Forth - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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.

Album Description
The Verve are back! One of the biggest selling and more influential bands of the last ten years have reformed and recorded an album of new material. After the sucess of 'Urban Hymns', which to date has sold 3 million copies in the UK, 'Forth' is a true return to form, and the first single 'Love Is Noise' looks set to become a festival anthem this summer.

Customer Reviews: Read 46 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

So many years in the making, so worth the wait. August 26, 2008
23 out of 31 found this review helpful

On August 26, 2008 at 12:15 am, I took a breath, opened my ears, and the world changed forever.

Was that appropriately dramatic? Was really shooting for heart-wrenchingly dramatic, not just regular old "Far From Heaven" dramatic.

OK, so maybe I'm kind of a loser for waiting up past midnight (on a work night!) to download an album from a band that (sort of) broke up almost 10 years ago, reading the lyrics while listening through it (twice!), then writing a review so that my fellow Amazoners can happily click me away into unhelpfulness. Which would be seriously unkind, because I'm seriously exhausted and have to get up in a few hours to relive Monday on Tuesday; not that my job isn't great, but it's just going to be one of those weeks, so it would be great if at least 10 million people buy this album after reading what I have to say about it.

Peerless.

Richard Ashcroft + Simon Jones + Nick McCabe + Peter Salisbury = Pure Peerless Musical Genius (PPMG)! I've never heard anything like this before, thus the use of the adjective "Peerless". This album, quite literally, cannot be compared to a single piece of music I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing before. It's kind of what I'd imagine Jeff Buckley's second album (if that album had been Revolver and the Beatles hadn't done it in the '60s) would have been like if the Mississippi hadn't consumed him first; not necessarily in tone and tenor but in PPMG.

Opening Forth with "Sit and Wonder" was a good idea. I was so ready to call that Bittersweet Symphony the Greater and run around for the next two weeks humming snippets of the tune so that when the good people of NeverWhere asked me "What's that amazing hymn you seem so attached to?", I could launch into a diatribe about the Verve's newest masterpiece. Sadly (or happily, matter of perspective I suppose), it's not even the best song on the album! It just turned out to be a "light" way to open the album without overwhelming the listener.

This is a heavy album, folks. Radiohead heavy, and that's probably a mild understatement (remember: Peerless). Let's shoot for another adjective that may (or may not) help me get my point across:

Timeless.

Timeless like Elvis, the Beatles, the Stones, the Roots, the artist formerly and currently known as Prince, and so few more. Forth could have been released anytime since 1960 (give or take a distortion or two) and no one would be the wiser. Ok, maybe not the `80s, but we can all admit the `80s were a little different.

In the interest of not making myself out to be an idiot, I won't make the all encompassing statement of calling this "The Greatest Album Ever", because it isn't. Not yet, anyway. I'll leave that up to VH1 and Dave Navarro, since they're obviously the experts on all things Great. But I will say this: Forth is now my favorite album ever. Ever! It's supplanted Stage's self titled album "Stage" which, for the 3 of you who know me, is quite a leap, because I'm a huge fan of Stage. And to prove my sinceriousness, I'll even sign off on this little review.

God Bless and Enjoy the Music!

John P. O'Brien
Leader of Mice
NeverWhere, USA

4 out of 5 stars

Doesnt beat Urban Hymns but good nonetheless August 26, 2008
19 out of 24 found this review helpful

Most "reunion" CD's are disappointing and many are downright terrible. Verve breaks the trend by offering 10 tracks that range from good to great. Most tracks are closer to "good," but there's no denying that this CD stands fine along side with Verve's 3 CD's from the 90's. If anything the tracks we get this time are more akin to their first "shoegazer" CD "Storm in Heaven," than the 2 later "rock" albums. Most of the tracks are quiet and long length and often have a nice (to me at least) bassy drone sound. Melodies are less constantly present but they are there. The studio production quality is uniformly excellent.

If you're not a fan of Verve, this is not the first CD to buy. Get Urban Hymns first if you're curious about the band. Also if you can find their recent Glastonbury 2008 concert on video, it is worth it. They peform the "hits" plus "Love is Noise" and they play in truly excellent form.

5 out of 5 stars

A Triumphant Return! August 26, 2008
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

A Masterpiece Revival for a group that clearly creates something special when they get together. Regardless of the relationship between Richard and Nick, they make otherworldly good music in collaboration. Singles are surely "Love Is Noise" and "Sit and Wonder"--with strong guitar lines, exploding rhythms and Ashcroft's vocal instrument at the top of its game with rises and falls and memorable lyrical work. Other highlights include "Rather Be", "Judas" and "Valium Skies". I was lucky enough to see them live in NYC in the early summer and now I am just thankful the album finally came together--it was well worth the wait. I could go on and on with a deep analysis of Richard's introspection, soul-searching, life-wondering--as well as the evolved musicianship of the band, but I will leave that to your own discovery. They have again created something timeless but contemporary that rivals even, dare I say, "A Northern Soul" or "Urban Hymns". In sum, thank you to the band, Forth is gold in its own right but yet a fine continuation from an already unmatched legacy.

2 out of 5 stars

Yes, Meeediocre. September 6, 2008
6 out of 17 found this review helpful

I was pleasantly surprised when I read that this CD was coming out. I'd enjoyed their prior CDs, and really loved Richard Ashcroft's solo work. Well, this CD is filled with mediocre song writing, and poor sound.
There's little, if any, that I'd give a second listen to in the future. Let's hope that Richard goes out on his own again.

3 out of 5 stars

The Verve are back but not better than ever August 28, 2008
5 out of 12 found this review helpful

While "Forth" is a welcome return for The Verve, it is probably the least compelling of their four studio albums. And I think the fault lies with Ashcroft, who has once again made The Verve his band.

Four of the songs on this album are credited to Ashcroft alone - "Rather Be," "I See Houses," "Valium Skies," and "Appalachian Springs." One song is credited to Richard Achroft/The Verve - "Love Is Noise," whose origins I suspect are similar to "Bittersweet Symphony" - Ashcroft came up with the basic idea for the song (loop, lyrics) and the band embellished it. These 5 songs are the most poppy songs on the album (and all are ballads except LIN), and songs that would have been on an Ashcroft solo album. So, essentially, these 4 songs are The Verve playing on Ashcroft solo material (like most of Urban Hymns but not as good), and while the songs sound great, so would "Science of Silence" and "Why Not Nothing" if The Verve played on those tracks.

That means that only 6 songs on the album are true collaborative efforts by The Verve. "Sit And Wonder," which I thought was kind of forced on first listen, has grown on me and it is one of the best songs on the album. "Love Is Noise," whose loop was annoying at first though catchy, is actually a very good pop song though lyrically rather daft. "Judas," which is solid musically, features some terrible lyrics about a "latte double shot," which for some reason the band chose to showcase in the CD booklet. "Numbness," while good, is just another rather forgettable mid-tempo song.

This points to the biggest problem with this album - the pacing. Right off the bat we get an almost-7-minute song, and from there just one mid-tempo song after the next, most in the 5-7 minute range. Even Urban Hymns broke up the pacing better than this, and their other 2 albums did as well, with some faster, 3-minute songs ("This Is Music," "Blue"). There are none of those type of songs on "Forth." Which would be fine, if the Verve were really doing something different, but the band is more or less stretching songs out longer than they need to be.

"Noise Epic" is the closest we come to "Rolling People" or "Come On," and it is one of my favorite songs here, and Ashcroft's spoken lyrics are thankfully buried in the mix. What is disappointing is the band never really jams out on the song. I guess the title refers to the constant noise from Ashcroft.

I think the album should have ended with "Valium Skies," because "Columbo" is easily the worst of the band material, a song that goes nowhere. "Appalachian Springs" is another Ashcroft composition that, despite its interesting title, just isn't that great of an album closer, even though McCabe gives us a beautiful guitar coda.

So, in the end, this is a decent reunion album from the boys, but it is Ashcroft that really ruins things. There is no going back to pre-solo Verve, and I think Ashcroft's songwriting skills are permanently damaged. Ashcroft can't seem to write any interesting lyrics - the best here are just okay, nothing memorable. It is as if he can't really write any really dark lyrics anymore, but tries to do so out of sheer habit, giving us watered-down stuff from the "life gets you down"/"tasting tears"/"i'm here for you" school of songwriting. His vocals are strong throughout, but he is always there in front, rarely giving the band a chance to really play.

I saw the Verve in NYC in April, and it's the band I really like - McCabe, Jones, and Salisbury. They really rocked at some points. And they do it on "Forth" too, but not often enough. I'll grant that the album sounds great - possibly their best produced album.

Another thought: If this didn't have "The Verve" name on it, I doubt "Forth" would garner any press or good reviews at all. I rarely respect this argument about other albums, but here it seems obvious considering the album's mediocrity and musical anachronism.

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