Urban Hymns

First gotta say The Verve are my absolute favorite band, so when I saw the announcement for this deluxe edition I was super excited. The price seems right for what you get and the quality/presentation. It's all packaged very nicely. First on top is a hard cover book with interesting comments on making the album and touring at the time from all of the band members along with some nice photos of the band. Then there are a couple of postcards, and a poster(of the album cover). Finally the main deal the music. 4 CD's and 1 DVD. The remastered tracks sound great to me but I'll admit I'm nowhere near a audiophile. What really excited me the most about this set was the live material. I think The Verve sound even better live than on the albums. Up until now pretty much the only official release of live material was the Haigh Hall concert back in the late 90's on VHS. You can easily find most of it online even just on YouTube but the quality is terriable. Same goes for the large majority of the other live material/video from this time in the bands history. Hearing these live tracks on a official release is a night and day difference. It sounds SO good. The DVD is quite nice as well. You get the full Haigh Hall concert in quite good quality in my opinion. Its still SD and 4:3 but its MUCH better than any copy of it that has existed before. There are a few other nice performances on the DVD as well such as a few songs from the "Later... with Jools Holland" show. Overall I'm more than satisfied with my purchase. It's something I will hold on to and take great care of. Already ripped all the music to FLAC format on my PC and made a ISO of the DVD and put everything back in the box in a sealed bag. Partly because sadly new Verve material/merchandise, at least official is super rare and probably will stay that way :( Anyways would def recommend to any Verve fan even just for the high quality versions of the live performances.

IMO this is perhaps one of the Greatest Albums ever created, If not THE GREATEST (at the moment, "Revolver" is the only album that I would consider being equal/better than "Urban Hymns"). Ashcroft knows exactly how to relate to the average person in the sense of his lyrics; I feel as if he has entered my brain and gather my thoughts on "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (One of the strongest tracks of the album) because everything he says is exactly how I feel. I tend to shed a few tears when i hear this track, my emotions become unbearable to control toward the end of the song when Ashcroft is singing "Have you ever been down?" with a complementary "Lalalalalalaaaaaaaa..." to conclude the song.....soooooooooo immaculate !! There are no fillers or skip over tracks on this Masterpiece, and each song holds a special place in my heart that will NEVER lose its position. I could listen to this album all day long w/o getting tired of it, in complete awe after every listen because I still can't figure out how is it possible for human beings to create such an astonishing piece of art !! My favorite tracks are "The Rolling People", "Catching The Butterfly", "Space and Time", and of course "Bitter Sweet Symphony". This album helped/helps me get through tough times as a college student struggling to balance out my personal problems (Financial, family, stress, etc.) while trying to obtain a college degree at the same time. "Urban Hymns" is more than just an album; its also a part of Me. I am entirely greatful to be an owner of "Urban Hymns" and I believe that if you are a real "music junkie" you should already own this album; if not get it ASAP !!

Todo bien

5 stars is for the music, not the quality of the vinyl. I've been reluctantly waiting to buy this record, but hesitant due to the many reviews of defective, warped, skipping records. Received my copy today, and here are the pros/cons. One of the 2 records was slightly warped, but not enough to affect playback. None of the songs skipped, and there were no obvious defects. The outer sleeve was a little dinged and slightly bent back, even though it was shipped in a larger cardboard protector. One odd thing was that they put a shipping label on the back of the record's shrinkwrap, so after peeling it off, I pretty much had to remove the entire shrinkwrap since it stretched it out and it looked saggy. I've never seen this on any vinyl record I've bought from Amazon, and don't understand why you would do this when there is a shipping label on the outside of the box. While there are no defects on my copy and the issues are minor enough to not exchange it, the overall mastering sounds a bit muffled. Not terrible, but it almost sounds like they took the CD mastering and burned it onto vinyl. For reference my TT set up is a Music Hall MMF5.3 w/ an Ortofon Blue cartridge. Overall, I'm glad there are no major defects on the records and I'm happy to have it on vinyl, but I wish it sounded a bit more pristine.

Buen disco

Every once on a while I listen to this and reminisce about the way it was and that God that it is getting better, and I see that my life is getting better, I have come a long way in good directions and I see a much brighter future just ahead, I only struggle now to control my impatience in getting there as every day is linked to the slow world of governmental bureaucratic system which is slowing assisting me as well as everyone I know in creating better lives for themselves while most of them unwittingly and sometimes selfishly grind about the world around them I say unwittingly and sometimes selfishly because the government in the United States of America is literately made up of the decisions of the real live people that live here everyday. So frankly man they are bitch-en in my face an telling me that I am not making their world everything that they want it to be, but I don't see them reaching out to do it for them selves and they sure ass hell aren't reachen out to help me are they, well some did, thanks for voting.

Gracias!

"Bitter sweet symphony" - schon der Titel des Openers zu diesem gleichermaßen hochmodernen wie traditionell-folkloristisch angehauchten Rock-Album gibt die Richtung für das Album vor. Bittersüß, wie das Leben, wie die Liebe - unvorstellbar, wie man dem fühlenden Menschen mit Rock-Musik tiefer und treffender aus der Seele sprechen kann als es hier auf "Urban hymns" der Fall ist. "I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me" heißt es im ersten Stück, für das der geniale Richard Ashcroft ein Jagger/Richards-Motiv aufgriff, einen eigenen Text hinzufügte und mit seinen Leuten von der Arrangement-Abteilung eine atemberaubende Kombination aus Klassik und Rock herstellte; ich brauche es, dass man meinen Schmerz versteht, ich muss mich in den bittersten Momenten ausdrücken. An anderer Stelle heißt es hingegen: "I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now" - das fasst schon zu Beginn perfekt die heilende Wirkung dieser Musik zusammen. Man betrachte "Sonnet" und "The drugs don't work" - prägnante Riffs zelebriert von einer wahren Harfe von Rhythmusgitarre, ein stetiger, aber dezenter Rockbeat, butterweiche, immerzu passende Orchester-Arrangements und darüber die Gesangsmelodie, von Richard Ashcroft mit so viel Schmerz, aber so viel Herzenswärme erdacht und vorgetragen - man ist den Tränen nahe. "Here we go again and my head is gone" - "If heaven calls I'm coming, too...if you leave my life, I'm better off dead"...ohne Worte. Dazwischen: "The rolling people" - psychodelischer Rock, Sphärenklänge, geheimnisvolle Zeilen, gepaart mit erdiger Rock-Gitarre; fühle, wie das simple Riff dich packt und fasziniert, wie du innerlich im Rhythmus mitgehst - "I got one more life - can you see it wasting away?" - wer hat sich das noch nicht in irgendeiner Form gefragt. Es folgen "Catching the butterfly" und "Neon wilderness" - das zweite experimenteller als das erste, beide verwoben, verworren und verstörend, beide im Schatten des vorherigen Songs "Drugs" und des nächsten Stücks: "Space and time" - die Sonnen- und Schattenseiten der Liebe; wie perfekt Ashcroft sie hier erfasst...ist logisch nachvollziehbar, aber unbeschreiblich schön - das Hauptriff, durchaus kraftvoll, dennoch emotional nicht allzu fesselnd, einer sachlichen Analyse gleichzusetzen: "There is no space and time to keep our love alive/We have existance and it's all we share"; dann ein ruhiger B-Teil, der andeutet, dass es gleich zur Sache geht. Was hält den Sänger bei seiner Liebe, mit der er scheinbar nur noch seine Existenz teilt? Die alles erschütternden Akkorde der E-Gitarre setzen ein, und da singt er es sich aus voller Lunge vom Leib, so einfach, wie es nun mal ist: "I just can't make it alone!!!" "Weeping willow", düster, vernebelt, aber mit poppiger Song-Struktur, die Gesangsmelodie des Refrains klingt wie der Ansatz zu der bei "Champagne supernova" von Ashcroft's Freund Noel Gallagher, verliert sich aber in den sphärischen Klängen des Songs. Was folgt nun? "Lucky man", eine simple Akkordfolge, ein perfekter Pop-Song für höhere Ansprüche - jeder, der sich bei Radio-Stationen mit gehobenem Mainstream-Pop-Programm wohlfühlt wird die "Happiness - more or less"-Hookline wiedererkennen. Süßlich und positiv-nachdenklich gestimmt geht es auf "One day" zu, etwas rockiger auf "This time" - und dann... ...dann wird der emotionale Höhepunkt von "Sonnet" oder "Drugs" getoppt: "Velvet morning" - es beginnt mit einer Akustikgitarre, mit simplen Tönen simpler Akkorde, bis ein sphärischer Klangteppich und ein betörend langsamer Grundbeat einsetzt. Ashcroft's Stimme ist verfremdet, kommt ganz weit aus der Tiefe des Raumes, kommt mit einer dezenten Melodie daher und freut sich: "Another velvet morning for me". Nach Strophe 2: Verdoppelung des Tempos, und ein zutiefst ehrlich empfunden wirkender Schmerz in Text und Melodieführung über 3 Grundakkorde in Dur - "My feelings they've always been betrayed" - "Don't you find that it's lonely?...Life is a game you tried/life is a game you're tired"...hier hab ich wirklich fast geweint...so viel Schmerz, aber so viel Kraft in der Musik, so viel Ausdruck, so viel Traurigkeit und so viel Schönheit und Grazie: "You're beauty is a colour sorround" - ich weiß nicht, was ich noch dazu sagen kann. Ein agressiver Abschluss, stilistisch "The rolling people" ähnelnd, bietet "Come on!", kraftvolle Rock-Riffs müssen sein! Ein emotional derartig ergreifendes Werk; ich geh innerlich steil wie der junge Werther vor seiner Lotte...Ashcroft rules!

El mejor disco de la. Banda

Vera good, amazing! Thank you, perfect.

Bevestiging van wat dat iedereen weet, top album !!

うるさい曲も静かな曲も、とても良い。曲にも浸れるが、CD発売時に聴いてたものをレコードで聴く贅沢感に浸ることもでき満足。