Stoned & Dethroned
by The Jesus And Mary Chain

One of the weirdest albums in my collection.

I still can’t quite wrap my head around how you can make a 17-track album where 13 of the songs use almost the exact same chord progression in the verse — just a constant back-and-forth between the I and the IV. It gets to a point where it’s honestly kind of funny. And the four remaining tracks? Not exactly harmonic explorations either.

Another strange detail: there are almost no minor chords anywhere on this album. Maybe two or three show up, briefly — and then vanish. It’s wild.

And yet... somehow, it kind of works? The production is solid, especially the guitar tones, which always sound great and manage to sneak in tasty little lines that keep things from getting completely stale. So even if it’s absurdly repetitive and harmonically thin, it’s still kind of enjoyable to listen to.

I wouldn’t call it a good album, exactly, but it’s a surprisingly listenable one, considering how little musical material it’s working with — same beat, same chords, again and again. That in itself is sort of impressive.

JAMC make a surprising shift to the pastures of Folk Rock... and it just about pays off. "Stoned & Dethroned" is consistently admirable thanks to imaginative lyrics and engaging melodies. This is a record whose quality justifies its 17 tracks.

Mellow. Solid throughout. Still my favourite Jesus and Mary Chain album.

From Brad1770 01/02/2018 06:04 | #204386

For starters too long at 17 tracks and secondly only excellent track is "Sometimes Always" , the rest is ok to average. Correctly rated as JAMC's 3rd best album

Not a bad song on it. My favourite by them

This is an amazing album. All songs are very well written and both the melodies and the moods work perfectly as separate entities or to give the whole album a dreamy mood that make the whole work an incredible pleasant experience. In my opinion this is the greatest album by one of the greatest bands of all time.

2 Glasweigan brothers known for their feedback drenched albums and chaotic gigs get some cowboy hats and acoustic guitars and make a country album. This really shouldn't work but for me it does due to solid songwriting, a commitment to the premise that never breaks the illusion of driving along route 66 in a pick up truck and the Reid brother's ability to always sound so goddam cool. Maybe a narrow victory for style over substance but a victory all the same.

From Norman Bates 08/11/2010 15:48 | #14223

A very nice duet with Hope Sandoval, formerly of Mazzy Star ("Sometimes Always")