Genre: Epic Brit Rock
Verdict: The Second Coming
Label: MRI Associated
The story is that when Verve headlined the mammoth Glastonbury Festival this year, the band ended with the epic "Love is Noise" (the first single from Forth), and the attendees turned into a teeming, screaming throng of souls. It wasn't just that the return set had captivated thousands as much as a wholesale greeting from the masses: "Welcome back." After years of enduring the malodorous Coldplay as the biggest representative of the Brit rock scene, The Verve, led by the dark visage of Richard Ashcroft, has come to rip the crown off Chris Martin's gigantic head. Gone are the early days of the epic psychedelia, but who cares? It's been eight years, and I'm happy to hum along to "Rather Be" or get lost in the mood of "Valium Skies" or raise my lighter to "I See Houses" than continue to endure the overwrought music of Martin & Co. "Love is pain," indeed.
