The Verve – Urban Hymns [2× 180g Vinyl LP]

The Verve – Urban Hymns [2× 180g Vinyl LP]

Details

• Format: 2× Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Gatefold, Stereo
• Catalogue Number: 4787014
• Barcode: 602547870148
• Genre: Britpop / Indie Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Alternative Rock
• Label: Virgin Records Ltd.
• Originally Released: 29 September 1997
• Reissue Released: 9 September 2016
• Pressing: 180 Gram Vinyl
• Condition: New & Sealed

Description

Urban Hymns is the third studio album by The Verve — Richard Ashcroft (vocals, guitar), Nick McCabe (guitar), Simon Jones (bass), Peter Salisbury (drums) and Simon Tong (guitar, keyboards) — released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Records, and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed British albums of the decade. In its first week of release it sold 250,000 copies in the UK alone, eventually becoming certified 11× Platinum by the BPI — the only album ever released on Virgin Records to achieve three million UK sales — and selling over 10 million copies worldwide. It debuted at number one in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Sweden, reached the top ten across most of Western Europe and ultimately peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard 200 following the licensing of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" to a Nike advertising campaign. At the 1998 Brit Awards the band won Best Album and Best Producer alongside Youth and Chris Potter — a dual recognition that reflected the album's unusual dual-producer identity.

The album was recorded at Olympic Studios in London in 1996 and into May 1997, with sessions divided between two producers whose contributions are distinct in character: Martin "Youth" Glover produced the more expansive, atmospheric pieces — including "Bitter Sweet Symphony", "Sonnet", "The Drugs Don't Work", "Lucky Man", "One Day" and both closing tracks — while Chris Potter produced the harder-edged material including "The Rolling People", "Catching the Butterfly", "Neon Wilderness", "Space and Time", "Weeping Willow" and "Come On". The recording history was complicated: the band had split in August 1995, reformed within two weeks without McCabe, worked with John Leckie and Owen Morris on aborted sessions, briefly brought in former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, and only reintegrated McCabe in early 1997 after Ashcroft personally contacted him — with several songs substantially re-recorded to incorporate his guitar parts. The result is an album on which two distinct musical personalities coexist: Ashcroft's orchestrated, emotionally direct songwriting and McCabe's destabilising, psychedelic guitar work.

The three principal singles represent the full range of the album's ambition. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (number two UK, June 1997) — built on a sample of a Rolling Stones orchestral arrangement, its writing credit ultimately surrendered entirely to ABKCO due to litigation — is one of the most immediately recognisable British records of the 1990s, a five-minute piece of orchestral rock that remains the band's signature. "The Drugs Don't Work" (number one UK, September 1997) is among the most emotionally direct ballads of the era: Ashcroft's vocal and Potter's production creating something almost unbearably intimate in the album's context. "Lucky Man" (number seven UK, November 1997) rounds out a single campaign of sustained achievement. Beyond the singles, the album contains some of the band's most celebrated deep cuts: "Sonnet", "The Rolling People" (seven minutes of psychedelic rock distinguished by McCabe's guitar), "Catching the Butterfly", "One Day" and the sprawling closer "Come On" — running to over fifteen minutes and containing a hidden track, a demo version of "Bitter Sweet Symphony", after several minutes of silence.

This 2016 reissue on Virgin Records Ltd. presents the 2016 remaster — sourced from digital files prepared from the original half-inch tapes, remastered by Chris Potter and Tony Cousins at Metropolis and Sabian at Fullsound — pressed on 2× 180 gram black vinyl. Lacquers were cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering and the records were pressed by Optimal Media GmbH in Germany. The pressing replicates the original 1997 vinyl edition with the band photo on each side label and text around the rim. Includes printed inner sleeves.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Bitter Sweet Symphony
2. Sonnet
3. The Rolling People

Side B

1. The Drugs Don't Work
2. Catching the Butterfly
3. Neon Wilderness

Side C

1. Space and Time
2. Weeping Willow
3. Lucky Man
4. One Day

Side D

1. This Time
2. Velvet Morning
3. Come On (contains hidden track — "Bitter Sweet Symphony" demo — after several minutes of silence)

Credits

• Richard Ashcroft – Vocals, Guitar
• Nick McCabe – Guitar
• Simon Jones – Bass
• Peter Salisbury – Drums
• Simon Tong – Guitar, Keyboards
• Martin "Youth" Glover – Producer (tracks A1, A2, B1, C3, C4, D1, D2)
• Chris Potter – Producer (tracks A3, B2, B3, C1, C2, D3)
• Chris Potter & Tony Cousins – Mastering (Metropolis / Sabian at Fullsound)
• Matt Colton – Lacquer Cut (Alchemy Mastering)
• Label – Virgin Records Ltd.