Review: Ian Brown – My Way
I’m not very familiar with Ian Brown’s solo career. I’ve heard a handful of his songs since the demise of The Stone Roses. But with My Way, his 6th solo album, he’s articulated an introspective and autobiographical subject matter throughout (with the exception of the interesting out-of-place cover of Zager & Evans’ 60s hit “In The Year 2525″). He has a huge voice and that always creates a presence in every song he sings. All the songs on this album really revolve around his vocals. Overall I think the album could have benefited from less keyboard and synth production. At times it came off looking like an older artist trying to capture younger fans or stay relevant. I believe they should have stripped down a few of the songs and used a raw acoustic sound to get his rather headstrong points across and give it more dynamic range. That being said, this is a strong album. The highlights for me were the single “Stellify”, “Always Remember Me”, “For The Glory”, and “Marathon Man”.
Review: Ian Brown – Stellify
This uplifting key tingling stroll, represents the lead single from what will be Browny’s sixth studio album ’My Way’ (released just a week later). To say that there is no looking back for him would only be half right. It is true, in the sense that this puts paid to any talk of a The Stone Roses re-union, but the stammering vocal feel harks back to his ‘Golden Greats’ days.
A pronounced horn element and high profile key tinkering overshadows Browns simply celestial lyrics and at times, his vocals. Of course, there are those who argue that this is no bad thing, but it does raise question as to whether or his vocals are suffering from the years of labouring? Only his forthcoming live sets will truly answer that question. However, on this evidence, the calls for a re-union with old foe Squire and company will be getting harder and harder for our Ian to ignore.