Customer Reviews

This Is Music: The Singles 92-98

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many stateside listeners know The Verve only from the song "Bittersweet Symphony," or perhaps the album Urban Hymns. For these listeners, there is a wealth of great music to be found on this greatest hits album. Songs such as "This is Music" and "History" are easily on par with the better known tracks from Urban Hymns, such as the gems "The Drugs Don't Work" and "Lucky Man." Fans will surely have favorite songs that didn't meet the "singles" requirement for inclusion on this album. For me, "So Sister" would have completed this 5 Star effort. However, it's pretty safe to say that this is the best of The Verve, and therefore some of the best music around. If you already own all of these tracks then you might be dissapointed with this package--there are two new tracks, but no live or rare material (thus, the label "Singles"). Still worth the price of admission for Verve fans.

The title of my review is not meant as a put down of, say, Radiohead, Blur, Suede, Oasis, etc.(all worthy bands); but, IMHO this single disc overview of the Verve's output is terrific for both the general enthusiast of great Britpop, as well as those who have the other Verve c.d.'s. (The 2 unreleased tracks are also very good.)

This is one of the few bands that I feel I've been actually lucky to have gotten to know. Once you just sit and listen to them, and the music grabs you, it's a beautiful thing. This is a great singles collection, and includes most of the essential tunes from "Urban Hymns", the excellent "History" and "On Your Own" from the "A Northern Soul" album, "Blue", and some amazing extras. Had this been a "best of", I would have also wanted "Already There" and "One Day", but it can't have it all. Also, the booklet doesn't really say anything about the songs, or which album they came from, it's mostly just pictures. Overall, the most I can really say, is that he who listens to The Verve, is a "Lucky Man".

how aamzing i feel hen i hear this collection of their best work the singles. i own all three of their albums and the eps but this has a few extras that i couldnt live without. included is the extended version of gravity grave, which alone is worth the money. the extended jam on gravity grave is impeccable. then there's the amazing new songs that are included as well called monte carlo and this could be my moment. monteo carlo has a bass heavy sound and for once nick mccabes guitar isnt so in your face, which is not bad now and then. this could..is a great tune with a lot of catchiness to it and a good pop ready hit. i can see why they left it off urban hymns though, it sounded a but silly compared to those anthemic tunes. if you're a verve fan, this is one album you cannot live without. although i dont suggest you buy 1the companion dvd for this album considering their early videos were undeservingly bad. the songs were so amazing but their videos...pfft. anyway, get this!

This collection is a good way to be introduced to The Verve but the tracks taken from the album "A Storm In Heaven," "Slide Away" and "Blue" are not so much remastered as remixed, bringing Richard Ashcroft's vocals to the forefront instead of letting them swirl through Nick McCabe's amazing guitar work as on the original album. I was incredibly disappointed by this decision as "A Storm In Heaven" is a powerful album as it was originally mixed and was I was looking forward to hearing the two tracks remastered on this collection. I sincerely hope this isn't a sign of what's to come if all three Verve albums are remastered. "A Storm In Heaven" is an amazing album and if it is to be remastered, the sound should be expanded, not re-done. Whether this is Richard Ashcroft's ego interfering and trying to re-write history (no pun intended) or just a poor choice by the album producer I'm not sure. For excellent examples of remastering work, see the remasters of the entire Slowdive catalog and The Jesus and Mary Chain. For an example of a poor remastering job where tracks were re-done, see Tori Amos' collection "Tales Of A Librarian."

The epilogue to the The Verve's six-year-long meteoric rise to Britrock fame, This Is Music is a compilation of all of Verve's singles plus two tracks from their Urban Hymns period. First, I must say that overall this is a marvellous CD: all of the songs on This Is Music are brilliantly placed so that they flow together seamlessly. Instead of being a tired rehash of Urban Hymns plus a few other singles, This Is Music exhibits the whole spectrum of Verve's sublime sound, from their trippy early style to their glorious, more mainstream late period. I found every song on this CD to be a delight, except one: "This Could Be My Moment" is a simple pop song that is totally incongruous with the rest of the CD and would be more appropriate on Richard Ashcroft's debut album Alone With Everybody, or possibly Escapology by Robbie Williams. However, the rest of the CD more than makes up for what "This Could Be My Moment" lacks. In some way, every song shows something else Richard Ashcroft can do vocally: during the CD, he not only sings, but also moans, warbles, whispers, and screams, to name but a few. Ashcroft's vocals are complemented yet never overpowered by Nick McCabe's stellar guitar playing. "Gravity Grave" in particular displays the subtleties of McCabe's style and the band's overall astounding musicality.

In closing, This Is Music is a fabulous CD that I would recommend to fellow Verve fans as well as to anyone just curious about the band, because music of this quality simply does not and cannot disappoint :)

The Verve was a British band of the 1990's who have since broken up. On this CD we have 14 of the best Verve songs from their era of existence 1992-98. I really like this album and am awarding it 4.5 stars. I first heard of this band in June 1997 when staying in London, when their justly-famous and classic song Bittersweet Symphony made the UK top 5 . Even better was the achingly-beautiful yet despairing lament The Drugs Don't Work, which reached #1 on the UK chart in September 1997. I was working as a locum doctor in a psychiatric clinic at the time in Birmingham, England, and could really relate to the heartfelt pain that this song evokes, yet it has one of the most beautiful of melodies. Third song Lucky Man was also fantastic, as was the fourth song: Sonnet. All these were off the 1997 album Urban Hymns. After really getting into these songs in 1997-98, I later found out that the Verve actually had two earlier albums I'd not heard, and from these were taken other good songs like This Is Music, History and Gravity Grave etc.

The Verve were a great band with strong choruses, trippy production, and emotive, slightly avant-garde lyrics. Their vocalist Richard Ashcroft is a distinctive and highly-talented singer/songwriter who has continued on in the 2000's as a solo artist, though I know little about the other band members.

Highly regarded compilation CD.

for the person that wrote that this is a one hit wonder band, you really need to do your homework. the verve was one of the biggest bands in the 90's in the UK. they shaped alot of bands that play today. So the person who needs to have their head checked is you. but this is a great band and a great albums. I have most of The verve's cds and they are great.

I will not sit here and argue about the track selection on a cd entitled "Singles". People who do that are silly. Read the f***ing title! I will comment on what was done and the singles themselves. Compilations are obviously a mixed bag for most. Familiar tracks for the masses that don't want to delve into the catalogs of artists or take the time to find out what they are really about. Just skim the surface. This is very evident when you get to the material from their last two albums. The singles released from those albums were basically solo Ashcroft songs accompanied by the rest of the band. The real reason to purchase this disc in my opinion is to have remastered versions of their first single "All In The Mind" and the full length version of "Gravity Grave" (an edited version was on the self-titled EP). Also, the new track "Monte Carlo" is a worthy addition in my opinion. Which, everyone is saying is from the Urban Hymns sessions (some have have said maybe Northern Soul). I believe it was actually recorded around the time of A Storm In Heaven (produced by John Leckie). Anyway, pick this up for whatever reason. Which for most, will probably be "Bittersweet Symphony"! Oh well!

I have just recently discovered The Verve. It seems that I went right through the 90's without knowing nothing about this great band. Heard Bittersweet Symphony performed by Richard Ashcroft and Coldplay at the Live 8 Concert in July 2005 in London and inmediately fell in love with this truly great song. Went on to find more about these guys who unfortunately went separate ways before the end of the century. Despite claims from rock legends (Rolling Stones) that Bittersweet Symphony was plagiarized from them, I just totally connected with this beautiful song which appearently became a symbol of a whole generation. Richard Ashcroft lyrics are great. Music also. SO if you happen to be a like me, and never heard anything by The Verve, please go ahead and start with Bittersweet Symphony.