Caught somewhere between Madchester and Gallagher-ism’s, Urban Hymns (1997) found the Manc’s of The Verve picking up the pieces of a broken scene and doing the best they could with the materials on hand. It wouldn’t be long before Creation Records saw its demise, and Cool Britannia had taken its toll, and all the while Britpop had slowly been the infection killing British music; through it all, and not without a few breakups, the Verve had been quietly (though musically as well) biding their time. And then their moment struck, in a chiming, simple four note sample taken from the Rolling Stones. “Bittersweet Symphony” became one of the fastest selling singles of the year and broke the band across the pond; but it is not simply that song and its ensuing controversy that made the band infamous, but rather, the hypermelodic, groovy lull of Urban Hymns which signaled a band that had stepped into the groove and hit their stride almost perfectly. The blue croon of singer Richard Ashcroft made other singles such as “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Sonnet” smashes as well, but it the collective din of the band, somewhere between Spacemen 3 in rehab and The London Philharmonic on acid that makes them so appealing. Guitarist Nick McCabe’s unhinged and primal playing gives the album a definite hamfistedness that bobs around through the course of the record, but over 75 minutes, The Verve create what could be considered the first post-Britpop album. They touch on everything that came before and make very direct allusion to what would come next with British bands like Supergrass and Grandaddy and even Coldplay; a mash of superproduced rhythmic histrionics matched with an equally deft sense of drive and purpose. If only Oasis had taken notes.
Listen to “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Catching the Butterfly” (Live, 1998)
Download “Urban Hymns“
