For you new kids on the block, yours truly is well and truly enamored with The Verve. They're one of my favorite bands of ever, and in my humble opinion they're one of the best English bands of the last twenty years (technically the last twenty-one, since they've been together since 1989). If you already know and love them, good for you. If not, well, the sooner you listen to them the sooner you'll be forgiven.
I'm perpetually in thrall with the earlier songs of the band, the hazy, heady, heavily shoegazing songs of The Verve EP and A Storm in Heaven. Everything about this era in The Verve's history smacks of Romantic poets (as does the Northern Soul record, wherein Richard Ashcroft apes heftily from the William Blake poem "London", though that's a matter for another post entirely), mysticism and magic, and dissatisfaction with modern life. The songs on those two recordings are some of the best songs I've ever heard in my life, both lyrically and musically. One of my biggest regrets in life is not getting into The Verve early enough to see them touring any of the early records over here. But happily, dear, dear friends, there exists a crucial part of the band's mystique, a little slice of heaven known as Voyager 1.
Recorded in both the US and the UK, Voyager 1 shows a band in full command of their powers, even fairly early in their career. Listening to it is a bit like stepping back in time, back to the dawn of the 90s, and being immersed in a powerful wave of incandescence that must have been quite remarkable to behold. Listening to V1, I can almost see Richard Ashcroft, long-haired and gaunt in full Mad Richard mode, undulating as if possessed by some unholy spirit, while Nick McCabe drones and shreds his guitar, existing in a world alone with his instrument. The seven-song recording is one of the best live records I've heard, bar none. The textures and the scope of the band's music is perfectly captured, warts and all, from the throbbing, telltale bass of "Slide Away" to the seductive swirl of "Already There".
It's a wonder to behold, and even more special than the content belies, thanks to the relative rarity of this particular recording. Copies of Voyager 1 are hard to come by, and pricey to get a hold of. They also make the perfect birthday present, for the Verve-loving blogger who has a birthday coming up next month (hint hint).
I've already mentioned my hunka hunka burning love for the Verve several times, so I'll try to gloss over being too gushy (though I make no promises).
"The Verve - This Is Music: The Singles 92-98" was released back in 2004, but I've been watching so much of it lately I figured I ought to tell you what makes it so appealing. Well, other than the Verve's hauntingly beautiful storm clouds of spacey shoegazing rock, that is.
The DVD includes 13 videos, arranged in seemingly random order (I've gotta admit, I would have preferred chronological, it would have made their progression visually much more interesting) and two audio-only tracks from the Best Of CD of the same name. But still, you get to see it all, from the early, Verve EP and A Storm in Heaven days of long-haired and crazy-eyed Mad Richard (Ashcroft) to the trendily-shorn Captain Rock years (Noel Gallagher's nickname for Ashcroft) of A Northern Soul and Urban Hymns.
Seeing all these videos in one collection reveals some interesting things, the first being that the band is basically the highlight of all the videos. Meaning, Richard, Nick, Simon, and Pete (and sometimes the other Simon) make up the vast majority of what you're looking at. Whether that's narcissism of happenstance isn't really the issue, but I did find it a bit unusual. The second major thing I noticed, because until I bought the DVD I hadn't ever seen older Verve videos, is that the really, really old ones (and to a certain extent the videos from A Northern Soul) recycle shot after shot after shot. I lost count of how many times certain scenes showed up, but perhaps they were just being budgetarily-minded and reusing the shots was justifiable that way.
On the other side of the coin, this is a pretty great DVD, especially if you're a little on the fanatical side (example: me). The videos aren't works of music clip genius, but there are several that really encapsulate the Verve: the older videos for "Slide Away", "She's A Superstar", and "Blue" are definitely some of the standouts. A little goofy in that early 90s way, these three videos are old Verve to the core. They're swirling, disjointed, sprawling, and occasionally over-saturated. And that's pretty much exactly how they ought to be. And the video for "On Your Own", the song that made me cry the first time (and many times after that) I heard it, is very well illustrated by its video, a very gloomy, muted affair. While I don't love most of the videos off of Urban Hymns, the band's last effort before their split in 1998, the video for "Bittersweet Symphony" will always be one of the most striking videos I've ever seen. There's nothing quite like watching a particularly gaunt Richard Ashcroft glaringly strut down a London street, scornfully ignoring everyone he happens to bump into on his jarring jaunt in his Clarks.
The Verve - This Is Music: Singles 92-98 is a must-have for Verve fans, and a worthwhile watch for even the most casual observer. When it comes right down to it, the thing about the Verve has always been that they've been more about the music than anything else. These videos are just another way to experience their divine musical presence.
This one was pretty much the hardest category to choose. I was fortunate enough to see dozens of amazing bands this year, and they sure did make this one big ole bastard of a tough choice, which is why I have about a billion Honorable Mentions. But in the end, I'm pretty happy with my final decision.
I can officially state, for the record, that Nine Inch Nails just might be the best live band out there these days.
This year I saw Mr. Reznor and co. twice, one at the Virgin Festival in Baltimore in August, and again in Charlottesville last month.
I've never been a huge NIN fan (which I'm working on correcting), but each time I've seen them I've been totally blown away. They're incredible live. As in, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, ass-kicking incredible. It's not just that the music sounds so perfect, which it most certainly does. It's more than that. When you go to an NIN show, you're getting a total concert experience. The Charlottesville show was especially elaborate, a bonanza of fancy lighting and unique stage settings. Nearly every couple of songs, the stage setup and lighting would be rejigged to totally chage things up. And when it comes to showmanship, there are few people out there who can match the intensity of Trent Reznor.
Honorable Mention: The Stooges, Dead Confederate, These United States, Die! Die! Die! the Verve, the National, the Black Angels, Fleet Foxes, Spiritualized, My Bloody Valentine, Brian Wilson
Pardon me for just a second while I remove my jaw from the ground and wipe these tears of joy from my eyes. For you see, I have witnessed what I can only describe as a miracle, friends. Hallelujah, I have seen the reformation of the once and always glorious Verve, and it was Great. It's the closest thing to a religious experience I quite possibly have ever had. Holy, holy, holy, they have risen from the dead to save us all.
As soon as I knew the Verve were going to be at Coachella, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I had to be there. After all, it had been over ten achingly long years since I saw them in Atlanta for the first and only time, months before their heartbreaking disbanding. So ardently do we fans love our band that I saw a girl at that show with a large, blue tattoo of our fearless Captain Rock, Richard Ashcroft. And while inking permanent devotion isn't my scene, I find it perfectly within the realms of reality to hop on a plane to see them perform thousands of miles from home.
And so it was that I found myself, after a splendid first day of Coachella, in the second row of a crowd that hummed with anticipation, waiting for the great and powerful Verve to appear. And then, finally, after a gospel-tastic intro, the moment over ten years in the making finally arrived. Richard Ashcroft, Simon Jones, Nick McCabe, and Pete Salisbury swaggered back into view, and picked up exactly where they left off. In my notes from the Coachella weekend, right above the setlist, I have the words "The Verve = perfect." And apart from a couple things that could have happened to make them even more spectacular (more on that later), that's the truth.
The kicker is this: I can tell you what they played, I can tell you how I felt, but the most important thing about that whole set was that they looked so happy to be on that stage. They looked like they felt the music running through their veins and it made them blissfully happy. And they sounded like they'd never stopped being the Verve.
They opened their 11-song set with one of my favorite Verve songs, "This is Music." It was as heady and weighty as ever, the line "if love is a drug than it ain't for me" as powerful today as it was when I first heard it some eleven years ago. One of the things I would have loved to see was less of a reliance on the material from Urban Hymns. Seven of the songs in the set came from their final album, and I think the inclusion of Storm in Heaven's "Slide Away" or "Blue" would have been dynamite, instead of, say, "Space and Time."
The band steamrolled through, playing each track with love and care. Ashcroft politely introduced every single song, and repeatedly thanked the crowd for being there with them. As he had done when I saw them many years ago, he removed his shoes about halfway through the set. Richard also played a lot more guitar than I remember him doing before, and it added depth to their already full sound. And then there was Nick McCabe, and really what else can you say about McCabe other than the man's a genius? Guitars are putty in his hands. The crowd erupted when "Bittersweet Symphony" was introduced, and they played it to perfection. I know many people see that nicked loop of Andrew Loog Oldham's as the best part of that song, but it's a fine song in its own right. The band played two new tracks, "Sit and Wonder" and the closing song "There is Love." Both sounded like a natural progression from the Urban Hymns sessions, but with just a hint of A Northern Soul lurking underneath. The only other thing I would have changed about their set would be to have closed with "Bittersweet Symphony," instead of "There is Love." But the idea of them making new music together makes me immensely happy.
Unfortunately, there was one more act to go on, and so after what seemed like an unfairly short set (though in reality it had been over an hour), the foursome bid us farewell, and I left to revel in the memories of what had just transpired. I felt like I had dreamed it all, it was so good. Here's the setlist, and an urgent plea to go and see the Verve live whenever you get the chance. You might just fall in love all over again.
This is Music Space and Time Sonnet Life's an Ocean Weeping Willow Sit and Wonder Rolling People The Drugs Don't Work Lucky Man Bittersweet Symphony There is Love
We all forget about the older stuff from time to time, in our quest to stay up to speed with the latest and greatest. But one should always respect their elders. So don’t forget about them! Here’s one of my Desert Island, Top-5 records of all time.
Imagine for a moment that it’s 1992. You’re young, bored, and disaffected, desperate to penetrate this abject grayness of the world surrounding you with something beautiful. Now imagine that what you end up creating is not only beautiful, but staggeringly, mind-blowingly so. What you’ve made is an EP, one you give the same name as your fledgling band: you’ve made the Verve EP.
As much as I love the Verve, and bear in mind that they were and quite possibly still are my favorite band, I often think that this self-titled EP is the closest to perfection they ever came. It is but five songs, but that old adage about quality versus quantity rings ever so true in this case. A certain someone I know refers to the Verve EP as “mood music.” Arguably, this is true. All five tracks have an underlying seduction in their pulsating, psychedelic swirl that gives them a drunken, heady vibe. Just switch off the lights and there you are: it’s flat-out intoxicating. It’s as if the EP has a life of its own.
From the first time I heard the opening bassline of “Gravity Grave,” I knew the EP was going to be one hell of a ride. Right away Ashcroft gives you an idea of his porcelain-fragile yet deadly lyrical ability, with lines like, “To me you’re like the setting sun/you rise then you’re gone.” The instrumentation builds and builds until it can’t go any further, and all comes crashing down near the fade-out at the end of the track. Track two is not as frenzied, but “A Man Called Sun” is no less worthy of attention. The song even inspired a band name (Mansun, from Chester, who were originally called Man Called Sun). It’s spacey and hazy and utterly splendid. “She’s a Superstar” was at one time my favorite song ever written, and shows off the unparalleled skill of guitarist Nick McCabe to devastating effect, which combined with the vocals of Ashcroft spouting “she bought the world/I paid the bills” proves spine-tingling. It’s as epic as an EP can hope to be, sweeping and climactic and majestic. Magic. Until recently, I never fully appreciated “Endless Life,” with its’ languid build and slow burn that leads to a fiery end. But now, the song holds equal footing in my estimation. The final track, “Feel,” is nearly eleven minutes long. But I think you’ll find that it goes by in a flash. More guitar tricks and treats from McCabe leads the way, along with more gems from Ashcroft (“I pulled the guilt right over my eyes/as I rose to meet/to greet the sky”). What we have here is Richard Ashcroft’s labor of frustrated love, his realization of transcendence that has just a hint of youthful innocence, making it all the more captivating.
When I first began to listen to the Verve, I was 18 and in my first year of college, far from home. I identified more with the more aggressive, yet still gorgeous, songs found on the Verve’s second album, A Northern Soul. Now, ten years later, I find myself more and more enthralled with the early Verve sound. Perhaps I can finally appreciate the subtle nuances, or perhaps I just feel more in tune with the overwhelming sense of escapism that seems to find me in older Verve material. Either way, if you’ve never really given the Verve a chance, there’s no better time than right this minute, and no better introduction than the Verve EP.
Les Enfants Terribles is a Washington, DC music blog. It's run by a music-loving lady who answers to Megan Terrible.
Please note, if you're looking for Terrible Chris, try his new joint.
Le Obligatory Disclaimer
Hear ye, hear ye.MP3s posted here are done so with permission wherever possible. If you like the bands you hear on this site, you should without question support them. Buy their music, go see them on tour, and/or buy their merch.
PLEASE NOTE: If you're a band and no longer want your music posted on this site, or a label that does not want a band's music posted herein, please write meganterrible@gmail.com, and the ship will be righted immediately, if not sooner.
Also note, LET is all about the musical lovin. Which means, only music I love will appear here. You've been warned.
For you new kids on the block, yours truly is well and truly enamored with The Verve. They're one of my favorite bands of ever, and in my humble opinion they're one of the best English bands of the last twenty years (technically the last twenty-one, since they've been together since 1989). If you already know and love them, good for you. If not, well, the sooner you listen to them the sooner you'll be forgiven.
