The Verve – ‘Forth’
Posted in Album Reviews on August 31, 2008
The Verve are back and they sound like they’ve always sounded. Well, a little older and wiser, as you’d expect. A few tracks here nod towards the groups pre ‘Urban Hymns’ days but mostly this is a ‘perfect’ match between Ashcroft solo and Verve as a band, as they used to be before they started splitting up after every album.
The six minute plus opener ‘Sit And Wonder’ is also the best song here, a sprawling epic of the skyscraping kind they used to do so well before Britpop infiltrated their ranks and guitarist Nick McCabe’s role was reduced to that of a session man. Here we have the great Verve bass lines and McCabe reaching for the heavens whilst Ashcroft spins out nonsense words designed to be shamanic. Well, Ashcroft always did but there are effects on his voice such as echo and ‘Sit And Wonder’ is, all in all, as good an album opener as we could have hoped for.
The lead single ‘Love Is Noise’ makes for a thoroughly satisfying first ten minutes or so when taken in conjunction with ‘Sit And Wonder’. It’s a clever, melodic and upbeat single that has deservedly become a hit song. There’s little else on the album as anthemic as this. No ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ or ‘Drugs Don’t Work’ to numb the masses.
The aggression of Verve’s earlier work has gone for good it seems and editing has become something of a problem as they try and win back fans of their early work. Those first few singles could have lasted forever, such were their hypnotic attributes. The lazily titled ‘Forth’ very rarely matches the groups best pre or post ‘Urban Hymns’ work after ‘Love Is Noise’ has finished playing.
Something like ‘Judas’ contains atmospheric tinkling, shimmering guitar parts from McCabe but doesn’t actually go anywhere. ‘Numbness’ sounds nice thanks to some great bass lines but ultimately Ashcroft screaming out ‘numbness on the brayeeeeeayinnne’ becomes deeply annoying. ‘Houses’ however is a definite highlight and funnily enough sounds like a superior ‘Urban Hymns’ track.
There is still chemistry within this band but all that has passed between the various members has irrovocably changed The Verve dynamic. So, the album somewhat peters out due a lack of variety rather than a lack of quality. There is quality playing here but original ideas are absent. It will please Verve fans well enough, but like recent work by the likes of Coldplay or Editors, is a little too middle of the road to really change anything.
7/10
By Adrian Denning