Synopses & Reviews
The Stone Roses captures the magic — and chaos — behind the UK band's rise, fall, and recent resurrection.
The iconic Brit pop band The Stone Roses became an overnight sensation when their 1989 eponymous album went double platinum. It was a recording that is still often listed as one of the best albums ever made. Its chiming guitar riffs, anthemic melodies, and Smiths-like pop sensibility elevated The Stone Roses to a cult-like status in the UK and put them on the map in the U.S. But theirs is a story of unfulfilled success: their star imploded as their sophomore effort took years to complete and the band broke up acrimoniously in 1996. Sixteen years later, they reunited and have been playing sold out gigs, thrilling fans around the globe, and working on new material. In 2013, they nabbed the coveted headline spot at the Coachella Festival.
With one hundred interviews of key figures, forty rare photographs, and exclusive insider material including how they created their music, The Stone Roses charts the band's rise from the backwaters of Manchester to becoming the stars of the "Madchester" scene to their successful comecback years later. Going beyond the myths to depict a band that defined Brit pop, Simon Spence illustrates their incandescent talent and jaw-dropping success while contextualizing them in the 90s music scene. This is the definitive story of The Stone Roses.
Review
"This is the one. It's the definitive biography of the band, stuffed with photos that have never been seen before — the production values are gorgeous. The writing feels really fresh and definitive. It's a classic." Alex Heminsley, BBC 6 Music Book of the Month
Review
"A comprehensive, no-holds-barred account of a...shambolic, chaotic, mercurial and self-destructive band. Spence details, with steely, forensic precision, the story of the group's ascent, heyday and spectacular implosion. All the triumphs and disasters are here." Sunday Times
Review
"This is the one Stone Roses book fans will want to read. Copies of this superb biography will not remain on shop shelves for long." The Bookseller
Review
"The band's background has never been so exhaustively detailed...an absorbing yarn." Sunday Business Post
Review
Rich with context. The view from the American industry is particularly illuminating." The Observer
Review
"Simon Spences Stone Roses bio War & Peace is so good. This is gonna be a summer of Roses books — but this is the one, this is the one." Q Magazine
About the Author
SIMON SPENCE is a writer, journalist, and biographer who has collaborated with Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham on the acclaimed memoirs Stoned and 2Stoned. He has written for the NME, i-D, Dazed & Confused and the Independent. He lives in London, England.