The Verve Return
The Beloved Rock Band of the 1990s is Back and Better than Ever
One of the most influential and best know alternative acts of the 1990s was the British band The Verve. After ten tense, drug-fuelled, creative years together, they released the critically acclaimed, bestselling album Urban Hymns and disbanded, seemingly for good, shortly thereafter. Ten years later, they have reformed with Forth, their fourth album.
Early Career
The Verve was originally comprised of Peter Salisbury on drums, Simon Jones on bass, Nick McCabe on guitar and vocalist Richard Ashcroft, who Rolling Stone magazine describes as "the lippy sex poet on the mike, a long, tall swirl of cheekbones and pretension" and their blend of 60s-era psychedelia and the shimmering layers of the shoegazer sound soon generated buzz in the British music industry.
Formed in Wigan, just outside of Manchester, in 1989 and signed to Hut Records in 1991, they released a self-titled EP the following year and their full-length debut, A Storm In Heaven in 1993. Rapturous critical praise propelled The Verve in 1994, but tensions between McCabe and Ashcroft were straining the band, fuelled by increasing drug use. Their second album, the neo-psychedelic A Nothern Soul met with disappointing reviews upon its release in 1995 and no wonder, it had been recorded under a steady haze of Ecstasy.
The Verve split a few months after their second album was released. But it wasn't to last - Ashcroft, who had initiated the split, reformed the band a few weeks later though McCabe refused to return. Simon Tong was hired to replace him and stayed on even though McCabe would eventually rejoin the group.
Britpop
In 1995 Britain the alternative subgenre known as Britpop was nearing the peak of its popularity. The Verve's connections to other bands and retro-fusion sound automatically sandwiched them in with the guitar hook-heavy acts such as Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Suede, Lush, Elastica, Supergrass and Sleeper.
As well as the glut of bands throwing their hats into the Britpop arena, drugs, alcohol and general overindulgence overtook the elite of the scene. The Verve was not to release another album until 1997's Urban Hymns.
Urban Hymns and Bittersweet Symphony
Nick McCabe returned to The Verve in early 1997 and the quintet recorded the triumphant Urban Hymns, an album that earned them both critical and commercial success at home and around the world.
But as always with The Verve, success was tainted by bitterness, anger and frustration. The album's first single and smash hit, named as one of Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Bittersweet Symphony uses as its base, a sample from an instrumental Rolling Stones track called The Last Waltz. A pointless and drawn-out court battle between The Verve and The Rolling Stones camp ended in a decision giving songwriting credits and all royalties to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger alone.
After three albums, international success and roughly ten years together, The Verve had had its share of ups and downs, and by the end of 1999 had split, seemingly for good.
A New Album - Forth
The announcement that The Verve were reforming was met with suprise and excitement by fans and the music industry alike. Could the volatile relationship between Nick McCabe and Richard Ashcroft have mellowed with age? Could The Verve still be relevant?
Following the announcement Salisbury, Ashcroft, McCabe and Jones hit the studio and announced a string of UK and US tour dates. Their first single in ten years, the sweeping Love Is Noise was released in July, 2008 and will be followed by their first album since the blockbuster smash Urban Hymns.
Unlike many bands who are reuniting, this one seems different. The Verve have always hinted at more than they were able to give, and have not lost any of what made them so beloved in the 90s.
