The Verve - Forth Format: Album Release Date: 25th Aug 2008 Label: Parlophone Rating: It pains me to write anything too negative about the Verve. I was a fan right from the get go. (Rose, get the Tardis out, set the controls for Derby 1992, a chaotic gig in front of 15 people, a deaf barmaid and a whippet called Terry).  The Verve came on but their gear didn't.  Richard apologized and gave us a quick harmonica solo, and the band sloped off dejectedly. A year later, their stratospheric debut on a gloriously hot afternoon on what was the NME stage at Glastonbury (it's probably now called the green vegan renewable cobblers let's go back to the middle ages stage).  That performance, some of which can now be found on you tube, will stay with me forever.  It was transcendental. Then they got big, they had hit singles, they were pop stars, they became a household name, but predictably they had to go and start hating each other, they split and that should have been it, but a new chapter has been written, axes have been buried (surprisingly not in  each others heads) egos have come to a shaky compromise and hey presto, we didn't see this one coming, a new album,' forth' geddit?! Ok, lets get the shit out of the way first.  Too much here treads water (albeit very pleasantly). Too much sounds like a Richard Ashcroft solo album and not a band effort.  Oh and Nick Mcabes brilliant guitar fx are too far down in the mix. The production is over fussy. There's a waste of nearly 10 minutes on a track called Noise Epic that is neither noisy or epic. Apart from those minor niggles, it's not a bad collection of tunes.  You can see why love is noise is the lead off single.  Its a Verve classic, annoyingly catchy, with an insistant vocal sample that threads its way through the song.  It rocks, and gets better everytime Radio One play it. Ballads are in the majority, best of which are Judas and Rather Be. And then there's Sit And Wonder in which Richard finds himself not surprisingly sitting and wondering. It thunders along ( in a slow way) and is all very pleasant, but the best tracks are the two that close the album, Columbo and Appalachian Springs, they both meander gorgeously, in slow motion (and for a long time), evoking the majestic sonic splendour of The Verve of old.  Reunion justified. Enjoy it while you can, apparently they are throwing things at each other again. There probably wont be a 'fifth'. I wonder what Terry's doing now?...................

Written by: John Haylock