It all ended up a bit silly for The Verve didn't it? After their early days with their ten minute psychedelic guitar trips about men called Sun and 'Mad' Richard claiming that one day he'd learn to fly they found a new audience with the arrival of Britpop and the patronage of Oasis. 1995's A Northern Soul contained various career highpoints and I'm not sure their big seller (Urban Hymns) has held up that well. Too much mid-paced balladry, which they'd actually perfected in some style on the previous album with the song History. The comeback a couple of summers ago was entertainingly funny, with that huge indie anthem singalong at Glastonbury and then an album that led to an enormous collective shrug. Then they split up again. The less said about Richard Ashcroft's solo career the better, but he hasn't yet learned to fly.
The tipping point for them was Bittersweet Symphony in 1997, and then it's follow up, the dirgey The Drugs Don't Work. Bittersweet Symphony had an eye-catching video, ear-catching strings, and a lawyer-catching sample (which led to them having to give all songwriting credits to Jagger-Richards). I still have a softspot for this song, one of the few Britpop songs that's worth anything. The version here is Bittersweet Symphony remixed by UNKLE's James Lavelle, taken from The Drugs Don't Work cd single, a format I actually quite miss. Ashcroft later turned up on Lavelle's UNKLE album singing Lonely Soul, a genuinely psychedelic and soulful urban hymn. This remix is interesting enough if you haven't heard it before but it isn't going to replace the original.
Bitter Sweet Symphony James Lavelle Remix.wma
The tipping point for them was Bittersweet Symphony in 1997, and then it's follow up, the dirgey The Drugs Don't Work. Bittersweet Symphony had an eye-catching video, ear-catching strings, and a lawyer-catching sample (which led to them having to give all songwriting credits to Jagger-Richards). I still have a softspot for this song, one of the few Britpop songs that's worth anything. The version here is Bittersweet Symphony remixed by UNKLE's James Lavelle, taken from The Drugs Don't Work cd single, a format I actually quite miss. Ashcroft later turned up on Lavelle's UNKLE album singing Lonely Soul, a genuinely psychedelic and soulful urban hymn. This remix is interesting enough if you haven't heard it before but it isn't going to replace the original.
Bitter Sweet Symphony James Lavelle Remix.wma
I have never grouped the Verve in with the Britpop stuff for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI also don't mind a couple of Ashcroft's solo efforts.
There's a couple of solo songs that are Ok, but overall it's been a bit poor I think
ReplyDeleteI've always thought he was an arse. But, in his defence, the man wrote this masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteGreat drums on this remix. Funnily enough I pulled A Northern Soul out this morning to listen to in the car on the way into work. Still my favourite Verve album.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't bothered with the Verve and then I heard History on a tape given away with a magazine and was well and truly impressed. Years later I realised they totally ripped the violin bit off John Lennon's Mind Games. I like what the Verve do with it better though.
ReplyDeleteJust before they got famous I was reading NME or something and Richard Ashcroft was on the cover. My girlfriend asked me who he was and when I told her she freaked out a bit - she'd been mates with him and the rest of them in the sixth form.
History is the one for me too, stunning.
ReplyDeleteBossman- I agree, it's a great drum track
Re this remix. Last sentence of post is spot on.
ReplyDelete