With his solo career more or less on life support, it was only a matter of time before Richard Ashcroft, the lanky, nostalgia diggin’ singer songwriter with a messianic complex, jumped on the reunion bandwagon and got his old band the Verve back together again.
Of course, no reunion (their second and still counting) is complete without rumours of internal bickering from the get go, and speculation mounts that the moody northern rockers are eager to return to Britpop heaven once their new self produced album Forth hits shelves and all business obligations have been fulfilled.
Meanwhile, the release date for Forth – which was recorded at State of the Ark and Metropolis studio in London – has been pushed back to 25th August, presumably to take full advantage of the ever growing free PR surrounding the band’s uncertain future.
They say:
The Guardian: “If Forth was a Richard Ashcroft album, no one would care.”
The Observer: “This is not so much Forth, and not even Back, but Wobbling Sideways, Downwards.”
The Scotsman: “Even an ardent Verve follower would recognise that Forth is no stride forward.”
We say:
The Verve have been in fine form on the festival circuit, with live favourites such as the swaggering ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ and haunting, William Blake influenced ‘History’ never sounding more vibrant in their execution.
Meanwhile, new single and set closer ‘Love is Noise’, a pulsating anthem that almost makes you forgive Ashcroft’s cringe inducing lyrics (“Will those feet in modern times/Walk on soles that are made in China?”), even suggested this comeback was not simply about balancing the books, but the first step to a future filled with so many interesting possibilities.
And so it is a huge disappointment to find out how utterly boring and uninspired Forth really is. In the past the noticeable tension between band members was the spark that drove the songs to bigger and greater things. But now it seems the tension is merely an excuse to get out of the studio as quickly as possible, regardless of whether or not work has been completed to a satisfactory standard.
Forth sounds unfinished, half baked, with tracks like the bloated, Pink Floyd barrel scraping ‘Numbness’ and monotonous ‘Columbo’ plodding along without a melodic hook in sight or, in fact, any sense of direction.
Elsewhere, the rumbling, bass heavy ‘Sit and Wonder’ initially shows potential, but like most of the tracks it is two minutes too long as the Verve threaten to disappear up their own collective arse amid a thick smog of Doors lite psychedelia and Floyd lite space rock. It’s like an endurance test in which only the strongest remain awake.
Even ‘Love is Noise’, that new crowd pleaser, frustrates in its studio incarnation, with Nick McCabe’s intricate guitar work and UFO effects dulled down for radio consumption and consequently drowned out by Ashcroft’s falsetto refrain.
On this showing, I’d be very surprised if we ever see a Fifth. God, I hope not.
Like this? Try these:
Oasis – Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
The Verve – This is Music: The Singles 92–98
RELEASED
25th Aug ‘08
LABEL
Parlophone
POSTED...
Wed 20 Aug at 1:39pm
