The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses formed in Manchester in 1983 and their 1989 self-titled debut is the founding document of everything that followed — the Madchester scene, Britpop, and two decades of guitar bands that owed a debt they were rarely willing to acknowledge. John Squire's guitar work fused funk rhythm playing with psychedelic lead lines in a way that was entirely new, built on a Silvertone 1478 and later a Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall stack. Ian Brown's voice was at the outer edge of musical ability and somehow perfect for the songs. The Second Coming in 1994 arrived five years late and was promptly dismissed — and has been gradually rehabilitated ever since.