A Northern Soul

You know what the 1001 needs? More Britpop! No, not really. I liked Urban Hymns a lot more than I expected, but this one didn't measure up (and I don't see why we needed two albums by The Verve). My main issue with this album was how lousy the guitars sounded - there's an undertone of feedback/noise in almost every song. I read that they were looking for a "raw" sound on this album but it just ends up sounding crappy. It's a shame, because the bones of the songs are good, even if a lot of the music is pretty generic 90s heavy whiny Britpop (with a lot of ballads apparently). This album just didn't do it for me and was getting more on my nerves the more I listened. Oh, well. Ok-ish tracks: This is Music, History. Liked parts of Life's an Ocean and Stormy Clouds (liked the riff on the chorus), but both tracks dragged on and the end of Stormy Clouds had more of the noises I can't stand. The final "(reprise)" track is a perfect example of what I mean in terms of noise/feedback. So done with this album. One other note - the Wikipedia entry for this album is absurdly long. I've committed to listening to every album on the 1001 at least twice. Glad I didn't commit to reading every Wiki article...

This album was such a neutered mixture of both 90s radiohead and grunge music. Some nice string elements that you could definitely see translate to Bittersweet Symphony. 2.3/5 -> 2/5

This starts out so strong, but loses steam halfway through. By the last few songs I was very ready for it to be over, which I wasn’t expecting. The sameness got to me.

I only know The Verve from their biggest success, Bitter Sweet Symphony. I liked it back then. However, I listened to it too often. Eventually it got on my nerves. I found the band's other stuff uninteresting. And I feel the same way about this album, uninteresting. Like other commentators here, it's not clear to me why The Verve is represented on the list with more than one album. 3/5

I'M GONNA DIE ALONE IN BED x100. The lyrics seem mostly there to fill the space with sound. Surprisingly decent little album. Every song flows into one another and half orchestra in the background adds a lot of layers.

I know nothing of these guys outside bittersweet symphony. Their last album I listened to was right in the middle of the road. This one is also a 2*, nice, but just ok IMO, it all blended together.

It was fine. Atmospheric, but boring

Not great. Indie/90's alt rock mixed with fucking shoegaze.... Boring and unenthusiastic. Like, look at the dicks on the album cover.... If ya don't wanna make music, just don't ffs.... Don't moan and shuffle about staring at the ground while playing lackluster trash. Looks like the cover to a shitty vampire movie.

Favourite songs: This is Music, A Northern Soul

Least favourite songs: On Your Own, Brainstorm Interlude, Drive You Home, Stormy Clouds, (Reprise)

2/5

Overall aged to meh.

A very nearly lost classic of britpop, since they split up shortly after it was released. They went on to be massive, and rightly so, but this album slhas an innocence and naivety that their later work slightly lacked.
'History' is probably my favourite song by the verve, and one of my favourite tracks of the 90s in general

No more britpop, please. It's so boring. This one at least has some psychedelia influences that provide a BIT of interest, but not enough to make me excited about it. It's also far too long and plodding.

Have you ever struggled to connect with an album? Because I'll admit I have struggled with this one.

A Northern Soul is the second studio album from The Verve, a Britpop group I've heard of from "Bittersweet Symphony". That track is from their follow-up Urban Hymns, with other notable hits like "The Drugs Won't Work". I point this out because I'm trying to reason why this album is included on the list in addition to Urban Hymns.

If I had to figure out why I can't connect, perhaps it has to do with the fact that A Northern Soul sonically makes it apparent how the band was going through chaotic turmoil during the writing and recording sessions, as they strayed away from their early psychedelic roots for more straightforward alternative rock. The genre shift is not inherently a bad fit for them, but outside of "History" as the standout single, they don't offer many hooks or melodies that could be retained in memory.

As it is, this album only makes me feel like Urban Hymns should have been the one contribution from The Verve on this list, because I don't see myself coming back to this.

It all sounds good, but it’s overlong and not much of it excites or grabs me. I’ll come back to it sometime and see if I feel differently.

3/5

Ehhhh

This is very good indie. I have listened to urban hymms before but not this. Its a good and easy listen and I will listen to it again.

There are some great songs on this that you just dont hear very often.

Favourite song: So it goes, On your own and history
Least favourite: All good
Album artwork: Great cover

Due to the Verve's initial take on Britpop being a more psychedelic fever dream with noisy guitars and wailing vocals, it at least is understandable why they were big enough to score airplay by the time of Urban Hymns. It stands out among the crowd, and really shares more similarities with acts like the Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev than Pulp or Blur. In doing so, I find myself liking this album more than their later projects, as it feels a bit less forced, like they weren't just trying to cash in on a trend to make money. However, it still is incredibly boring, with at least half the album being repetitive, nearly ambient guitar playing backed by otherwise boring instrumentation, and lyrically the album is as simple as possible. Part of the fun of 60s British psychedelia was its quirk, its self-awareness. Acts like the Beatles and the Kinks knew it was weird and overwhelmingly British, but many groups from the 90s seem scared to embrace that, save for acts like Pulp or the Divine Comedy if you count it. I'm all for serious, mystifying music, but you have to try a bit harder than this record is. No one song stands out, and over the course of this hour-long record you'll encounter what feels like the same six-minute flat circle song about ten times, with slight variations that allows some tracks to be definitively BETTER, but still not good. It's fine, if you like it, I understand it, but it still has to be one of the weakest showings from this era. Perhaps still better than anything Oasis ever put out, though.

History is an alltimer of a song, best when it when moves deep into psych territory

Al die verschillende bands met die (precies dezelfde) verschrikkelijk zeurende stem. Voegt dat nou echt wat toe? Helaas wel. Want hoe verschrikkelijk ik deze zang ook vind. Muzikaal zit het soms bijzonder goed. Maar hoger dan 3 sterren ga ik hier echt niet voor geven.

This album starts off like a mix between Radiohead and Joshua Tree-era U2 (think Bullet the Blue Sky). It's a cool vibe with a lot of great sounds but kind of trails off after the first half or so. Just kind of fades into the background of generic 90s pop rock. It's a decent album and just based on this listen I would probably look up some of their other stuff if I hadn't heard anything else from them. But I don't know that I would call it a great record by any means. 3/5

This album is a test in patience that I’m just not sure I really have.

I can commend a lot of things about this album; I think the guitar playing is fabulous throughout, I think the instrumental interludes are a fantastic showcase of that, and ultimately I don’t think it’s actually that bad of an album. It’s just not my kind of album.

It doesn’t hit on that many of my sensibilities, but much like a game demo, I’m smart enough to tell when something is probably good, but just not for me. I found that, for me, a lot of this album just felt too similar, a bit too boring, and a bit too monotone. I’m sure for another person, they’ll be able to appreciate those parts of it; to ignore the lyrics, ignore the slow prodding tempos that make songs feel even longer than they already are, and simply feel the music in a way that I just can’t. There are points in this album where it all clicks for me, and those moments, while brief, are really nice.

Realistically, for my tastes, I think it’s a 2.5 that I’m going to, perhaps begrudgingly, round up to a 3, if only because I recognize that it has something going for it that just doesn’t fit my vibe. It’s way better than Apocalypse Dudes, at least.