One of England's gifts to the pop world is the unique phenomenon of the British solo album. You know the drill: First the band scores a heavily hyped hit, and then the lippy sex poet on the mike starts to bicker with the shy, perfectionist guitar god, usually during the sessions for their blow-addled, dub-influenced, difficult second album. The two boys throw crockery at each other across the studio, tears are shed, and before you can say "Remember Morrissey," they're off making their laughable solo albums. The singers tend to sell better; the guitarists have better hair and get better reviews. Sometimes the singer actually makes a decent record on his own -- it's called Black Grape Syndrome -- but it only happens enough to blow the curve for everybody else.

Former Stone Roses vocalist Ian Brown has followed the script faithfully. He was once the toast of Britannia, singing "I Wanna Be Adored," but after a decade of excess, and with Roses guitarist John Squire long departed to make his own tediously competent records, Ian may as well be singing "I Wanna Be Employed." His second solo effort is overbaked synth funk, his voice buried in echo that can't quite drown out lyrics like, "I need the resistance/Held by your astrological sign." Golden Greats cries out for a hotshot guitarist to take charge of the music -- somebody like John Squire.

The Verve had a huge hit a few years ago with "Bitter Sweet Symphony" but split when singer Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe suddenly remembered they loathed each other. Ashcroft's solo debut, Alone With Everybody, is a quality set of long, slow ballads, heavy on the strings, with pretties like "Everybody" and "Brave New World" to offset the unbelievably awful, perfectly titled "C'Mon People (We're Making It Now)." The problem is that Alone never peaks -- it's without a memorable riff or melody or chorus standing out from the mellow flow. Ashcroft has superhuman levels of sullen charisma, but like Ian Brown and so many other Brit-rock stars, he needs a musical cohort who can get on his nerves enough to generate some friction. (RS 844/845)

ROB SHEFFIELD

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(Posted: Jul 6, 2000)