It’s easy to be seduced by the notion that The Verve were cut from the same cloth as most bands from the 90s.  Their three albums, A Storm In Heaven (1992), A Northern Soul (1995) and Urban Hymns (1997) were released during the time when bands like Blur and Oasis were at their peak.  Noel Gallagher even dedicated ‘Cast No Shadow’ from What’s The Story? Morning Glory to Richard Ashcroft, The Verve’s lead singer. 

This Is Music is a retrospective of the singles released by the band during their career.  Sadly, there’s no chronological order here for the completists, just a collection of their singles plus two new tracks tagged onto the end.  In all honesty there’s little here that most fans won’t have heard before but it provides a fascinating insight into their progress.  Early singles ’All In The Mind’ and ‘Slide Away’ sound as innocent and hypnotic as when they were first released – upbeat and full of enthusiasm, McCabe in particular teasing out dream like melodies, seemingly from the air.

The singles from A Northern Soul show a more focused band honing their sound.  ‘This Is Music’ is the sound of the band, but particularly Ashcroft, reeking of confidence in what they’re doing.  Tellingly though ‘On Your Own’, all quiet acoustics and tinkling piano, and ‘History’, laden with dramatic high pitched strings, also show a tired, emotional side to their music.  Although their best record, commerically it wasn’t a success and with tensions between Ashcroft and McCabe rising, the band decided to call it a day in 1995.  Their last single was ‘History’, which had a prophetic sleeve and one of this writer’s all time favourites – the band in front of a cinema, behind a sign bearing the legend ‘All Farewells Should Be Sudden’.  

In 1997, The Verve reformed.  The first single for their album Urban Hymns  was ‘Bittersweet Symphony’, an instant classic and rightfully a huge hit.  Built around a sample from an orchestral rendition of the Rolling Stones ‘The Last Time’, it never fails to raise the hairs on the back of your neck, even though Ashcroft wasn’t exactly cheering you up in the lyrics: ‘you’re a slave to money and then you die’.  Curiously, it’s almost hidden here, track 12 of 14.  Go figure. 

Urban Hymns was hugely successful, spawning another three singles, all of which appear.   Listening again, particularly to ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ you wonder why.  ‘Drugs…’, ‘Sonnet’ and ‘Lucky Man’ are all very inoffensive songs, drenched in strings, Nick McCabe gently adding some guitars and Ashcroft warbling like a man given his last rites.  He sings ‘I’m a lucky man…’ like he’s just witnessed a 45 car pile up.  The singles on display here aren’t representative of the much better album.

In 1998, with tensions again at a high between McCabe and Ashcroft, The Verve split for good.  As a look back at an impressive band’s career, This Is Music shows just how inventive and exciting The Verve could be.  As a record company cash in, it’s far less so.  What it does show though, all too clearly, is the generic nature of music just now.  It’s definitely time to get the band back together, Mr Ashcroft. 

(4/5)

Release Date: 01 November 2004

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This Is Music: The Singles 92-98