Search - The Jesus & Mary Chain :: Stoned & Dethroned

William's mellow album

trainreader | Montclair, N.J. | 09/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What a surprise after JMC's powerful "Honey's Dead"! It's almost as if the Reid's realized they probably couldn't match that album, so, with the help of a terrific rhythm section (Ben Lurie on bass, Steve Monti on drums), they mellowed out their sound to give us the fine "Stoned and Dethroned."



What's interesting here is that, for the first time, we know which Reid brother wrote which song. Since "S&D" contains virtually wall-to-wall softer, more melodic songs, one can expect William to be the greater influence, and, indeed, he wrote more than twice as many songs on the album as did brother Jim. We can also look back and guess which brother wrote which songs on the previous albums. For instance, the grungy "Teenage Lust," ("Hole" on "S&D" sounds basically the same) and the propulsive "Sugar Ray" are classic Jim, whereas the melodic "Catchfire" and "Almost Gold," surely belong to William.



"S&D" really consists of no weak songs, which is pretty amazing since there are seventeen of them. But if I had to name my favorites, they would be the Sonny and Cher like "Sometimes Always" (with the lovely Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star), "Between Us," "She," "These Days," and the effervescent "Girlfriend."



"Stoned and Dethroned" may be a departure from the typical JMC sound (more William than Jim), but it's certainly a welcome and successful one."

One of the Best

David N. Knottnerus | Somewhere in Iraq | 11/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album got a lot of flack when It came out but it's one of my favorites just to play and listen to all the way through. Especially when It's raining.

It's fantastic. Great road trip album.



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