Richard Ashcroft is getting ready to release his third solo-album since the disbanding of The Verve,
after an almost three year retreat from the music-scene.



During the hiatus, word on the street was that a follow-up was doubtful, as Ashcroft wasn't satisfied with the
reception of his solo-work, and things turned silent pretty much. I got into his music some time after
he stopped touring his latest effort, 2002's Human conditions, so I never had the pleasure of
seeing the man live. Quite a thrill to see him take on the mainstage at Live8 courtesy of Coldplay, which
he befriended some time ago. He is currently warming up to the concert-circuit by opening on their current
European tour with a stripped down show. This situation seems a bit awkward, considering Richard paved the
way for the enormous success Coldplay currently enjoys, and though Chris Martin seems to acknowledge the fact,
it looks a bit like he is lending him a hand.

After the release In the fall he will continue touring with headlining dates in England, and I am pretty
certain he will make it overseas to Europe as well. Anyone on here excited by the prospect of a new Ashcroft-experience?

Let's hear it!

Check Ashcroft's org here.

Where's the Brits?

Never been a huge fan of The Verve or Ashcroft's solo stuff (although there are the classics, of course), but with the current Keane/Coldplay etc etc wave that has engulfed UK music, I am surprised he hasn't been more successful. Or to put it another way, the right album from him right now could really be the one that propels him back into the big league.

You could be right, though I don't expect a big departure from the current path. He reportedly worked
with the London Metropolitan Orchestra, so I reckon the sonics are grand and bombastic again.

The main criticism with the first two solo-albums was that Richard lost much of his edge due to parting
ways with guitarist Nick McCabe, which he vibed so well with on the The Verve-recordings. I am curious
how that affected his writing and arranging for the upcoming album.

I'm a HUGE fan of the Verve. But haven't paid much attention to Richard's solo work. I did pick up "Human Condition" though. Maybe I should give it some time and decide how I really feel about it.

I'm interested to see if this will be released in the states. He got a pretty big push over here with his last record but it was still ignored by the masses.

His first solo album is a classic in my opinion. Better than any Verve album. But his second was dissapointing except for the first song Human Conditions. So if he is upset, then he should make this third one like or better than his first one.

I agree. On the Verve albums there were a few highlights but as a whole they were slightly disappointing. I think the first six songs on "Alone with Everybody" are really great. After that the albums gets a little boring and the songs sound a bit unfocused though. Haven´t heard "Human Conditions".

endorphin74 said:

He did?
I understood he didn't even tour it stateside. The one time he did tour under his own name was a rescheduled
run of shows to support Alone with everybody, after the initial tour of the US and Canada fell through
due to Richard falling off a stage and and hurting his back.

He is resigned to Virgin Records after they merged Hut, so I think the new album will be distributed throughout the US
too.

Do give Human conditions a few spins, as it is a beautifully vibrant album that needs to be consumed as a whole.
I particularly like Buy it in bottles, Bright lights and Running away, but that may change as I set about
revisiting this album when the new one is going to be released.
[Edited 7/20/05 5:49am]

pkidwell said:

Well, he toned it down quite a bit on Human conditions, compared to some of the upbeat songs on Alone with everybody.
I would say that he could benefit greatly from getting either a new band or a distinct guitarplayer to record with.

That first song you mention is Check the meaning, which was the leadsingle as well I believe.
[Edited 7/20/05 5:59am]

Ikaros said:

I remember being surprised when Human Condition came out cos I saw write-ups and interviews in Details, Entertainment Weekly and a few other mags at the time which really surprised me. Maybe that's not a BIG push, but more press than I expected. I'm guessing that the album clearly was going nowhere therefore further promo plans (like a tour) never happened.

I dunno though. I had tickets to see the Verve on 3 seperate occasions and they canceled all three times. Once was in Mpls ON MY BIRTHDAY, the bastards. The third time was at a festival in Belgium. We got there to find out they had canceled (and broke-up for the last time shortly thereafter). I was a bit bitter. Anyways, I have absolutely NO FAITH in Richard Ashcroft's ability to pull off a tour because of all of that.

fyi- thanks to this thread I listened to A Northern Soul this morning while getting ready for work. GOOD STUFF.

I'll pull Human Codition off my shelf tonite and give it some attention...

Yeah, I guess that The Verve-period was a bit of a roughride

I decided to brush up on The Verve/Ashcroft as well, and see how the anticipation builds over the course of the
next few months. I surely won't miss out on the tour this time around!

endorphin74 said:

History


On Your Own



..man, I haven't listened to this album in years, I think I may just have to go and dig it out again.....

rocknrolldave said:

DO IT!

I'm all about On Your Own/So It Goes

and then History.

In fact, that's exactly what I set my CD player to play this morning.

endorphin74 said:

"Tell me what you've seen, was it a dream? Was I in it..?"


Oh man, what a great lyric

rocknrolldave said:

LOVE IT.

I see Richard about town a fair bit, as he only lives upthe road from me. He used to come into the record store where I worked a fair bit too - and we had a chat once as my friend Youth produced the 'Urban Hymns' album.

He told me once that during the recording sessions for the album, Richard hated 'Bittersweet Symphony' because it just wasn't coming together as he'd hoped, and was going to can the song. Youth worked on the track overnight, and overdubbed the now famous Andrew Oldham Orchestra string sample onto it.

Next morning, Richard Ashcroft was played the new mix and it blew him away. So much so he told Youth that he wanted to scrap the sessions and start all over.

Youth's response? 'Oh fuck.' It took him the best part of the day to convince him that wasn't needed.

BananaCologne said:

good story!

BananaCologne said:

You know Youth?!


As in Killing Joke? As in produced some stuff for U2..?


Bloody 'ell!

So it is thanks to Youth that their biggest hit came to fruition... interesting!

Ikaros said:

And also thanks to Youth that The Verve got into legal problems with this song? Mixed blessing.

theplejades said:

'Alone With Everybody' is the only one I have. It made my year-end top 10 list that year. Great album. I didn't buy the follow up after reading a few not so rave reviews.

rocknrolldave said:

Umm... yeah, Jaz and Youth are long-time friends of mine.

sextonseven said:

Oh yeah, forgot that part.

By all accounts, this was brought up, and they knew that they would be lucky to make any money off the back of the song because of the sample. They didn't have time to clear it, so threw caution to the wind. As we all know, that plan didn't quite work, and they had to pay out a big ol' stack of cash.

However, it broke them big time in Europe and helped launch them in America for a time. So the trade-offs were worth it i'd guess.

sextonseven said:

Though I can see what the critics' problem was (i.e. Verve-lite, same thematic content as debut-album, no single material),
Human conditions is by all accounts certainly not a bad album.

BananaCologne said:

Though I am not sure about the amount of money involved, I'd say it was well worth it, Bittersweet symphony
was the anthem of 1997. It's hard to measure these things' intrinsic value, but a song like that is destined
to be a lifetime classic.

Ikaros said:

I never doubted the fact.

I never doubted that you doubted the fact.

Found this in Rolling Stone's review of Alone with everybody, quite tongue in cheek:

One of England's gifts to the pop world is the unique phenomenon of the British solo album. You know the drill:
First the band scores a heavily hyped hit, and then the lippy sex poet on the mike starts to bicker with the
shy, perfectionist guitar god, usually during the sessions for their blow-addled, dub-influenced, difficult
second album. The two boys throw crockery at each other across the studio, tears are shed, and before you
can say "Remember Morrissey," they're off making their laughable solo albums. The singers tend to sell better;
the guitarists have better hair and get better reviews. Sometimes the singer actually makes a decent record
on his own -- it's called Black Grape Syndrome -- but it only happens enough to blow the curve for everybody else.

Ikaros said:

I never doubted that u never doubted that I doubted the fact.

I saw Ashcroft live two weeks ago, opening for Coldplay and was not impressed at all (and I had the feeling 49.999 other people weren't as well)! First, he didn't have a band, so a tape was running. Second, he can't sing live.....at least that's what I thought. Third, his songs really are not that impressive.

Apart from 'The Drugs Don't Work' & 'Bittersweet Symphony' there was hardly a reaction from the audience.....

Really, why not do an acoustic perfomance if you don't have a band? A tape?? Geez.....

Ikaros said:

that is soooo perfect!

abierman said:

I read a report on Ashcroft's opening bit that it was him on guitar and a keyboardist (his wife?),
so I figured it would be kind of acoustic.

But complete backup-tapes? Hmmm...

Gonna head over to Coldplay.com to read some reviews...