One thing for certain is that barbers during that time suffered tremendously….

Fishin brah….. let it go. And the star spangled banner is about blowing toot up your bum….

Some of the better tracks are like a london centric OK Computer. They both have the same claustrophobia and anxiety in the sound and lyrics. Musically different but can you imagine them covering each other? Coxon would have a field-day with Electroneering or Greenwood with He thought of cars. Speaking of other bands..Even though the Holy Bible by the Manics was about as different as an album could be; tracks like Faster dealt with pop culture speeding up and how celebritydom was slowly overwhelming..well, everything. Musically and production-wise I can hear Coxons and Albarns love for the Fun-boy three and the second specials album. Songs like fade-away are made for Terry Halls type of singing.

I knew John in the days of Cousins (I was 21, he was 19). That cover of "Solid Air"? Anyone who has taken acid knows the strobing after-image of hand gestures in air...

Interesting though, being the number one name in London is Mohammad and people are being arrested for reading the Bible in Speakers Park… that rivers of blood guy.s prediction is coming to reality

Love that song.....and was my introduction to the rest of their catalogue.

I saw John Martyn when he opened for Traffic in 1973. He came out solo and was totally mesmerizing.

I know Lee hate that iconic album but it is a cult classic for a reason. The songs speak for themselves. And for me were far more than some one hit wonder that many class them as.

John squire. genius

I love that song

Really enjoyed this video, had forgotten how much I enjoyed the songs off that album, now I think I understand why

I worked in a particular shop in Mcr, 1993. John Squire came in and bought a Hendrix and a Led Zep VHS tape..

The fook 😅

It’s better than the reception it got, however it’s not great. Far better albums and bands about in the mid 90s

I prefer it to their first!

What movie or show is at 0:50?

20.23 (the last segment of the video) look at Damon's face in response to Vic showing off like a sarcastic kid.

Well, that was a story about Blur.

Great stuff again. You shone a really interesting light on the lyrics and gives the album more depth than I'd given it credit for. The musicianship on this album is spectacular and yet..... I feel like Squire, a childhood idol of mine and one of the reasons I first bought a guitar, abandoned that sparkling, arpeggio-laden magic of the first album which made him the indie heir to Johnny Marr's throne and 'just' became a very good blues player. The psychedelic soundscapes he created on the debut album gave way to more ego-centric Page-isms. I know Squire thought the debut was "The sound of a two guitar band", but in trying to compensate, he was pushed far too high in the mix (Page is actually pretty low in Led Zep recordings) and infamously loud on stage (just ask Brown!). He no longer seemed to play in service to the music, or the band. Squire wrote nearly everything on this album and, as we saw with his solo material and Seahorses project, he is a much better songwriter with Brown at his side. Brown himself said "The album sounded far too rocky" and "It’s a real shame we didn’t do the second album round the time of ‘Fool’s Gold’.", which I think most would agree with!'One Love' is worth a mention here, as it gives an insight as to what an intermediary album might have sounded like. A perfect balance of blues and Byrdsy jangle. I must've burned a hole through my 'Love Spreads' CD, I played it so much, and I really wanted to love the rest of The Second Coming. 'Ten Storey Love Song' and 'Breaking Into Heaven' (when it finally gets there) are soaring examples of melodious pop-rock but for me it will always remain a missed opportunity.

Beautifully written and narrated. Thank you for teaching me a new word, "Triptych". I think The Great Escape is melodically drenched in pathos and yet Blur's wittiest record. 'Yuko and Hiro' is a hugely overlooked song and 'The Universal' stands as possibly Blur's finest moment. Where the album suffers is, ironically, much of what beset Oasis' 'Be Here Now'. Many of the songs are bloated and over produced. 'Sterotypes', while only just over three minutes, is the clearest example, with it's unnecessarily spun-out structure and blaring synths. Compare that with 'Parklife's much more sculpted 'London Loves'. 'Mr. Robinson's Quango' and 'Entertain Me', are two more that would've benefitted from a few days at the gym. All that being said, I love the album and I appreciate its flaws. It felt like a necessary tipping point for Blur to get to. Great Escape was their critical mass, the final page in that chapter of Blur's journey and a stimulus to their subsequent, more experimental output.

It;s really just badly produced. Surely there's an alternative studio mix of it? I heard early funky demos of Love Spreads (sans blues riffs) and this was the early direction before getting taken over by the coke head Squire.

To me it is a blues-rock jamfest with few discernible melodies or original ideas. Whatever magic they had deserted them in the early nineties due to the court case , drugs , laziness , self-indulgence . It's the beginning of the end for Squire as a decent songwriting guitarist . Brown still had plenty left in the tank. Weak songs (Daybreak , Straight to the man , How do you sleep being the worst offenders ) , cliched lyrics , endless guitar workouts , strained 'bluesy' Brown vocals , it's painful to hear a band lose it this badly.

I love this song like I just love a good veg Thali !

Tears and tightrope are 2 of the best roses tunes about.

I love this album

How do you sleep remains my favourite Roses song. The backing vocals of Reni screamed out to me when I first heard it - I queued up at the shop to buy it and take the album home. Love the second coming. Love the Roses.

I got a CD version during the turn of the new millennium to be played on my desktop CDROM drive. First thing that caught my attention was the hologram angel with a wonderful interface. 'Second Coming' could be the best concept album produced entering the era of computing and information overload. It provides numerous solutions to handling systems technology issues. In fact, it could make a vital industry by its entirety. The Stone Roses and the units involved in the Geffen recording are one-of-a-kind.

Sophomore? This isn’t America

Does anyone know what these guys studied at the Polytechnic University in Preston back then?

Amazing short documentary. The roses put the bar so high for themselves which is perfect. Many bands can't make such memorable songs like these guys. I often find myself listening to the 2nd album more too.

I'm going to listen to the album... again..

I played this song in my car today

Music had change massively in the years between the two albums, i think people were expecting the Second Coming to be more of the same. I was only 11 when the first album came out but the landscape had changed by '94. It's a different but equally brilliant album

It’s great, it just wasn’t as good as their debut album or era. Oasis suffered the same criticism, after the initial impact they made.

who is the politician

Masterpiece, just as good as parklife. I get the hate though, i hated country house too. But now i love it. I think their 3 brit pop albums are their best. Their material afterwards is still fantastic but the quality is less consistent imo and they lost that interesting storytelling element the brit pop albums have.

Love both albums long live the stone Roses

And the first one is worse than you think too. Some big tunes but the two albums add up to one good one.

Fantastic video and what an underrated, misunderstood album. For me tears is the best track on the album, that guitar solo sends shivers down my spine

You're not wrong 👍

Biggest overrated band ever

It was in a bargain bin back in the day. I’m not a a fan but I do think this album is great, it still gets a play every now and then, and as previously mentioned there are some cracking tunes on it. Definitely an underrated gem.

Yeah! Finally. Always liked it. Who cares what the critic's think! They know nothing anyhow! Up the Roses!

It was critically panned but I always thought it was a great album. John Squires at his best and a much fuller, bigger sound than their debut album. Glad it’s being recognised for the classic it is.

Difficult to top one of the best debut albums in music history, however Second Coming is a great record ... Seems to be pushed aside, probably as their catalogue isn't huge, shame.

It’s a fucking superb album 👍🏻

Thought it was well known that Brown didn’t write the lyrics on this album. They’re nowhere near as engaging as the first album lyrics.

B sides to 'Ten Story Love' contained the tracks 'moses' and 'Ride On' which at the time I didn't really notice but listening to them now , I'm blown away!