Ian Brown’s first solo outing after the dissolution of The Stone Roses was a rough and ready ride.
Its primitive playing and jarring production were the result of Brown taking too much on his own shoulders. Yet that’s part of the charm, and after the Roses’ sorry ending, it was a welcome arrival. My Star, with its NASA samples and Aziz Ibrahim’s EBow solo remains one of Brown’s finest works. The pointed Corpses In Their Mouths is not far behind.
Can’t See Me has an understated shuffling menace and ends in a guitar phrase from Brown that we’ll charitably call charmingly unrefined. He suffers at times from the lack of an editor, though, with Lions’ clumsy electronic drums limping their way to nearly seven minutes.
But the overwhelming memory is of King Monkey returning with his head high.
7/10
Gary Walker