Product Description

Something happens when the Verve are together that none of them experience when they are apart. Individually, the Verve are all highly-accomplished players. Singer Richard Ashcroft has been called the greatest singer in the world by no less a peer than Coldplay s Chris Martin. Liverpool-born Simon Jones s dub-informed bass takes the Verve s music far beyond rock and into space and dub; Peter Salisbury plays drums more like a jazz great than a conventional rock drummer and when the tag guitarist of his generation is thrown about it often lands at the feet of the hugely adventurous, psychedelic, exploratory Nick McCabe. However, when they are together a chemistry takes hold that transcends the four people onstage to blast the Verve somewhere else entirely and this chemistry and spontaneity has survived an absence of almost a decade. Already, since their typically unpredictable 2007 reunion, live shows have been running the gauntlet of everything from material so new that Ashcroft has been singing the words from scraps of paper to long-lost, hazy B-sides like Let The Damage Begin and A Man Called Sun, amid all manner of musical fireworks. When they take the stage, literally anything can happen.
After an absence of almost a decade, these songs are again being played, as they should be by the Verve themselves. The individual members have not been slouches. Richard Ashcroft has enjoyed a successful and prolific solo career. Simon Jones formed a band, the Shining, who were not altogether dissimilar to the Verve, and has played with Damon Albarn s Gorillaz. Nick McCabe has been remixing and playing with everyone from the Beta Band to John Martyn while Peter Salisbury has been playing with Ashcroft, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and has further diverted his musical obsessions into running a Stockport drum shop. However, all seem to have realized what their enormous fanbase has been telling them all along. That today, as much if not more than ever, music really needs the Verve.
However, a band like the Verve would never settle for easy nostalgia. Even before they d set out on their initial comeback gigs last year, which sold out within an astonishing 20 minutes, they made public (via the NME website) the results of their very first jam session as a reformed band. The Thaw Sessions comprised 14 wondrous minutes of music, which signified their ability to spark off one another remained undimmed. Soon afterwards, the band debuted new song Sit And Wonder a tune trimmed from a 25-minute jam, just as they would in the early days, a taste of things to come. Those comeback dates proved so successful and were so enthusiastically received that the band immediately embarked on a full-scale tour of arenas in December of 2007, playing bigger gigs in many cases than the first time around. In 2008, they look set to up the ante even further, by appearing at many of the major festivals and, in a turnaround that would have seemed unthinkable even a year ago, releasing their enormously-anticipated fourth album. The results will certainly be worth the wait. - Dave Simpson.

Track Listing

1. Sit And Wonder
2. Love Is Noise
3. Rather Be
4. Judas
5. Numbness
6. I See Houses
7. Noise Epic
8. Valium Skies
9. Columbo
10. Appalachian Springs

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9559 in Music
• Released on: 2008-08-26
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

A Triumphant Return!
A Masterpiece Revival for a group that clearly creates something special when they get together. Regardless of the relationship between Richard and Nick, they make otherworldly good music in collaboration. Singles are surely "Love Is Noise" and "Sit and Wonder"--with strong guitar lines, exploding rhythms and Ashcroft's vocal instrument at the top of its game with rises and falls and memorable lyrical work. Other highlights include "Rather Be", "Judas" and "Valium Skies". I was lucky enough to see them live in NYC in the early summer and now I am just thankful the album finally came together--it was well worth the wait. I could go on and on with a deep analysis of Richard's introspection, soul-searching, life-wondering--as well as the evolved musicianship of the band, but I will leave that to your own discovery. They have again created something timeless but contemporary that rivals even, dare I say, "A Northern Soul" or "Urban Hymns". In sum, thank you to the band, Forth is gold in its own right but yet a fine continuation from an already unmatched legacy.

Doesnt beat Urban Hymns but good nonetheless
Most "reunion" CD's are disappointing and many are downright terrible. Verve breaks the trend by offering 10 tracks that range from good to great. Most tracks are closer to "good," but there's no denying that this CD stands fine along side with Verve's 3 CD's from the 90's. If anything the tracks we get this time are more akin to their first "shoegazer" CD "Storm in Heaven," than the 2 later "rock" albums. Most of the tracks are quiet and long length and often have a nice (to me at least) bassy drone sound. Melodies are less constantly present but they are there. The studio production quality is uniformly excellent.

If you're not a fan of Verve, this is not the first CD to buy. Get Urban Hymns first if you're curious about the band. Also if you can find their recent Glastonbury 2008 concert on video, it is worth it. They peform the "hits" plus "Love is Noise" and they play in truly excellent form.

Satisfying return album falters in second half
Has it really been 11 years since The Verve's masterpiece "Urban Hymns"? Wow... how time flies. Lead singer Richard Ashcroft's solo career since 1997 has been less than remarkable, and he must have finally realized that, and so finally the Verve come back with this, their 4th studio album.

"Forth" (10 tracks; 64 min.) starts off tremendously with "Sit and Wonder", with energy blazing all over. It is followed by "Love Is Noise" (1st UK single), which struck me as sounding eerily similar to the Simple Minds' sound of the mid -80s "Once Upon a Time" album sound, but that is not a slight. "Rather Me" sounds like the ballad that "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was, albeit not as good. After that excellent first third, the album starts to falter, with songs like "Judas" and "Numbness" that simply doesn't leave a lasting impression. The album is not well served by its 64+ min. length. It's simply too long, and nothing would've been lost by simply chopping off the last 2 songs, trimming it to a more manageable 50+ min. length.

It strikes me how this album sounds very similar to "Urban Myths" in its overall musical tone. This could have (and probably should have) been recorded in 1998 or 1999. That said, I have come to like the album quite a bit, and have been playing it a lot. I was supposed to see the Verve at Coachella earlier this year, but ended up not making that first day of the festival (when they played). I'm looking forward to an opportunity to see how the songs of "Forth" translate in a live setting at some point, assuming the band keeps playing together, a guess in anyone's book.