Urban Hymns
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| Urban Hymns | ||
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| Studio album by The Verve | ||
| Released | September 29, 1997 | |
| Recorded | Olympic Studios October 13, 1996 - August 4, 1997 | |
| Genre | Britpop | |
| Length | 75:51 | |
| Label | Virgin 7243 8 44913 2 1 | |
| Producer(s) | The Verve, Chris Potter, Youth | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| The Verve chronology | ||
| A Northern Soul (1995) |
Urban Hymns (1997) |
This is Music: The Singles 92-98 (2004) |
Urban Hymns is the highly acclaimed alternative rock/space rock album released on September 29, 1997 by British rock band The Verve. After the release of the band's previous album, A Northern Soul, The Verve broke up due to growing tensions between Richard Ashcroft and Nick McCabe. They reunited in 1996 (see 1996 in music) and recorded Urban Hymns, which earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release and went on to become one of the biggest selling albums of the year largely on the strength of the international chart-topper "Bitter Sweet Symphony".
The Verve was known for their music's complex, immersive sonic textures, best exemplified in the aforementioned "Symphony", which used a repeated sample from an orchestra performing the Rolling Stones' song, "The Last Time", to form the musical basis for the song. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and remains the band's most well known song, although it curiously never made it to the top of the charts in the band's native UK. "The Drugs Don't Work", the band's only UK #1, has become a concert staple for jam bands and other groups. The rest of the album alternates between wistful ballads like "Sonnet" and "Space And Time", spacey grooves like "Catching The Butterfly" and "The Rolling People", and all-out rockers like the Led Zeppelin-esque, pounding "Come On", which closes the set.
In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Urban Hymns the 18th greatest album of all time. In the same year it was also shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. In 2000 Q placed the album at number 58 its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, while in 2006 its editors voted it the 16th greatest album of all time.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (Ashcroft/Jagger/Richards) – 5:58
- Samples by The Andrew Oldham Orchestra.
- "Sonnet" (Ashcroft) – 4:21
- "The Rolling People" (Verve) – 7:01
- "The Drugs Don't Work" (Ashcroft) – 5:05
- "Catching the Butterfly" (Verve) – 6:26
- "Neon Wilderness" (McCabe, Verve) – 2:37
- "Space and Time" (Ashcroft) – 5:36
- "Weeping Willow" (Ashcroft) – 4:49
- "Lucky Man" (Ashcroft) – 4:53
- "One Day" (Ashcroft) – 5:03
- "This Time" (Ashcroft) – 3:50
- "Velvet Morning" (Ashcroft) – 4:57
- "Come On" (Verve) – 15:15
- "Come On" ( – 00:00– 6:28)
- - ( – 06:28– 13:01)
- "Deep Freeze" ( – 13:01– 15:15)
Some copies of the album contain 15 tracks -- the bonus track "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" is track 13, and "Deep Freeze" is track 15.
[edit] Sales
- United Kingdom: # 1 (8x Platinum) (sales: 3,054,374)
- United States: # 23 (Platinum)
- France: # 9 (Platinum)
- Canada: # 18 (2x Platinum)
- Australia # 9 (3x Platinum)
- Holland: # ? (Platinum)
- Switzerland: # 13 (peak) Gold)
[edit] Personnel
- Youth - Producer
- The Verve - Producer
- Simon Jones - Bass guitar
- Peter Salisbury - Drums
- Richard Ashcroft - Guitar, Vocals
- Nick McCabe - Guitar
- Simon Tong - Guitar, Keyboards
- Mel Wesson - Programming
- Paul Anthony Taylor - Programming
- Wil Malone - Conductor, String Arrangements
- Christopher Marc Potter - Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Recording
- Gareth Ashton - Assistant Engineer
- Lorraine Francis - Assistant Engineer
- Jan Kybert - Assistant Engineer
- Brian Cannon - Director, Design, Sleeve Art
- Martin Catherall - Design Assistant
- Matthew Sankey - Design Assistant
- Michael Spencer Jones - Photography
- John Horsley - Photography http://www.johnhorsley.co.uk
- Chris Floyd - Photography
[edit] Chart positions
Billboard (North America) - albums
1998 The Billboard 200 No. 23 1998 Top Canadian Albums No. 18
Billboard (North America) - singles
1998 Lucky Man Modern Rock Tracks No. 16 1998 Bitter Sweet Symphony Top 40 Adult Recurrents No. 9 1998 Bitter Sweet Symphony Adult Top 40 No. 8 1998 Bitter Sweet Symphony Modern Rock Tracks No. 4 1998 Bitter Sweet Symphony Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 22 1998 Bitter Sweet Symphony Top 40 Mainstream No. 23 1998 Bitter Sweet Symphony The Billboard Hot 100 No. 12
[edit] External links
| The Verve |
| Nick McCabe | Richard Ashcroft | Simon Jones | Peter Salisbury | Simon Tong |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: A Storm in Heaven | A Northern Soul | Urban Hymns |
| EPs: Verve EP | FIve by Five |
| Compilations: No Come Down | This is Music: The Singles 92-98 |
| Singles: "All in the Mind" | "She's a Superstar" | "Gravity Grave" | "Blue" | "Slide Away" | "This Is Music" | "On Your Own" | "History" | "Bitter Sweet Symphony" | "The Drugs Don't Work" | "Lucky Man" | "Sonnet" |
| Tours: Gravity Grave Tour | Urban Hymns Tour |
| Related articles |
| Britpop | Hut Records | Chris Potter | The Shining | Cathy Davey | Gorillaz | B.J. Cole | Bernard Butler |
