A Northern Soul

Interesting

It’s insane to me that we’re going to get two Verve albums over a host of other albums. A Northern Soul is just a mediocrer Oasis. At least Urban Hymns rules and we’ll get that at some point.

They're not wrong. It is music. There are sounds and instruments and rhythms. But it's what is playing when you walk out of a coffee shop and say, "oh yeah. There was music playing". Legitimately, I've listened through 3 times and I'm like 95% sure it had lyrics. I would give it a 3 in my normal life, but the list demands more.

Verve, don’t really care for them so not heard a full album. Sound to me like a mix of Radiohead and Oasis, but without the innovative instrumentation of Radiohead and somewhat creative lyrics of Oasis. By half way I was just fed up, repetitive sounds and words let me be.

I don't particularly care for the guitar tone on this record at all. They were aiming for "alternative" and ended up with "blech". I can see how this spawned several radio hits, particularly in the UK at that time. A quick glance at what was popular.. AiC, Soul Asylum, Smashing Pumpkins... ya. It was good timing. Or maybe it's good and I'm just not into it? I didn't like the record and will likely never revisit it again.

Didn't really vibe with this one, occasionally had some cool dreamy stuff going on but wasn't consistent enough for me. I liked parts of "On Your Own" and "Life's an Ocean"

I always thought of The Verve as a one-hit wonder, with "Bitter Sweet Symphony", so I was surprised to see an album of theirs on the list. I was even more surprised when it wasn't the one with their one hit on it. Maybe I was wrong... Have I underestimated this band? Is there greatness here that the masses haven't appreciated? No... No there isn't. Just a whole lotta nothing masquerading as "Oasis but edgy". My disappointment is measurable and my day is largely unaffected.

1/3. Maybe I just wasn't in a very active listening mood today, but this just rolled right past me. Nothing particularly stood out, though I did enjoy Brainstorm Interlude. Overall it just wasn't super interesting to me, I probably won't revisit.

It's okay? I don't think there's anything that stands out here as overly good or bad. It's a decent album to throw on in the background but it definitely feels pretty bland.

Good psychedelic music. They sound like a bunch of young men on drugs. Not for me.

Urban Hymns I get being on the list, had a huge hit and a couple decent tunes on it. Why is this on the list? It's boring. Is it because they made Urban Hymns after this? Cause that's not worth it. Stop with the boring brit bands. I know there is good music over there, let us listen to that and not this drivel.

Again I was bored by this

mid ass rock

Again very slow not my thing

I just had Radiohead, now The Verve. Picking up matching socks from the drawer. More boring than Radiohead, a few surprising psychedelic parts, but mostly boring. But most importantly, better than Oasis.

Boring. How the F doe the Verve have two albums on this list? 2/5

If you like the Verve, you'll love this album - it's exactly how you know they'll sound. It was fine, but a bit repetitive and long-winded for me. - Heard before? No. - Will I listen again? No. - Does it inspire me to listen to more of this artist? No.

Not a fan. The instrumentation was fine. But the singing was just so so bad, especially when they decide to sing falsetto. Terrible listening experience.

mid mid middy mid mid

So forgettable. I'm starting to hate seeing any late 90s/early 2000s British band showing up on this list. It really feels like the author has a bias there and it is way over represented.

Not required listening. It didn't do anything. Perfect music to ignore and make you talk louder when having beers with friends at a bar.

It doesn’t have Bittersweet Symphony. It’s fine but not good.

I can see why The Verve weren't popular before "Urban Hymns". "A Northern Soul" is a boring album. Despite the name, there's hardly any soul in it at all. There are a few moments in "A Northern Soul" that didn't make me regret listening to it. "On Your Own" is the best song on the album. 2 stars for "A Northern Soul".

Ok. A decent album. Striving to be epic rock, but nothing truly stood out for me. Much preferred the follow up Urban Hymns.

moody, angsty. all songs kind of blend into eachother. not bad, but not my vibe right now. favourite songs: drive you home, on your own.

NB Where is opening track “A New Decade” on the link here?!? Boring but you can hear the preparation for Urban Hymns (better next album) 1. A new decade 2. History 3. Stormy clouds reprise Boring - one long similarity

Meh

I have absolutely no idea why this is here, why did I listen to this. It’s bittersweer symptom with all the good bits removed, discordant shi, i presume they therefore have 2 albums on here, subjective list or not that's a load of bollox, like this here record, 2 stars, and that generous for the odd melody

2.5 stars. U2 vibes. Choruses to repetitive (title track: 'I'm gonna die alone in bed'....OK we get it). Not as clean/refined as their follow-up album. Feels a bit too generic to be memorable.

Weak songwriting (repetitive lyrics) and overall just ok.

Profoundly boring mid 90s rock blather

Not great

Boring

Bland

Atmospheric, moody. Overall ok.

The more it went on, the less I liked it, and it dropped from a 3 to a 2 because of it. Too much reverb overshadowing the vocals. Too much sameness. Just too much.

*1995 *This was before the verve hit it big with bittersweet symphony in the late 90s. *Pleasant but not particularly exciting or memorable. Can’t honestly remember a single song on here… RATING - 6.5/10

At least this album didn’t have Bittersweet Symphony on it.

Pretty boring and aimless, just washed over me without pricking my interest once!

God damn this is so dreary - I can’t imagine anyone getting even faintly excited about anything on here, and every song lasts 30 seconds to a minute longer than it needs to.

Urban Hymns is a surprisingly good album given it's got two really annoying hits in it. This, though, has zero business being on this list. It's not crap. But it's utterly forgettable.

There is just one single by the British group Verve that I know (Bittersweet Symphony), and it’s not on this album. For some reason Spotify included just ten tracks for this album, where there should be twelve. ‘Life’s an Ocean” and “A New Decade” were missing, so I did not hear those two. Just as well I suppose, as the rest of the tracks were all quite similar in my opinion, and some ran too long. Very forgettable.

The intro of "This is music" is an ear tickler, we don't hear that often Wasn't very focused, but it sure was at least alright

The guy on the bottom looks super angry.

Pretty generic feeling. Gained a little bit of traction in a later jam but a little boring.

Not the best!

I dunno, Its like the Author was helping the band out by having their lesser known album in here (Royalties and all) I Mean, its ok... Very different to the Brit-Pop craze or the post grunge rock so theres that. It just sounds like a more industrial Radiohead.

i love the song history but for the rest of the album i felt sort of disappointed, i really wanted to like this. i’ll give it another listen but for now i’ll have to give it a 2.5

Man, I wanted to like this. Didn’t even notice when it ended. 1.5 for effort.

Hell no.

Boring bullshit that goes nowhere

Whiny, wail-y, annoying

Too meandering for me. On your own is possibly one of the worst songs I have ever heard.

Noise

Always remeber this band as the one hit wonder that got sued (always thought thats why they stopped). Not the album with the hits. The album is okey, very date 90s brit pop. Same time as Oasis so i guess it was all the rage for the 90s and then faded after Oasis broke up.

This really shouldn't be on the list considering the album with Bittersweet Symphony is already here. These songs go literally nowhere. They are fine. They are background Oasis filler tracks. The sound is fine - not offensive, and I probably wouldn't even take it off if it was on because it sounds fine. But there's so much other music worth putting on in the first place.

I kept waiting for someone to happen. It didn't.

More interesting than I expected, but I could not get into it on this day. I did not expect all the long drawn out instrumental jamming sections. I thought of these guys as pure britpop (the bittersweet symphony guys) and not psychadelia. I do generally have a taste for things like that but it didn't hit me with this - maybe even the association with britpop unfairly put me off.

About as boring as the suede album I heard

I thought this was going to be better based solely on Urban Hymns, but this ended up being a real snoozer for me

Cool use of sound at times but still very bland

fart

2 out of 5. I can't imagine very many rock albums getting a low score from me but this is one of them unfortunately. The songs really did all blend together for me, but something should be said for the cohesiveness I suppose.

Sold their souls to the devil, and got nothing in return.

Buen disco aunque no soy capaz de destacar una canción.

I'm struck by: 1) how stylistically similar this is to Urban Hymns; and 2) how much better that album is in every respect. It's almost like these were demos and they spent the next 18 months editing and rewriting the songs, building their chops, working together as a unit, and then they went into a top notch studio and recorded a masterpiece. Urban Hymns would/will get 5 stars. This doesn't.

Generic cover art to match generic sound. Nothing to see here.

Well now. Mr Hatter told me to prepare myself to be awarding a 5 for this one. Sorry sir no can do. It was the musical equivalent of mashed potato. Mushy nothingness, without even any buttter or even a sprinkling of chives to give it some flavour or even visual appeal. The musicianship was ok, so not a 1, just. And only just scrapes a 2.

Best Song: On Your Own. There's something comforting about this kind of soft, 90s boy melancholy. Worst Song: Stormy Clouds. It was about this point in the album that I realized how done I was with the monotony. Overall: Real generic. Nothing to hate, but not much even to like.

Just ok. A bit angsty, like much of the 90s rock was.

Pretty bland and whiny tbh. Paired well with a rainy day, but overall not very enjoyable and no Bittersweet Symphony to bail it out. High 2

2 out of 5 Not my vibe

This was a little bit depressing to listen to, and proved I'm not a fan of The Verve, which I already thought was the case, but now I know for sure.

I have mixed feelings about the Verve. Their heaviness and bombastic feel, the downtempo extravagance and over-engineered wall of guitar sound is both exhilarating and frustrating. Exhilarating because of the sheer grandeur of the sound. That huge bass, the snare crack, guitar pyrotechnics without a respite. Unbelievably tight playing and production to match. Perfectly executed. But it's frustrating because I really don't care much about what they have to say. And if I did find even a slight bit of meaning, it's lost in a strange narcissistic haze. Style before substance, once again. It's all a bit much, though. The interminably long ballads made me feel like a trapped animal trying to get away. The heavier, bigger songs sound phoned in, as perfectly executed as they are. I would rather listen to pretty much any other post-grunge stalwarts - Pearl Jam, Collective Soul, Bush even. They sure do sound like Rock Stars™ though.

This is not a totally accurate description but I'm calling this album "The Sad Hot Chili Peppers" This band did not deserve 2 albums on the list

Coming in I only knew these guys from Bittersweet Symphony. Now I know them from that and a mediocre album. 4/10

Solid pop rock if unfocused and a bit excessive at times

I dod not like this. It seems like a bridge between a sub echo and the bunnymen and the britpop they were to become (which i loved). Hos voice doesnt seem to have settled and the whole album is weirdly monotonous.

I was enjoying the album, then at some point every song just sounded like the one that preceded it.

Not a bad record at all. If any of these songs came on the radio, I wouldn't change the station. But not special.

Kinda forgot about it Will I listen to again: 11%

Not too much here,but not bad. A one hit wonder band, but that's on another album.

The songs blended into each other, no standouts for me. I didn’t dislike but wouldn’t go back to it

Mwah

I wasn't into this at all. Soundscape-y guitars with no strong melody and a singer who hits notes like a mid-horseshoe player hits pins. Not something I'd necessarily turn off if it came on because it's not much different than nothing for background noise, but also nothing here I'd seek out again. 2/5

het titelnummer en laatste nummer zijn goed... rest is goed om te gebruiken in Guantanamo Bay

An interesting listen....much more then let's say Oasis ! They have something but their identity is not well defined (compared to...Oasis) as the album is not always consistent.

Definitely not my taste, it’s not horrible either

2/5

It was alright, nothing stood out to me but maybe I need to listen to it again.

Remarkably boring. A few decent ballad like songs near the middle of its run but otherwise forgettable - Oasis without the drama and mystic. I hated the unavoidably inescapable Bittersweet Symphony in the later 1990s solely due to airplay. There was little here to convince me to give the band another try. 2/5

Holy shit this album cover is hot trash. 2.5/5

this guy has a hardon for this group. this the 2nd one that has come up, and outside Britain, no one cares. this is like that "i was in my early 20's finding myself in the late 90's, bro. this is my soundtrack." unless you are shuffling thru a Sears or Walgreens in 2003, this shit doesn't play to non fans. i am being mean, but that album art, this sound, it falls flat and ages poorly. 2/5

Boring with some positive outliers. I used to think that singing in tune was overrated. but after listening to this I really do see the merits of it. Can someone teach Richard Ashcroft to sing?

Blah blah blah blah

I forgot about The Verve until this album came up and now I can go back to forgetting them.

Relentlessly bland.

Slow, dull Psychedelic Rock.

Apparently in the UK the Verve were not a one-hit wonder. This is better than Urban Hymns. They feel like a band very much of the Oasis era. There's something very whiny about this, like they took the angst from grunge but forgot to take the garage band sound that made it feel authentic. This album definitely feels like it is of a time. Maybe I don't like it better than Urban Hymns. This album is depressing enough to put on when you're feeling low, but not good enough to have it scratch that itch. A lot of longer songs too. You aren't the storytellers you think you are, The Verve. Drive You Home just drags on with repeated lyrics. This album isn't bad, but it goes on too long. A boring 6 minute pseudopsychedelic instrumental track to end the album.

A northern bore

Quite samey overall. On Your Own: Sounds so quintessentially of its time So It Goes: Cool time signature A Northern Soul: Good in a relentless way History: Very sweet (pity about his voice; the Oasis effect) Life's An Ocean: Pretty cool instrumentation (pity about the voice again)

This was so boring and generic sounding. I wanted to like this but it just dragged and dragged. I wish I could hear what fans of this hear but I don’t think this belongs on this list. So forgettable, avoiding 1 star because it isn’t painful or abrasive, just so bland

I really like this type of music, but I struggled with this album a bit. It felt both sleepy and indulgent. Almost all of the songs felt too long and a bit repetitive. It feels harsh to give this 2 stars, but there are so many other entries in this genre that feel more worthwhile to me.

Before I listened, I assumed The Verve was a one-hit wonder… turns out I was right. Since the “one-hit” isn’t here, it’s a 2⭐️

This is an incredibly non-descript mid-90s guitar rock album. I love 90's guitar rock and this sounds like the band that would open for whichever band I wanted to see. There were maybe two moments where I was kind of engaged, but overall it's just SO bland and unenergetic.

Ok 2/5

# 534 : A Northern Soul The Verve’s A Northern Soul is a masterclass in musical mediocrity. Not bad enough to hate, not good enough to love—it’s the sonic equivalent of wallpaper: always there, never interesting. Each track blends into the next like a foggy afternoon, leaving behind a vague sense of boredom and a desperate search for a standout moment. If you enjoy music that politely refuses to be memorable, this album’s for you. What to listen for: Nothing stood out Listened: 29/07/2025

meni su oni uvijek neugodno turpijanje, čak i kad im falsetto ne dištonava.

Background noise

Ugh.

Not horrible or anything but very forgettable

Will I remember any song off this album half an hour after I listen to it? No. Do I want to listen to this record again? No. Is it bad music? Also no, but it's just entirely forgettable.

Oof this was awful. For all the 90s albums that come through here this has to be one of them? This was a slog of anemic jams and sadness.

#639. Look, we already had the album that has their one song that anyone gives a shit about, we don't need another Verve album on here. It's not any good, it's literally just there. 2/5: meh

This drifted past my ears - competent indie guitar fare that didn't really jump out at me at any point. Call me Captain Obvious, but listening through, there's nothing with the grandeur or hookiness of 'Drugs' or 'Bittersweet' here. Average.

Plodding. Gawd this dragged. Almost sent me to sleep.

My second Verve album in 3 days! This one is worse. And I'm not sure I can keep defending this band. Apart from the first three, every single track on this inarguably bloated record is over five minutes long. And most of those tracks have no business being that way. Brainstorm Interlude, Stormy Clouds, (Reprise), and several others are very insistent upon a singular repeating theme (or in some cases literally just a texture with no hook) that is repeated with tolerable vocals placed over the top. I had a similar complaint for Urban Hymns, but at least that album had a selection of fantastic songs to counterbalance the mediocre ones. In contrast, this album has two or three "good" songs, while the rest are more filler than killer. There are so many questionable elements in the four-song run starting with So It Goes, culminating in the ridiculously out-of-tune singing in Drive You Home. Great violin hook in History, with the whole track probably acting as a precursor to the style and texturing found in Bitter Sweet Symphony. The soft strings backing the vocals in the (pre)choruses are honestly even better. Would've liked to see The Verve take an ELO-type approach (or maybe Radiohead AMSP) and really commit to an orchestral sound, because I've found that has a really high success rate among audiences. Regardless, definitely one of the most emotive, satisfying parts of the album. I'm also a big fan of the bassline and conjoined percussion/rhythm guitar parts in Life's An Ocean. A chill, groovy sound that I'm disappointed they didn't commit to for most of the record. 2/5 Key tracks: On Your Own, History

Pretty basic and what I'd expect from a random Verve album. The whole album sounded pretty much the same. Kinda meh

Here I was thinking The Verve and The Verve Pipe were the same band and I was waiting for The Freshmen. How disappointing. Just lackadaisical, boring, it seems like something better couldve been added here, No Bittersweet Symphony either, what a miss!

Sellaista menevää brittibändimeininkiä tyyliin Oasis, yhden hitin ihmebändiltä. Ei huonoja mutta ei mitään erikoistakaan.

4/10 - it’s like the other verve album but worse

4/10 A Northern Soul by The Verve is a brooding, emotional ride that captures the rawness of mid-90s British rock with a heavy, almost overwhelming atmosphere. The album feels like it’s constantly teetering between collapse and catharsis, drenched in reverb and intensity. “(Reprise)” stands out as the emotional core, closing things out with a haunting and beautiful weight that lingers long after it’s over. It encapsulates the longing and exhaustion that pulses through the entire record and shows what the band is capable of when everything clicks. That said, the album suffers from a noticeable amount of bloat. Several tracks feel stretched or unnecessary, making the whole thing more exhausting than immersive. The mood is consistent, but it sometimes comes at the cost of variety or momentum. While there are high points worth returning to, the record as a whole doesn’t quite earn its length or ambition. It’s a decent listen with flashes of brilliance, but ultimately a 4 out of 10 for me.

This is veeery boring. Even for radio this is boring. Why does it need to belong here? What is groundbreaking about this that it needs to be in the list?

I'm quite disappointed by this album. It lacks any hits and is full of tracks of the same kind that are the filler on Urban Hymns. O.K. but nothing that hooks me.

After their second album I believe on this list here is what I learned about this band. Bittersweet Symphony. Thats all you need and move on unless you like to mope around.

I dont love much 90s music aside from all the niche stuff that led to the creations of my favorite genres. That being said this didnt do anything to grab me, anything to hold me or anything to send me on my way pleased. Just a plodding, middling record to me. A shrug is sometimes worse than a dislike..

Emo-alt rock by The Verve, I think A Northern Soul was put on the 1001 List because of the album title. A few of the songs are so slow the lead singer may have fallen asleep. Not one song stands out, It’s mot that the album is bad, I’m just not sure why this one’s a must hear. Please explain. (1.7*s)

Alternative psychedelic britpop? On paper this should have been something I enjoyed. However, what I got was a bunch of mostly skippable nonsense. There's a couple decent instrumental tracks mixed in but every time a song came on that was somewhat engaging it was immediately followed by something dull and slow. I'm not sure why but I somehow found this album somewhat pretentious for some reason. When all was said and done I was surprised how mediocre this ended up being. 2.18 stars

Didn't really grab me

I love bittersweet symphony, but that’s was not on this album. Just meh.

On this album, his voice just grates me....

I remember thinking it was ok.. but I forgot everything already...

moyen bof

I remember not liking this album or the band in the 90s. While I don't dislike them as much as I used to, I'm still not a fan. It's just glossed up and weak alt rock/britpop which isn't overly interesting.

Fine. A little long and slower then i was looking for.

Started off thinking, this is fine but not sure why I had to listen to it. By the time I got to the end, I started to dislike it.

May have enjoyed it had it been released when I was 14 but I don't see how this got on the list

Another good sounding band with an unbearable singer.

Snooze.

Whining.

Groupe connu seulement par le tube 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' que j'apprécie assez. Ce n'est pas le cas de cet album qui m'a paru très long et inintéressant. Pas désagréable (+1) mais rien de remarquable. Je n'y reviendrais pas. =>2/5

the verve isch zweimol uf dere liste? scho uuuuhuere britisch de scheiss. regt mi chli uf. a new decade tönt chli noch zeppelin mit meh gschmäus huere viel gitarre überall und riesigi drums. this is music son komische titel. on your own en ballad? irgendwie ischs chli ruhelos pauselos bis etz. aber on your own het no herzigi akkörd. a northern soul nervigi gitarre? ich ha nöd sooo spass. es isch coole 90er alt rock aber meeeh nööööd. drive you home mega schöni gitarre moll. ich mag afoch nöd so wie er singt. halt afich nöd so guet. ich bi echt sochli hi und her grisse well es isch no cooli musig wo mir eigentli no wür entspreche aber es isch nie mega mega guet und ich find sini stimm echt nöd agnehm. vilicht mösti mi au afoch no dra gwöhne. plus jede sing isch huere lang und goht nöd so würkli irgendwo ane. stormy clouds no cools riff chli heavier da stohtne no.

No

There's moments during "This Is Music", "On Your Own", and "Drive You Home" where Richard Ashcroft just can't hit or sustain the notes he's looking for, and it's just sad... Sad he'd even attempt it. He seemingly thinks he's a big time singer/frontman with chops and swagger when really he's a warlber of bad teenage poetry (at best) to mediocroe music. Now, again, I'm of the age where I could appreciate The Verve when they broke out but now I'm merely thinking I had their albums at the time just to have them, because I increasingly don't even like them, I don't even remember if I listened to this one really outwith a couple of songs... They're all so fucking long, like does this album require 3 songs that are over 6 minutes long? Fuck. No. Length does not equal epicness and volume does not ensure quality.

That's a lot of the same song. It's OK to start, but I'm so done by the end.

Not my type

Sucks

kinda all just washes over me, I've never been a fan of that slice of UK music that sounds like Stone Roses cover bands. Accurate or not, that's what this makes me think of.

If you listen to the first song then you basically listened to the whole album as it all sounds the same. Like one big song that goes on and on and on. 3/10

Pretty generic and forgettable, but at least I got through it.

It starts of strong but falls into the same trap as the time period from Manchester and is just winning on for far too long

So depressing. The meds-aren't-working, existential crisis kind of depressed. Shot-the-heroin-and-didn't-die kind of depressed. If this is a favorite album of yours, I'm calling in a wellness check.

First reaction: there is a Verve album on this list that DOESN'T HAVE BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY. WHICH MEANS THERE ARE TWO VERVE ALBUMS ON THIS LIST. More brit rock :( // but there is something here. Interesting to see where Radiohead went and left these dudes in their wake.

Bon, j'arrête à la moitié, pas seulement parce que je viens d'enchaîner les trois pires albums des derniers mois dans le même bloc d'écoute, mais aussi parce qu'écouter un rip-off de The Cure (qui est de base un band que j'aime pas) ne m'apporte à la fois ni gratification, ni maturité musicale. Générateur, ayez pitié et offrez moi un banger demain, je sens que je vais craquer...

To my ears, this is kind of like a Radiohead meets Oasis album, but if both of them were trying to be boring. That said, I would maybe consider returning to this album if I was going for that specific 90s vibe and needed some background music.

The nerve of having The Verve is throwing off my ratings curve. 2/5

Not loving it, but I can see what would be appealing to others. A very full sound, without sounding discordant.

This album is pretty generic 90s brit-rock. It reminds me a bit of the band Spiritualized. This isn't anything special. Best Songs: On Your Own, History Worst Songs: So It Goes, No Knock On My Door

1995. Decent album, a bit of softer rock.

Very 90's sounding but the non-grunge vibe of the decade. I read the band was heavily using Ecstasy when they recorded this. I feel that. Some of it is melodic and easy to listen to but most tracks (Drive You Home, No Knock on My Door as primary examples) are moody and grating. Mixed bag, but I'm leaning toward a 2/5 due to the feeling of being dragged through mud, naked and with broken eardrums. And not in a good way.

It feels like a very cheap ripoff of Radiohead. Like obviously a total fucking copy. This is nothing.

4/10

Boring.

Känns som en eftermiddags-folkölsspelning på way out west

It's an alright, mellow rock album. Nothing really stood out but the lyrics seem nice. Probably wouldn't be bummed out if I never came across this one again.

Its too brit pop generic for me

Inte imponerad. Inte ett dugg faktiskt.

every song on this is like 24 hours long, was pretty boring

Rating: 3.5/10 So damn boring with no dynamic and variety whatsoever.

I thought this album had been going on longer than I expected, and I looked just to find that I was listening to the start of the second track. The average length of track on this is about five and a half minutes, just way too long for a bunch of songs that all sound the same, this album does not deserve to take up more than an hour of my time. The Verve are already on this list with Urban Hymns, which included Bittersweet Symphony, the only song I have ever heard from them otherwise. Are they really a band that was so good or influentual that they needed two entries? I know the editors of this list have an impossible task to please everyone, but this is one of the albums where you really wonder what the hell they were thinking.

Nothing here really stood out for me, did like the transitions though! Rating Bad (Strong ☆☆) Favorite Tracks: No Standouts.

It’s somewhere between decent and annoying. Too bad it doesn’t include their best songs.

It's not terrible or anything, but it did kind of blur into one.

I get it... They say this record is so shoe-gaze-adjacent and 90's indie... it weighs heavy on my heart I got so bored within 2 tracks I bailed. Although I tried a repeated retry it was a bittersweet gutterball.

I liked Urban Hymns better, but it's still pretty boring overall.... reminds me of one of those bands that sounds like a lot of other bands during their era but didn't quite find their own sound. Maybe harsh. Probably won't listen again

Who outside the UK even knew these guys had more than one record. Though I think I like this one slightly better than the other. Second rate Oasis in any case.

Loved the other album but this one... kinda boring

Meh

Lyden kan være virkelig cool, men sangene er meget hit-or-miss og pladen er alt for lang

I liked this better than Urban Hymns, but it's still pretty boring. I felt like the last part was the best, because it turned more noisy, shoegazey, which I liked. But I don't know if it was just me reaching for anything likable on this album.

eh, won't revisit but wasn't unlistenable

Well that was an ordeal. No they’re only known for Bitter Sweet Symphony

Found this quite boring and was glad when it ended.

It was ok. History is probably the only song that would be worth listening to again.

Way too much of this mid-90s dirge. I can see Urban Hymns being on the list, but not sure this one deserves to make the cut.

started great, ended meandering and so boring.

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...

Better than Urban Hymns with a more full embrace of neo-psych, but never quite interesting enough to catch my interest.

The musical equivalent of an hour-long, British, yawn. Never understood the hype. I think this is the second of theirs on this list, but clearly that wasn't memorable either.

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

Don't really love any of this, it's fine, but not my favorite

OK album. They have a cool sound but I wish there was some variety. I found it pretty monotonous.

Dit album heeft wel aardige nummers en de band is zeker niet slecht. Het is echter wel een beetje 13 in een dozijn. Lijkt op heel veel Engelse bands uit die tijd. Deze mist echter de leuke melodietjes of pakkende refreintjes. **

Oído pero no escuchado, tiende a ser repetitivo en mi caso como todas bandas británicas de ésa década, Oasis, Blur, no sé, al menos Blur experimenta más entre canciones. Las melodías son buenas por mementos, la voz no destaca ni es memorable.

I did not expect such a boring album by The Verve. I knew only Bittersweet Symphony before, and stylistically this song matches A Northern Soul, but it just lacks a hook making it a boring slugfest. I honestly imagined it to be more britrock than britpop. Not on the same level as other records from the genre.

Not a bad experience, but sort of meshes together about quarter of the way through, so it's hard to differentiate where one song ends, and another one begins. Classic brit pop/shoegaze album sonically. Lyrical themes lacked a bit in my opinion. Would give it 2.5 if I could.

One verve album on this list is understandable and enough. It isn't this album though

It’s 5am, Wednesday morning at work. It’s cold as hell, our heater stopped working. I’m tired, another 9th place at UW melee last night. But the vibes are all good. So maybe the tired is getting to me, but I feel like this album couldn’t give me a break. Sonically, it was just so constantly full of noise. I want to understand this trend, I want to know what led to this being somewhat commonplace in the genre of british pop / post rock / y2k rock. Did Radiohead just blow the doors down for this sound and then everyone tried to follow suit? I could barely grasp onto any melody or lyrical hook because it felt so buried in the brigade of guitar reverb but also prolonged vocal performances but also loud percussion but also full looping bass lines. “Brainstorm Interlude” is perhaps the worst offender of this noise blitzkrieg. My highlight is probably the more mellow reprieve from all the noise, “On Your Own.” I wanted to like this more than I did, and think I would like the songs if they were composed and performed with less of a deluge of reverb and echo and noise coming at me from all angles

Probably would have pretended to like it when I was 15

Reprise was definitely the best part of this album. I don’t find this band’s lyrics or singing particularly compelling, but I enjoy the instrumental sections quite a bit.

They were a one hit wonder. That hit is not on this record. Even one album on the list is very generous, but it definitely shouldn't be this one. It's like an even more boring version of Oasis. Nothing stands out.

While I appreciate what these guys do - a second album on this list? Again - seriously?

You start listeing while doing some chore, but find yourself wondering when the next track is going to start, because the current track isn't very good to begin with. Then, suddenly, the album has finished playing. This, in a nutshell, is The Verve's A Northern Soul. 2/5

Wasn’t my cup of tea. It wasn’t bad per say just seemed very dull and boring.

Didn’t feel exciting, not bad but not good

I don't think I finished the majority of songs on this album, which is a rarity. Painfully boring, that's my main takeaway.

aside from History this album is nothing to write home about, quite dull in fact - Urban Hymns better be on this list

Pretty bland cod-psychadelia. Left no impression

Not horrible, but far to droney to listen to again.

aggressively mid in a way that makes me feel less bad that i only knew this band from the one song of there's everyone knows

A little dissonance, a little blah, some annoyance, but nothing interesting or entertaining here - nothing got my attention.

it improved but was hard to get into tbh

Meh. 2/5

Not a patch on their debut

I know the band but not this album or any of the tracks. I was excited to get into this one and was immediately let down by the first two songs which were just 90's noise. The Verve I came to know showed it's head after that but I still didn't get into it. The songs were ALL too long, the melody was missing & the songs just wandered aimlessly. No real hooks, just repetitive, dark, averagely bland 90's rock. If I had to choose the two best songs: "On Your Own" & "History". I heard nothing that would ever make me want to listen to this album again. 2 stars, tops. Not 1001 worthy.

Tussen Oasis en U2, veel van hetzelfde.

idk why lead singer man has to be giving me a stinky face on the album cover. So I'll deduct 2 points for that right off the bat. Otherwise, this one is pretty plain and forgettable. I've said this before, but it's really tough for me to get behind a band like The Verve having not one, but multiple albums on this list. Surely we can kick one out in place of another.

A record so devoid of spirit that its title becomes an accidental punch line.

Te weinig variatie qua tempo, dynamiek in de instrumentatie en zang, etc. Als het album 20 minuten korter was had dat me iets minder gestoord, maybe. Losse nummers hier en daar zijn niet verkeerd, maar als een geheel album voelt het te veel in het midden tussen de extremen van shoegaze en (alt) rock waardoor het niet echt iets eigens heeft. Nog minder zelfs als je bedenkt dat er in die periode al verschillende bands waren die een veel sterker eigen geluid hadden aan beide extremen zoals My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Oasis, Radiohead, etc, waardoor dit gewoon in hun schaduw valt voor me.

OK

If the Brits had to choose the greatest British band from the 90s, I'm sure they would say Radiohead or maybe Oasis. But if Brits had to choose the second greatest British band of the 90s, they could do worse than to say the Verve (Chumbawamba comes to mind, for instance). Of course, A Northern Soul does little to help the band's case. It is clearly one of the Verve's early trial and error albums, composed almost entirely of a crapulous, never ending grunge guitar riff. And God help them, the lyrics are rife with the worst trends of 90s rock: over indulgent pathos, oh so misunderstood, and generally super cringe. It seems evident that 2/3 the way through the album, someone put their foot down and demanded to include some songs that didn't all sound the same. 'History' is the point in the album where this happens. It is still underdeveloped as a song, but the immediate and persistent pairing of orchestral strings with not-unending-echo-guitar-riffs-for-fucking-once suddenly produces a workable sound, insisting on a sense of reemergence and discovery that plainly motivates the band. The next few songs, which still aren't really worth listening to again, similarly demonstrate more stuttering willingness to experiment. The Best 1001 Albums seems to include the lead-up efforts for several bands' most iconic albums, as if to demonstrate the bands' story arcs from mediocrity to legends, and they do so here with the Verve. The album is still shite, and I will not rate it well, but I love hearing the Verve's dramatic machinations and side quests on their path to British 90s rock glory, which would reach a triumphant apex two years later with the album Urban Hymns. It opens (and now I know why) with 'Bittersweet Symphony' in all of it's orchestral resplendence.

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.

Boring and repetitive. I can't believe there are (at least) two "The Verve" albums on this list...

Another Boring Basic British album from the list that brought you all those other Boring Basic British albums we now know and don't love. They sound like they want to be U2 so bad. A handful of tracks weren't terrible

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

I do enjoy my British pop-rock, but over an hour of it was a bit much. I enjoyed it at first, but it kind of blended together after a while. I'm not sure if it was the fatigue or if the songs genuinely got less interesting.

Boring

This is music, and it's not very good. Favorite Song: "This Is Music".

Meh

The verve only have one good song and and it’s not even on this album

**An ok album

Being bloated at 12 tracks tells you all you need to know.

I liked them when they came put ut this album is way too repetitive amd has not held up through the test of time. It sounds like the same song for the first 6 songs. They are good musicoans and band and feel the type of music had not let the band go to fullest of potential.

There isn’t much here for me. It’s 90s rock where the singer’s voice can’t keep up with his vision. Their slower songs are better in my opinion, but not by much.

Great production. Just ok songs. Strikes me as their Be Here Now. A band flush on the high of superstardom decides there's magic in first drafts and first takes and whatever happens when they hit the red record button is GOLD and deserves to go on the record. It wasn't bad. And maybe I'll listen again later and feel differently. But this was another example of an album that just does not belong on any MUST LISTEN list.

It's fairly middle of the road stuff. Dragged down by longer songs that don't really go anywhere. The title track is a bit better, with a heavier groove, and at least Brainstorm Interlude is trying to do something different with a more psychedelic sound. Overall, too long and not enough here to warrant a repeat listen. Highlights: On Your Own, History

Dull, poorly mixed wall of noise with some weak singing, definitely not for me

A couple good songs but that’s the story of the Verve.

i think i'm supposed to really like it but its quite dull. history is obviously very good mind you

Calling this dirge is generous, as is a 2* rating

Looong and whiny. I had enough of The Verve with Urban Hymns.

The instrumentation is always good and enjoyable enough, but the vocals really just plod on and feel apathetic. Hard to stay engaged and not feel like I'm waiting for it to be over.

Do not like

There's a decent sound here, but it just doesn't go anywhere.

A Northern Soul was good, the rest really rather dull. Everything sounded murmured through a tunnel. Not for me. Presume Urban Hymns is better.

Rock, 1995 -> 2

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

Quite boring and uneventful

Thank God Pulp and Blur exist to save Britpop from this stuff.

Kind of meh, like oasis but with boring songs. Didn’t finish

Ehhhh

Didn’t love it

Would I listen to it again: no Do I like it: no

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.

-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

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.

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.

Again the wrong album selected. Urban Hymns was the one to choose

Okay

This was dreadfully boring! I knew one song, extra star

After also getting Pavement and Smashing Pumpkins this week, I'm afraid I can no longer care about this

very british

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

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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*

'Richard Ashcroft. He's so talented' Everyone in 1995

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.

It was okay

Britpop que não me incomoda, mas um disco com mais de 60 minutos ficou cansativo.

Yeeaahhhh... non-specific, melodramatic lyrics with really noisy and hazy guitars is not a recipe for enjoyment in my book. 3/10

Very meh. This band sounded like they were actively doing drugs while recording the album.

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 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.

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"

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.

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".

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

What’s the purpose of including an album that’s just Urban Hymns without ”Bittersweet Symphony”?

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.

2.5 Feel like I have heard this album done a million times before, nothing new about it

Just drowned on

Boring 2/5

I dont even remember listening to this album, thats how forgettable it was Significant 36/111 Liked 17/111 Added 4/111 NNN

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.