Urban Hymns

Urban Hymns
Studio album by The Verve
Released 29 September 1997 (1997-09-29)
Recorded October 1996 – May 1997
Studio Olympic Studios, London
Genre Britpop[1]
Length 75:57
Label Hut
Producer
The Verve chronology
Five by Five
(1997)Five by Five1997		 Urban Hymns
(1997)		 This Is Music: The Singles 92–98
(2004)This Is Music: The Singles 92–982004
Singles from Urban Hymns
  1. "Bitter Sweet Symphony"
    Released: 16 June 1997 (1997-06-16)
  2. "The Drugs Don't Work"
    Released: 1 September 1997 (1997-09-01)
  3. "Lucky Man"
    Released: 24 November 1997 (1997-11-24)
  4. "Sonnet"
    Released: 2 March 1998 (1998-03-02)

Urban Hymns is the third studio album by English alternative rock band The Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Records. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year. As of 2015, Urban Hymns is ranked the 19th best-selling album in UK chart history and has sold over ten million copies worldwide.[2]

The album features the hit singles "Bitter Sweet Symphony", "Lucky Man" and "The Drugs Don't Work". The critical and commercial success of the album saw the band win two Brit Awards in 1998, including Best British Group, and appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in April 1998.[3][4] "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.[5]

Background

The Verve had previously released two albums, A Storm in Heaven in 1993 and A Northern Soul in 1995. The band had only achieved moderate commercial success up to that point, and the band split shortly after their second album due to internal conflicts. Vocalist Richard Ashcroft quickly reformed the group, with Simon Tong, an old friend of the band on guitar, however Ashcroft realised Nick McCabe's unique guitar style was required to complete the true Verve unit and later asked him to return. Tong also remained adding more guitar and keyboard/organ textures, making them a five-piece band and expanding their sound.[6]

The four-piece had already recorded several tracks for the album with Youth as producer, but once McCabe returned they re-recorded several tracks and changed producers to Chris Potter. McCabe said that in the next seven months of work, "... the key tracks were recorded from scratch, but some of them were already there."[7]

The cover photo was taken in Richmond Park, London.[8]

Music

The Verve were known for their music's complex, immersive sonic textures. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and remains the band's most well-known song. "The Drugs Don't Work", the band's only number one single in the UK, became a concert staple for jam bands and other groups.

The rest of the album alternated between wistful ballads like "Sonnet" and "Space and Time" (written by Richard Ashcroft), spacey grooves like "Catching the Butterfly" and "The Rolling People", all-out rockers like the pounding "Come On" (which existed in demo from the "Northern Soul" era) and psychedelic driven songs like "Neon Wilderness". The hidden track "Deep Freeze" features distorted guitars and a baby's cry sound. It has strong ambient influences that set it apart from the rest of the tracks in terms of composition and overall mood.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[10]
The Guardian[11]
Los Angeles Times[12]
NME8/10[13]
Pitchfork8.6/10[14]
Q[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[17]
Select5/5[18]

Urban Hymns received widespread critical praise upon its release.[19] Melody Maker hailed it as "an album of unparalleled beauty so intent on grabbing at the strands of music's multi-hued history".[20] Ted Kessler of NME praised Urban Hymns as the band's best album to date, adding that its first five songs alone "pound all other guitar albums this year – bar Radiohead's OK Computer – into the ground with their emotional ferocity and deftness of melodic touch."[13] Similarly, Rolling Stone critic David Fricke called it the band's "strongest album to date" and "a breathtaking venture, an ambitious balance of stargazing and worldweary pathos."[16] The Los Angeles Times' Sara Scribner noted its "lush, intricate, ethereal sound" and felt that The Verve had "delivered an achingly beautiful record that's just desperate enough to never get boring."[12]

In a more mixed assessment, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune felt that Urban Hymns was lacking in enough songs as memorable as "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and "The Drugs Don't Work" to justify the album's long length.[21] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice cited the latter track as a "choice cut",[22] indicating a good song on "an album that isn't worth your time or money."[23]

Urban Hymns spent 12 weeks at the top of the UK Albums Chart, with a total of 124 weeks on the chart.[24] It also became The Verve's first charting album in the United States, where it debuted at number 63 on the Billboard 200,[25] giving the band their first commercial success in the country.[26] Urban Hymns ultimately peaked at number 23 on the chart and was certified Platinum by the RIAA on 4 April 1998;[27] it remains the group's best-selling album in the United States to date, with over 1.3 million copies sold as of 2009.[28]

Legacy

Melody Maker named Urban Hymns as the number one album of 1997 in its year-end list,[29] and the album ranked at number three on NME's year-end critics' poll.[30] Q also included it in their own list of the best albums of 1997,[31] and it ranked at number 18 on The Village Voice's year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[32] At the 1998 Brit Awards, Urban Hymns won the award for Best British Album and The Verve themselves were awarded Best British Group.[19] The same year, Richard Aschroft won an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year.[19] The album was also shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, which was ultimately awarded to Gomez' Bring It On.[33] By April 1999, however, renewed tensions within the band, particularly between Ashcroft and McCabe, would lead The Verve to split up for a second time, at the height of their critical and commercial success.[17][19]

In the years following its release, Urban Hymns has received much acclaim. Q included it in their 1999 list of the 90 best albums of the 1990s,[34] while the magazine's readers voted it the eighteenth best album of all-time in 1998,[35] later moved up to sixteenth place in a similar list compiled in 2006.[36] The Verve were awarded with the first ever Q Classic Album award for Urban Hymns at the 2007 Q Awards,[37] and the following year, Urban Hymns was ranked as the tenth best British album of all time in a poll jointly conducted by Q and HMV.[38] It was also nominated for Best British Album of the Last 30 Years at the 2010 Brit Awards, but lost to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?.[39]

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called Urban Hymns "a rich album that revitalizes rock traditions without ever seeming less than contemporary", further crediting it as the album that The Verve had "been striving to make since their formation."[9] BBC Music critic Wendy Roby wrote in 2010 that Urban Hymns "still sounds thrilling" and "soars with autumnal melancholy", crediting the album's mix of "massive, sweeping" arrangements and Ashcroft's "heartbreaking" lyrics as its key characteristics.[40] Uncut wrote that "the most striking qualities of Urban Hymns now are its musical coherence and the powerfully sustained mood of melancholic stoicism."[41] On the other hand, Emily Tartanella of Magnet felt that Urban Hymns was undeserving of its accolades, calling it "one of the most bloated, boring and overpraised albums of the '90s."[42]

Track listing

All songs written by Richard Ashcroft, except where noted.

International version
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer[43][44]Length
1."Bitter Sweet Symphony"
5:58
2."Sonnet" 
  • The Verve
  • Youth
4:21
3."The Rolling People"The Verve
7:01
4."The Drugs Don't Work" 
  • The Verve
  • Youth
5:05
5."Catching the Butterfly"The Verve
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter
6:26
6."Neon Wilderness"
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter
2:37
7."Space and Time" 
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter
5:36
8."Weeping Willow" 
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter
4:49
9."Lucky Man" 
  • The Verve
  • Youth
4:53
10."One Day" 
  • The Verve
  • Youth
5:03
11."This Time" 
  • The Verve
  • Youth
3:50
12."Velvet Morning" 
  • The Verve
  • Youth
4:57
13."Come On" (includes hidden song "Deep Freeze")The Verve
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter
15:15
Total length:1:15:57

Note: The album's digital version has "Deep Freeze" as a separate track following "Come On", without the silence in between.[45] In the 2017 digital and physical remastered versions, both tracks are joined with the silence.

Japanese version
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
13."Lord I Guess I'll Never Know" 
  • The Verve
  • Youth
4:52
14."Come On"The Verve
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter
6:38
15."Deep Freeze" 
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter
2:14
Total length:1:14:26

B-sides

A total of 10 other songs were released as B-sides for the album's singles, in various configurations.

Bitter Sweet Symphony
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."Lord I Guess I'll Never Know"Ashcroft
  • The Verve
  • Youth
4:52
2."Country Song"The Verve
7:50
The Drugs Don't Work
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."Never Wanna See You Cry"Ashcroft
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter [47]
4:32
2."MSG"The Verve
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter[47]
7:02
3."The Longest Day"The Verve
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter[47]
7:23
Lucky Man
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."Three Steps"The Verve
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter[48]
5:03
2."The Crab"Ashcroft
5:34
3."Stamped"The Verve
  • The Verve
  • Chris Potter[48]
5:32
Sonnet
No.TitleWriter(s)ProducerLength
1."So Sister"Ashcroft
4:11
2."Echo Bass"The Verve
6:38

Other

Songs that did not make the cut include

All of these five songs, however, would later be released; the first three rerecorded for Ashcroft's first solo LP, and the latter two on the band's compilation album, This Is Music: The Singles 92–98.

Personnel

The Verve

Additional personnel

  • Liam Gallagher – backing vocals ("Come On"), hand claps ("Space and Time")
  • Youth – producer
  • Chris Potter – producer, engineer, mixing, recording, additional production[50]
  • The Verve – producer
  • Mel Wesson – programming
  • Paul Anthony Taylor – programming
  • Will Malone – conductor, string arrangements
  • Gareth Ashton – assistant engineer
  • Lorraine Francis – assistant engineer
  • Jan Kybert – assistant engineer
  • Tony Cousins - mastering engineer
  • Crispin Murray - editing, assistant mastering
  • Brian Cannon – director, design, sleeve art
  • Martin Catherall – design assistant
  • Matthew Sankey – design assistant
  • Michael Spencer Jones – photography
  • John Horsley – photography
  • Chris Floyd – photography

Charts

Album

Chart (1997) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 1
Chart (1998) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 23
Argentine CAPIF 20
Top Canadian Albums 18
Media Control Charts (Germany) 11
Lista Top-40 (Finland) 4

Year-end charts

Chart (1997) Position
German Albums Chart[51] 97
Chart (1998) Position
German Albums Chart[52] 51

Singles

Single Chart (1998) Peak
position
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" UK Singles Chart2
Top 40 Adult Recurrents9
Adult Top 408
Modern Rock Tracks4
Mainstream Rock Tracks22
Top 40 Mainstream23
The Billboard Hot 10012
New Zealand Singles Chart15
Lista Top-20 (Finland)6
"The Drugs Don't Work" UK Singles Chart1
Lista Top-20 (Finland)9
New Zealand Singles Chart10
"Lucky Man" UK Singles Chart7
Modern Rock Tracks16
Lista Top-20 (Finland)16
New Zealand Singles Chart38
"Sonnet" UK Singles Chart74
New Zealand Singles Chart43

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[53] Gold 30,000^
Australia (ARIA)[54] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Belgium (BEA)[55] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[56] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[57] Platinum 300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[58] Platinum 500,000^
Italy (FIMI)[59] Gold 50,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[60] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) 5× Platinum 75,000^
Sweden (GLF)[61] Platinum 80,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[62] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[63] 11× Platinum 3,315,950[64]
United States (RIAA)[65] Platinum 1,358,000[66]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[67] 4× Platinum 4,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References

  1. ↑ Laws, Mike (11 December 2014). "The 10 Best Britpop Albums of All Time (or At Least Since 1993 or So)". The Village Voice. Suzan Gursoy. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "Top 40 Best Selling Albums: 28 July 1956 – 14 June 2009" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
  3. ↑ The Brit Awards: The Verve Archived 2 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2012
  4. ↑ 1998 Rolling Stone Covers Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 February 2012
  5. ↑ 41st Grammy Awards – 1999 Rock on the Net. Retrieved 12 February 2012
  6. ↑ Follow the Yellow Brick Road
  7. ↑ "Nick McCabe Interview - Excellent Online".
  8. ↑ Tipton, London History Tours, Adrian Sill, Jeremy. "Scene of Verve's Urban Hymns".
  9. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Urban Hymns – The Verve". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Lanham, Tom (10 October 1997). "Urban Hymns". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (26 September 1997). "Grave new world". The Guardian.
  12. 1 2 Scribner, Sara (12 October 1997). "The Verve 'Urban Hymns' Virgin". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  13. 1 2 Kessler, Ted (27 September 1997). "The Verve – Urban Hymns". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Berman, Stuart (2 September 2017). "The Verve: Urban Hymns". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  15. ↑ "The Verve: Urban Hymns". Q (134). November 1997.
  16. 1 2 Fricke, David (8 January 1998). "The Verve: Urban Hymns". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  17. 1 2 Sheffield, Rob (2004). "The Verve". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 849–50. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  18. ↑ "The Shining Path". Select (93): 76–77. March 1998.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Woodward, Will (29 April 1999). "Bittersweet success as the Verve split". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  20. ↑ James, Martin (4 October 1997). "The Verve: Urban Hymns, Hut Records". Melody Maker: 51.
  21. ↑ Kot, Greg (26 December 1997). "The Verve: Urban Hymns". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  22. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "The Verve: Urban Hymns". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  23. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG 90s: Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  24. ↑ "Verve". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  25. ↑ Author unknown. "Bridge to the Past". Rolling Stone. 8 October 1997.
  26. ↑ Devenish, Colin (20 April 1998). "The Verve Take Massive Attack To American Shores". MTV. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  27. ↑ "American certifications – Verve, The – Urban Hymns". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
  28. ↑ Trust, Gary. "Ask Billboard: "English Beat". Billboard. 23 January 2009.
  29. ↑ "Albums of the Year 1997". Melody Maker. 74 (51): 66–67. 20–27 December 1997. ISSN 0025-9012.
  30. ↑ "1997 Critics' Poll". NME: 78–79. 20–27 December 1997.
  31. ↑ "50 Best Albums of 1997". Q (136): 115. January 1998.
  32. ↑ "The 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 24 February 1998. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  33. ↑ "Mercury winners: where are they now?". Channel 4. 18 July 2007. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  34. ↑ "90 Best Albums of the 1990s". Q (159): 92. December 1999.
  35. ↑ "Q Readers' All Time Top 100 Albums". Q (137). February 1998.
  36. ↑ "Q Readers' All Time Top 100 Albums". Q (235). February 2006.
  37. ↑ "Winners in full: Q Awards 2007". BBC. 8 October 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  38. ↑ "Oasis top best British album poll". BBC. 18 February 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  39. ↑ BRIT Awards 2010 Homepage Archived 18 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  40. ↑ "The Verve Urban Hymns Review". BBC Music. 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  41. ↑ "The Verve: Urban Hymns". Uncut. p. 108. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  42. ↑ Tartanella, Emily (18 August 2009). "The Over/Under: Britpop". Magnet. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  43. ↑ "Verve Discography".
  44. ↑ "Verve Discography".
  45. ↑ "Urban Hymns". 29 September 1997.
  46. ↑ "The Verve – Bitter Sweet Symphony HUTDG 82". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  47. 1 2 3 "The Verve – The Drugs Don't Work HUT CD88". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  48. 1 2 3 "The Verve – Lucky Man HUTT 92". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  49. 1 2 "The Verve - Sonnet HUTCD100". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  50. ↑ Potter receives credit in the liner notes for "additional production and mixing" on the songs that the band recorded with Youth. "The Verve – Urban Hymns HUTLP 45". Discogs. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  51. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  52. ↑ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  53. ↑ "Discos de oro y platino" (in Spanish). Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  54. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  55. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2007". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  56. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – The Verve – Urban Hymns". Music Canada.
  57. ↑ "French album certifications – The Verve – Urban Hymns" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  58. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Verve; 'Urban Hymns')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  59. ↑ "Italian album certifications – The Verve – Urban Hymns" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  60. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – The Verve – Urban Hymns" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Urban Hymns in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  61. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  62. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (The Verve; 'Urban Hymns')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  63. ↑ "British album certifications – Verve, The – Urban Hymns". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Urban Hymns in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  64. ↑ Jones, Alan (8 September 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: The Script debut at No.1 on albums chart". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 September 2017. (Subscription required (help)).
  65. ↑ "American album certifications – Verve, The – Urban Hymns". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  66. ↑ Trust, Gary (23 January 2009). "Ask Billboard: Mariah Carey, Abba, Oasis, The Verve". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  67. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1998". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
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