You've got it all mixed up.
> No, not at all.
"The Stone Roses" is still my favourite LP--the American release, with "Fools Gold" on it. As a single album, track for track, it might be the one perfect album I've ever been lucky enough to own (although "The Queen is Dead" comes close). I can't think of another contemporary album that so marvelously captured the beauty and exuberance of youth like "The Stone Roses." A listen to "Elephant Stone" feels like flying. As an album, it's better even than any one thing that the Smiths have ever released although admittedly, the Smiths' catalogue bests the Stone Roses'. If you think the Roses were no good, that's your opinion but at least give them another listen. "She Bangs the Drums" still gives me goosebumps when I really sit and listen. Listen to the guitars of "I Wanna Be Adored," the ageless melody of "Waterfall," the drumming on "Bye Bye Badman" (Reni was the best and grooviest drummer ever to be recorded), the effortless cool of "Shoot You Down"... I could go on and on. Do you know what it was like to hear the Stone Roses play Fools Gold for the first time?
> The singer is like a BIG monkey, a retarded monkey at that.
A lot of people share your view, but I remember what it was like to hear Ian Brown for the first time. He had a very distinct voice, and all those religious references in his lyrics only added to the Roses' mystique and special quality.
To this day, I see him as a sort of musical guru-like iconic figure. He's so grounded, positive, and full of humility. There's something terribly precious about someone as genuine as he is. Sure, he's not "Ian Brown of the Stone Roses" anymore, but he's still part of an incredible legacy that we've yet to see the end of.
> He is INCREDIBLY untalented, all he does is copy The Oasis!
There would be no Liam Gallagher (as we know him) if not for Ian Brown. Liam's stage presence has developed quite a bit, but its origination is in mimicking Ian Brown. Ian can't dance, he can't sing, but we all still love 'im because he's real and he can still pull out good tunes. His track with DJ Shadow (U.N.K.L.E.) is one of my faves solely because of the beauty of Ian's voice. It was nothing much before Ian transformed it. He doesn't have to be a conventional singer. His dark, grainy voice makes my thighs tremble with excitement.
Think about reconsidering your hasty castigation. The Stone Roses, in their heyday, was more special than any other band that I can think of, The Smiths included. The Smiths' style was cool because they somehow melded a retro chic (many of Johnny Marr's Smiths pictures could well have been of any guitarist in any sixties or seventies band) with a modern outlook. The Stone Roses was simply youth, zest, and modernity to the bone. What the Smiths started, the Stone Roses propelled into the stars.
To try to explain to you how extraordinary I think "The Stone Roses" LP is, it takes the entire Smiths catalogue--which I feel is the best in all of popular music; better than the Beatles--for them to come out on top as best band overall, but the Roses place a very close second with just a couple of LP's and a few scattered singles.
When I read your message, I just had to reply.
Kisses.