Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 27/09/09
Label: Fiction

Given the arrival of the annual brouhaha surrounding the myth of the reunion of The Stone Roses - this year lent some extra poundage in weight to coincide with the 20th anniversary release of their debut album - it becomes all too easy to forget that of all the erstwhile Roses, Ian Brown has produced the greatest volume of material. So while Mani adds his thunderous grooves to Primal Scream's bottom end and John Squire wisely retreats to the brush and canvas (the search parties having long given up on Reni), Brown continues apace in his own idiosyncratic fashion, whilst causing men of a certain to age to openly weep in his presence as well attracting a younger generation of fans.

But it hasn't been a task to take Brown for granted and under normal circumstances, a sixth solo album may have been a cause for celebration among the faithful and a shrug of the shoulders from everyone else. But get this: with the splendidly titled "My Way", King Monkey has only gone and delivered his strongest set since the demise of his former band.

Despite the ominous claim that this album was to be inspired by Michael Jackson's "Thriller", Brown has adopted an "all killer, no filler" policy and the results largely live up to that claim. Clearly, he has been setting his sights high. Opener "Stellify" - originally slated for the pop talents of Rihanna - sets the pace with insistent mid-tempo beats and an earworm of a chord sequence and the net result is the realisation that the stakes really have been raised.

Indeed, coupled with an autobiographical lyrical slant - "For The Glory" lays those Roses rumours to rest once again (until next year), while elsewhere, "So High" seemingly cocks a snook at his former songwriting partner - Brown does much to wrestle attention away from his past and focus on his present.

But it's not all plain sailing. The album's main weakness lies in the largely similarly paced delivery of the songs that seem to be designed for the express purpose of him being able to do his stock-in-trade dance of shuffling from one foot to the other before - wait for it - doing it all over again when he hits stages up and down the nation. The worst crime, however, is a reprehensible and ill-advised cover of Zager & Evans' dystopian smash hit, "In The Year 2525", where mariachi trumpets fail to overcome its grating shortcomings.

Minor gripes aside, "My Way" is far better than anyone could have expected from a singer whose reputation is still judged by his musical contribution from 20 years ago and it's not too much of a flight of fancy when he claims: "The best is yet to come".

    by Julian Marszalek