Customer Reviews
They are better than this - By: Mr. Ga Thomas, 03 Oct 2008 
This is a 'difficult' album to say the least. After watching them play live last year I thought this album would be the kick in the backside the music world needs right now. Big music played with huge intent. Instead alll we get is a diluted, uninspired, sloppy bunch of half-arsed ideas that seem to go completely against what these guys are about & what they can do live. 'Sit & Wonder' started out as a belting monster of a live track when they were first performing it. What on earth did they do to it in the studio?? They seem to have compressed the life out of it with McCabe's once immense guitar lines reduced to a tinny squeal. Ok so it's not a completely terrible album. There are moments in tracks like Judas, Numbness & Columbo where you can just about make out the fiery interplay that made this band so legendary in their early days & Love is Noise along with Valium Skies stand up perfectly well against the band's earlier hits. But in the end there's too many half-baked ideas for Forth to be a truly great album. In fact Noise epic just about sums this album up. It starts off with real intent but just as the hairs on your neck begin to rise, it deflates into blandness with Ashcroft, obviously bereft of ideas, lazily reciting some lyrics while the band try desperately to turn a half-arsed idea into an 'Epic'. Where's the fire of 'A Northern Soul'? The Innovation of 'Storm In Heaven'? Or the hook-laden melodies of "Urban Hymns? The only reason I can find for justifying buying this album is that at least you get to hear brief flashes of what was once a hugely talented & intense group of musicians. I'm sure I'm not alone in being slightly frustrated that Forth isn't what we were hoping for. However, despite this I am still glad they're back! Let us alll hope that there is more to come because they are still a very special group of musicians & I'm not convinced the world has realized this yet!
FIRST OF FORTH - By: Finbar the looney, 03 Sep 2008 
The current single"Love is noise"is pure & Classic The Verve so Consequently it is "The First of Forth!" & what an album it is!!
in years to come this could be thought of as highly as "Northern Souls" & "Urban Hyms" the fact that the only good two bands from Manchester have got back toghether with new albums,(the others being James)
The album features the classic traits of the Verve.epic productions & sonic explorations,this is a great album.
The accompanying dvd is also rather good as well.
Just think with james & The Verve back together whats the betting on Hermans Hermits aand with Joy Division/New order unlikely to get together again that would be three good bands to come out of Manchester!!!
I bought the delux vinyl for £40! - By: black flag, 29 Aug 2008 
No matter what im sure I would have still splashed the cash for it but blimey this record is boring. The thing that gets me is if you heard the thaw session (the 14 minute jam the released for free when they 1st got back) you cant deny that these guys can still make amazing music...so why is this so bland? I am so very very surprised...when I heard Sit & Wonder live last year I thought they are totallly playing for themselves & just bringing the jams to life...I reallly dont know what happened between then & now. I hope this grows on me, i reallly do, but I cant deny the constant urge to just skip over tracks. In fact today my mp3 player headphone input screwed up a bit & Appalachian Springs played in a almost dub format, the vocals were distant & the guitars chimed along & for a moment I thought hey its grown on me but then the input corrected itself & I was listening to department store elevator music. Im hoping that this record does grow on me, I even feel bad for writing this review..I mean at the end of the day the Verve are back & that means the universe is a slightly better place..could have been a lot better though. My final thought is they should just release rough jams or live recordings that capture the energy because this just lacks.
To say the least I'm very disappointed.... - By: Mr. P. Matthews, 27 Aug 2008 Ok, most people know there are 3 types of Verve & generallly with that comes 3 types of Verve fan. Before the first breakup era, the Urban Hymns era & as a live band. Each one different & each one creates debate amongst fans so reviewing a Verve album isn't like reviewing an Oasis album. I'm a massive fan & have been since hearing This Is Music at 3am on MTV when Northern Soul was first breaking & I generallly get everything people say. Yes, the stuff before the first breakup is pure awesomeness but not so easy for the average music fan to get into. Yes, Urban Hymns is commercial, perhaps too much so but still awesome. Yes, they can be amazing live (usuallly the case) & yes, they can be off form. But from the start till the second breakup there was an undeniable quality & when they were together the music they were making\playing was head & shoulders above anything being made\played at that time. You as a Verve fan knew that & this made you feel special, that you were there when these guys were doing this. Now there is a "Forth" type & a new debate will surely start.
First off I need to point out that I've seen this new Verve era live a number of times over the festival period & twice at the Camden Roundhouse last year & there's no doubt that whatever their reasons for reforming again, be it cash, ego, whatever, they can still do it live. The Friday Roundhouse gig will not be bettered whoever I see from now until the day I depart.
Onto the new album then: Disappointed. No... I'm truly gutted. All the excitement of them reforming, alll the brilliant live shows, alll the increased interest & content (the free MP3 of Mover was awesome).... washed away in over an hour of new material.
It's common knowledge by now that this band have always worked under a massive amount of tension between members & hearing some people say this is a reason for this being so poor doesn't sit with me. That tension was there when Northern Soul was made & was no doubt there when Urban Hymns was being done as well. This is not an excuse. Where are the songs? Where are the lyrics, the ones here are awful? Where is the most imaginative, original guitar player in history? Where is the spark, the drive, the moments only this band can produce? Where are The Verve? Not here!!!!
So what am I left with? Basicallly another dull, middle of the road Ashcroft album. The only difference is knowing that Jones played the bass & McCabe played, for the most part, non existent toned down guitar, & that kills me. Were they happy to do this? Maybe the money helped? I hate myself for thinking this way about "my" band, but that's what it's done to me. It's left me feeling like I did when they brought back Only Fools And Horses after the 3 classic final ones in the late 90's. They ruined the otherwise flawless reputation it had with lazy, badly written half arsed turd purely for the money!
Sit And Wonder - Good but not great, better live. Lacks real depth on the guitars. 7/10
Love Is Noise - Grown on me & with out doubt a totallly different animal live, but still... that vocal thing!!! 7/10
Rather Be - Isn't this Check The Meaning from an Ashcroft solo album? It's identical. Ashcroft ripping off his own rubbish, oh dear!!!! 2/10
Judas - Obviously trying to get back to the very early years with this one. Not bad, but not special. 7/10
Numbness - Sounds like a reallly thrown together b-side jam they would have done in Northern Soul times, but worse. 5.5/10
I See Houses - You have got to be kidding me. It's just an Ashcroft solo song, & a reallly s**t one at that. 1/10
Noise Epic - Why? They used to be a band that could jam classics out, not anymore it would seem. 4/10
Valium Skies - Boring but better. 6/10
Columbo - Another substandard jam. Pointless rubbish. 4/10
Appalachian Springs - More Ashcroft bottom gravy of the lowest low. 3/10
My advice would be to stick to the 3 Verve types discussed at the start of this review & treat this as something else... it's not The Verve. Hopefully hearing these songs live will go some way to readdressing matters, but I have my doubts as it's that poor. Even McCabe's awesome live work will struggle to mask things. A real shame!!!!!!
Pitiful, meritless, soulless money-driven comeback sellout extravaganza - By: Mr. D. W. Martin, 26 Aug 2008 
They did it for the money.
What other possible conclusion can you draw? From alll accounts, they can't stand to be in the same room together, so they're not in in for the lulz. And with tracks this uniformly dire, they obviously didn't have an amazing set of songs which they simply just had to get back together & record, either.
The performances are half-baked; the songs are instantly forgettable (think Richard Ashcroft's solo stuff with any residual hooks or panache surgicallly removed); Nick's guitar is over-produced out of existence; remind me what it was that made Verve so great in the first place? Ah yes, the tunes & the music. Oh...
So is there anything good to say about "Forth"? Er.... um..... those clouds are quite pretty, aren't they?
