Urban Hymns by The Verve
By Eamon O'Neill
I can change, I can change
The summer of 1997. Oasis had just released their underwhelming, overwrought ‘Be Here Now’, U2 had taken their first mis-step with the disappointing, unfinished ‘Pop’, and girl power was at a fever pitch as the Spice Girls had recently scored their forth No.1 UK single in a row. The Prodigy were riding high with ‘The Fat of The Land’, Will Smith was taking on the worst scum of the universe with the Men in Black, and in amongst all of this came Richard Ashcroft, casually strutting down music’s high street, barging through anything that stood in his way with undeniable swagger.
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
If Ashcroft looked pissed in that iconic video for ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, perhaps it was because he saw what was coming. Famously fractious, his band The Verve had already split up once, following the release of sophomore album ‘A Northern Soul’, and before the decade was out, would do so again. And oh boy, would that song bring with it problems of its own.
Originally conceived as a solo project by Ashcroft, ‘Urban Hymns’ was a new start for the Wigan outfit. Forming in 1990, the singer was joined by guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury, adding Simon Tong on guitars and keyboards by the time they came to record this, their defining third album.
From the off, the enigmatic front man was its driving force. Their first, and only album as a five-piece, it was written principally by Ashcroft, with four of its thirteen tracks credited to the band as a whole.
I'm a million different people from one day to the next
Released as its lead single, ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ arrived in mid-June, with ‘Urban Hymns’ following in late September. Underpinned by a propulsive beat and featuring a doomy lyrical content that Aschroft himself would comment on saying; “you’re a slave to the money and then you die’; no-one would say that would be a popular song”, it was an unlikely hit. Indeed, he was initially unhappy with it to the point of almost dropping the song completely. Enter producer Youth, who added looped samples lifted from an obscure - though not obscure enough, as it would turn out - orchestral version of the Rolling Stones’ ‘The Last Time’, and a classic was born.
Track one, side one, the song’s gargantuan success looms large over the album. Where Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album is crammed with some of the greatest tracks they ever recorded, it’s largely defined by ‘Stairway to Heaven’s mythical status, and so too ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ casts its lengthy shadow over ‘Urban Hymns’. Nearest rival ‘Lucky Man’ might have a staggering 98 million views on YouTube, but 'Bittersweet Symphony' has almost ten times that, at 926 million at the time of writing. On Spotify it’s a similar story, with those same two tracks garnering 139 million plays versus 872 million.
Although one of the defining songs of the era, like a-ha’s ‘Take on Me’ in the ‘80s, it’s also one of the greatest never to have reached No.1 in the U.K., being held off by first Hanson’s ‘Mmm Bop’, and then Puff Daddy and Faith Evans’ Biggie Smalls tribute ‘I’ll Be Missing You’.
And yeah, about that sample. Layering three distinct parts to create the percussive, stringed refrain loop - the longest of which is just over ten seconds - was, unbelievably, enough to see Mick Jagger and Keith Richards awarded credits and royalties as the song’s sole writers, with Ashcroft only noted as the lyricist. Even the currently available 2016 vinyl version is credited this way.
Thankfully for Ashcroft, it wasn’t the only moment of genius on the album. The often misunderstood ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ - written about his father’s battle with cancer - is a beautiful lament, while ‘Sonnet’ gave the band a stealth (due to purposefully limited pressing quantities) forth hit single. ‘Lucky Man’ meanwhile, debuted at No.1 on release, and remains their second most popular track.
However there is more to this classic release than its more well-known songs. From the loose jam groove of ‘The Rolling People’, to the almost whimsical ‘Space and Time’, and the dreamscape of ‘Weeping Willow’; it’s truly magnificent.
Its success, both creatively and commercially - it has now sold over 10 million copies - however, was not enough to keep the band together. With their internal struggles rising to the fore once again, they bowed out at Slane on 29th August 1998, playing to an estimated 70,000 people.
Following a reunion in the late 2000s’ which yielded the underrated ‘Forth’ - currently, inexplicably unavailable on vinyl - and another split a few years later, the Verve are sadly unlikely to reform again.
But there is a happy ending, for in April 2019 The Rolling Stones finally agreed to return the royalties and songwriting credits for ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ to Ashcroft, ending a two and a half decade injustice.
‘Urban Hymns’ meanwhile, remains a remarkable triumph. A true moment of musical genius.
Album Details
Urban Hymns was released on 29th September 1997 and is available to buy on standard vinyl at Vinyl8.com
Tracklist
- Bitter Sweet Symphony
- Sonnet
- The Rolling People
- The Drugs Don't Work
- Catching the Butterfly
- Neon Wilderness
- Space and Time
- Weeping Willow
- Lucky Man
- One Day
- This Time
- Velvet Morning
- Come On
