This Is Music: The Singles 92-98

by The Verve

Overview

The '90s were filled with pop supernovas -- bands that burned brightly for one or two albums then sputtered to an anticlimactic conclusion. Of these bands, the Verve were one of the largest, perhaps because they imploded not once but twice. The first time, they collapsed following the release of their second album, Northern Soul, in 1995. They regrouped in the following year to record Urban Hymns, their commercial breakthrough, but lingering tensions between vocalist/songwriter Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe tore the group apart for a second and final time. They never became the global superstars that their early partisans predicted -- it would have been hard to compete with Oasis during their heyday -- but as the 2004 collection This Is Music: The Singles 92-98 proves, the group was too arty, too low-key, too psychedelic, too English eccentric to be superstars. Some might have said the same thing about Radiohead, but that Oxford quintet had a heavy dose of U2-styled anthemic arena rock and Thom Yorke's melodies were bigger than Ashcroft's subtle, swirling tunes. Also, Radiohead started out relatively straightforward and grew strange, while the Verve took the opposite path, beginning as post-shoegazer neo-psychedelics and ending as tasteful traditionalists. This Is Music -- which is the natural and perfect title for this compilation -- doesn't chart this journey, since it winds through the group's 12 singles, including the first LP appearance of their debut single, "All in the Mind," with little regard for chronology before ending with two OK outtakes from Urban Hymns ("This Could Be My Moment," "Monte Carlo"). This sequencing doesn't emphasize similarities throughout the body of work -- Urban Hymns is a decidedly less adventurous album than its two predecessors, which doesn't make it a lesser album -- but it doesn't hurt the collection, either, since it flows like a good concert. This collection also confirms the suspicion that the Verve were an album-oriented band that best conveyed its mission and sense of purpose on its singles, which expertly captured the feeling, spirit, and mood of each full-length record. And that's why This Is Music winds up being definitive: distilled to their singles, the Verve still sound vibrant and slightly mysterious, wiping away memories of the band's dissolution and Ashcroft's pedestrian solo career, preserving the moment when the group sounded as if the world were at their feet. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/17/2006
Label:	Capitol/Emi Records / Universal / Virgin
UPC:	0724386368829

Tracks

1. This Is Music
2. Slide Away
3. Lucky Man
4. History
5. She's a Superstar
6. On Your Own
7. Blue
8. Sonnet
9. All in the Mind
10. The Drugs Don't Work
11. Gravity Grave
12. Bitter Sweet Symphony
13. This Could Be My Moment
14. Monte Carlo

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Verve   Primary Artist
Owen Morris   Synthesizer,Synthesizer Strings
Gavyn Wright   Strings
London Session Orchestra   Orchestra,Ensemble,Strings

Technical Credits

Paul Schroeder   Audio Production,Producer
Barry Clempson   Audio Production,Producer
Youth   Audio Production,Producer
Owen Morris   Audio Production,Producer,String Arrangements
The Verve   Audio Production,Producer
Jan "Stan" Kybert   Assistant Engineer
Gareth Ashton   Assistant Engineer
Michael Spencer Jones   Photography
Paul Anthony Taylor   Programming
Wil Malone   String Arrangements
Steve Elswood   Engineer
Simon Jones   Composer
Chris Potter   Mixing,Producer
John Cornfield   Engineer,Programming
Richard Ashcroft   Composer
Peter Salisbury   Composer
Lorraine Francis   Assistant Engineer
Tony Cousins   Mastering,Remastering
Simon Tong   Composer
Keith Richards   Composer
John Leckie   Mixing,Producer
Paul Tyalor   Programming
Nick McCabe   Composer
Mel Wesson   Programming
Mick Jagger   Composer