Given the popularity of the band over ten years on from their debut it’s quite easy to see the release of a Roses DVD as a simple yet cynical money making exercise.  This feeling certainly comes before you’ve put the thing into the machine, given that they can’t even spell ‘resurrection’ correctly on the back cover (that would be three ‘Rs’, record company types) and there are no sleeve notes to speak of.  It has to be said though that the packaging, in the style of the debut record, is lovingly reproduced.   

The first disc covers a live gig recorded in Blackpool in 1989 and the videos for the likes of ‘Waterfall’ and ‘One Love’.  The opening credits look very dated but the music speaks for itself.  The opening bars of ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ send a familiar tingle down the spine and for the next 50 minutes you realise just how good The Stone Roses were.  John Squire teases his guitar effortlessly while Ian Brown prances about the stage playing about with a yo-yo, seemingly not caring that his singing sounds dangerously off key.  The crowd don’t seem to mind either and it’s a masterclass from a band at the height of their powers.

The same can’t really be said about the videos, which either show the band at the Blackpool gig or farting about behind a background of mountains and sunrises.  These are boring and lack imagination, although the excellent ‘Standing Here’ starts to show Squire’s influence, arty images segued with a live gig.  The live performances on disc two are also fairly uneventful, with the exception of the highly amusing performance of ‘Made of Stone’ at The Late Show, where the sound cuts out and Brown is left to shout ‘amateurs!’ over the presenter. 

The extras are fairly unexciting as well, although an excruciating interview with Brown and Squire raises more than a few smiles as they show complete disdain for the media.   A full 20 minutes go by while questions are answered with monosyllables and sarcasm.  It’s hard to imagine this sort of thing happening nowadays but it just shows how refreshingly different and confident the Roses were.  As a final extra the behind the scenes home video is disappointing as well, comprising of the band fooling around during the recording of their debut.  It’s about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Overall you feel that this is a missed opportunity.  The gig itself is great but the remainder is ragged and feels lumped together without real thought.  Extra material, like commentaries on the videos, would have been good to at least indicate that an effort had been made to add value to the package.  As it is, this might just appeal to the committed fan.
(3/5)

Release Date: 28 June 2004

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Stone Roses: The Very Best Of