• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Vinyl Chapters

Vinyl Chapters

The Stories Behind The Music

  • Home
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • News
  • Submit
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Cart
Home » articles » Single Review: The Stone MG’s – I Need You

Single Review: The Stone MG’s – I Need You

November 16, 2018 by Jamie Parmenter

The Stone MG's

The Stone MG's

We take a listen to new track I Need You from The Stone MG’s, which tells a stark tale of addiction against a rock ‘n’ roll beat.

From the very beginnings of rock, many songs have had underlying drug references in the music, and sometimes the artist’s have had a lifestyle to match. It’s almost been glorified in some circumstances with nothing of the downside being talked about. I Need You by the Stone MG’s flips this trend and creates a track based around the dark side of addiction and all the problems that come with it. Lead singer Rodney James shows great strength in vocalising this and really highlights the plights and sacrifices that need to be made to battle addiction.

I Need You

The track starts off with similarities to Kasabian’s Empire, but this ends as soon as Rodney James’ distinctive and varied vocals slide in, perfectly accompanying the tales of addiction and downfall. He sounds strained and full of pain as he sings through hard to listen to lyrics of sacrifice and giving up that really hit home: “If you scream you love me, I’ll be your whore and give you the only thing worth dying for.”. The sound harks back to some of the early 70s rock ‘n’ roll, and even throws in a sax solo later on. This may be a gentle nod to psychedelic rock pioneers Pink Floyd, who’s lead singer Syd Barrett’s life was forever affected by an addiction to drugs.

The track’s beat is thrown forward by the use of a barely changing drumbeat, against a strong melody and a chorus that performs the job of breaking up the track admirably; it does this by being short and to the point. It then turns back to the dark and heavy material of the verses, giving you a stark reminder once again of the track’s underlying theme.

I Need You doesn’t glorify a drug and addiction culture as so many rock songs do, but instead uses the bluesy beat to leave you with a message of how addiction can eat away at you. It has more soul than your typical rock song with a singer who is vocally in tune to the tracks need to educate, and that’s why it works so well. It’s brave and speaks volumes for the maturity of a band at the top of their game.

Score: 4.5/5

By Jamie Parmenter

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Review Tagged With: addiction, i need you, The Stone MG's

About Jamie Parmenter

Editor and Founder of Vinyl Chapters.
Always bothering people to tell a story about a record in their vinyl collection.

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Newsletter

* indicates required

Recent Posts

DEAD STAR TALK: Solid State Chemicals – Album Review

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift: Midnights – Album Review

Charlie Puth

Charlie Puth: Charlie – Review

Footer

Navigation

Home

About

Reviews

Features

News

Submit

Contact Us

Shop

Search

Recent Posts

  • Linkin Park: From Zero – Album Review
  • DEAD STAR TALK: Solid State Chemicals – Album Review
  • Taylor Swift: Midnights – Album Review
  • Charlie Puth: Charlie – Review
  • Calvin Harris: Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 – Review

Social Media

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Affiliate Disclosure

Vinyl Chapters is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. In doing so, this helps us continue providing free content. It does not increase the price for you in any way.

Copyright © 2025 Vinyl Chapters | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Editorial Team