ALBUM REVIEWS

Ian Brown THE GREATEST FICTION RECORDS 26.09.05 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk "Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough" said Noah Cross in Chinatown. So, here’s the sight I thought I’d never see – the monkey-faced one from The Roses releases a retrospective. And so modest, too – “The Greatest”! Not hits, mind, there’s probably some kind of law against calling it that. There’s a few here you’ll recognise, though. My Star, for example, the first one, when we were watching to see who would matter after the demise of The Stone Roses, F.E.A.R. and If Dolphins Were Monkeys. The rest you might or might not know, depending on the sort of clubs you frequent. I struggle with Ian Brown – he turns out records that lope along baggily and have that E – generation dance groove and it’s the sort of thing that gets ’em up at the alt-disco club, even now but when I focus in, there is a talent-free hole where the main man should be. Lyrics are slack or crap, wrapped in cliché and mis-applied metaphor. It stands out when surrounded by the quality musicians he has always recruited. This compilation makes me feel that Ian’s real talent, apart from the hollow eyed chic look, is assembling bands and engineering them to makes dance tunes for him to intone in front of. Like Keef from the other Stone band, Ian has earned his place by simply surviving against all expectations and keeping making music right up to now. I guess he deserves some sort of long-service award for still being here and still releasing new records – like the strange world-blend of recent single All Ablaze. Ross McGibbon www.ianbrown.co.uk Email Links & Comments to the editor Check the latest album releases