A Northern Soul

A bit dull all the songs kind of blended together into a boring miasma

Watching Paint Dry, the soundtrack. I’d almost respect it, if the Verve had intended to make me feel like my brain folds were being smoothed from boredom. I’m still not entirely convinced they didn’t just put a saltine cracker on a record player and let the needle drop.

Before listening I didn't really know The Verve for anything other than Bitter Sweet Symphony, and after listening I can see why. I'm definitely not a fan, and will not be listening to this album again. Nothing really stands out about this album, it just feels a bit empty.

The verve are far too average to have more than one album on this list. Frankly, this can be set for most artists with more than one album listed.

No notes

Not a fan. Can't quite put my finger on it but the singing seems off trying to be melodic(inside a tunnel- some kind of distracting echo) over weird screeching guitars. Like the the band each recorded something on their own and then they mashed together whatever they came up with. No harmony in the music and just seems disconnected to the singing.

Possibly their finest moment.

Awesome neo-psychedelic album, definitely inspired some Radiohead vibes.

Never realized how in-the-same toy box The Verve and Radiohead were at this time

Sounds a U2 cover band. Not great

Nothing happens for 54 minutes. This band has never done anything worthwhile. Their hit isn't on this record but even that is a ripoff where the verse and chorus are the exact same.

For an album that has a lot going on sonically, this was really boring.

I'm mostly only familiar with The Verve because of bittersweet symphony, a song that I really love. I'm sure I've listened to the album that song was on before but I haven't listened to their other music much. It's right up my ally.

The goat.

Ahh here we go ladies. Finally some music with more prowess than my hand. Superb all the way through

It was really good. TIL I like the Verve.

I don’t understand why the verve were not more popular in the 90s

Not as polished as Urban Hymns, but a solid album nonetheless. Not really in the best place while listening, but it seemed to compliment where I was well.

well, i am definitely a sucker for dreamy guitars, as i believe i've mentioned in other reviews. this album delivers those in heaps, which i super appreciate. closing track is easily my favorite, though i found i liked a surprising number of others on this album. i of course only knew of them through their massive late-90s hit, which i did actually love, but please don't tell anyone that. i ended up feeling like this album gave me permission to love that track, and probably a lot more by them. i think the real takeaway here is that i'm a fan of northern england in general. that seems to be a running theme.

Ok, this was pretty rocking - did not fit my preconception of what The Verve sounded like. It pairs pretty well with Spiritualized's "Ladies & Gentlemen..." which came up on here recently, for being a bit droney wall-of-sound-style rock. Fave track - "A New Decade". I'm definitely up for more listens to pick out other faves though...

old favorite

Surpreendente. Ouvir mais vezes

Love it, great music

Excellent stuff

Great album.

Biased again. Such a great, deep, atmosphericly but still pop-relatable sound. Ashcroft helped this ambitious Psych-Rockers to be digestible on a larger scale without selling out and - even more important - being forgotten like most of the 1 in a million Britpop outfits at that time. 4.7

Less a collection of songs than a landscape of sound This blew me away Only knew them from Urban Hymns really (which is both as brilliant as this and more accessible) but this was a fantastically immersive listen

Awesome album. It’s just a little long and could do without a few of the slower songs to help the pace. As a whole this is one of my favorites from this list so far. 5

I was really into this about 15 years ago; I loved its combination of Spacemen 3 psych, shoegazey rock, and baggy tunes. Not a fan of The Verve's later work ("History" feels like a dry run for "Bittersweet Symphony"), but this is great.

cool

Masterpiece

Loved it. Reminds me of Iasis and Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Brilliant choice to include this 5 star album and not Urban Hymns. Best of Britpop, forget Blur/Oasis. The First two albums of the Verve are brilliant, as is the sampler No Come Down. Butterfly, and of this album On Your Own and A New Decade and the amazing History, and of No Come Down the live version of Gravity's grave all make me bloody annoyed that I never some them live! What was I thinking?

С первых двух треков слушается необычно круто и атмосферно, надеюсь дальше также будет очень нравится

This does feel a little samey after a while but the overall sound is supercool. I really hate bittersweet symphony so it's nice to finally have an intro to the verve actually sound like this shits great

The instrumental tracks were v good and atmospheric - I would defo listen to these again.

I love this album. Apart from brainstorm interlude and drive you home, which I tend to skip each song has something which always makes me want to listen again. Nick McCabes guitar work is outstanding. Checkout the acoustic version of On Your Own. Brilliant version which is good to play along to.

Never really listened to The Verve outside of that one hit they had in the 90s but I really liked this album. One of the best so far.

I'm only familiar with Bittersweet Symphony so I was curious what their other stuff sounds like. I would listen to this again and again.

Awesome!

This album is brought to you in part by… drugs. Most people probably know The Verve through Bittersweet Symphony and their psychedelic pop masterpiece Urban Hymns, for good reason. And while the follow-up to A Northern Soul is almost inarguably their magnum opus, this album is far from a write off. It’s pretty wild and trippy, paranoid and hazy from the drugs that the band openly consumed during its creation. It’s probably one of the better drug albums ever made, up there with Station to Station and Maggot Brain in terms of albums that drugs played a key part per the artists who made them. The guitar work is great and Richard Ashcroft’s voice is perfect for the atmosphere created by the music. It’s not an every day listen, but every time I've listened to this album I come way thinking “damn this is good”.

Kind of visceral in a way. Honestly wasn't expecting this kind of album. But I mean, look at that album art, that dude is MAD FIERCE.

Gotta say, this was a surprise for me. Everyone and their dad knows "Bittersweet Symphony," but this album seemed to be conscious and deeply rooted alt album that obviously hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Really enjoyed it.

пойдёт

Spotify version is hella long. Good gloomy music, can feel the influence it had. Songs are differentiated well but still very similar across the album. Rainy day perfect.

Nice to listen to, maybe will return to

I liked the music pretty well, though I found some of the extra sounds on the tracks a little strange.

Solid 90s

Good, not greatest

Dachte erst mein Laptop is im Eimer, aber der Song geht erst nach 20sek los. Ab dan 1a geiler BritPop. Habe außer Bitter Sweet Symphony noch nix von den dudes gehört, daher umso glücklicher, dass das Album dabei war. Habs glaub 3 mal gehört jetzt das Album und es wird nicht langweilig. Brainstorm Interlude nervt a weng aber sonst solid. Weil kein Mega Banger drauf war 4*

Really enjoyed the various styles throughout the album.

Door de nummers die ik al kende (zoals The drugs don’t work), verwachtte ik iets futloos. Gelukkig had ik het mis.

Positief verrast door deze plaat! Een stuk steviger dan het album wat hierna kwam, met al de bekende hits erop.

Boven verwachting goed, maar eigenlijk kende ik The Verve ook helemaal niet goed, dus alles was gebaseerd op vooroordelen en kortzichtigheid.

This bunch of pricks assaulted my nan. Kicked seven shades out of her and left her for dead. Luckily she survived, sought revenge and tracked them all down one by one...and then gave them all hand jobs. Slag.

Great album, would have listened to it before

Good one

The Verve are always great. Really like their sound and mix of styles

I'm listening....

liked this album, loved a few songs, others weren't good

First half good, second half kinda depressing at times

A little disjointed, beat lyrics, neat melodies

looooove apparently shoegaze?

Oh more Bri-ish innit?

Lower end of a 4. Lacks the bangers of Urban Hymns and all a bit samey

This was pretty good. The Verve seem underrated, usually relegated to their one or two big hits. Solid piece of work.

A lot better than I anticipated. The space rock touches really did a lot to increase my enjoyment.

these people are so talented I’m not crazy about some of these songs but for the most part it’s really cool - 8/10

Solid

It's very good. There's no doubt that Nick McCabe's guitar sounds so good on this.

Only knew Urban Hymns of the Verve but this is perhaps deeper and goes harder on the theme of someone from the underprivileged north taking on the world. 3.9

Don't really know much of The Verve other than Bittersweet Symphony, but I liked this quite a bit. Very psychedelic/Brit-pop sounding. Reminded me a bit of U2, a bit of Oasis, a bit of the Stones, and a few other things mixed in. 4 stars.

I’m a huge fan of urban hymns not sure why Iv never listened to this before, it’s also brilliant history the stand out song, but the rest of the album just not quiet the same level of urban hymns.

4/5. A bit overblown, and stuck in the 90s, but definitely one of the most impressive and gratifying Brit-pop albums

Good album in its day.

I like this album. It definitely feels like it was inspired by and inspired other 90s groups and albums, like U2 and Toad the Wet Sprocket.

I was very pleasantly surprised. This is an album I will listen to again and come back to.

A good listen, I like how they commit to a sound, the ballady contemplative aggression, sprawly guitar soundscapes. At times their vocals get pitchy in a distracting way, particularly some of the falsetto moments. But the albums seems to foreshadow the indie guitar stuff that would become so popular in the early 2000's. In fact, I just listened to an album today, from 2022 (Waiting to Spill by The Backseat Lovers), that I wondered whether it would exist without bands like The Verve helping define and popularize that sound.

Sometimes there is more to a one hit wonder then you think. This was good and reminded me a lot of Oasis in that it took 1960s sounds and modernized them for the 1990s (though less pop and more Pavement than Oasis). I enjoyed it.

The Verve is so cool. So is the Verve Pipe - though maybe not quite as much. They are, in fact different bands for anyone still wondering. This is like mean, gritty Oasis and I love it.

This is indeed one of the indie albums of all time. 4 stars.

Some cool spacey vibes going on in between the brief interludes of 90s cringe

trying to figure out what sets this album apart from other bands with similiar sounds in the 90's. Brainstorm Interlude is elevated rock. Similarly, History and Life's an Ocean.

Nice one, but not even comparable to Different Class, Dog Man Star, The Great Escape and Morning Glory

Has a distinct mid-90's Alt-Rock feel. Atmospheric vocals layered on flowing guitar and beats.

Precies wat steviger dan ik van The Verve verwachtte. Maar echt memorabel is het niet

Grungier oasis.

Liked much more than I expected...much less obnoxious than Urban Hymmns, which I liked at the time, but find harder to enjoy as an adult

Drugged and brilliant.

Great album. You can tell the band had ambition and an idea of how they wanted to grow their sound and it worked. The ballads are solid (which The Verve is known for after Urban Hymns), but the rockers are the stars on this record.

classic Verve, half interesting half boring.

Big U2 influence. Reprise at the end got really spacey.

The textures of these guitars make you feel like you’re in a float tank of tone. Reminds me of the tone of “Let It Be” era Beatles (obviously not a coincidence). Good to throw on for its vibes, but not music I feel emotionally connected to.

A logical next step after the psychedelic haze of A Storm in Heaven, A Northern Soul finds The Verve placing their hearts on their sleeves both musically and lyrically, hanging their hats on their brand of intensity and overt epicness. One wouldn't think by listening to this that they were on the verge of falling apart around this time, but they were and sounded majestic whilst doing so. Bittersweet, really. Favorites: A New Decade, This is Music, On Your Own, So It Goes, A Northern Soul, Brainstorm Interlude, Drive You Home, History.

This moody vibe hit me at the right time

Nice album! Really enjoyed the overall sound of it.

I love this genre a lot! But this album didn't really have anything special.

Better than urban hymns

Northern Soul was, as expected, an edifice, anchored with even hands at sweet nostalgic Britpop, psychadelia, and a melodramatic synthesis of shoegaze. That pinnacle, and the plainer, sadder influence of rock, suits me plenty. We're just before or maybe at the moment of collapse, in the last memory of strings' ability to inflate songs like these. Admirable, containing their own mockery.

Pleasantly surprised