When the flawed Second Coming finally appeared five years after the Stone Roses' first album, some critics and fans expressed dismay at the relative paucity of the kind of succinct, jangling guitar pop songs that had put the band on the map back in the late '80s. However, the second single from that sophomore record, "Ten Storey Love Song," was one track that hearkened back to the debut album in its perfectly crafted melodic form. Of all the songs on Second Coming, this bittersweet ballad -- which fell just short of the Top ...
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When the flawed Second Coming finally appeared five years after the Stone Roses' first album, some critics and fans expressed dismay at the relative paucity of the kind of succinct, jangling guitar pop songs that had put the band on the map back in the late '80s. However, the second single from that sophomore record, "Ten Storey Love Song," was one track that hearkened back to the debut album in its perfectly crafted melodic form. Of all the songs on Second Coming, this bittersweet ballad -- which fell just short of the Top Ten in the U.K. -- has most in common with the band's earlier work. Also included on this CD single are a pair of previously unreleased tracks, each clocking in around the six-minute mark, that foreground a darker, heavier side to the group's sound. On the swaggering, beat-laden instrumental chug of "Moses," John Squire's mesmerizing guitar weaves in and out of the song's soupy textures, while on the lazy, slow-motion funk groove of "Ride On," Squire's hypnotic guitar lines circle around Ian Brown's layered vocals. "Ride On" was the Stone Roses' final studio recording and it gives some indication of the direction Brown would take two years later on his solo release, Unfinished Monkey Business. ~ Wilson Neate, Rovi
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