The Verve - Urban Hymns : 9/10
Bitter sweet symphony must be my most listened to song from high school, and The drugs don't work the one from my IUT years. Oddly enough, I had never tried to listen to anything else from The Verve before seeing that one of my SensCritique scouts had rated Urban Hymns.
And there it is: not only does Urban Hymns contain the two gems mentioned above, but the rest of the album is at least as good! Apart from Neon wilderness, which I will remove without much regret, everything is in its place on this disc.
The disk has a very strong start with Bitter sweet symphony, which is great but almost an overdose, then we move on to the melancholic Sonnet, which reminds me of Unbelievable Truth, for the raw edge and the pleading voice at times. The Rolling People takes us into a much more rock register but does not stand out among the more pop songs.
The Drugs don't work is for me the best song on the album. The slow rise in power, Richard Ashcroft's voice, his tremor, his hesitations on certain words, the hypnotic melody...
I can't help but think of Led Zep and more specifically Ramble On on Catching the Butterfly, without really knowing why. Weeping Willow is surprising. I usually don't like superimposed voices, the "choral" effect in pop songs, but here it's perfectly mastered.
Lucky man is the 3rd jewel of this album. This song is a summary of what Britpop does best. One Day is in the same vein, I just regret the drums being a little too present for my taste.
The album runs out of steam a little towards the end, in my opinion. The last 3 songs are not bad, they are just less impactful. This lackluster ending does not prevent Urban Hymns from being a marvel to listen to on repeat.
