Stoned & Dethroned

by

The Jesus and Mary Chain

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Since no more than a smattering of people will ever buy this album, much less arrive at the Amazon reviews page and actually read the reviews, why am I bothering to write this? Passion I guess. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I get inspired when listening to it. I have to make my testimonial to the JAMC, and in particular to their later work.

The whole album is fantastic, all the way through, and I am particular to tracks 16 & 17. The music has it's own identity, but it is perhaps most derivative of the earlier, but not earliest, rolling stones. Early 70's stones, where they had settled into an identity and played stripped down rock and roll. But this record has a more soulful and spiritual bent which shows a melancholy maturity and reflects a life-experience that transcends anything the stones ever did. God Help Me and You've Been a Friend are prime examples.

A plug for Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star on track 3. She steals the show, and is an appropriate addition to the album, as she stands, in this writers opinion, as another grossly underheard artist. And the guitar playing on this album...listen to the end of Till it Shines, or Feeling Lucky...and it should speak for itself.

Okay, people, enough of the feigned surprise--Darklands was their first (and best) foray into feedback-less pop songs, even though S & D works more often than not.

Essentially, there are tunes that could have been dropped from this album, that might have made more sense on a b-sides collection. "Sometimes Always", "Girlfriend", "You've Been a Friend", and "Bullet Lovers" work quite well, but too many of the lesser tunes feel experimental; unfinished, if you will.

Overall, it's still a hell of a lot better than most of the other garbage you'll find in the racks, but it pales in comparison to the Chain's illustrious history. Buy it anyway.