Not long ago, The Verve, possibly my favorite band of all time, released their fourth album. The appropriately titled Forth is the band's first release in about ten years. I'd love to say that it's the best thing they've ever released. But I can't. It's solid and a great release for a band that's been on hiatus for a decade. It's an interesting mix of their first three albums. There are tunes on this CD that could fit on each of their other albums. The highlights for me are:
Sit and Wonder, Judas, I See Houses, Valium Skies, and Appalachian Springs. Each song is amazingly strong. The other half of the album (it's a 10 track offering) is considerably weaker. Rather Be is really good, but take out the background vocals and I would like it even more. Love is Noise could be better without the bizarre "oh-oh, oh-oh" and "woo-hoo" that pepper the song. Take them out and the song kicks ass! Numbness sounds like it should have been left as a B-side. Noise Epic and Columbo are strange and a bit disjointed.
I would have loved to hear guitarist Nick McCabe go crazy. But even during the jams he seems subdued. The album is DEFINITELY worth getting. Maybe after a decade of waiting, my expectations were too high. Hopefully this album is just a springboard to even better offerings in the (hopefully near) future.
