I Wanna Be Adored is the quintessential Stone Roses song. It represents everything about the band, with brilliant musicianship, cryptic lyrics, and catchy hooks.
It also remained the perfect gig opener for the band, with its unusual and brooding intro, which gives way into a bopping drum beat and singer Ian Brown on perfect form. Adored? Yes, it bloody well is.
The Perfect Gig Opener is… I Wanna Be Adored
Considered one of the greatest songs of all time, it had a long road to reaching its complete form. The band had the first version down by 1985 and included it on their abandoned debut album.
They recorded the unreleased debut with producer Martin Hannett in Manchester, the man who worked wonders on Joy Division’s two albums. This was 40 years back in 1985, but the band weren’t happy with the song quality and decided not to release the record.
This was eventually compiled into Garage Flower (1996) and released against the band’s wishes by Silvertone Records. Thus! Here’s that early version of Adored.
Full credit to the band for not releasing that debut album. They moved out of their angry-young-men post-punk phase, grew up a bit, advanced their musical interests (particularly with Love’s Forever Changes album), and took things from there.
Beginning in 1986, the guys overhauled their sound. Original bassist Peter Garner left and in came the garrulous and brilliant Mani.
New songs such as the beautiful Sally Cinnamon and bopping Elephant Stone shook up their image. And I Wanna Be Adored got a total overhaul, slowing the song down and playing on its key strengths as a mysterious, almost shamanic Doors type number. You can imagine Jim Morrison writing a song like this.
I don’t have to sell my soul,
He’s already in me.I don’t need to sell my soul.
He’s already in me.I wanna be adored.
Written by lead songwriters Ian Brown and John Squire, it appears to be about seeking admiration and validation. Perhaps there’s a deeper philosophical meaning at play, but the surface level overview is its longing for acceptance. Although the “he’s already in me” suggests a certain security in personal resolve.
Regardless of its meaning, its famous for its intro. The collage of unusual sounds breaking way or Mani’s iconic bassline, with some fantastic guitar work from Squire, and then drummer Reni’s perfectly timed bass pedal kicks in at 1:13 seconds. After the intro the song takes its mysterious, crashing course towards a dramatic conclusion.
We get the mid-section rush, which cuts away to the bass and drums again as it builds towards a crescendo. There are elements of post-punk, shoegaze (an indie subgenre), neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock etc. It’s the most like The Doors this band ever got.
It typified the swagger The Stone Roses had and aligned perfectly with their rise to stardom across 1989. The ideal opener for a band on the move, although a song that had the UK press label them as “arrogant”. The band didn’t care, they were the driving force of the Madchester wave in 1989 and 1990. And this song pushed towards that peak.
Notable Live Performances of I Wanna Be Adored
The band’s first gig after (very unexpectedly) reforming was at Warrington’s Parr Hall in February 2012. This was a warm-up gig ahead of the major Manchester Heaton Park shows in June 2012, followed by a world tour.
After an absence from touring since 1996, and 1990 with the classic line-up, this was a big moment.
Contrast that with this gig in Manchester (20th July 1985, Flower Show, Warehouse Party) and you see how much better they all got. Note, too, original bassist Pete Garner in the mix. But they were all very much in their post-punk phase still and it wasn’t working out (the band wasn’t very popular).
Compared to five years later for their June 1990 gig at Glasgow Green, as the biggest band in the UK, and already seen as an era-defining band.
This is viewed as the band’s best ever gig, with I Wanna Be Adored at its very best here with a fantastic intro. You can hear the young crowed getting increasingly excited with each intro element, clapping and bopping along once Reni’s bass pedal kicks in.
Ridiculously, Glasgow Green was also their last gig for five bloody years. After that, they got stuck in a legal battle between warring record labels. Drummer Reni didn’t play the drums live again until 22 years later… sheesh.
ADDENDUM ALERT! Notes on the New I Wanna Be Adored Outro
For the band’s unexpected reformation, they added in a new outro. John Squire was on immense form during the whole reformed years, the best bit about it all was seeing him getting some duly deserve recognition.
There was a professional recording of their set in 2012 at Benicassim, with the outro there pretty damn awesome.
The outro here does highlight a missed opportunity for the band. They only recorded two new songs after they reformed, one of which was poorly received by the press. Meanwhile, The Stone Roses reworked the likes of Fools Gold into a 15-minute monster groove of excellence.
That type of thing, along with the brilliance of Squire’s playing on this Benicassim Adored outro, for us show what the reformation years should have been about.
Don’t linger too much on the past, you’re not 25 anymore. Focus on honing down that new style, the groove element, and take that into a new direction. Unfortunately, the band did the opposite. It was a mistake and their return single, All For One (good as it was), tried to tap back into their 1989 youth. Unsuccessfully.
Oh well, never mind, the bonus was getting to have them back again. As brief as it was, it still made many millions of people happy. Just a shame they didn’t their creative energies in that new direction.
