose, slightly chaotic and wonderfully unpolished. There's a real energy and atmosphere running throughout that makes it unlike anything else. The songwriting is also fantastic. The lyrics are full of character, and there's something lovely about the melodies and the way the songs develop. Ian Brown's voice works perfectly on these recordings. He might not be the greatest technical singer in the world, and I'd certainly advise against going to see him live these days, but on this album, his voice is absolutely right for the music. And what a collection of songs! "I Wanna Be Adored", "She Bangs the Drums", "Waterfall", "Made of Stone" and "I Am the Resurrection" are all absolute classics. Any band would be delighted to have written just one of these songs, let alone have them all on the same album. There are so many wonderful moments, and the whole record has a fantastic flow. The only thing stopping this from being a completely perfect album is that there are one or two tracks I could happily skip. "Don't Stop" has never really done much for me, and I think the album would be even stronger without it. But that's a very small criticism of an otherwise extraordinary record. Overall, *The Stone Roses* is an absolute masterpiece and one of the defining albums of my life. It's full of brilliant melodies, incredible guitar work, wonderful rhythms and songs that have stayed with me for decades. I've been listening to it for over 30 years, and I know I'll still be putting it on for many years to come. Favourite tracks: Where do I start? "I Wanna Be Adored", "Waterfall", "She Bangs the Drums" and "Made of Stone" are all superb. And that's without mentioning the incredible "I Am the Resurrection". I could go on and on! Least favourite track: "Don't Stop". One of the few songs I'd happily skip, and probably the only thing stopping this from being a completely perfect album. Album artwork: Absolutely iconic. One of the most recognisable and brilliant album covers of all time. I love it.

I only knew the Stone Roses by name (I think I had them mixed them up with the Happy Mondays lol) and have never listened to any of their music, so I was completely caught off guard by this beautiful gem of a record.

Edgeless, boring, generic rock with the occasional glimpse of genius (the last two songs especially).

Enjoyed the first tracks

This band was doing a lot of interesting and progressive sounds for an album in 1989. Doesn’t quite sound like an album from the late 80’s and I appreciate that. It still sounds fresh in 2026. Favorite track - I Am the Resurrection

britbotpoptopflop ? c

Such a great album

Quality

Not a huge fan of this band but I did like the album. It’s sort of a precursor to the 90’s British Invasion

Didn’t like the first 2/3. Last three songs were really enjoyable

Meh, most of the songs were fine, but nothing special.

i love it. best album i’ve gotten so far, i particularly love waterfall, made of stone, shoot you down, this is the one and fools gold (basically the whole album). there isn’t a song i didn’t like i will be adding the whole album to my library and definitely will listen again!!

Really loving this dreamy ethereal rock sound. Very pleasant

An all time favorite. It's funky, it's britpop, it's snearing, it is thoughtful. Awesome album. 5 out of 5

I was not expecting to like this so much, but every song on here is great. I did not feel I needed to skip any of them.

3/5

#119 These guys seem like they knew exactly where alternative rock was about to go in the years following this release. I get similar vibes to Pixies and REM. Nice find from the generator. Highlights: Made Of Stone, Shoot You Down, I Wanna Be Adored, Waterfall

Technically my first album as my Dad bought this for me when I was about 7. What’s to say that hasn’t already been said? This is one of the greatest albums of all time.

Pure bliss from the late 80s that is ear candy still today.

goated

Brilliant brilliant brilliant Sonically beautiful and warm and every song hits

nada muy especial. mid. 2.5. no me molesto en ningun momento, pero no era uque decia, oh que estare escuchando

RIP Mani. I’ll never forget the first time I heard I Wanna Be Adored

made of stones é um musicão! realmente, um bom álbum. merece o destaque que tem por ai, além de ter influenciado todo um nicho de rock alternativo.

Álbum muy interesante, pero me gustó mucho. Demasiada mezcla de sonidos y buenas vocales. Gran álbum.

My only familiarity with this band is from their single Love Spreads in the mid 90s, which I remember being cool and a bit bluesy. Not having heard this album contemporaneously, I have to look back to what I know was being listened to back then, and this seems like it would have been pretty fresh at the time. It seems pretty fresh to me even today, really. I guess U2 and the Smiths /Morrissey we working somewhat in this area at the time. They both have different sounds, but I don't find it a stretch at all that someone would be listening to all three of these bands on the same day. I do think Stone Roses set themselves out in that group with their arrangements, use of reverb, and guitar tones. It's not "easy listening," but damn, is it easy to listen to. Fools Gold, in particular was really enjoyable I think I'll add this to my personal collection and give it a few more spins. It's good today, but I think I could really come to love this in the future

This is a good bridge from 80s post punk to 90s Britpop. This is going into the rotation.

2/5

Not offensive.

I knew most of the songs so I’m probably biased but 5/5

A total classic! One of my faves.

Rating: 4.8/5 Short Review: This just feels effortlessly cool. Dreamy guitars, loose grooves, huge melodies, and Ian Brown sounding like he barely needs to try. Then I Am the Resurrection arrives and the whole thing turns into one glorious extended jam. Fantastic album. Favorite Track: I Am the Resurrection

Some absolute god level bangers

3.5

Never been a big fan but this is decent

Not a bad album at all, impressive instrumentals and pretty chill vocals. I struggled to rank this one, ultimately it was better than most of my 3’s so it must be a 4. Worth noting that I had a headache when listening so enjoyment was tainted slightly. Even still, a solid album. Shoot you down is actually a really good song that I’d say far outshines the rest of the songs of the album.

Really enjoyable album. All song have a good vibe and are generally a really enjoyable listen. Great instrumentals and an honourary mention to shoot you down.

Album 339. The Stone Roses (https://open.spotify.com/album/0um9FI6BLBldL5POP4D4Cw?si=exVf4lBKRsi2jOkvoZn1fg) — The Stone Roses (1989) Surprisingly I have zero songs from this band in my library. Moreover, I've never listened to it according to Spotify stats. My ears can't believe in it, it feels like I've already heard some of it. At least the first song... Okay, anyway This is a great cool alternative rock album. I couldn't get Nirvana out of my head while listening to some songs. I liked 9 out of 12 songs and it doesn't have the highest rating just because it's not my daily music genre. It may be someday, but who knows.. 4/5 Liked: — I Wanna Be Adored — She Bangs the Drums — Bye Bye Bad Man — (Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister — Made of Stone — Shoot You Down — This Is the One — I Am the Resurrection — Fools Gold

Stone Roses reminds me of brit pop meets Iggy Pop. I quite like it

very impressive how this album still sounds relatively modern to this day.

For me this is the epitome of "yeah that was fine" and I am unlikely to really remember it.

A few years ago I had a conversation with a colleague and friend about music. We had very similar tastes and I asked him what his favorite no-skip album was. Without missing a beat he said the Stone Roses self-titled album. Though I remember Fools Gold getting a bit of radio play I wasn't familiar with the rest of the album. That friend unexpectedly passed away last week, making it a crazy coincidence that this album came up now. After hearing it, I can see why he and many others laud this album. This feels like the bridge between the Smiths of the 80s and Oasis and Blur of the mid to late 90s. Listing a favorite song would be difficult, I feel like each song is a finely crafted work, though I might lean toward I Am the Resurrection which feels like a multipart suite. I only wish I hadn't sat on this so long before giving it a listen.

This was a really enjoyable record with atmospheric and jangly passages and plenty of interesting choices throughout. I liked the majority of what I heard, some of this reminded me of Skylarking. 1 listen Favorite Track: I Wanna Be Adored, I Am the Resurrection

Unfamiliar band. Don't mind this but not wowed. 3.

Wow. Wasnt expecting to enoy it so much ! Really nice

An incredible first track the rest was pretty mediocre. Still that one track made it great

Top 5 albums of all time.

Very pleasantly surprised by this. It’s what The Smiths would’ve sounded like if Morrissey got high on the good drugs instead of just his own farts.

I loved this album. Holds up as an all time classic debut.

I have not heard this before. I’ve heard a lot of these songs and I think one or two of these songs has an alternate version on their second album that I got for a fraction of a penny off Columbia house back in the early 90s. Honestly the last time i heard Stone Roses was in the mid 90s when they had a bluesy song on alternative radio all the time. I’d forgotten how sunny and psychedelic their older stuff is. There’s a good mix of late 80s pop funk and indie rock in here with some good effects added and a number of longer jams. The drums are pretty dated as far as general production and the overall Madchester sound that was built on these beats, but that’s my own problem that i have to deal with. Not a single weak track and chock full of bangers. Great album.

Extremely solid, Adored is a fire opener, there’s much worse britpop out there.

This influenced Oasis big time and the Brit pop movement in Manchester etc. For that it’s an iconic record. But I don’t think it’s a 5. It’s a 4 as a record and 5 for attitude.

I always kicked back against the Stone Roses due to how annoying, and Oasis affiliated, their evangelists trend to be. It's hard to respect the musical opinion of someone that thinks Oasis are the pinnacle of the art form. However, I was wrong, this album starts with some incendiary songs, flows beautifully and is never far from a genuinely classic song. It distilled a lot of what's great about British music, whilst sounding unique to them, no mean feat. It's great, I should have been less cynical.

Groupe inconnu. Pop/rock, quelques morceaux intéressants mais noyés avec d’autres moins inspirés. Donc globalement ennuyeux. Pas sûr d’avoir envie de l’écouter de nouveau. =>2/5

Liminal as fuck, thus you can't really hear it, thus 1.

The Stone Roses (1989) klingt wie der Moment, in dem eine Band ihr eigenes Mythos-Level freischaltet. Der Mix aus psychedelischem Gitarrenflimmern, lässigem Groove und jugendlicher Unbesiegbarkeit wirkt heute noch frisch. „I Wanna Be Adored“ baut eine Atmosphäre, die sofort klebt, „She Bangs the Drums“ ist pure melodische Euphorie, und „I Am the Resurrection“ liefert ein Finale, das bis heute Maßstab für Gitarren‑Jams bleibt. Ein Album, das nicht jeden Track perfekt trifft, aber eine ganze Ära definiert.

i liked it

Brit rock perfection. Such a great listen from start to finish.

Nice heavy rock.

Loved it!

Pretty good! Cool vibe. Little long in the tooth but won’t mark it against them they only have two albums.

I liked it. I bet it will grow on me, too.

Yeah this was fun

So glad I revisited this. Went from a skeptic to an appreciator, if not a true believer. Still a damn good album.

fun and never stale even when it keeps pulling ideas out of its bag

Dude what is going on. Albums have been going insane recently. This is fantastic!!! It’s so so good! It’s such a good mix of most of my favorite subgenres of rock.

Mid

Quite good and I’d listen to relax or roadtrip. 3

This album crafts a version of rock which is light, airy and dream-like rather than dark or gritty. I absolutely love the opening track 'I Wanna be Adored' and I was excited to realise that the religious allusion here continues throughout the project. My other favourite songs included 'Shoot You Down', 'I am the Resurrection' and 'Fools Gold'. Although I enjoyed this album, it didn't completely blow me away. I would have enjoyed a little more variety within the indie rock style that this album establishes.

I’ve enjoyed this record for a long time. It was great to revisit it.

Really really good, can’t believe it took me so long to listen to the namesake of my favourite bar in York

I knew a couple of songs. I wanna be adored, I am the resurrection and Fool’s gold, obviously. Based on those songs, I had high expectations, but the rest of the album was a bit flat. Made of stone stood out to me. The couple of well known tracks put this album above average for me. It was definitely a new and unique sound at the time.

Nice. I've never really listened to these guys. I especially liked the last track, pushed it to an easy 4.

Released at the tail end of the 80s but influenced so much of the British indie and alt rock scene in the 90s. Even to this day one of the most celebrated indie albums of all time and for good reason

One of my favourite albums that exists, completely encapsulates 90s Madchester. Trippy and love all the dissonant harmonies. Never ever gets old

Lads music. I Wanna Be Adored is good, for sure, but I like some covers of it better e.g. King Woman.

Pleasant but a little droll

Estuvo bueno el rock pero no fue de mí preferencia el disco

One of the few Britpop albums on this list that has actual significance. Still, 2 in a row is a little much. Even worse is that nothing in particular on this album stood out to me. It didn't feel like it should be an album with enduring significance, instead just sounding like all the other Britpop bands. Maybe they get a pass for being the first, but it doesn't make the album any more interesting. Getting this after the Happy Mondays(another less well-known but similar-sounding band on this list) really just sucks. This album is ranked #3 of 26 albums for 1989. Other 1989 albums rated by me: Disintegration(1/26)-5 Doolittle(2/26)-5 Like a Prayer(6/26)-3 Done by the Forces of Nature(12/26)-4 Rhythm Nation 1814(13/26)-3 Let Love Rule(14/26)-2 Fromohio(15/26)-2 Nick of Time(17/26)-2 Djam Leelii(19/26)-4 Moss Side Story(24/26)-2

What a pleasant surprise. I was initially put off by this album when I listened to some clips of it in my headphones, but I put it on in the car and it was a blissful psychedelic, jangle pop trip. It was sonically interesting a lot of the time, the guitar was great, it was sometimes old-time nostalgic, sometimes very 80s, and sometimes psychedelic in a way that was timeless. Plenty of variety in the songs too. I need to relisten to this one, and I can see it growing on me more.

Didn't like it...

It wasn’t bad, just not completely my style, I like other songs by the stone roses though, I really enjoy this app.

Finally. One of my favorite albums. *The Stone Roses* is arguably one of the best albums ever made in UK history. If you were to coldly analyze the lyrics, chords, melodies, instrumental techniques, and even the vocals, you might see nothing more than a good band with a few cool songs—yet you would still fail to grasp why the album sounds so spectacular to this day. If I had never heard it before and someone told me it was released just last week, I’d believe them. It sounds fresh, youthful, and free, and it has aged like the finest wine. In short, it’s the kind of album that comes along only once or twice a decade. No one can replicate it. Not even The Stone Roses themselves. All 90s British rock owes a huge debt to this album. If I could, I’d give it more than just five stars.

Meget bra.

7/10 good one, already listened

I love this band. For as much hate as I give British Indie of the late 80s and 90s, this is truly superior. Its flowy and progressive, while also interesting and even kind of psych at parts. They're really going for it in most of the songs. There's so much thought and care that goes into each song. This is one of those albums that doesn't sound like anything else, but lots of things sound like this. I can hear Oasis playing off this in the coming years, I can even hear The Strokes or The Killers come out in this music. Its music that I can hang out with all day. Its familiar and friendly, even if I don't recognize every exact song. I never get bored or over it. Jeremy introduced this to me at some point in high school and I really didn't understand how important this band was until I lived in Scotland. People go crazy for this shit.

I don't have to sell my soul, he's already in me...

2.5/5

If this album is considered ground breaking, so be it. A genre better left underground.

Great drums and bass. Love the loose guitar sound over them. Nice album.

*listened before the project* Didn’t get it at first sight but finally fell in love with: the definition of madchester.

amazing jangle album, an addicting sound at parts. strong 9/10. first listen tracklist ranking: 1. I Am The Resurrection 2. I Wanna Be Adored 3. She Bangs the Drums 4. This Is The One 5. Made of Stone 6. Waterfall 7. Sugar Spun Sister 8. Bye Bye Bad Man 9. Shoot You Down 10. Don’t Stop 11. Elizabeth My Dear

Rhythm, music: Good vibes🤩Good Taste Some lyrics are even political…:) I have saved these songs: Waterfall Don‘t stop Fools Gold Sugar spin sister Byebye bad man 3.5*

Enjoyed it!

3.5 Sterne Starke Riffs

Really dug it. With a name like Stone Roses, I was expecting something that sounded like "Soundgarden" or mid-90s latter-era grunge. Got more of a hippy-ish precursor to 90s pop.

ok

The Stone Roses' debut album isn't something I’d usually put on, but going in with an open mind, I actually found a certain charm to it. Overall the vibe and energy still hold your attention. It’s definitely earned a second listen down the road. Fave Tracks: She Bangs the Drums, Waterfall