Album review: The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses (20th Anniversary Edition)

In 2006, writers for the English music magazine NME voted 1989’s The Stone Roses the “greatest British album of all time.”

I would not go that far.

But I will assert this: Anyone who aspires to a rock music collection considered definitive should make unequivocally sure that the Manchester, England band’s debut album is part of it.

In 1989 I was well ensconced as a full-time pop music critic, so it’s with a twinge of embarrassment that I rave about an album released that year, one that I completely slept on. That said, to encounter a 20-year-old title that’s an absolute revelation is a better-late-than-never delight.

Sony Legacy has released The Stone Roses in three distinct packages, up to a lavish collector’s edition that includes vinyl, CDs, a DVD, book and art prints. For our purposes here, I’ll concentrate on the “Special Edition,” which is the original CD, remastered, with a bonus track.

This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2000.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...