Reuniting with your old band after endless years of acrimony seems to be the new hip thing these days—everyone’s doing it! (Well, everyone except for Journey.) The latest members of the on-again club are ’90s Britpoppers the Verve, who announced this week that they’re preparing to release their first new studio album since 1997. You probably know them as the guys who played "Bittersweet Symphony", their only major US hit, but they recorded plenty of other great tunes which shared that excellent song’s melancholy, psychedelic feel. ("Sonnet" and "Lucky Man" are a couple of the better ones which are available online.) And with fellow Cool Britannia icon Tony Blair leaving office this week, there’s even a bit of poetic symmetry in the timing of the Verve’s return.
All the same, I’m having trouble getting too excited. Frontman Richard Ashcroft has seemed to grow more self-impressed and terminally boring with each solo album, leaving me wary at best about his chances of recapturing the old magic now. What’s worse, this isn’t even a full reunion: It’s missing guitarist Simon Tong, who joined the band for their swan song/finest moment Urban Hymns. Maybe that counts in Corganland, but not in my book. (In an ironic twist, Tong is currently busy collaborating with none other than Ashcroft’s old competitor Damon Albarn on projects including The Good, the Bad and the Queen.) I’ll certainly give the Verve’s next new single a listen out of loyalty, but overall this
one adds up to a big "meh" even for me—and I love mid-’90s Britpop, I swear.
So, do any of you PopWatchers feel more strongly than I about the Verve’s reverval? More importantly, who wants to take bets on when Jarvis Cocker will call Pulp back into action already?
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There’s no point in lamenting the non-particiaption of Simon Tong of all people. He was originally there to replace guitarist/moody genius, Nick McCabe, when we wasn’t invited back for the first reunion initially (The Verve broke up the first time in 1995 after their second album “A Northern Soul” was released. This is the original Verve! And, YES, I am excited that they’re getting back together again even if Richard Ashcroft has become a bit of bore. Hearing more Nick McCage (who’s be silent for the past 10 years) is the real treat here!
I’m excited having just heard about this. Ashcroft has been way too happy with the wife and kids…something that has made his solo albums less than stellar. Perhaps being with the rest of the group will create more of a balanced sound. Or maybe the creative differences the band’s been struggling with off and on will be harnessed here so they can rock out once again. (fingers crossed!)
This is big news. Looking forward to this.
“Plenty of other great tunes…” and fails to mention “The Drugs Don’t Work”?? If you don’t know the song, go check it out! There’s a reason it was found to be the saddest song; beautiful, beautiful song!
Well this is a hell of a lot better than a Spice Girls reunion.
I got there last cd because i like there only hit. The only standout songs are the Drugs dont work and sonnet. The rest is listenble but nothing to rave about. So i really would not care if they reform.
YES!!! I am very very excited about this. And missing Simon Tong only means the return of the ORIGINAL Verve line-up — while I agree that some of the later songs were beautiful ballads, I actually was a bigger fan of the hazy, psychedelic stuff that they started out with, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the new material sounds a bit like that. Now we just need some U.S. tour dates …
How could you not mention “Freshmen?”
To MAC: “Freshmen” was by Verve Pipe, not the Verve
Thanks! That explains how you could not mention it, my apologies. What are they doing now btw?
i saw them @ Hammerstein Ballroom/ New York in ‘97: one of my favorite shows ever. Urban Hymns and A Northern Soul are fantastic records…
You bother to write this but you obviously aren’t a fan. You don’t even mention “Northern Soul”? “History” is one of the best songs ever. 90’s nostalgia is coming and I for one am okay with it. Out with “Icky Chump”, in with some old school Brit Pop!
The Verve getting back together is very exciting. But let’s not forget the other exciting reunion that’s already happened to another 90’s Britpop band – Kula Shaker!
I can’t wait for A Verve reunion. They are one of my all tim e favs and Richard Ashcroft is one of the best Rock singers of all time. Plus, his solo CD’s are better than you have implied. Bring on the new album!
I liked Verve like anyone, and I have the greatest hits album, if they reunite ok, if not ok again. I’d rather see a Blur reunion happen or Happy Mondays or my fave Adorable. 90’s Brit pop is still great to listen to today…it beats emo pop anyday.
Pulp were great (the best really), but that’s mostly thanks to Jarvis Cocker. The rest of his band were just along for the ride. He’s better off sticking to the solo work. Afterall, he’s always been more a Nick Cave/Serge/Cohen style songwriter. Being in a band collective just takes the wind from his sails.
Oh, I don’t know about that. I’d rather listen to ANY Pulp song than most of “Jarvis” or the “Relaxed Muscle” album.
This is FREAKIN’ awesome! And i kind of like that it’s the ORIGINAL Verve without Tong (no offense to Tong). I like Ashcroft’s solo stuff but I’m ready for him to ROCK again and I believe McCabe and Co will bring that out of him. THIS IS MUSIC!!!
The original Verve line up is the four of them without Simon Tong. He was only a member for a brief 2 years to replace Nick McCabe.
Nick is the Verve. Judging what they will sound like is a moot point. They made amazing albums when they were together. I doubt this will be another Urban Hymns album. I am sure they are going back to basics. Which is not too shabby.