The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses formed in Manchester in 1983, Ian Brown and John Squire at the centre of a band that would spend the next six years developing a sound that nobody had quite heard before. The combination of Squire's fluid, psychedelic guitar work, Brown's laconic vocals, and Reni's extraordinary drumming created something that felt simultaneously rooted in the past and completely new.

The self-titled debut (1989) is one of the greatest British albums ever made. 'I Wanna Be Adored', 'She Bangs the Drums', 'Waterfall', 'I Am the Resurrection' — the songs were melodic, psychedelic, and possessed of a confidence that bordered on arrogance. The Spike Island concert in 1990, attended by 27,000 people, was the moment Madchester peaked. The Stone Roses were the biggest band in Britain.

Then came the silence. Legal disputes with their label Silvertone kept them off the market for years. By the time 'The Second Coming' arrived in 1994, the world had moved on. The album was heavier and more Led Zeppelin-influenced — not without merit, but a disappointment after the five-year wait. Squire left in 1996. Brown tried to continue but the band dissolved.

The reunion in 2012 was one of the most anticipated events in British music. The Heaton Park concerts in Manchester drew 220,000 people over three nights. No new material emerged, but the live performances confirmed that the chemistry between Brown and Squire was irreplaceable. The band split again in 2017. The debut album remains one of the benchmarks against which all British guitar music is measured.