The Stone Roses Sign Two Lucrative Record Deals

The Stone Roses, who recently announced their reunion (with shows planned for next year), announced via Facebook that they have signed two record deals. The band has singed with Universal Records for UK and worldwide distribution, and Columbia in the US.

Collectively the deals are worth millions, as The Stone Roses seem to have already cashed in on their reunion. The group are reportedly recording new songs while rehearsing for their reunion shows this summer in Europe.

While The Stone Roses’ eponymous debut album is an indisputable classic that helped define the Madchester scene, their follow up — which took years to release, due to interpersonal and label issues — was completely forgettable (at best). Indeed, it seems that everyone remembers the stellar debut, while forgetting about the existence of Second Coming and the subsequent disastrous tour that caused the band to dissolve. The album did manage to sell over a million copies, despite being panned by music critics in the UK and elsewhere.

While I’d like to be optimistic that The Stone Roses reunited out of a sincere desire to make music together, and can resurrect some of the magic from their early days, this reunion has all the hallmarks of an old band using its cache to take advantage of the collective love of the nostalgic reunion. Although it is unusual for a band to tackle new material so quickly after reuniting, this is likely because The Stone Roses realized that audiences don’t want to hear anything from their sophomore album, leaving them with a very limited set list.

Certainly, Universal and Columbia are looking for a repeat of the commercial success of the band’s debut. But this could be a pretty risky move. With The Stone Roses last (and only) good album not coming in the last two decades, can their classic status still carry sales? Sure, their lackluster second album still managed to sell a million copies, but those were different times. People don’t buy albums like they used to. That’s not to mention that it’s still not a certainty that the album will even see the light of day. The band has seen its share of conflict, and the reunion shows could end up being a disaster even if everyone gets along. Should The Stone Roses somehow manage to release another great album it would be one of the greatest (and most improbable) comebacks in the history of popular music. And that’s what Universal and Columbia are hoping to cash in on.

Image: NME

More Faster Music:

Sonic Youth Effectively On Hiatus

New Music Review: Mazzy Star; “Common Burn”(LISTEN)

Comments