Track Listing

1. Longsight M13
2. Time Is My Everything
3. Destiny Or Circumstance
4. Upside Down
5. Solarized
6. The Sweet Fantastic
7. Keep What Ya Got
8. Home Is Where The Heart Is
9. One Way Ticket To Paradise
10. Kiss Ya Lips (No I.D.)
11. Happy Ever After

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5518 in Music
• Released on: 2004-09-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Running time: 39 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The fourth solo album from the man they call King Monkey, Solarized finds Ian Brown drifting further and further into the role of Madchester mystic, ancient wisdom and Gnostic philosophies tripping from his lips between unbroken rings of exhaled spliff smoke.

One track in particular will get the lads excited – "Keep What Ya Got", a somewhat unremarkable collaboration with Oasis' Noel Gallagher. Luckily, there's much more adventurous fare to be found elsewhere: "Time Is My Everything", for instance – an Ennio Morricone-style piece of atmospheric Wild West pop, featuring brass courtesy of Tim Hutton of Groove Armada – or "Upside", a moody number about poverty and inequality that finds Brown barking "7% own 84% of everything on earth/ Oil is the spice to make man forget man's worth" over eerie backwards drum whooshes.

Exotic flavours are something of an album theme – several tracks feature melodic allusions to Middle Eastern or South American music. Mind you, when you can decipher Brown's sometimes abstract lyrics, it's clear his concerns are rooted in the here and now--see "Kiss Ya Lips (No I.D)" and its defiant anti-Blunkett refrain: "I ain't no number/ Don't need no I.D card around my neck." --Louis Pattison

Album Description
Ian Brown's 4th solo album, Solarized, might be his strongest album to date and includes a number of varied tracks with numerous influences. From the opening track "Longsight M13" (a song about the part of Manchester that still shows the legendary "Free Ian Brown" graffiti) to the Mexican vibes of "Time Is My Everything", Ian has used a plethora of styles and influences to create a solid album. The first single "Keep What Ya Got" features another Manchester legend, Noel Gallagher, who co-wrote the track with Ian and plays guitar and backing vocals.

CD Description
Ten years since the demise of the Stone Roses, one of the UK's most influential bands, former frontman Ian Brown returns with his fourth solo outing. A mix of leftfield electronica and 'baggy' sounding indie rock, the album showcases Brown's unique sound. The single 'Keep What Ya Got', featuring Oasis's Noel Gallagher, is also included.

Customer Reviews

Catchy and well worth buying
The first single from this album; 'Keep What Ya Got' shows that Ian Brown still has the ability to produce a catchy song that you will be singing along to. He mixes his 'Stone Roses' roots, shown by Noel Gallagher's guitar backing in 'Keep What Ya Got', with a blend of new sounds that make the album extremely listenable. 'Kiss Ya Lips' and 'Happy Ever After' are teo of the best sounding tracks, and the two songs that you are most likely to keep listening to. 'Solarized' is one of the best albums released in recent months and is a must for those who are fans of Oasis and Stone Roses, as the style will seem very familiar.

fresh,original,different and good lyrics......
i am only a new fan of ian browns solo material,i own all the stone roses albums and this holds it's own against them.highlight tracks include; time is my everything,sweet fantastic,kiss ya lips (no id )(i have to stop here ,there is too many to say ! ). i like ians sometimes strange lyrics,and there is a varied mix of interesting musical styles.there is plenty on this album to keep you interested for a long time. go buy it !

Can't understand the criticism
OK so Solarized isn't perhaps as experimental as Music of the Spheres, but the comments so far don't do the album justice. The album opens well with Longsight M13 which is reminiscent of Golden Greats. There are Mexican influences in Time Is My Everything and the use of the and the samba-eqsue rhythms don't stop there - Kiss Ya Lips is testament to this. Reluctant as I am say this, the album's best moment has to be the collaboration between the Monkey man and Noel Gallagher. My question is: why didn't they do this sooner?

The album is well produced. Unlike Music of the Spheres, this isn't a "sit back and relax" album - the tracks are varied and interesting...some mellow, some more energetic. In my opinion, Ian Brown has created his own sound which is unique in the UK at the moment.

I'd definitely recommend this album. Keep it coming Ian. If anyone has the chance, get your hands on the version of FEAR with Dani - really good.