Customer Reviews

Northern Soul

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Urban Hymns" is a fine album, but "A Northern Soul" is the Verve's greatest record. Why? It's the intensity -- seldom have I heard rock music performed with such passion and desperation. The band, and especially Richard Ashcroft, pour their hearts and souls into every track as if their lives depend on it. Much has been written about the squalor surrounding the recording of "A Northern Soul" -- the drugs, the broken glass, the screaming arguments -- and you can hear the effects in the music. The production is far from perfect; it sounds murky, and the mixes sometimes sound odd. Every track is amazing, but special consideration must be given to "So It Goes," the title track, "History" and "No Knock on My Door." Richard sings with a far purer voice on "Urban Hymns" and his new solo record, but the pain he exorcises here -- it's about a break up of devastating circumstances -- and how he does it is stunning. It's absolutely tragic that this magnificent record tanked outside the U.K.; indeed, the band broke up because of it, almost for good. If you've only heard "Urban Hymns", I hereby command you, dear reader, to purchase "A Northern Soul" and bask in its imperfect, yet mesmerizing glory.

If you know of the Verve as the "Bittersweet Symphony" song and the Urban Hymns album, then you're definitely missing out on what the Verve is all about. A Northern Soul is in many ways, even better than Urban Hymns. Soul hads a slightly harder sound, with songs like "A New Decade","This is Music", the title track "A Northern Soul", and "No Knock on My Door". But the album also contains ballads like the excellent "On Your Own" and "So It Goes". It also contains a song that sounds a lot a track from Urban Hymns, which is "History". It also contains a few songs that sound a lot like A Storm in Heaven, their debut album, these being "Stormy Clouds", "Life's An Ocean", and "Drive You Home" All in all, the album has the right balance of sound, and at times, it's simply amazing. The album does have a weak song or two, one of which is "Drive You Home" But one of the best things I like about this album is being able to understand most of the lyrics. In their previous albums, the lyrics are echoed out and tough to hear, but A Northern Soul is much better, with Richard Ashcroft's lyrics coming to the front of the music.

It's just incredible to me that Verve (or "The Verve," if you prefer) released only three albums. Their second album, "Northern Soul," perfectly bridges the lush swirling guitar sounds of "A Storm In Heaven," and the more mainstream, heavily orchestrated "Urban Hymns." While guitarist Nick McCabe clearly dominated "Storm," on "Northern Soul" (and continuing with "Urban Hymns") their is no doubt that vocalist, Richard Ashcroft, became the leader and chief visionary of the band. As compared to the prior album, Ashcroft sings with much more emotional depth and confidence. His lyrics are almost achingly personal and painful. It's notable how he uses repetition of certain phrases to imply deeper meaning in a number of songs, much the same way that the brilliant Thom Yorke of Radiohead does this.

While "Northern Soul" is a fine and consistent album (I like several of the tracks alot, namely "A New Decade," "This is Music," "On Your Own," "So It Goes," "History," "No Knock On My Door"), I don't think it reaches the level of the best portions of "Storm" or "Hymns," wich is why I gave it "only" four stars. Additionally some of the songs run on a verse or two too long. Nevertheless, "Northern Soul," holds its own as part of the extraordinary Verve trilogy of albums. Why did they break up?

At first I thought this albumn was disappointing when compared to "A Storm in Heaven" and "Urban Hymns." I had to play it a couple times to really get into it, but now I can't take it out of my CD player. It definitely does not take a back seat to any other albumn I've ever listened to. I regret my initial judgment, but I often need to listen to an albumn a few times before I get its vibe. If you are thinking about buying this because you like "Urban Hymns", stop thinking and buy it - you won't regret it.

On their 2nd LP, the Verve have managed to use all their influences: Can, Led Zepplin, Miles Davis, Nick Drake, and more, yet have crafted original, powerful, timeless rock and roll. Every song is heartfelt and emotional with Richard's Ashcroft's painfully honest lyrics and soulful singing. Nick McCabe's guitar work here is miles ahead of any of his peers. His playing ranges from towering and immense to subtle and understated, but always tasteful, beautiful, and unique. Plus, the Verve have the benefit of having the best rhythm section in the world. Simon Jones' original basslines give songs an added rythmic flavor other bands fail to use ("Life's An Ocean" being the best example). Peter Salisbury displays his masterful drumming, which, not unlike McCabe's guitars, can provide full-on power or a quiet, underlying flow. All four elements combine perfectly, with a chemistry rarely seen in bands today. A Northern Soul offers touching ballads ("On Your Own" and "History"), experiments in noise ("A Northern Soul" and "Brainstorm Interlude"), straight ahead rock music ("This Is Music" and "No Knock On My Door"), and much more. With its densely layered production, it is the kind of record where you will hear new sounds with each listening. This is a dark, yet cathartic album of potent songs that will leave you wanting more and more. Here the Verve offer you wjat their name suggests: music full of life, passion, and vigor. Key tracks: every single one of them.

I don't think there has ever been a band that has elicited so many contrasting emotional responses for me as The Verve (pain and joy, beauty and tragedy, loss and love). Followers will know the blue collar boys from Wigan viewed their contribution to rock as something that could expand the conscious of what music is. Singer Richard Ashcroft talked of how the band were creating music as if it were the last time they'd step foot in a recording studio. These to me are examples and qualities of a mindset that is so sadly lacking in most of todays rather unobtrusive market.

To me "A Northern Soul" reaches isolated depths of harrowism without ever sounding pretentious. Guitarist Nick McCabe's psychedelics is like a hard-hitting assault on the senses, and Ashcroft complements and enchances that with a vocal fervor only matched by Eddie Vedder. Bassist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury are often overlooked yet invaluable in their rhythmic positions.

ANS does contain some prettier tracks (On Your Own, Drive You Home), but Ashcroft and McCabe's "broken glass" relationship helped propel the Verve sound into a whole nother level of loudness and madness. For my money "A Storm In Heaven" and ANS are the best 1-2 punch of the '90s.

My grieve of seeing a small number of reviews was soon replaced by incredible feeling of pride. This music is created for someone who craves a flight above grayness and fuss... It draws down the curtains of small empty world beyond dark window and opens the one to see Heaven, to talk to God. Listening to visual poems and seeing the sounds of music gives me a feeling I was endowed with a great gift of flying... While talking to "A Northern Soul" I feel a pair of wings spread beyond my back taking me away again...

I hear older guys always complaining that they "don't make music like they used to." They always like to compare today's music with that which they grew up with, classic stuff from the 60's and 70's, where the music was a story, and the band made an album, not just a bunch of singles that were mashed together under the same title.

Well, this is an album, not just a bunch of singles, and it is a testament to the history and greatness of both Rock and the British Invasion.

Listening to "A Northern Soul" is a journey, reminiscent of Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues, wherein a story is told over the course of an entire album. Today's music is, yes, a bunch of singles meant to be published on the radio piecemeal by Corporate Radio and its sponsors. But the Verve have captured something far more meaningful than a handful of singles they intended to have sold separately to Corporate Listeners...they captured a feeling.

The title track is the best, undoubtedly, but you can't listen to it without the rest, and you can't listen to it jumbled; it has to flow from the first, to the second, to the third, right down to the last track.

Everyone knows "Bittersweet Symphony" is one of the best rock songs ever, and certainly one of the best in the modern era, but the Verve are much more than just that one song; they are a story waiting to be told...through haunting guitar and a timeless voice.

The Rolling Stones? With all due respect, they can kiss my @$$, because they decided to steal the Verve's well-deserved royalties for Ashcroft's incredible writing. HE wrote the song, HE deserves the credit for it, and the Verve deserve the royalties that THEY - not Mick Jagger and Keith Richards - earned.

Listen to "The Last Time" by the Stones, then listen to "Bittersweet Symphony." They're not the same song.

Sometimes I crave this album...I will sit in my car at a red light and suddenly..I am frantic..I will be rummaging though my CD case trying to find where I put this beautiful thing...and much to the pleasure of the person behind me...before the second honk...I usually get it.

The essence of what makes this album so amazing is that it is perfectly balanced. It is so close to riding the edge of something so powerful and yet something so gentle you can't help but let it seep into you. It often sickens me that these five people could be so brilliant...and still not be together.

Ashcroft's voice is so versatile in the emotion that it can generate. Throughout this album it ranges between a confident observer in "This Is Music" to a hopelful but spent man in "History"....

However, I must say that this album belongs to guitarist Nick McCabe. The presence of his influence is heard (even more so now that Ashcroft has a solo out) best in this album. The intensity of his playing is stunning and volatile all in the same moment.

The album shows just how much 'soul' this group had.

The Verve has slowly made their way into being one of my favorite bands (too bad that I've heard they've now broken up). Urban Hymns was once "down" in my top 20, but every time I listen to it, I raise it a notch. Now it is solidly in my top 10 CDs of all-time, moving into U2/Dire Straits territory.

Which made me recently go out and buy "A Northern Soul". I figured I had to try another Verve CD since I like Urban Hymns so much. And am I glad I did! These guys are just amazing! What incredible, spectacular music! Great vocals, driving rythyms, and pulsating guitars punctuate the CD, with their touching, quiet ballads lending good balance. "History" has to be the best song I've heard in a long time.

I will agree with many of the reviews here that the production of this CD is weak. However, the "rawness" of the production doesn't detract too much from the CD. In fact, it gave me a sense that I was listening to a band on the verge of greatness. And their greatness was to come a little later with Urban Hymns. Still, their talent is undeniable, and this is a must-buy.