Stone Roses Turns Into Stone

Turns Into Stone The Stone Roses

Released: July 20, 1992 Peak: -- US, 32 UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.10 UK Genre: alternative rock/Britpop

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Elephant Stone [4:58] The Hardest Thing in the World [2:39] Going Down [2:46] Mersey Paradise [2:44] Standing Here [5:05] Where Angels Play [4:15] Simone [4:24] Fools Gold [9:53] What the World Is Waiting For [3:55] One Love [7:45] Something’s Burning [7:50] Total Running Time: 53:48 Other Songs from This Era: Full Fathom Five Guernica The Players: Ian Brown (vocals) John Squire (guitars, backing vocals) Mani (bass) Reni (drums, backing vocals)

Rating: 3.336 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings)

About the Album The Stone Roses exploded on the UK music scene with their 1989 self-titled album. The album was milked for five singles over three years as fans eagerly awaited a new album. Alas, legal battles with their record label, Silvertone, prevented the band from releasing any new music. There were a few non-album singles along the way (“Elephant Stone,” “Fools Gold,” “One Love”) and there had been plenty of B-sides released on the singles. To satiate the public’s appetite, the compilation Turns Into Stone was released. It gathered the aforementioned singles as well as most of the B-sides from the singles released in support of 1989’s The Stone Roses. The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Elephant Stone The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: Oct. 1988 (single), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Very Best of (compilation: 1987-94, released 2002), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) B Side: “Full Fathom Five,” “The Hardest Thing in the World” Peak: 8 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 13.70 streaming About the Song A

Full Fathom Five The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: Oct. 1988 (B side of “Elephant Stone”), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.97 streaming

The Hardest Thing in the World The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: Oct. 1988 (B side of “Elephant Stone”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.15 streaming About the Song A

Going Down The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 3/6/1989 (B side of “Made of Stone”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 6.18 streaming

Guernica The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 3/6/1989 (B side of “Made of Stone”), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.01 streaming

Mersey Paradise The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 7/17/1989 (B side of “She Bangs the Drums”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 28.85 streaming

Standing Here The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 7/17/1989 (B side of “She Bangs the Drums”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.83 streaming

Simone The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 7/17/1989 (B side of “She Bangs the Drums”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.10 streaming

Fools Gold The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 11/13/1989 (single), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Very Best of (compilation: 1987-94, released 2002), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) B Side: “What the World Is Waiting For” Peak: 5 MR, 8 UK, 13 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 20.50 video, 94.04 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The Stone Roses formed in Manchester, England in 1983. They were considered a pioneering group of the indie-dance Madchester movement of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The primary members were singer Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani, and drummer Reni. Their 1989 debut album has been regarded as one of the most important in British history. The band got locked into a legal battle with Silvertone, their record label, after the release of the album. It held up a follow-up, Second Coming, until 1994. In the interim, the band released a series of singles of which the most successful was “Fools Gold”/“What the World Is Waiting For.” The original plan was to release the latter as the A-side, but when Silvertone’s A&R man, Roddy Mckenna, urged the band to release “Fools Gold” as the A-side. Since the band wasn’t completely convinced, the decision was made to release it as a double-A-sided single. It became the UK’s biggest-selling independent single in 1989. SF “From Mani’s seminal bassline to John Squire’s guitars, it already had the hallmarks of a belter, but when drummer Reni aped the beat of James Brown’s ‘Funky Drummer,’ a true classic was born.” XFM It was Squire who discovered the cut. He told Q magazine that the band were signing copies of their single “She Bangs the Drums” at a record shop and the owner let them pick out a few albums as a thank you. Squire picked up a breakbeats album and that’s where he heard “Funky Drummer.” SF The “masterful synthesis of rock and funk pioneered indie-dance and the re-mix dance craze of New Wave groups such as Primal Scream.” SF XFM called “Fools Gold” “the definitive Stone Roses song, the definitive baggy track and the tune that would define Madchester.” XFM Listeners at BBC Radio 5 concurred in 2007 when they voted it “the song that best summed up the city of Manchester.” SF Brown said the lyrics hinted at trouble brewing amongst the band. The words were inspired by The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a 1948 Humphrey Bogart film. Brown said, “In the film the friends go up a mountain looking for gold. But as they go on, they start turning on one another. That's how it felt once the Roses started getting successful. Suddenly everyone was after their piece of gold.” SF

What the World Is Waiting For The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 11/13/1989 (B side of “Fools Gold”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Very Best of (compilation: 1987-94, released 2002), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: 8 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 6.73 streaming

Where Angels Play The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 12/8/1989 (B side of “I Wanna Be Adored”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.79 streaming

One Love The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 7/2/1990 (single), 12/30/1991 (B side of “Waterfall”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Very Best of (compilation: 1987-94, released 2002), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) B Side: “Something’s Burning” Peak: 9 MR, 4 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.77 streaming

Something’s Burning The Stone Roses

Writer(s): Ian Brown, John Squire Released: 7/2/1990 (B side of “One Love”), Turns Into Stone (archives: 1988-90, released 1992), The Complete Stone Roses (compilation: 1985-90, released 1995), The Stone Roses: 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition (2009) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.15 streaming

Resources/References: SF Songfacts page for “Fools Gold” WK Wikipedia page for Turns Into Stone WK Wikipedia page for “Fools Gold” XFM Mike Walsh (editor) (2010). The XFM Top 1000 Songs of All Time. Elliott & Thompson Limited: London, England. Page 403. Related DMDB Pages: First posted 10/3/2026.