Urban Hymns

by

The Verve

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This is undoubtedly one of the best albums of the 90's. It contains two megahits - Bitter Sweet Symphony and The Drugs Don't Work. The latter I consider to be one of the best love songs ever recorded. Few other songs also rate very high - Sonet, Lucky Man, Space and Time and Velvet Morning.

The album is very consistent with an excellent sound, brilliant lead vocal by Richard Ashcroft and gentle and often psychedelic guitar by Nick McCabe. Ashcroft, an author of most of the songs, is at its peak as a songwriter. His songs at Urban Hymns are better than on the two previous Verve albums. He can write the most passionate and tender lyrics and then deliver them in his original way.

The Verve only recorded three albums, each of them better than the previous one. Urban Hymns is the last one after which the band broke up. If you like Urban Hymns then I recommend to go back and listen to the previous one called A Northern Soul (the song History itself is worth the money). Ashcroft's solo album from 2000 - Alone With Everybody is a good work too.

I don't think people normally are compelled to write 3 star reviews, normally they only write when the really are blown away or really dont like something. However as a huge Verve fan, this album, although huge, is much more mainstream and doesn't reflect the sonic beauty reflected on their earlier and unappreciated albums. As other reviews had said, Storm in Heaven (and the Verve EP), is not just the best Verve albums, but one of the best albums period. It is sonic and similar to 'shoegazer' music but somehow a warmer, lusher, gentler take on the genre than say My Bloody Valentine (i know, heresy).

Urban Hymns isn't an album in the same sense, but more a discrete collection of songs, individual, composed and mainstream. If you like Urban Hymns work your way backwards to the earlier stuff, you might be blown away. If you don't like Urban Hymns or think "bittersweet Symphony" is the Verve's highpoint, it's not, don't write them off on this forgettable offering.