Eleven years ago The Verve was poised to become the next great band out of England to stake their claim as the mainstream rock band of the moment. Riding high off the success of the smash single “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” the future held big things as the album spun off several other mildly successful singles in “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky,” but things went awry. A lawsuit over a Rolling Stones sample used in “Bitter Sweet Symphony” reportedly took away all of the money generated by the song and album, “Urban Hymns.” The band broke up due to turmoil between singer Richard Ashcroft and guitarist Nick McCabe and would not reunite until the summer of 2007.
In the meantime Ashcroft released three solo albums, which were met with mixed reviews but sold well in England and Europe. The album “Forth,” released in the United States on August 26th, proves two things about The Verve: if the band had never existed Coldplay would likely never have formed, and that the band will make music on their own terms.
The first single, “Love Is Noise,”
is a power anthem that draws its power from Ashcroft’s emotional vocals, backed by a band fully in sync with their musical abilities. Other standout tracks on the album include “Rather Be” and “Valium Skies.” Though this album is about nine years late, there is little doubt that “Forth” seems eerily to be the album the band would have recorded as a follow-up to “Urban Hymns.”
In order for listeners to fully understand the hypnotic power of this band, multiple listens are essential because many of these songs will not jump out and hook you, but rather will grow on you like a childhood best friend. While this album is short of perfection, it fully cements The Verve as a band to be reckoned with in the future. I give it an 8 out of 10.
Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
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Genius/GZA – Pro Tools
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all the way through. From start to finish it never appears the Genius is trying too hard with his beats or his lyrics, and he is at the top of his game in 2008. “Alphabets” is one of the best hip-hop tracks of the year and “Paper Plate” is a hypnotizing song that can charm even the most casual of rap music fans.
One quality I have always admired about the GZA, even dating back to his
first solo album, “Liquid Swords,” is that he rarely relies on explicit language to get his point across, and he is one of the best in the game as a vocalist. Since breaking out as a solo artist in 1995, GZA has also maintained his allegiances to his cousin the RZA, who produced most of the Wu-Tang albums along with several of GZA’s solo albums, and will be appearing on future Wu-Tang Clan releases. At his current pace, the GZA releases a new solo album roughly every three years, and he has also spent time with his son, Young Justice, on a collaborative album yet to be released. While he has remained out of the spotlight and been overshadowed by some of his colleagues music, fans have been the ben
eficiaries of his solidly produced and cleverly arranged solo efforts. I give this album an 8 out of 10.
he GZA (real name Gary Grice) has been putting out albums for nearly two decades and, as one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, he commands respect from fellow rappers both past and present.
On “Pro Tools,” the GZA does not rely on guest stars as heavily as other top selling artists and prefers to take a methodical and intellectual approach
he Stand Ins,” originally conceived as the second half of a double album (the first half, “The Stage Names,” was released last year), was finally released in early September to a long awaited sigh of relief from the indie rock faithful.
Singer Will Sheff does a noble job of assembling a group of songs that sound closer to having been recorded in your brother’s bedroom instead of a music studio. The songs are straight-forward, borderline sing-a-long material, and therein lies the album’s charm. Okkervil River is not out to change the world with their music, but to instead make it a slightly better place in which to live.
At various points the album takes on a jingle jangle of heartbreak in “Starry Stairs.” The next track, “Blue Tulip,” is a ballad in every sense of the word and checks in at 6 minutes and 18 seconds, by far the longest song on the album. Sheff sings with complete honesty on “Blue Tulip” when he belts out, “with every single cell of me, I’m going to make you mean the words you sigh, you lie.”
Aptly described as folk-rock, Okkervil River have continued to churn out well-calculated and honestly arranged albums. So often today many bands experience a morsel of success and their music never sounds the same as when people fell in love with it. Thankfully that is not the case with “The Stand Ins,” which utilizes the same formula as their previous album with enough subtle changes to strap listeners in for a new experience. I give it a 9 out of 10.
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