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.

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.

No notes

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

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.

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

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

Sounds a U2 cover band. Not great

It was really good. TIL I like the Verve.

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

Possibly their finest moment.

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...

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.

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.

The goat.

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.

Objectively, this album should probably get 3 stars, however, I found it so unremarkable and forgettable that I felt appalled it should be included on this list, and for that reason lower my score to 2.

I recently reviewed Urban Hymns by The Verve, and (spoiler alert) found it to be a load of boring, over-produced todge. But Urban Hymns at least had two pretty strong songs in Bittersweet Symphony and The Drugs Don't Work. A Northern Soul does not benefit from _any_ songs nearly that strong. Nothing on A Northern Soul is worthy to touch the hem of Bittersweet Symphony or The Drugs Don't Work. I find the songs amorphous, vague, unmemorable with turgid lyrics. A record company rep visited them in the studio, stating that he realized "that here was a band that were in the throes of excess. They were on the brink of collapsing or damaging themselves but at the same time hearing songs like 'A New Decade' or 'History' – you just heard that tension, almost darkness that was there. There were the classic highs and lows of a really drugged-up session and that was reflected in the music." Not a good thing, guys. The resulting album is an unfocussed, meandering, pretentious, rambling miasma. Andy Gill at The Independent lambasted the album, saying it was the audio "equivalent of crushed velvet flares sagging over scuffed plimsoles", adding that hearing the album was "undoubtedly the longest hour of my life so far." He said the band incorporated the "worst aspects of both the progressive guitar rock that is their clearest historical precedent, and the baggy scene that was current at their inception: sluggish and preposterously self-indulgent" There is bloat on this album; songs are too long and the meandering instrumentals remind me of incessant Jimi Hendrix jam sessions, slathered in delay and reverb, but with no discernable point or direction. 1.5 stars

old favorite

another masterpiece by a band who only made em..

I have always loved this album and listened to it often. As I get older, I do struggle to listen to it too frequently as the backend is very good but a bit mellow. I like pretty much every song, yet find myself having difficulty adding it to my collection. Still, there isn't a misfire on this album even if some of the songs go too long. This is the kind of music that requires repeat listenings and eventually it creeps into your soul and you find yourself singing "Stormy Clouds" randomly. The instrumentals are probably not necessary but all the songs with words are great. Highly recommend this listen as this is the more interesting and prog-rock version (not really) of brit-pop. "History" foreshadows where the group would go next and is just a great song.

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

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”.

Awesome!

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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?

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

Masterpiece

cool

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.

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

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

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

Great album.

Excellent stuff

Love it, great music

Surpreendente. Ouvir mais vezes

The vocals are all that very familiar sound of Bittersweet Symphony with a harmonious, lilting, musical side.

Northern Soul was always a genre me and Len wanted to really get into. Something we both had a real affinity towards. We told Ashcroft that this was a misleading title if it wasn’t packed with Northern Soul. He simple replied ‘where’s the houmous and chutney then lads?’….alright soft lad. Pipe down. Over the moon that it was only downhill for him from here. Only idiots think Urban Hymns is better than this. 4.1

Meestal niet van de britpop maar vind dit wel vet, zit wel diepgang in. Favo liedjes: title track, history

Славный альбом. Славный предшественник Urban Hymns. Многие стилистические приколы из будущего альбома можно уже услышать на этом. Лично для меня не хватило не много разнообразия. Да и есть ощущение, что работу оценят лишь фанаты The Verve или Urban Hymns

I'd never heard any of these songs before, but I enjoyed it more than I expected! History in particular is a great song.

Liked this a lot. Very easy listening

History is pretty epic, kind of forgotten how huge The Verve were for a year or so

4.5 rounded down very nice! a little meandering but its ok cuz they were apparently zonked out of their gourds highlights: a new decade, this is music, a northern soul, drive you home (nov 1 2024)

Not heard this in a while. It probably is better than Urban Hymns to be honest, and History is definitely their best song. Fair play, it's stands up. Something of a midway point between decent shoegaze and half decent britpop/baggy, which it basically is. There are much fewer 'standout' tracks than on the poppier accessible Urban Hymns, which you could read as this being 'boring', or just a very chill vibe to drift off into, depending on your perspective. I'm in the latter camp. Definitely grow into this as it goes along. Really takes me back, I don't think I've listened to it in 20 years. Enjoyed.

Shades of U2, the Replacements,

I totally missed this era of music. Nice to revist

first few songs were actually pretty unbearable and then i suddenly was sat. fav tracks drive you home (i think its called), history and the closing track

Instrumentals are excellent but I feel the singing is give or take. Songs are not so memorable for me but sound good in the moment.

Dopo un album dei the Verve uscitomi tempo fa avevo poche aspettative ma questo mi è piaciuto di più, mi ha ricordato i Radiohead

Really enjoyed this album! I will have to return to the 3 hour deluxe version some other time, but this album sounds like more. 4/5

Great album!

I really liked this album! Kind of gave me a Music Festival vibe, lots of variety!

This was a nice Brainstorm Interlude to my day.

its a 4?! Not my usual music type at all but I was glad to listen to it last week.

Some of it feels bland, but sOME of it👀👀Tracks 3 through 6 were a wonderful journey of noise! Excellent ending too. Also, 'living is for other men' was such a raw line for me

3/4

A cup of Radiohead, a pinch of U2, and dash of Oasis. This is a good shoegaze rock album that was much better than I expected. Killer guitar sound.

This was so good. Very alternative 90s, very Verve. The lead singer has some early U2 Bono sound quality to him that I really liked, and the sonic timbre was very nice. Four stars.

Atmospheric and a chiller vibe than what I know of their other albums. Good background working music.

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

Dopo un album dei the Verve uscitomi tempo fa avevo poche aspettative ma questo mi è piaciuto di più, mi ha ricordato i Radiohead

Good but not their best

A stylish and meditative alternative album. Four stars since they kind of just put down some bass rhythms and turned up the reverb on the guitars.

Nice mix of mellow ballads and energetic rock

This was pretty cool! It did begin to feel a little repetitive (but then again, I listened to this near the end of my work day), but I generally enjoyed this style of music. I don't think I'd ever heard anything by them before.

Spotify said that it couldn't play "A New Decade" or "Life's an Ocean" for some reason? Several tracks sound very much like Oasis songs from the same period, which isn't surprising as they used the same producer, Owen Morris, but other tracks hint more at what was to be the style of their next album "Urban Hymns".

Not bad. Missing songs on spotify link, but there is a Remastered version with the missing songs. Got caught up working with this on repeat... and it didn't outwear it's welcome.

An iconic album from the time when things were JUST starting to shift into the various factions of shoegaze/britpop/rock. These guys are in no rush and it's ever so slightly too laid back for me, compared to their superior next album Urban Hymns.

This is the kinda stuff I like, so it was an easy listen and an easy 4. I’m surprised to see this has such low reviews tbh.

I only knew The Verve from “Bittersweet Symphony”, and now as I get older I realize the singles are usually the worst songs!! (Cue the discovery of U2 as well hahaha). This album rocks! Already listened to it on repeat and as much as I’m not a big Euro rocker, I love every song on this. Listen again: yes Purchase for my collection: yes Favourite Song: hard to choose

cool, maybe 5

Classic

Absolutely a classic album. The Verve nearly at their very best! Awesome, sprawling, psychedelia tinged rock. If only Ashcroft wasn’t such an anti vax moron…

This one kind of slogs near the end but I still really loved the sound of it.

Really good. I had only listened to Urban Hymns but this was a pretty good album too, even if not as good as that one.

Many good tracks but the Reprise to end saved it another star.

I love it

I listened to this a lot in high school.

Need another listen. Was good.

I enjoyed it, more atmospheric than Urban Hymns. But Urban Hymns still takes the crown for me, its generational.

Esto SÍ es buena música. Cierto que el guitarrista tan solo se sabe un par de rifts, pero en conjunto tienen un sonido agradable y duro.

kad se sjetim kad sam bio samo na njima neko vrijeme. imaju dost dobrih stvari na ovom albumu.

I accidentally listened to the deluxe version xD haha but after going back and listening to the original songs, I enjoyed the experience. Probably an 8-8.5/10 for me.

Cool album. Not sure why I have never listened to The Verve before. Deluxe was 3 hours long which I am not about.

Had this down as a 4 star album but needed a few spins to get back into it. It is still a really good album (britpop mixed with psychedelic rock in the "right" way) with one absolute 5-star song (History) but Urban Hymns made a much bigger impact at the time. 90s view: 4 stars 20s view: 4 stars

Quality album

Really enjoyed it. Good melodies, nice hooks. 4/5!

It's OK. Some angsty cover images though

Once I got over the fact that there was a Verve album on here that didn't include Bitter Sweet Symphony, a song I hate but is like the only thing I know the Verve for, I thought it was just a discount Oasis album and nothing more. While it kind of still is that, I actually really enjoyed this album. I loved the bombastic production, especially on This Is Music, and the vocals basically sound like a Gallagher but whatever; more Oasis isn't bad. This is definitely one of the most surprising albums I've gotten recently.