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Rating: Surely, those who love the Verve for Bittersweet Symphony, Sonnet, and Lucky Man might wrinkle their noses a bit when first listening to this album, released in 1993. And that's exactly what happened to me, to be honest...
But then, after listening to it two, three, four times, I realized the value of this work, which has absolutely nothing of pop in it...
It is a very homogeneous album, without particular shifts between ballads and slightly more upbeat rock. The homogeneity lies in the fact that there are 10 tracks of very calm psychedelic rock, where in some parts the music overpowers Richard Ashcroft's voice (as in "Slide Away" and "Already There"), but this does not bother the listener at all; on the contrary, it makes one appreciate the distinctive sound of the English band in its early days.
"A Storm in Heaven" begins with the beautiful electric charge of "Star Sail," the most rock track along with "The Sun, The Sea" and "Blue." "Virtual World" is a semi-acoustic ballad, with a very light drum supporting the melodies expressed by the guitar and with sweet flutes in the song's final part.
The first seconds of "Butterfly" slightly remind us of Oasis's "Fade In-Out," for the rest, it’s a track with constant changes of pace, first calm, then sped up, then calm again, until the introduction of the sax (also present in "The Sun, The Sea"), which takes us to the end of the track.
"See You In The Next One (Have A Good Time)" brings us back a bit to solo Lou Reed and is a classic British-style ballad with a piano intro with which the album closes.
This is an album to listen to in complete relaxation; these 46 minutes will further relax you.
The final result is a work worthy of the (now lost) genius of Richard Ashcroft, and to think that I found it two years ago in a store for 18,000 lire and didn’t buy it simply because it said "Verve" and not "THE Verve" on the album (I didn’t think it was Richard's band, can you imagine...) ...by the way: in the band's name on this album, the "The" is not present: they acquired it later because of a dispute with a record label...(thanks giov for the info!!!)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Star Sail (03:59)
Hello it's me, it's me
Calling out I can see you
Hello it's me, crying out, crying out
Are you there?
Hello it's me, it's me
I want to touch you
It's me throwing stones from the stars
On your mixed up world
Been circling round for 20 years
And in that time I've seen all the fires and all the liars
I've been calling home for 20 years
And in that time I heard the screams rebound to me
While, you were making history
I could see the fire
And I'll throw the fire back down
02 Slide Away (04:03)
So take your time
I wonder if you're here just to use my mind
Don't take it slow
You know I've got a place to go
You always do that
Something I'm not sure of
But just for today
Let go and slide away
I was thinking maybe we could go outside
Let the night sky cool your foolish pride
Don't you feel alive
These are your times and our highs
So take your time
I wonder which cup you'll drink from
I hope it's mine
Beause you always do that something
Something I'm not sure of
But just for today
Let go and burn away
'Cause I read your mind
I need it because it takes me where I can't find
Because you always do that something
Something I'm not sure of
But just for today
Let go and burn away
repeat
Slide Away burn away
Slide Away burn away
I read your mind
I read your mind
'Cause it takes me to where I can't find...
03 Already There (05:38)
Seen it all I'm already there
Save your books and your pills
I don't need them I'm there
You can do anything you want to
All you've got to do is try
I thought my best days had left me
My best years had left me behind
Then I felt them come back (to me)
And all the wild eyes
All the wild eyes know what I mean
If trees cut stars and eyes to heaven
I'll bend them back and bend them again
If my skin looks tired and old from living
I'll turn right back and live it again
You better pray when the music stops
And you're left alone in your mind
'Cause I'll be hearing music till the day I die
Then I heard it turn off
I swear I heard the screams
And all the wild eyes
All the wild eyes know what I mean
They're scared they've lost their dream
They press down on me
You know I thought I was there
Hello, high, are you?
Yes?
Well that explains it
Oh you were walking round like some kind of angel
You were walking round like some kind of angel
Hello, high, are you? Yes?
Well that explains it
Well that explains it
05 The Sun, The Sea (05:16)
I see I hear it's very clear
Because the day has come when you have won
It's myself I feel
She calls me calls me the sun the sea yeah
I know it's not for today
It's not for today, it's for you and me yeah you and me
Alone in my room you're there on the floor
Open up your eyes let me get inside
Learned to love on TV
Learned to come on TV
Can I help you?
Can I guide you?
It amazes me how I broke free
Then got brought back in
'Cause when the feelings there shattered and scared
I know you've won goodbye I'm gone
Alone in my room, you're there on the floor
Open up your eyes let me get inside
Said you learned to come on TV then hold on to me
Can I help you? Can I guide you?
06 Virtual World (06:20)
See the water break my hand
No one knows my name
I'm not in demand
Signs are right
The signs are here
Who needs virtual world
When I can see it now
I can see it now, oh now, oh now, now
No one goes no one cares
No one seen it anywhere
She's breathing life into lonely dead stars
Have you ever seen it
I ain't seen nothing at all
Come see the water break my fall
No one knows no one comes
Have you ever seen the book
The one on my help
The one entitled self-death, self-death
How to earn a million pounds
I can see it now oh the hearse
She's breathing down in a hole in my head
In the dirty half light where
Time means nothing at all
I'm calling out to some one
Anyone who'll have me?
Does anyone need me?
Does anyone know how to cry?
What happens when I go?
What happens when it snows?
I bet you could if you wanted to end
08 Blue (03:25)
There you were on the floor cut up
And all alone I'll help you
Concerened in a chrome dream I was a crease
In the shirt that this world wears
Till I met Blue, I was in obsicurity he said
Loosen up who do you wanna be?
We could steal a car and listen to the stars
I can see you've choked on them too
Had enough of late night films
Just enough for an hour or two
Hey Blue show me something new
Hey blue show me something new
Blue I've got a question every time I hold you
Ye Blue I've got a question every time I swallow you it's true
Spike danced for 10 days long
We were just heading for the sun
You shot him down there's blood on my face
His heart's in the right place
What they gonna do to you
What they gonna do
Blue don't forget the word I warned you
Oh Blue don't let them push you don't let them destroy you
Meanwhile I'm searching with my brain blown eyes
See the world through my dirty lonely mixed up mind
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