Track Listing

1. Stellify
2. Crowning Of The Poor
3. Just Like You
4. In The Year 2525
5. Always Remember Me
6. Vanity Kills
7. For The Glory
8. Marathon Man
9. Own Brain
10. Laugh Now
11. By All Means Necessary
12. So High

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171 in Music
• Released on: 2009-09-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 43 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Even at this point, over a decade and six albums into a firm and established solo career, the spectre of The Stone Roses never lies far from Ian Brown’s door (most recently reunion talk has gained traction and there was rumour that John Squire submitted a song for inclusion on My Way, which was ultimately rejected). While that might just speak strongly of the peerless Manchester group’s lasting mythology it pays little heed to Brown’s consistent, spirited and increasingly large body of work. This being Ian Brown though, he squares straight up to the ‘Roses chatter, referencing his old band in "For The Glory" as if to take the subject off the table. So here he goes again; shamanic of tone, dispensing stubbly testament atop a free-willed melee of genres, dusting off a plinth built largely from minimalist funk, hypnotic reverb-heavy percussion and 80s synthesised pop. Due to the latter this could actually turn out to be his most fashionable set yet, with the experience and belief he carries in excess elevating him above much of 2009’s more fleeting swathe of electro-pop. In amongst numerous highlights, "Crowning Of The Poor" slinks with grime malevolence and pointed synth jabs, tempered as ever by his zen ruminations, "In the Year 2525" gallops forth with the authority of mariachi horns and marching beats and the glorious "Always Remember Me" tumbles forward like a warm psychedelic waterfall. He’s still coming up roses then, at least. --James Berry

CD Description
The sixth solo album from Ian Brown was recorded during an intense period of rumour and speculation on a potential Stone Roses reunion. While the lyrics of 'For The Glory' includea direct reference to his former band, Brown also claims that 'My Way' was strongly influenced by Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and that it was mastered on the day that Jackson died. The release shows his versatility as a performer and includes the single 'Stellify'.

Customer Reviews

Solid familiar territory with the added benefit of autobiographical interest
In a recent critically unfair review of this album, The Times suggested that Ian Brown "can carry a tune as well as custard in an onion bag'. I think they are rather missing the point - you don't listen to Ian Brown to hear his singing in the same way that you don't particularly approach Leonard Cohen's poetic song-writing to hear his deep baritone voice (not that it's a particularly bad voice). The fact that Brown delivers deep monotones doesn't matter, it's the attitude that's important. Full of northern self belief and conviction, and delivered with a swagger and an occassional coloquial menace, Brown is an opinionated social commentator with a unique perspective who has attracted a loyal army of followers. When Kanye West heard that Brown was working on a song for him he reportedly responded "Ian Brown-Stone Roses, hell yes!"

And so with "My Way" Brown continues his musical journey on much the same trajectory as his earlier solo work. Describing 'Vanity Kills', a song he originally intended to be for Kanye West what "My Way" was for Frank Sinatra (or more precisely, Sid Vicious), Brown said in a recent interview "I took that and thought, right, I'm gonna keep that for myself, I really like it... That set us off then, we thought, right it's gonna be a `My Way' album - I'm gonna write about my life in music. I'm gonna write about coming off the dole, going into music, what happened along the way. That was my brief."

As such "My Way" differs from Brown's earlier work. It is full of biographical reflections, looking back with hindsight on the ups and downs. It's easily Brown's most personal record to date and it's full of trademark Brown-isms. It opens with lead single 'Stellify'. Originally intended as a song for Rihanna (Brown reflects "after finishing it, even though she could probably sing it better, I thought `I'm gonna keep this', so I kept it"), it has turned into a stompingly simplistic march full of Brown-isms referencing the stars, angels, and rockets "ablaze", it sounds like everything Ian Brown has done before yet remains refreshingly original. The accompanying video sees Brown sets off on a defiant stomp through his old haunting ground of Manchester, with more and more people following like he's some kind of Pied Piper. This is Brown showing us where he's been and how far he's come: "Now I found tomorrow with you I stellify/Throw my arms above/Cause now I fly and touch the sky".

The album moves onto a celebration of the righteous working class (Crowning of the Poor) and a reminder that Brown shares the hopes and dreams of his people (Just Like You). "In The Year 2525" sees Brown cover a song from before my time, singing about a world in peril. As Brown puts it: "I wanted to write a song about global warming `cos I've not heard anyone sing a proper song about global warming or the effect that it's going to have being the end and everything. So I then had to come up with a song that's better than In The Year 2525... I couldn't manage it and didn't come up with a tune that was better than that".

The album then moves onto my personal favourite, "Always Remember Me", which is full of wistful memories and comparisons (Those were the days when/We had it all/And these are the times/I got so much more). It has an epic, anthemic quality about it and at times it is reminiscent of a decent U2 moment - it is a lovely gentle thing.

Elsewhere the record clearly makes reference to his past with The Stone Roses. In 'For the Glory', for instance, Brown tells us "I didn't do it for the roses/As I was striding ten feet tall/Well, that's another story". Brown takes the opportunity to remind us "The best is yet to come"...

There are weaknesses though. Brown has tried to use Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as a blue print. He says "Every song on that album's a single. There's no flab; it's all good, catchy beats... With the advent of the iPod and all, people's attention spans have gone right down. So I thought it should be all singles, like a greatest hits collection. Like Thriller". Sadly, Brown hasn't achieved this. Whilst "My Way" is indeed full of catchy beats, sometimes these only serve as a distraction from Brown's northern monotoned vowels and, occassionally overly simplistic themes. On "Own Brain", for instance, Brown executes a playful, childlike wordplay and helpfully tells us that the title is an anagram of his 'Own Name'. Cheers Ian! The album isn't full of singles, and the tracks are definaltely not 'greatest hits'.

This said, you can hear that Brown has really poured a lot of effort into this collection and it's possibly his strongest material to date. It's thoroughly enjoyable and assuring and comes with a strong recommendation from me.

Charm Offensive
There is much to enjoy in Mr Brown's new album 'My Way'.
It is inevitable that this should be so. He is a national
treasure after all. Dependably English down to his socks.

There are few surprises in this new collection but a bit
of good old-fashioned rock-solid predictability goes a long
way in our current MySpace wannabe fly-by-night culture.

The 12 tracks in this collection are mostly more than worthy.
My attention was drawn, in particular, to the wonderful
anthemic and structurally unpredictable 'Always Remember Me',
one of the finest songs in his estimable career.
'For The Glory', too, is a powerful and atmospheric composition.
Mr Brown's wonderfully inflexible drawl sets the song ablaze.

'Marathon Man' is a curious confection, somewhat redolent of
Pet Shop Boys in the chorus (a quite disconcerting experience!)

There are a few weaker moments : 'Own Brain' is a tad
lackluster and the remodeled 'In The Year 2525' is a bit
of a stinker truth-be-told.

It would be churlish, however, not to raise a cheer for the bulk
of what is on offer here.

'By All Means Necessary' delivers a real powerhouse performance
and final track 'So High' is just plain charming.

Ian Brown - CHARMING ! Just hold that thought for a moment....

Recommended

The best, and more to come?
Forget the negative reviews by some of the national newspaper critics of one of our national treasure's best solo works to date. Forget the man was the singer for the Stone Roses. Forget some of those slightly dodgy tracks from some of his earlier albums and forget that he's four years off 50. Listen to this album. Not once. Twice. And then you'll want to hear it a third time. And then buy it. Support our music industry. Support what always makes you excited about music whether you're 16 years old, or 20 or 30 or 40. This is the freshest this Stone Rose has sounded for years. And I'm not one of the 'strange Ian Brown fans initiated into some weird sect' like the jealous and lazy Guardian reviewer suggests fans of decent music must be. This is a great little album. I wonder if those journos on our failing national newspapers have ever produced anything as good... or are they just as creatively bankrupt as their newspapers are financially? Support the music industry, it's products will make you happier than the news in our papers xxx