ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Ian Brown
MY WAY FICTION 28.09.09 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk
Despite being a fairly fervent Stone Roses fan back in the day, Ian Brown’s solo stuff hasn’t really caught my attention that much. That debut Stone Roses album still sounds as vibrant as it did twenty years ago, but maybe as a solo artist he slightly missed the boat with me. Given the huge shift in musical tastes in the five years fans had to wait for the Roses’ follow-up it’s not surprising that I and many others moved onto pastures new. Brown’s subsequent solo output spans over ten years and six albums – God, doesn’t time fly? He’s followed a similar career path to that of fellow Mancunian Morrissey, in that his solo work has ranged between pretty good and somewhat patchy, and none of it has come close to achieving the status of their previous band’s most seminal albums. Brown isn’t and never will be the greatest singer in the world, but he has an arrogance and a cocksure attitude that are infectious and confident enough to overcome any problem with less than pitch perfect notes. The music matches this forthright mind-set perfectly - big, brassy and bloody loud – pounding beats, and keyboards that sound like they’re being walloped from a great height with a polo mallet. ‘Stellify’ kicks things off and I don’t want to get all Victoria Coren on you, but what a great word! I’d never heard of it until now, but on checking I found that it’s a derivative of stellar – as in of the stars rather than the strong Belgian lager. It’s a huge tune – one which he originally wrote for Rhianna but decided to keep for himself. Brown then proceeds to get all personal and reflective on ‘Crowning of The Poor’; as he ponders thoughtfully on where he’s come from; and the journey his life has taken him on. ‘In The Year 2525’ is great fun – originally a hit song from 1969 by duo Zager and Evans. Can’t say that I’ve ever heard of them or it before but apparently Brown wanted to do a song which addressed environmental issues – but decided he couldn’t write a better one than this so opted to cover it instead. An introduction of mariachi trumpets, and flamenco guitar builds before the ambitious lyrics try to map out the possibilities for the next 10,000 years of human evolution. There’s a constant theme of reflecting on his life on a personal musical journey throughout this album - in 'For the Glory' Brown makes reference to his earlier incarnation as talismanic front man of one of the most revered bands in British pop music history - ‘And when the bombs began to fall/I didn't do it for the roses/As I was striding ten feet tall/Well, that's another story’. ‘Always Remember Me’ broods over the impact of the band’s break-up, but then considers how he came out of it all in one piece and has built a new life for himself. Overall this certainly feels like Brown’s strongest set of songs to date – and although he’s never likely to eclipse that fantastically era-defining album from two decades and a lifetime ago, this set comes relatively close. www.ianbrown.co.uk |
