This Is Music: The SIngles 1992-1998

Performer: The Verve
Engineer: John Cornfield; Steve Elswood
Producer: The Verve; Owen Morris; Youth; Barry Clempson; Paul Schroeder; Chris Potter; John Leckie; The Verve; Owen Morris; Youth; Barry Clempson; Paul Schroeder
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: London Session Orchestra, Gavyn Wright (strings); Owen Morris (synthesizer, string synthesizer); Paul Anthony Taylor , John Cornfield, Mel Wesson (programming). Audio Mixers: Chris Potter ; John Leckie. Audio Remasterer: Tony Cousins. Photographer: Michael Spencer Jones . The '90s were filled with pop supernovas -- bands that burned brightly for one or two albums then sputtered to an anticlimactic conclusion. Of these bands, the Verve were one of the largest, perhaps because they imploded not once but twice. The first time, they collapsed following the release of their second album, Northern Soul, in 1995. They regrouped in the following year to record Urban Hymns, their commercial breakthrough, but lingering tensions between vocalist/songwriter Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe tore the group apart for a second and final time. They never became the global superstars that their early partisans predicted -- it would have been hard to compete with Oasis during their heyday -- but as the 2004 collection This Is Music: The Singles 92-98 proves, the group was too arty, too low-key, too psychedelic, too English eccentric to be superstars. Some might have said the same thing about Radiohead, but that Oxford quintet had a heavy dose of U2-styled anthemic arena rock and Thom Yorke's melodies were bigger than Ashcroft's subtle, swirling tunes. Also, Radiohead started out relatively straightforward and grew strange, while the Verve took the opposite path, beginning as post-shoegazer neo-psychedelics and ending as tasteful traditionalists. This Is Music -- which is the natural and perfect title for this compilation -- doesn't chart this journey, since it winds through the group's 12 singles, including the first LP appearance of their debut single, "All in the Mind," with little regard for chronology before ending with two OK outtakes from Urban Hymns ("This Could Be My Moment," "Monte Carlo"). This sequencing doesn't emphasize similarities throughout the body of work -- Urban Hymns is a decidedly less adventurous album than its two predecessors, which doesn't make it a lesser album -- but it doesn't hurt the collection, either, since it flows like a good concert. This collection also confirms the suspicion that the Verve were an album-oriented band that best conveyed its mission and sense of purpose on its singles, which expertly captured the feeling, spirit, and mood of each full-length record. And that's why This Is Music winds up being definitive: distilled to their singles, the Verve still sound vibrant and slightly mysterious, wiping away memories of the band's dissolution and Ashcroft's pedestrian solo career, preserving the moment when the group sounded as if the world were at their feet. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Though the band only made three studio albums before disbanding in 1999, the Verve still proved to be one of the most compelling rock groups to emerge from Britain in the '90s. THIS IS MUSIC: THE SINGLES 92-98 upholds the claim, and gives 14 prime examples of the ensemble's sharp songcraft and riveting sonic sweep. Powered by the rumbling of bassist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury, and characterized by Nick McCabe's swirling guitar-scapes and Richard Ashcroft's hypnotic vocals, the Verve created a hugely expansive sound that drew from '60s psychedelia, mainstream rock, and an indie shoegazer ethos. More subtle and atmospheric than contemporaneous work by Blur and Oasis, the Verve's spiraling, echoing textures were offset by a fierce edge that underscores the desperation at the music's core. This is particularly true of early tracks, including "Slide Away" and "Blue," which offered up a heady crunch. The Verve refined its sound without losing any of its epic scope, culminating in the hit singles from 1997's URBAN HYMNS, the aching ballad "The Drugs Don't Work" and the majestic "Bittersweet Symphony." The Verve's songs--especially their singles--were symphonies within themselves, and THIS IS MUSIC ensures the band's brief, important legacy will continue to hold sway.

Uncut (p.170) - 4 stars out of 5 - "The Verve for all their vastness, had a tenderness of touch that rendered them distinct..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.124) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A] vitalising, occasionally era-defining force."

A somewhat snakebit band, often overshadowed by fellow Brit-rockers Oasis and Radiohead, The Verve was responsible for some of the best and most well-crafted rock to come out of England in the 1990s. While the band perfected their pop songwriting as time went on, it never lost its early psychedelic-space-rock edge. On the verge of breaking up in 1996, the band gave it one more go, and came out of the studio with URBAN HYMNS, a million-seller on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring the top 40 hit "Bittersweet Symphony." Unfortunately, that song's snippet of a Rolling Stones cover led to a judgment against them for all profits from the album, which partially led to the band's demise by 1999. After Richard Ashcroft's semi-successful solo career, the band reunited for 2008's FORTH.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25