Reviews (page 6 of 8)
Great album!
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.
Good, but a bit blah.
I really liked this album! Kind of gave me a Music Festival vibe, lots of variety!
I liked this more than I thought I would. The musicality is very good but with most of the Brit-pop bands in the 90s, the vocals can come off as whiney. I will listen to this again and reevaluate.
This was a nice Brainstorm Interlude to my day.
Just listened to it but can't say I remember much of it other than it was alright
I didn’t go into this expecting much but I did enjoy it.
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
As one with a Northern soul, this album isn't really that interesting. Bittersweet Symphony is more interesting.
Yep, that's the verve, mardy britpop. Dont mind them and this album continued to support my mild appreciation. Bit more raw than their later albums but missing the clear hits of the later stuff. Otherwise its more of the same really. Wish theyd throw in a few tracks with a clear hook but that's not their style I suppose. If you like the verve hits you'll like this but it's not going to change your mind about them.
A Northern Soul was good, the rest really rather dull. Everything sounded murmured through a tunnel. Not for me. Presume Urban Hymns is better.
I think I thought urban hymns was their first album, certainly hadn't heard of them before that..... My ignorance no doubt. Didn't know any of this but recognisably Ashcroft. Think it probably lacked a bit of anything to keep it interesting, but not sure what I expected from the verve. Didn't mind it, but won't be rushing back 3 but closer to 2.5
Two of the songs on this album are not available on Spotify.
Rock, 1995 -> 2
Solid
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.
I was pretty optimistic about this one. I had known the Verve as a one hit wonder for Bittersweet Symphony which is one of the best songs I've heard and still regularly makes me cry after it came on while taking my cat to the vet for the final time. At any rate, mid-90s British alternative is basically a cheat code to being a great album for me, but this wasn't it. It doesn't even have the one song I expected. All the songs were fairly boring, slow, generic. I couldn't even focus long enough to see if it has clever or interesting lyrics. I suppose the one song I know is also a bit melancholy as well, but I'd hoped that to be an exception. I think on paper they compare pretty favorably to Oasis, but it is like the difference between WWE and TNA wrestling. Quite a disappointment that lasted longer that I wanted, but I made it through. Favorite track "History" 1.5/5
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”.
Quite boring and uneventful
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
Thank God Pulp and Blur exist to save Britpop from this stuff.
This might’ve benefited from a second listen, because it didn’t really have my full attention and it didn’t leave an impression. I liked the first track, but found the rest pretty boring.
Kind of meh, like oasis but with boring songs. Didn’t finish
You would think in an hour+ long album they would make at least one interesting song, even by accident
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.
134/1001 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Atmospheric and a chiller vibe than what I know of their other albums. Good background working music.
Atmospheric and vibrant indierock. Some great songs on it, although no outstanding “hits”
Ehhhh
Didn’t love it
Good band from the 2000s. Some good music.
Nicht meine Richtung
first listen i like the vibe but it needs more variety or excitement?
3 albums’ worth of droning and distorted angst from ecstasy-laced dysfunctional BritPop lads? No recognisable hits? My cup runneth over. With sand.
Would I listen to it again: no Do I like it: no
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
niente di spettacolare, sono un po' tutte uguali. mi aspettavo di più, basandomi su Bittersweet Symphony, che è l'unica loro canzone che conosco. un po' deludente.
Potevano impegnarsi di più
Ha avuto dei guizzi che alzano un po’ il voto, ma nel complesso nulla di che
Dopo un album dei the Verve uscitomi tempo fa avevo poche aspettative ma questo mi è piaciuto di più, mi ha ricordato i Radiohead
Why is Bittersweet Symphony their hit? This album is so much better. However the songs were too many and too long, each one should be shaved by like a full minute and the whole thing would become much more palatable. -1 point cause of the length. Stand-out: This Is Music
Not a bad alternative album. They definitely aren’t as great as bittersweet symphony makes them out to be but this is enjoyable enough. not sure if two verve albums deserve to be on this list but this is better than many other albums on this list. Nothing super exciting about this but it’s fine. 6.0/10
Занудный альбом.
A nice psychedelic rock to listen to. The feelings put to this felt quite intimate but I found myself staying in the same repetitive loop (it wasn't a bad loop though). On A Northern Soul I'm not fond of how abrasive the overall track feels I guess it's just part of it's charm but I just couldn't get into it that well. Overall, not a bad record if like britpop and psychedelic rock with some deep thoughts put to it I think you'll like it. Best - On Your Own, Drive You Home, History, and Life's An Ocean Worst - A Northern Soul and Stormy Clouds 3.00-3.25/5
-this is britpop at its most britpop i think… -Personally not a fan of a lot of this, I think some songs go on too long and my god his voice in some of the songs…. -I like the darker, angsty aspects of it best -Favorites are On Your Own, History, and Life’s An Ocean
Good but not their best
This was ok. Nothing about it really grabbed my attention and I found myself struggling to focus on it much. There was nothing that made me hate it either though. I wouldn't ask someone to turn it off/change it if they wanted to listen to it, it makes fine background music. But I doubt I'll be doing more than my second listen (which I am doing for everything) for this.
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.
I am so disappointed with this album, I genuinely thought I liked The Verve but that was so dull.
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.
Not good.
Awesome!
Again the wrong album selected. Urban Hymns was the one to choose
Early work. Not sure if it's rock or psychedelic. Can hear a bit of bittersweet in there. Jumps about too much for me.
I always liked bittersweet symphony. This record is before that. I probably would have loved this in the 90s. Track 7 “drive you home” is fantastic.
Enjoyed album, good band vocals and music notes
Nice mix of mellow ballads and energetic rock
Okay
Started off kinda strong then started dragging, but it kept pulling me back in. the last instrumental track was my favorite of the album and I can figure out whether that deserves a whole extra star. There is a strong 4 star record in there but for the filler, so it gets a 3.
This was dreadfully boring! I knew one song, extra star
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.
sometimes i feel like the creators of this list must regret not picking a smaller number of albums. this is one of those times. why is this here.
After also getting Pavement and Smashing Pumpkins this week, I'm afraid I can no longer care about this
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".
Er bra i perioder, men et helt album blir litt tungt
very british
Never heard it before but I liked some of the songs but not all of them.
Oh well. After back-to-back easy 5's, I guess I was overdue for another 80s/90s English alternative band. Bummer.. All I know of The Verve is “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. That takes a good little hook (13 notes), repeats it for 6 minutes, beating any joy out of it and driving me to distraction. This is the previous album to that, but it pretty much repeats the formula without the hook. At best, boring. At worst, a little irritating. 2/5
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eh, The Verve is one of the most mid bands of all time.
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
Not as bad as expected!
cool, maybe 5
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.
Боже, какой же ужас. Не переношу скрежетание металла в ушах. This is music еще более-менее, но остальное больше не хочется включать никогда в жизни.
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.
S'alright
3.5
Mom!!! The lads are at the door again trying to sell us Britpop!! They’ve been here for almost an hour and it doesn’t seem like they’re leaving any time soon. Yes, I’ve already told them we’re not interested. Yes, they did bring up the fact that we liked Blur. No, they are not as good as Blur. Yes, they sound like a Econ major’s dorm room in 1995. I mean, what they showed me wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, either. Just a lot of noodling chaos. Yeah, I think they’re very high. Okay, they left!! But I think they’ll be back next week with more of the same. Yes, I’ll just close the blinds and turn off the lights next time so they don’t know we’re home.
Okay
This album is exactly the type of music it's trying to be, which is good. It just doesn't particularly grab my attention
Not nearly as bad as some of the 1 star reviews will have you believe.
Creepy album cover. But otherwise, a decent 90s rock album. Good guitar licks, atmospheric, and really trying to be cool. Definitely a counterpart to Oasis. A lot of this sounds the same though, so for an album that is over an hour long, some cuts could have been made.
Classic
Ja. Kann man hören. Ist aber nicht die Offenbarung.
History is an alltimer of a song, best when it when moves deep into psych territory
Decent music.
1995 fue año de discos excelentes: The bends, Whtat´s the story, Different class, To bring you my love, Grand Prix, Electr-O-Pura, Mellon Collie, Tindersticks II, Washing machine, Forever blue, Post, Brown sugar, Maxinquaye, Pygmalion... Debuts de Wilco, Garbage, Foo fighters, Supergrass, Elastica, The Chemical Bros, Pacers, Mojave 3... ¿Qué aportó este disco de los entonces poco conocidos The Verve? Pues bastante poco, pasaron de la psicodelia de su anterior album, A storm in heaven, a combinar guitarras más propias del BritPop que por entonces arrasaba en el planeta. Lo hicieron sin renunciar a su estilo, ni al consumo de estupefacientes y sustancias lúdicas, lo que les permitió salir airosos de este envite sin perder su identidad (So it goes o la titular A northern soul, suenan fenomenal aún hoy en día). Las mejores canciones son las delicadas On your own y History (antecedente claro de Sonnet). Es un fabuloso disco muy disfrutable, pero lejos de estar entre las 1000 mejores obras musicales del rock. Habría que esperar a su siguiente paso...
Fine. Like a lot of records in the CD era, indulgently long for no reason, so it starts and ends strong, but there’s a lot of nonsense in the middle
Nog meer Britpop, maar veel wijzer word je er niet van. Schreeuwende gitaren met veel vervorming, met andere woorden, herrie. Bij Oasis werd dit nog gecompenseerd door interessante composities, teksten en zang, maar dit grommelt voorbij zonder veel zeggingskracht. Saai, volgende.
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.
Voordat ik een album ga luisteren, open ik altijd eerst even de wiki. Klopt de tracklist bij het album dat ik aanklik op youtube enzo, even alles verifieren. Want je wil niet in een bijna 4 uur durende extra lange versie van een album zitten, als je ook de 35 minuten versie had kunnen luisteren. En als ik dan toch op wiki zit, dan check ik ook meteen even of ik er op voorhand al nummers van ken. Van dit album herken ik zo niets, terwijl van opvolger Urban Hymns ik wel meerdere nummers ken, zonder dat album ooit opgezet te hebben. Er begint zich al een ader op mijn voorhoofd te vormen, dus ik check snel even in de 1001 lijst of dat album er wel in staat. Gelukkig is dat zo, dus mijn aanstaande boosheid ebt snel weg. Nu maar hopen dat de zeurende zang van Richard Ashcroft niet alsnog de boosheid aanwakkert. Ik moet zeggen dat het begin veel meer rockt dan ik had verwacht. Het is net als hun tijdsgenoten Oasis soms een muur van gitaren. En daar hou ik wel van. Maar er komen ook wat rustigere Britpop nummers voorbij en een psychedelische madchester interlude. Ik vind het af en toe lijken op een soort trage Oasis. Het album duurt me iets te lang, met ruim een uur muziek voor slechts 12 tracks, maar het biedt genoeg kwaliteit en afwisseling. Het zit ergens tussen 3 en 4 sterren in. Omdat het net te lang doorgaat in de laatste nummers, rond ik het naar beneden af. Het album en de tracks hadden gewoon een stuk korter gekund naar mijn idee.
The creator's love for britpop continues. I feel sorry for the confused yanks going through this list, the same way I feel sorry for myself when the 200th terrible country album appears. Pretty bland stuff from the verve. I've honestly never met anyone in 35 years of living in the UK that has ever mentioned the verve, nevermind it being a positive opinion. I feel drained of energy after this. It's as if Pearl Jam did a 90s album without a single catchy riff or lyric. 2.5*
Boring. Favorite track: So It Goes
'Richard Ashcroft. He's so talented' Everyone in 1995
Do they sound too much like U2 to be considered original? Also, can homie at the bottom on the album cover chill tf out? He looks as disgusted with me as Goebbels does in that one photograph where he just found out the photographer was jewish. Anyway, this was a fine listen, if not repetitive. No big complaints, but maybe less praises. It will fall from my memory with its strongest component being it’s e the ethereal, yet energetic feeling. 3/5
Favorite track was Northern Soul. Overall I thought this was ok. Nothing spectacular or particularly bad. It’s a straight 3
Good Album. I had forgotten abut The Verve
when i finish this list, I'll look back on this album and think "which one was that?"
Pretty good, the rockier side of BritPop. One gets the Oasis-lite charge, and maybe there are subtleties that make it inaccurate, but they do sound like lots of other bands, which speaks to their fidelity to genre (not to mention time and place). One's slightly put off by the lyrical/vocal structure -- with repeated words/phrases ending quite a few songs. Overuse of strings (signaling an overreaching for seriousness) is also bothersome. The only major difference between this and their post-breakup album is the massive mega global hit.
It sort of just happened. There was no real power in the songs.
Bad 90’s trend: overlong, repetitive, generic-sounding albums full of overlong, repetitive, generic-sounding songs. The ability to fit more music on a CD was a huge negative factor on the quality of some albums.
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…
More meh...
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.
The instrumental tracks were v good and atmospheric - I would defo listen to these again.
It was okay
I don't know the Verve really - was interesting to hear another Brit pop album. Aspects I liked about it were similar to that of some songs by the Doves.
I don't know why but britpop just seems to sound so lame to me now. Even though, this is a cool album but a bit repetitive.
Many good tracks but the Reprise to end saved it another star.
Britpop que não me incomoda, mas um disco com mais de 60 minutos ficou cansativo.
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
I love it
I will gladly tell anyone within earshot that I don't like Oasis and, to be honest, the genre in general (although I do have a soft spot for Blur). The Verve was okay I guess but this stuff isn't really my cup of tea. Listens: 1 1/2 Fave Track: A Northern Soul Rating: 3
Just couldn’t finish it. I have never liked this band.
Surprised to see this on here, relatively unassuming late 90s/mid 2000s brit rock, it's fine
Yeeaahhhh... non-specific, melodramatic lyrics with really noisy and hazy guitars is not a recipe for enjoyment in my book. 3/10
i love what they’re trying to do i just don’t love the songs that much
Very meh. This band sounded like they were actively doing drugs while recording the album.
Not bad in parts
This album is pretty cool. Loving the big reverbed out swirling guitar sound that builds a lot of atmosphere. Lots of tension and release between rowdiness and focus audible on this collection. I like it. I'll have to revist.
Good rock and roll album. I would listen to this again for sure!
Please be serious. One of the most dated albums I've heard in a very long time.
Low 3
Well produced and slickly delivered. But that's the problem really- they seem to be going through the motions and there's there's no soul..... (geddit? see what I did there?)
A fairly long album in the which the sounds of the songs and the arrangements don't seem to differentiate themselves all that much. It became boring pretty quickly. Every time the band starts to do anything interesting sonically, Ashcroft's voice comes in and ruins it. It seems like Ashcroft was writing and performing one album in his head, and the band were writing and performing something else entirely. The self disconnection as symbolized by the disconnection of the voice and lyrics from the music could have been an interesting idea but here it doesn't really work. Features stupid lyrics that sound like they came from a 12 year old, with nonsense like "Oh, the bed ain't made but it's filled with hope, I've got a skin full of dope". We get it, your THE VERVE. You've beaten the irony so much by this point, that it should have formed into steel resolve. Get on with it. I don't find this interesting when Thom Yorke does it, and I don't don't find it interesting when Richard Ashcroft does it. I enjoyed "Reprise" (Because Ashcroft finally shuts the heck up and lets the music speak for itself). It is a shame that more of the album were not instrumental. I might have enjoyed it more. The sonic chemistry between Nick McCabe (guitar), Simon Jones (bass), and Peter Salisbury (drums) is undeniable on this track. Shame those guys didn't kick out Ashcroft out of the band and stay together. It might have been interesting to see what that could have become. I'm giving it a 3 primarily for the work of the engineers and producer who did the best they could with what they were given and to be fair do create a bit of lush sonics at times.
I loved 'Urban Hymns' in my teenage years. So, naturally, I went out and bought The Verve's other two albums... and barely listened to them. I can't say that hearing this now leads me to regret not giving 'A Northern Soul' more of a chance. It's similar in style to it's successor, but lacks the hooks to engage you and make you want to dig deeper. Maybe this record has depth and would benefit from persistence, but if I've not bothered in 25 years I can't really see it happening now. It's just a little bit boring. Rating: 2.5/5 Playlist track: History Date listened: 14/03/24
Ooh look! All the parts of Radiohead that I didn't like with none if the parts I did!
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
Starts off quite heavy ,really surprised but love it
This just didn’t really grab my attention in any way. It sounded very 90s and kind of like they were trying to sound like Radiohead.
I'd tell 'em to get on antidepressants but they'd tell me 'the drugs don't work' or something like that.
While I was listening to this, I thought, "Wow this really sounds like a combination of U2 and Oasis." That thought seemed familiar and it turns out, that's what I had written for my review of Urban Hymns. That said, I like U2 and I love Oasis so their lovechild should appeal to me, right? I just find this so boring, though. U2 and Oasis occasionally pick up the pace whereas The Verve just drones along at the same ambling pace.
Can tell that some of them they were off their heads for the majority of recording, at times incoherent
Started off strong but lost me as the album went on. Love the first track, though!
I listened to this a lot in high school.
Need another listen. Was good.
хорошая работа
Мид, даже чуть скучноватый альбик, но к концовке стало интереснее, 2+
The music isn't bad, but it felt dragged out, every song being 5 or 6 minutes long. I like when the use stringed instruments in the mix. Good voice. But nothing too memorable. Wasn't as good as Urban Hymns (other album of theirs I already got). Favorite track: Life's An Ocean
First half sounds similar to 90's U2 and I don't care much for it Best song even though it was long and drawn out was "Drive You Home"
First half of the album is great, then it takes a bit of a nosedive.
En kyllä saanut tästä mitään irti. Tylsä. Missä brittipopenergia? Tai oli sitä laulussa kivasti, mutta biiseissä ei ollut imua. Sitä oli kyllä yritetty. Reprise-kolistelu lopussa lähinnä masensi yleiskuvaa. Äänimaailma kyllä miellyttää.
Nuoret miehet viehättyvät äänistä, joita he tajuavat voivansa tuottaa suullaan ja soittimillaan. Samalla he laannuttavat arvostelijoiden huolia arviointiensa pehmentymisestä.
En este, su segundo álbum, The Verve avanzan por el camino psicodélico hacia el rock épico que llegará en sus trabajos posteriores. Tiene temas notables, como "Life's An Ocean", "On Your Own" o "So It Goes", temas que retoman el clásico tema del desencanto y la pérdida. Pero sobre todo destacaría la evocadora "History".
Decent.
I enjoyed it, more atmospheric than Urban Hymns. But Urban Hymns still takes the crown for me, its generational.
duplicate
Honestly, somewhat of a disappointment. As a huge fan of 90s Britpop/Indie/Alt-Rock, this should have been perfect for me. The tracks blend together without anything to distinguish one from another. It's not catchy enough to get away with this monotony, and to be honest, I'd much rather listen to Oasis, rather than the cheap imitation. I definitely don't hate it, but it's far from great. 26/02/24
Mostly sweet Brit rock album
3.5
I've developed a theory that there are few albums longer than 45 minutes (35 actually) that are good, great or even a must listen to before I die. The Verve's 'A Northern Soul' does nothing to change my mind. this is an okay album and even if having a gun held to my head this wouldn't be an album representative of those 1,001 albums. 1990s BritPop/Alt must've had an Oasis filter that they pressed the button to get the same sound. 2/5.
It’s ok but a bit boring. :D
I was hopeful and ended up bored
It's good but nothing really standing out
It's a fine album, I guess. My main issue with it just has to do with the 90's CD-era trend of albums being TOO DAMN LONG. But this isn't a platform for me to rant about that, so I'll just say that I don't think this album needed to do over an hour.
Definitely one of the albums that was affected by the mindset of "Look how much space there is on a CD! We should use as much of it as we can!" and not realize that it just bloats out the record. There's some good tracks on here (Drive You Home), but otherwise it just sort of meanders around due to said bloating.
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.
What’s the purpose of including an album that’s just Urban Hymns without ”Bittersweet Symphony”?
Saknar passion, energi, bra låtar, originalitet, intressant/spännande lyrik. Sångaren suger. Bandet låter halvsovande. Allt kryper på i maka takt. Ifall de valt att inte dra ut albumet över en timme skulle de kanske ha fått en tvåa, men bara kanske.
High quality but didn't hook me at all
Zu viel E-Gitarre und nerviges Durcheinander. Leidender Brit-Pop-Sound.
A decent album to my ears. I'm just not particularly into this brand of laid back rock. Their one really great hit was the one that stuck with me, so I'm in no way special there.
This'd probably blow my mind if I'd never heard Radiohead or Oasis or Blur or Pulp or Spiritualized or My Bloody Valentine in my entire life.
For an album that has a lot going on sonically, this was really boring.
This was fine, a lot of the songs were just a minute and a half too long. Some of the back tracks were lush though.
It drones on honestly. Like it’s good but also rough.
Look, I like the Verve. But I’m not sure why this album was here. They’re pretty generic-sounding (at least in this album) and didn't bring anything interesting to the table.
2.5 Feel like I have heard this album done a million times before, nothing new about it
This is the second album I have received by this mediocre band, and still none by countless great artists of the 60s, 70s, and 80s Not bad , but fairly monotonous. 3 stars
First track started out with some solid psych rock sound. It didn't really keep that vibe throughout but didn't fully devolve into mid-90s brit-pop of the day
Just drowned on
Enjoyed it
Typical, generic-y, post-shoegazing Britock of the mid ‘90s. The slow-burning grooves, with the way overworked wah-wah washes, are generally more effective than the straight-up rockers. Nothing disagreeable, but no better than pretty good in the end. And hard to tell the Northern bits from the soulful ones.
Great guitar work. Got a little bit monotonous.
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.
Boring 2/5
Melancholy vibe. Send me something happy please.
I found this a bit tedious and somehow couldn’t really warm up to it
kad se sjetim kad sam bio samo na njima neko vrijeme. imaju dost dobrih stvari na ovom albumu.
Nope
I dont even remember listening to this album, thats how forgettable it was Significant 36/111 Liked 17/111 Added 4/111 NNN
really did not enjoy. not my thing at all and all the songs sound the same.
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.
The band reminded me of a high school band. Just wasn’t into the music or album.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING Made sure that was long & drawn out, just like this album.
A lot of the songs felt like they would kinda just like drag on. Some cool sounds but overall I wasn't really feeling it.
Not really a fan of this one unfortunately.
what the hell was that, monotonous droning drivel - 'best 1001 albums'?!
The perfect album. Perfect representation of what bored me in the 90s. Not bad, but just background music. It drones on. I though this would be a 3, but the droning got to me.
Tedious shite.
3/5
Cool album. Not sure why I have never listened to The Verve before. Deluxe was 3 hours long which I am not about.
Boring
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
Brought back to the essence there are some good songs in here, but the delivery is way too pompous and tedious to reveal that.
It's a decent listen - there are catchy, heartfelt tracks throughout. I think I prefer Spiritualized for this genre/sound but to each their own. I think it's a little curious/lazy to have two songs back to back with almost the same line (you come in on your own, you leave on your own).
Meh
Quality album
Yawn
Would have been an easy 4 ⭐️ if it wasn’t 20 minutes too long
Liked one song.
Listened to half and got bored
i liked this one. didn't finish it but want to come back to it
This was fine.
Didn't do much for me
I thought for some reason I'd enjoy this. Boy, was I wrong.
I sincerely doubt I needed to hear TWO Verve albums before dying.
Another unremarkable album.
С первых двух треков слушается необычно круто и атмосферно, надеюсь дальше также будет очень нравится
Good - enjoyed it! Long 3 discs.
More indie rock, but this is better than Echo & The Bunnymen, but sadly nowhere near as good as Urban Hymns.
Largely dull 2nd album from Britpop indie Verve. History is ok. Most songs have the same rhythm and are too long.
I did not care for this too much. Some of it was okay but it got old.
Gefällt mir nicht.
So a few sporadic thoughts: The backing Vocals on 'On Your Own' are horrific. 'History' and 'Life's an Ocean' are gorgeous... In fact the second half of this entire album is far superior than the first half. The Britpop mix saps the life out most of these songs. This album is a half decent listen but lacks any personality, and in most cases I'd rather spin a record from Oasis, Blur, or Supergrass. And I really wish 1001album generator would let you give half stars.
Really enjoyed it. Good melodies, nice hooks. 4/5!
This album has got a lot more spunk and energy than Urban Hymns. The music is quite psychedelic (I quite enjoyed the trippy sounding 'On Your Own' and 'So It Goes') but for the most part this is fairly standard downer indie rock and the lyrics don't really add any value.
Yeah was fine, not that exciting but not as bad as i feared, these guy!
Fairly generic mid-90s sound but I did enjoy it more on a second listen.
Yeah, fairly decent alt rock. Akin to a lot of other fairly decent nineties/nighties bands. 3 and half stars.
It sure ain't no Urban Hymns. Found it a little too raw and a bit boring. 2.5
Not bad but misses my current good mood. Maybe I'll consider it a better album when I listen to it while feeling down.
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?
Nothing special. Sounds unorganized
It's OK. Some angsty cover images though
I remember distinctly as a kid growing up in the 90's that I assumed computers made all the music that I heard on CDs. It was always way too perfect and didn't sound like any kind of music I had heard in person. I was 7 or 8 when I realized that wasn't true, but it's still why I was always more attracted to Jazz, Classical, and older rock music. Singer songwriters also became much bigger for me later in life. This album from the Verve is a horrible example of that kind of music. It's just walls of sound generated by distorted instruments with lazy vocals laid over top. There is no harmonic movement, no interplay between the band, and no breath to it all. It's a palatable sound, but not an interesting one.
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.
2.5
I couldn't get into this album. All of the songs sounded the same and I had a hard time getting through it.
typical brit pop/rock stuff, some decent tones I guess, but otherwise it's just bland and boring to me, focus on lyrics I think, which is not my thing, Life's an Ocean has a cool groove and interesting sounding drums
Loved it. Reminds me of Iasis and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Fine 90s Britrock.
Richard Ashcroft's voice takes fairly average alternative rock and turns it into ear-grating, unlistenable noise. I'm not surprised that Liam Gallagher is a big fan.
Meandering and shapeless.
This album is like a long drawn out dream where you are stumbling along slowly, bored, but with some vague sense of dread, and you just can't quite wake yourself up. Not a way I want to spend an hour. Ha! I was pretty sure there was another Verve album on here (why am I listening to a second!?!?) and my review for that one was "After that it's like a dream where you are stuck in molasses trying to get out but moving so slooow. Torture." In 600+ reviews these are the only two where I say the album is like a bad (or any kind of) dream. Guess I find The Verve to be a bit of a nightmare.
Þessi plata gerir nákvæmlega ekkert fyrir mig.
Never heard any of The Verve's music aside from the obvious 90's superhit I've heard a thousand times. I'm impressed. Wall of sound, a little psychedelic, some early Radiohead vibes. Occasionally dips into that distinct mid-90's British alt-rock (ie Oasis) flavor which is not my favorite. Still I'm glad I actually listened to their music outside of Bittersweet Symphony. (The last song is fun) 3 - Will probably listen again
meh. this was a pretty average mid-90s britpop/alternative affair and nothing really stuck out to me. certainly not as immediately recognizable or hooky as bitter sweet symphony or the other tracks from their 1997 album. i was going to give this 2 stars but i suppose it's not THAT bad, just a bit dull and uninspiring to me. or maybe I'm just not in the right mood to enjoy it. it was pleasant enough to have on in the background. favorites: on your own, history
53/100
This was an OK album, ended up being background noise as most of the songs seemed to blend together.
A good album but not really great. One that I couldn't see myself listening to front to back but I could like a song or two from it.
Très sympa 3,5
It was OK. Not my favourite Verve album, but a few obviously good tracks there.
It’s a really good album. I also see why none of these tracks hit big, none of them really stand out.
It’s an album.
I've been waiting to hear a British alternative/rock album like this. A good mix of standard alternative with just the right amount of rawness and experimentation. I felt like only a couple songs didn't stack up to the rest, which was surprising since this album is over an hour.
I actually like the Verve, but this isn’t particularly good work, sure you have some decent songs, but the majority of them just kind of blend together and feel a bit dull
Masterpiece
3.5
2.9 but not listened to properly
Another great Verve record, a guitar-driven alt rock record still relying a lot on shoegaze but also on Britpop contemporaries, with pop songs like "History" showing their direction in Urban Hymns. Sometimes sounds like trip hop ("Life's an Ocean") or Mazzy Star-style dream folk ("Drive You Home"). Has a lot of repetition, and a few weak songs, particularly "No Knock On My Door." They're really carried by the production, since I found the bonus tracks to be really boring generic 90s alt rock (albeit softer and lusher). But a good record overall with a strong opener and closer, and plenty of highlights. Favorites: This is Music, On Your Own, A Northern Soul, Stormy Clouds
Zero
Sucesión de canciones de estilo pop-rock, con virtusismos variados de instrumentación. Voz un tanto reconocible. Le falta algo de punch. Aun así, se puede escuchar
I think most people stateside assume The Verve were just a one hit wonder, but this record is proof that they had chops before Bittersweet Symphony overshadowed their whole career. A mix of Madchester acid rock and a more alternative sounding Britpop, their psychedelic leanings make the album standout a bit more than some of their peers. At the same time they lack the “pop” that made many of their peers endearing. Overall an enjoyable and well executed listen, something I’d easily recommend to fans of The Stone Roses or early Primal Scream.
Not bad.
That was a pleasant surprise. So much better than Urban Hymns.
not too exciting, but i do like their bittersweet symphony but isn’t on this album
Alright.
I bought Urban Hymns at an opshop and thought it was rubbish other than bittersweet symphony. So this was a surprisingly decent listen tbh.
Boring yet pretentious. History is the only semi-standout for me.
Long, dreary, drawn out notes, blah vocals. I liked Bittersweet Symphony but this was a disappointment. Also the cover kinda creeps me out cuz they look like vampires. And not the cool kind of vampires, the skinny white guys living in a castle for 500 years kind of vampires. Best song: A Northern Soul
Bitter sweet symphony guys roll lamest album ever, asked to leave list of 1001 albums you must listen to before you die
Not bad really. A little blue rock in parts. I like the psychedelic stuff. I was most surprised by the Brainstorm Interlude -> Drive You Home part. Overall too long and not quite remarkable. 3/5
Having only really embraced Urban Hymns, I found this to be a very enjoyable listen! Will revisit it later, but on first listen there were no pieces that immediately jumped out as memorable, but as an album it definitely had an excellent flow and feel.
Good.
Having only heard Urban Hymns, right off the bat, this is not what I was expecting. Initially I was very happily surprised. A New Decade and This Is Music are a raging start, noisy and raw. The weakness of the album is the slower tempo songs. History is a great song that foreshadows Urban Hymns 30 years later you can still hear A Northern Soul’s influence on bands like Fontaines DC. 7.6/10
Slow ass Oasis
4/10. These guys seriously have two albums on the list?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if this is what peak British music was in the 90s, I feel bad for those poor chaps. 5/10
This was like listening to a less-inspired version of an Oasis album. I enjoyed it, but nothing extraordinary.
Meh.
Pleasantly surprised
3.75
If I'm ever craving extremely average music, the Verve always have me covered. Reliable bunch of chaps - would give them a kiss on the cheek.
I've never liked Oasis or this sort of music particularly - it was alright at points, but of a dirge in others.
I love britpop and I love psychedelic rock. So on paper The Verve, and especially A Northern Soul, should be a favourite of mine. And it's not quite there. Don't get me wrong, it's still quite good, but not more than that.
I listened to this album yesterday… And I can’t recall a single tune. It was decent britpop but featured nothing truly memorable. And the length? Oh shit… They could have easily cut 15 minutes had every song not been 1-3 minutes too long.
Big yawn. It’s OK indie but it does it need to be an hour long and do we really need two albums from these lads on this list?
Mediocre.
I'm not a fan of the droning guitar work, which seems uninspired and uninteresting. The album isn't terrible, but it's entirely forgettable like so much generic rock of the 90s.
First listen Saved 3/12 Top track: A New Decade
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.
There seems to be a strong following for this album. The fans love it and it's included on many different lists of the best albums of all time. I'm sorry to say that I genuinely didn't see the appeal. It just sounded like a generic indie rock band shopping around for a record deal. The vocals were off, the music a bit dull. I'm clearly missing something here but I really don't know why it's so revered.
Boring. Its not "bad", but its boring and bland. 2/5
I thought this was surprisingly flat given the critical reviews it got. Very in the mould of Primal Scream/Oasis ish but without any stand out songs. I like the sound but there's nothing there to get into
Britpop, rock psicodélico. Ni fu ni fa.
Un poco rollo.
Iha ok
Better than urban hymns
I got a little excited cos I thought I would hear bittersweet symphony in this album, but it wasn't this one. I kinda expected something great, but was let down
Remarkably fine.