10 Perfect Britpop Albums Of The '90s
8. Urban Hymns - The Verve
As the Britpop movement started to rage on in the late '90s, it almost looked like the time for the Verve had came and went. Since they had two albums to their name and had the biggest claim to fame of being namechecked on the sleeve notes of an Oasis album, it looked like Richard Ashcroft was better off packing it in and going solo. Once we heard the strings of Bittersweet Symphony though, it felt like the clock had officially stopped.
Just like the opening single, Urban Hymns has a sort of daydream-y quality to it, almost like the songs are arriving as a sort of stream of consciousness across your speakers. Take a song like the Rolling People for example. From the raw sounds on the record, it would be nearly impossible for a band to actually sit down and compose something like this to happen organically.
That's where the magic of this album comes from though...the ability to transcend just music. On almost every song, it feels like the band aren't even fully in control of themselves, rather letting the music take them into new lands and going along for the ride. Life itself may feel a bit bittersweet, but if it means having an album like this to listen to, than it will all be worth it in the end.