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Reviews of: Forthby The Verve
Product Description Warning: the Verve’s wittily titled fourth album--the first since their reformation in 2007--is no Urban Hymns Part II. That much is clear from the album’s first single "Love Is Noise," a punchy-yet-addictive propulsive rocker, but it’s a fact underlined several times on the remainder of the album. Taking a determined stroll along the boulevard of experimentalism, the band mix up their slick strings and ringing guitars with dense drums and murky soundscapes for this comeback album. Opening cut “Sit and Wonder” sets the tone: a lurching, bluesy tune with a loose, jam-session feel that maintains its groove for almost seven minutes. The soaring (and shorter) “Rather Be,” the dreamy “Judas” and the plodding “I See Houses” bring us closer to the classic Verve sound, but the retreat into moody psychedelia continues anew with “Numbness,” the intense “Noise Epic” and the kaleidoscopic, Can-like “Colombo”. Despite these darker moments being indulgently drawn-out at times they serve to raise the more euphonious moments--surprise anthems like “Valium Skies” included--to even more heavenly realms, and create a compelling chiaroscuro along the way. --Danny McKenna Reviews Forget your expectations, chill out and prepare to be taken on a soulful musical journey.. Obviously Love is Noise is a great track, certainly the most obvious choice for a single, their stunning live performance of it at Glastonbury was certainly a testament to its energetic, crowd pleasing potential. However, if I had to take a pick of the bunch, I would go for Appalachian Springs and Sit & Wonder as being my favourites, closely followed by Valium Skies and Judas - each one equally as detailed and soulful as the next. So that's 5 tracks that instantly grabbed my attention upon first listen!!! - and you know what? - that's FIVE more tracks than any other album I've heard this year, or for the last 5 years in fact, so for that reason alone, 5 stars is well deserved. Overall the detail in each composition is excellent, the guitar work superb, and the lyrics are delivered in a powerful, emotional way - exactly how they should be, and in terms of track running order, it flows nicely too. I think it's one of those albums that will certainly grow on people more and more with each listen, and I would say the environment and mood you are in whilst listening to it will make a whole lot of difference too - this is especially true for the additional tracks I've not yet mentioned - they are all growers. The vibe is deep and detailed, and requires a bit more than just a passing flick through the CD to find out what's going on. If all you want is a collection of lame 3 minute pop songs, then look elsewhere. Chill out, and listen to it properly from start to end several times, just relax and be prepared to be taken on a journey, and I'm sure you'll come back appreciating it more and more each time. With Forth I think The Verve done a stellar job, it might not have so many obvious 'stadium anthems' as Urban Hymns, but it's certainly very deep and detailed with plenty of soul, which for me, is what music should be all about - here's to hoping they can hold it together long enough to pull off another one, and with any luck do a few more gigs too! 2008-11-05 They got away with a forth? Not on my watch! I bought this album last week and forcefully misplaced it. It's not a happy do, this. I listened to it twice just to be sure i was once again medically depressed. We are now in an age where happiness is of paramount importance. This should be the soundtrack to Emmerdale or Eastenders. That would just about finish off the nation! How much more self pity and auditory gruel can we take? How have they got away with a forth? Go spank your stereo, spit it out! spit it out! dirty! Now slip in a bit of Corrosion of Conformity and whack out the good vibes dude and CHEER UP! COC know how to complain in a positive, happy fashion. See! "positive happy fashion" now that's a name for an album. Forth? not on my watch buzzo. 2008-10-22 Storm in a teacup Is this actually any good? Is it another Urban Hymns/Northern Soul/Storm in Heaven? Is it another Ashcroft-solo-effort-middle-of-the-road-also-ran dressed up as The Verve? I think you can guess without even listening, but you should still listen. To my ears, it's not a five out of five, let's put it that way. But don't be too disheartened. Life's a bitter sweet symphony, "Mad" Richard may be history, "Forth" might not work, you come in on your own and you leave on your own... Here's how to deal with it: If you're looking for a fix of 1990s Verve, there's quite a bit of relatively undiscovered Verve material out there that you may never have heard. Have you tried This Is Music: The Singles 92-98, which has a few tracks not on the albums, including the stonking Gravity Grave? Or what about No Come Down: B-Sides & Outtakes -- a few more unheard chunes on there, including a brilliant live version of Gravity Grave from Glasto 1993. Also worth tracking down are the various single releases from Urban Hymns -- two or three B-sides on each one. Scout around and you can actually find maybe a dozen more tracks from the 1990s that you may quite like. If you're just an Urban Hymns devotee, try A Northern Soul and A Storm in Heaven -- many Verve fans (me included) think those are far better. Sorry that's not really a review of Forth, but it might be helpful to you if you're feeling frustrated that Forth isn't more of the "classic same". 2008-10-15 An album for all music fans I wasn't sure whether i would like this album as i bought it without even hearing a single song off it, the cover did it for me, i don't know why but it's just a beautiful image and i imagined that any music contained within would be just as good. The music fits that image well. Out of the whole album there is only one song i'm not too keen on but it's certainly not a bad song, the rest i loved on the first listen through and that's a very rare thing for me. I really don't understand people giving this bad reviews, you will not regret buying this. 2008-10-09 Don't listen to the haters As a Verve fan I've listened to the album over & over again on my work PC & in my Car and I rate it highly! Stand out songs for me are 'Numbness', 'Noise Epic' & my personal favourite 'Columbo'. Great Album.....Buy it! 2008-10-06 |
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