The Second Coming - The Stone Roses

Disappointment comes in many guises; The loss of a football game in the dying seconds, being unsuccessful at a driving test, falling short of expectations in an exam, a ruined meal, a cloudy day in summer, missing a train on the way home from work and the loss of a good friend.....

.....but these all pale into significance when compared against the second Stone Roses album. Very, very disappointing. But was it? Could it have ever lived up to the expectations heaped upon it - five years of rumours, court cases and silence from the band. In this heightened atmosphere it was doomed to fall short. And then there was the title, 'The Second Coming', confident sounding almost to the point of arrogance. The Roses had, for once, failed to deliver on their promise. It was crushingly disappointing.

But that doesn't make it a bad album........just ordinary. Had a little more quality control been exercised (and a little less cocaine consumed) then it could've been much better; Trim 4m 30sec from the opening track (animal  and jungle noises - strewth), get rid of the guitar noodling at the start of 'Ten Storey Love Song', cut down on the extended guitar solos, erase the dreaded hidden track syndrome, change the running order and tighten the production. Buried under all the overblown over-production is a great album trying to get out; rhythmic, melodic and in places astounding; 'Straight To The Man' is funky, 'Love Spreads' rocks out and 'Ten Storey Love Song' is beautiful.

So forget your late goals, wet days and dodgy spag boll -  perhaps the worst kind of disappointment is missed opportunity.......