Human Conditions

by

Richard Ashcroft

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I loved The Verve, repeat, I loved The Verve. I, like most, found Richard's first solo disc a bit, well, disappointing. It did have it's moments, I thought "Brave New World", "C'Mon People" and You On My Mind In My Sleep" were all great tunes. But no, it really wasn't Urban Hymns was it. It is just now that I feel that is OK. Let's all face it, Richard is in a much different place now... wife, baby, freedom, those things make a big difference in one's life.

With Human Conditions, he continues on the same sort of road. The songs are very well thought out, very personal and very good. I think this is a stronger post Verve effort than "Alone With Everbody".

He starts the album off again with the first single, "Check The Meaning", it is quite good. The best part of the song is the moment that familar voice kicks right in with a hook that is very catchy. The rest of the record follows suit, again a more serious affair, but that doesn't make it too heavy on the soul. I esp. like the uplifting track, "Science of Silence", it is a nice string heavy tune with a nice message. I also enjoy, "Buy It In Bottles", it is one of the best things his done on his own for sure.

All in all, "Human Conditions" is a great record. Just don't think of it as a return of The Verve, If you still want it to be a Verve record, think of it more like Urban Hymns, without the drugs, and fighting of course.

Richard Ashcroft is the Sting of his generation - a man of immense talent, charisma and ego who, despite all his efforts, is a much more effective bandleader than a solo artist. I was listening to The Police's ZENYATTA MONDATTA the other day for the first time in years, and marveled at how creative and energetic Sting sounded back then with the great Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers backing him up. But it goes without saying that when those two "spark plugs" were gone, Sting became the dull adult contemporary star he is today. His ego would never allow it, but Sting desperately needs The Police back together to regain any creative respectibility.

The same goes with Ashcroft, whose records with The Verve were some of the most beautiful, creative, soul-searching recordings of the 1990s. URBAN HYMNS, to continue the Police analogy, was their SYNCHRONICITY - an album where all the band's strenghts seemed to come together (shoegazing space jams, blistering rock, lush and introspective ballads). Ashcroft was without question the star, but you could feel the tension of the rest of the band pushing him and, it turns out, tearing themselves apart.

Now a solo artist without anyone to tell him "no," Ashcroft has recorded two CDs that are essentially extensions of "The Drugs Don't Work" from HYMNS - heavily orchestrated self-confessionals that grow tiresome quickly. It's fine to record a song or two about crying out to God, how you've got the "blues," how your drug taking days are over, how you found the love of your life (Heaven sent, no less). But every song on HUMAN CONDITIONS follows these themes, with Ashcroft making what he must consider to be a Grand Statement On The Mysteries Of Life, but with lyrics that come out horribly simplistic and cliched. Spiritualized-lite, if you will.

The lyrics get so tiresome on this CD that I found myself paying more attention to the music itself. Ashcroft's first CD, ALONE WITH EVERYBODY, was much maligned in the press and with his fans, but to me - at least sonically - it was an extension of what The Verve had achieved with HYMNS, and was a beautiful sounding CD with quite impressive production (especially through headphones). But Ashcroft must have believed his critics, for HUMAN CONDITIONS is stripped down to a fault, with one restrained, mid-tempo song after another. Most of the songs slide by without any catchy melodies, instantly forgettable.

There are some songs that rise above the others - "Bright Lights" is the closest this CD comes to a Verve-sounding rock song, but is marred by an annoying tabla courtesy of Talvin Singh. "Buy It In Bottles" is a pretty song, but essentially a rehash of "Drugs." "Science of Silence" steals the chorus of "Lean On Me" to catchy effect. And "Nature is the Law" wins the award for ambition alone, as Ashcroft not only imitates Johnny Cash, but brings in Brian Wilson for an overblown, Beach Boys-esque chorus that acutally sounds closer to the choir chants you hear on a Vangelis soundtrack. It has to be heard to be believed.

But those are the exceptions to an otherwise lifeless CD that is a backwards step from his solo debut. Ashcroft desperately needs the energy of Verve to achieve the spiritual heights he's obviously striving for. Let's hope he heeds the warning before he joins Sting and Phil Collins on a supermarket muzak station near you.