DJ M-Dash writesThe Stone Roses Could Have Been the Biggest Act of the 90s

But time, laziness, and a little arrogance got in the way.

If you listen to their 1989 debut album, you know immediately The Stone Roses had it all: the effortless cool of the Velvet Underground and the technical prowess of Led Zeppelin. And their songwriting boasted the gravitas of early U2 and the catchy melodies of The Beatles.

Even better was their sound. With vocals hooks reminiscent of The Beach Boys, The Stone Roses began to reach pop music fans.

By 1990, radio across the British Isles and U.S. college radio widely played the singles “She Bangs The Drums” and the mighty and dark “I Wanna Be Adored.” By mid-year, The Stone Roses staged their own one-band festival at Spike Island in Merseyside in front of 30,000 fans.

To some of us in the early 90s, it seemed the right time for the next one—that next biggest band in the world from England. A band to reclaim the mantle. Barely a year after their eponymous album’s critical and commercial success, momentum stalled. Soon, the band fought with their label, Silvertone Records. A follow-up was put on ice. 

Rumors surfaced that the Roses weren’t too interested in making it in America. Word was that the band thought themselves “too big” to open for other bands, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or grunge giants Pearl Jam or Soundgarden. Meanwhile, as fellow English artists Lush rocked Lollapalooza 3 and Radiohead dropped their debut album, Pablo Honey, The Stone Roses sat home in Manchester. Not touring or furiously writing new tunes. Supposedly their days were spent watching Manchester United matches on TV.

On top of that, The Stone Roses, reluctant to talk to the press, weren't a great interview. Early junkets and one-off interviews were typically quiet Q&As with short answers, followed by blank stares from the singer Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire. And their drab interviews seemed to belie the foursome’s legendary boasting. Many branded the band as arrogant and aloof. 

Some years later, a British music writer named Jon Savage summed the band up, well, savagely. In a 2003 BBC documentary called Live Forever, Savage stated that the Stone Roses were poised to take over the music world, but, “They lost their nerve.”

Over in America, with punk, indie, and Seattle Grunge exploding, no one was going to wait until that next biggest band in the world could get their act together. The 1990s moved on.

Eventually, The Stone Roses did get their act together. Sort of. The follow-up album, Second Coming, was released in late 1994. The U.K. loved it, but the stateside press wasn’t bowled over. Rolling Stone called it, “Tuneless retro-psychedelic grooves, (each) bloated to six-plus minutes in length.”

Here in Chicago, the newly minted commercial alternative radio station Q101 ate it up, playing the flagship single “Love Spreads” in heavy rotation. American Anglophiles hung on tight, awaiting the world tour, which kicked off in April 1995 in Oslo, Norway. In May of 1995, the Roses played only a handful of U.S. shows. 

Then by the end of 1996, the band called it quits. Squire and drummer Alan “Reni” Wren reportedly had enough, and bassist Mani left to play with Primal Scream while Ian Brown launched an ill-advised techno career (as would Sugar’s Bob Mould and Guns N' Roses’ Axl Rose.)

And then—a third coming!  In 2012 and 2013, there would be an on-and-off 18-month tour, concluding with The Stone Roses headlining Coachella in April 2013. Still, a post-1990s album never materialized. 

Two singles released in 2016 did tease an album, but one that apparently was no priority. Then another split; one that I only found out about on Wikipedia, where, by 2020, it suddenly read, “The Stone Roses … were an English rock band.”

Today, British music aficionados see The Stone Roses as titans. Americans like myself love the band but struggle to see them as much more than an absentee 90s stepbrother. A short-lived phenomenon of what could have been.

It’s too bad that this excellent band was not more driven musically the way The Verve was. Or even by ego, the way that Oasis had been. In being excellent but unmotivated, The Stone Roses missed the opportunity to captivate millions more music lovers across the world.

Andy Frye has written for Rolling Stone, ESPN and Forbes and is the author of NINETY DAYS IN THE 90s: A Rock N Roll Time Travel Story