A Listeners Guide To The Verve: When There's More Than Just Bittersweet Symphony
The Verve
Jamie Mahn @grahammah
When I was 17 years old my older brother Dave introduced me to The Verve. On Your Own was the song he first showed me. He then played me History. Both were off the band’s second album, 1995’s A Northern Soul. They blew me away as I couldn’t stop playing either for months. This was the late 90’s, a time when Britpop was in vogue. Think Radiohead, Oasis, Travis, Doves, Stereophonics and Mojave 3.
Soon after this initial interaction, Urban Hymns came out. This would become the seminal album for The Verve as one hit song would come to dominate the bands narrative moving forward. Bittersweet Symphony was the tune and its story is one that has been fraught with controversy ever since its release.
Back in 1997, Richard Ashcroft, the lead singer of The Verve, asked The Rolling Stones if he could sample a bit of the orchestral harmony from their song “The Last Time.” The Stones agreed to the sample so long as they received a 50/50 split of the royalties. When the song was finally released, Allan Klein, The Rolling Stones manager sued The Verve for breach of contract as he felt the band had sampled more of the song than had been previously agreed upon. Once in court, The Verve would lose their fight against the Stones and be forced to hand over all rights to the song Bittersweet Symphony. This decision has remained a thorn in the band’s side for over 22 years.
That is, until recently.
As has been reported by Rolling Stone Magazine, it looks as if the Stones have softened on their stance with this issue and given back Richard and The Verve full copyrights to the song Bittersweet Symphony. Since the Stones played no part in the creation of Bittersweet Symphony, this reversal feels somewhat justified.
Nevertheless, Bittersweet Symphony is one of the best songs of the 90’s. It, however, does not capture the full breadth of talent the band possessed. In my opinion, it cast a huge shadow over the bands best work. This list I have here for you is one in which I can safely say truly encapsulates the band’s full skillset. From the dream psych songs of A Storm in Heaven to A Northern Soul’s guitar led power, The Verve showcased a range of ability few bands of this era could dream of. So sit back and enjoy a bit of 90’s nostalgia with one of the best Britpop bands of all time.
For those of you with Apple music please rock out there, for everyone else here is the goods: