Ian Brown - The World Is Yours

He wasn’t always this bad, surely?

Brownie has had some wonderful musical moments and a few truly inspirational ones. Even on his last offering, 2004’s Solarized, his mariachi tendencies tempted those listeners who might have thought he was a one-trick big beat leftover. But tragically, and almost hilariously at points, The World… is a record so devoid of anything fresh, objective or even just passable you have to wonder what went wrong. When was it ever a good idea to dedicate the lyrical strand of not one but three songs to the “plight of the African street children”? On Street Children itself, Brown bemoans the fact he can’t have a home with a million rooms in it so he can house all these lost souls; admirable sentiments, but when backed by a plodding, synth-laden 1997 post-UNKLE comedown of a track, repeatedly, it vanishes into blandness. Graceland this is not…. Clichés abound, naff rhymes stagger in their clumsiness and Roses fans around the world will be amazed at how bad things have gotten. Ian Brown never could rely on his voice, but he had a swagger and a mysticism that was part Manc charm, part superstar. Now he just sounds misguided.

Polydor | 1724664

Reviewed by Jake Kennedy
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