And so we find Ian Brown's greatest hits collection, although whether the title refers to the music or just his self-appointed status as The Greatest is open to debate. It's perhaps rather early for such a collection of his solo work, after just four albums and relatively few actual hits, and certainly none of these will ever be held up alongside I Am The Resurrection or She Bangs The Drums.

But, we can only judge Brown's solo work on its own merits and not many albums released since have stood up to the Stone Roses' debut, least of all their Second Coming.

So, what has Manchester's most simian celebrity been up since 1997? Seemingly making lots of songs that sound a little bit like Stone Roses b-sides, if this collection is anything to go by.

However, enough of such talk, as Brown is undoubtedly a rock 'n' roll icon and there's plenty of good stuff on here, starting with the trippy debut single My Star. Corpses In Their Mouths has a delightful title but also some great guitar work and a nice harmonica break, while Can't See Me has a little more than just the novelty value of Reni and Mani playing on it.

They were all from his debut album Unfinished Monkey Business, which wasn't a world-beater but certainly had a shambling charm and was miles better than John Squire's dull Seahorses. There wasn't much in the way of production though , so it's a welcome shift in gears when UNKLE's dreamy Be There is next, with Brown's voice actually being used as well as it was with his old band.

Second album Golden Greats perhaps took note of that, and the sound is much more developed for Love Like A Fountain, Dolphins Were Monkeys and Golden Gaze, and they are all so much better for it. One of his most popular solo hits is next up, with F.E.A.R. from 2002's Music Of The Spheres, all multi-layered and symphonic, like a tripped-out version of Bittersweet Symphony.

Forever And A Day starts off with an uncharacteristic bit of cock rock guitar soloing before Brown's familiar Manc drawl joins in and is followed by a brass section. Then we're on to most recent album Solarized, kicking off with Keep What Ya Got, which is a nice anthemic tune, as well as his collaboration with Noel Gallagher, which has to make it a Manc masterpiece.

And then finally, we have the new tracks including excellent single All Ablaze and the slow-burning Return of The Fisherman. So, how do we sum up Ian Brown's solo career so far, based on this evidence? Well, while it's not the Stone Roses, but cutting out some of the dross from the albums, he's certainly come up with plenty of cracking songs. Not bad for a monkey man...