I have played this track quite a lot recently and for me it holds it's own against anything from their debut album or the non album single releases.
What really strikes me is the guitar playing there is a certain swagger or looseness about it that isn't quite as apparent on the earlier releases. It reeks to me of somebody who not only thinks that they can play but has that arrogant belief that they are better than almost all of their peers. The self belief that the likes of Jimmy Page or Ritchie Blackmore had/have and there in probably lies the reason why I like the track so much, it has to do with spending all that time in my youth with the pseudo hippies and soaking in all of those albums by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix and the like which has made me a sucker for the sound of a wah wah peddle or a meandering self indulgent guitar solo.
One other thing, doesn't Ian Brown sound like he really can sing on this track, what happened?
The Stone Roses - Breaking Into Heaven (Full version with wanky intro)
