CompleteMartialArts.com - Forth
|
List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $9.99
Your Save: $ 4.99 ( 33% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Mri Associated
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0020286125228
Label: Mri Associated
Manufacturer: Mri Associated
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Mri Associated
Release Date: 2008-08-26
Studio: Mri Associated
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
Something happens when the Verve are together that none of them experience when they are apart. Individually, the Verve are all highly-accomplished players. Singer Richard Ashcroft has been called the greatest singer in the world by no less a peer than Coldplay s Chris Martin. Liverpool-born Simon Jones s dub-informed bass takes the Verve s music far beyond rock and into space and dub; Peter Salisbury plays drums more like a jazz great than a conventional rock drummer and when the tag guitarist of his generation is thrown about it often lands at the feet of the hugely adventurous, psychedelic, exploratory Nick McCabe. However, when they are together a chemistry takes hold that transcends the four people onstage to blast the Verve somewhere else entirely and this chemistry and spontaneity has survived an absence of almost a decade. Already, since their typically unpredictable 2007 reunion, live shows have been running the gauntlet of everything from material so new that Ashcroft has been singing the words from scraps of paper to long-lost, hazy B-sides like Let The Damage Begin and A Man Called Sun, amid all manner of musical fireworks. When they take the stage, literally anything can happen.
After an absence of almost a decade, these songs are again being played, as they should be by the Verve themselves. The individual members have not been slouches. Richard Ashcroft has enjoyed a successful and prolific solo career. Simon Jones formed a band, the Shining, who were not altogether dissimilar to the Verve, and has played with Damon Albarn s Gorillaz. Nick McCabe has been remixing and playing with everyone from the Beta Band to John Martyn while Peter Salisbury has been playing with Ashcroft, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and has further diverted his musical obsessions into running a Stockport drum shop. However, all seem to have realized what their enormous fanbase has been telling them all along. That today, as much if not more than ever, music really needs the Verve.
However, a band like the Verve would never settle for easy nostalgia. Even before they d set out on their initial comeback gigs last year, which sold out within an astonishing 20 minutes, they made public (via the NME website) the results of their very first jam session as a reformed band. The Thaw Sessions comprised 14 wondrous minutes of music, which signified their ability to spark off one another remained undimmed. Soon afterwards, the band debuted new song Sit And Wonder a tune trimmed from a 25-minute jam, just as they would in the early days, a taste of things to come. Those comeback dates proved so successful and were so enthusiastically received that the band immediately embarked on a full-scale tour of arenas in December of 2007, playing bigger gigs in many cases than the first time around. In 2008, they look set to up the ante even further, by appearing at many of the major festivals and, in a turnaround that would have seemed unthinkable even a year ago, releasing their enormously-anticipated fourth album. The results will certainly be worth the wait. - Dave Simpson.
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful music, very different.....
Comment: I am a big, bif fan of Urban Hymns and was so excited to see a new release from the Verve. Just brilliant work again from these guys. If you are a Verve fan you must get this! Just love the mix of guitars, strings and piano on the songs. It is different from other Verve albums but I recommend it highly.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Verve's best album - period.
Comment: This album came like a ray of light bursting through the clouds (see album cover) when the music of recent times has been lacking in soul. The Verve have the ability to draw out each of our dreams and fears and lay them on a canvas that feels like sonic heroin. I have called this album the Verve's best because of its maturity, honesty, and beauty. If you have not listened to the Verve before, please... start with this album. If you listen to the Verve, Christmas has come early!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Verve Return!!
Comment: As I begin writing this review, the opening title track to Forth, "Sit and Wonder" begins as well..I'm just getting in one final listen before I attempt to write an unbiased review..believe me, as a die hard Verve fan, its gonna be hard. That's why I refrained from writing a review right when this album was released. Unless it was just plain horrible, I was gonna like it no matter what..just because its The Verve and I have longed for the day that a reunion and new album would be released. Now that day has come and gone, and I've given this record dozens of listens since then, I feel I can now make a critical review without throwing too much of my personal feelings about it. But don't be surprised if there's an occasional outburst!!
Ok...now on to the review...Well its no surprise here..I really do like Forth. To say its better or worse than any previous work is a bit hard to say. For me personally, A Northern Soul is as close to perfection as The Verve have come, with Urban Hymns coming in a close second. So no, I don't think its better than either one of those records, but its not really fair to compare a lot of The Verve's work. They're sound has evolved so much since the early years, that in some ways, it sounds like a different band. But no matter the record, there's no denying it The Verve. There's just a feeling about them, an emotion. Some people say they lost it with this new record, but I would beg to differ. I don't really understand what fans expect out of some bands. There will never be another Urban Hymns, like there will never be another Definitely Maybe, or OK Computer..Those kinds of albums don't happen to often, and its a waste of time for an artist to try to re-create it. Its just not gonna happen. So for the haters out there who say Forth doesn't sound enough like Urban Hymns, or not enough like A Storm in Heaven..get over it, its not supposed to! In fact, that's one of the main reason I like this record so much. Its like the band kind of combined all their sounds, there's a little bit of early Verve here, like the slower jam sound of "Numbness", and spacey feel of "Columbo" and "Judas". There's the more rocking tracks like "Noise Epic", and the great "Sit Wonder", which is easily one of the best tracks on the album. And of course, there's the more string arranged, uplifting tracks like that of Urban Hymns, like "Valium Skies" and "I See Houses". And of course, The Verve throw us a curve with something like "Love is Noise", which to be honest, took me a while to warm up to. So there's a little something for every Verve fan here, and its all rolled into one album. You may here a bit, and say.."hey that sounds a like this, and this bit reminds me of that song, and then here is something totally new"..all in the same song! They way they combined certain sounds and melodies still amaze me, since a number of these songs were written directly from jam sessions. And for the people out there who say that the Verve got back together only for the money, personally, I think that's a load of crap, but I don't know their motives, but whatever the reason, if they keep putting out good records like this, I could care less what their motives are!
Ok, so do I have any complaints about the record?? Well, yeah, I do. I do wish there were a bit more "heavier" tracks, like that of A Northern Soul. You got "Sit and Wonder", but then there's no really rocking out moments until maybe the end of Appalachian Springs. Also, I do feel there's bit too much solo Ashcroft sound in the album. For example, I think "I See Houses" sounds almost directly from a new Ashcroft album, in fact, it sounds a bit similar to Richard's "I Get My Beat"..just listen to the intro. Even songs like "Rather Be", "Valium Skies", and "Love is Noise", maybe a bit too much Ashcroft, and not enough of the band as a whole. (I guess its not a coincidence that was the main songwriter on all those tracks!!) Now, I'm not saying these as bad songs, not at all..In fact, there are some of the album's best, but if you're asking me to be critical, I'm just stating my opinion. And my opinion is that The Verve was at their best when everyone was involved in writing all the music. Again, I love Urban Hymns, but it did lack somewhat of a band effort, and there was an absence of Nick McCabe's stellar guitar work. I can, at least, in part, say the same about Forth. There are times on this record that the band seems to take a back seat to Richard Ashcroft. Not saying that's always bad, but... And speaking again of Ashcroft, I feel that some of the lyrics are bit weak here and there.."Appalachian Springs" comes right to mind. The song itself is real good, I think the lyrics could have been better. But again, these are minor flaws in my opinion.
So as far as my overall impression of Forth, I pretty much gave it to you at the beginning..its no surprise, I really like this album. I understand that its probably not gonna be as classic as their other work, but its still really good. They bring something new to the table, while sticking to their original formula..which is, at its best, just four guys in a room making music...that is The Verve in their purest form. I just hope that they continue to make great music for many years to come.
Key tracks: "Sit and Wonder", "Rather Be", "Judas", "Valium Skies"
Customer Rating:
Summary: high school kids in their parent's garage
Comment: I'm so disappointed in this album. I just can't put it any other way. The Verve meant so much to me, and still do. I, like many people, cherish Urban Hymns. It's one of the greatest albums of the 90's, and there was some incredible music made during that decade(ie. Nevermind, Evil Empire, Dirt, The Bends, Stereotype A). But the Verve always stood alone; emotion, beauty, feeling, destruction, love. Just a sonic earthquake. I've listened to Forth multiple times. I don't know what happened to this band in 10 years time, but they lost it. Maybe the cosmos aligned at one time. It was a long time ago. Who knows? Maybe the future could be brighter again? I'll keep dreaming.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing comeback!
Comment: I am an early Verve fan, admittedly crazy about their debut album (which still makes me drool). I was pleasantly blown away by this latest album, which is a nod to their early work but also keeps one foot in the contemporary music scene. I am NOT a fan of URBAN HYMNS, which seemed to me a commercial pandering (however nice the pop songs were). This album really hits in the middle: it makes us old school fans drool, but also keeps a sense of the pop perfection that really made URBAN HYMNS such a hit with folks. I don't know how they did it, but this album really is a perfect middle way, a shout-out to us old Verve fans but a stable send-out to those who want pop hits. It's just simply a marvelous rock and pop record, with a groove and a hook and a smart set of lyrics . . . I worry that this album is so good that folks won't buy it. This album really captures the essence of this band's genius. It's brilliant. Buy it. Seriously.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
