The “second-best” debut album of all time, according to Mani
It seems that the year 2025 is pretty relentless when it comes to the health of musical legends, continuing to take great creative minds from us, such as Ozzy Osbourne, Clem Burke, and now, The Stone Roses‘ bassist Mani.
The bass is a misunderstood instrument, and if not for bassists in the world of rock, a lot of what we consider classics would have instead come out as unlistenable noise. When I was growing up, my naive friends and I thought that a bassist was just somebody who hadn’t worked out how to play the guitar yet, but now, I recognise how ignorant that mindset was, and how vital the bass is when it comes to creating innovative music.
When you look at heavy metal music, for instance, you need the bassist to not only help layer songs, but keep the ensuing chaos packaged together. The bass doesn’t just provide depth, but it sets the foundation that an entire band will be built upon.
Geddy Lee once said that John Paul Jones was the most valuable member of Led Zeppelin for this very reason (you might think this is just a bassist’s bias, but you have to admit Rush’s rhythm section has a point). “The thing that held the whole thing down was John Paul Jones’ bass playing,” he explained, “so if you listen to ‘How Many More Times’, I mean, no matter how wild that song gets at times, there’s John Paul Jones just holding it all down in such a fluid way.”
Of course, with Mani, what he contributed to the Stone Roses was slightly different; he acted as the glue, sure, but he also gave their songs a swing that we now recognise as being one of the quintessential parts of their music. You could describe this kind of style as being built into him as a musician, given he joined The Stone Roses with little experience and subsequently said that he learnt a lot of what he knows on the job.
“That was just the most exciting time,” said Mani when discussing first joining The Stone Roses, “To be locked in tight with a guy who, for me, must be the best drummer I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. I was still a bit of a novice when I came to join the Roses, so I learned a hell of a lot from Reni, John, and Ian. It brought me along leaps and bounds.”
The result was that he was able to well and truly tap into his sound and create something he was proud of and that people could move to, and when talking about his inherent need to inject a bit of swing into every piece of music he made, he said, “That’s what the bass and drums are for, aren’t they?”
During an interview, when he was talking about his Mancunian counterparts, Oasis, he said that they had the second-best debut album of all time, with Definitely Maybe, with Mani explaining that the band set their stall out early and showed listeners exactly what they could expect from the rest of the record. When the interviewer followed up this adoration by asking whose is the best debut of all time, Mani let his thoughts on his bass-playing ability be known with certainty.
”Next to what?” asked the interviewer, to which he relayed, “Next to mine”.
