Richard Ashcroft

BIG BLASTS FROM THE PAST – 10 Classic Albums Turning 25 In 2025

Posted on by JL

Back in time

30 December 2024

PrimalTerminator

Band: PRIMAL SCREAM

Album: XTRMNTR
6th one, #3 in the UK.

AllMusic: “XTRMNTR is a nasty, fierce realization of an entire
world that has also lost the plot. It’s simply a protest, sonically
as well as lyrically, and maybe this would be a fine time to once
again rally behind something worthwhile.”

PLAY


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Instagram – Linktree
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Artist: PJ HARVEY

Album: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Her 5th longplayer. #23 in the UK. Platinum in the US.

NME: “A magnificent, life-affirming opus.”

PLAY


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Instagram – Linktree
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wHITEsTRIPES

Band: THE WHITE STRIPES

Album: De Stijl
The duo’s 2nd one. No. 137
in the UK. No. 38 in the US.

Rolling Stone: “Feisty and clever. Like everything about the White Stripes,
the album proves that you don’t need bombast to make a blues explosion.”

PLAY


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Instagram – Linktree
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Band: RADIOHEAD

Album: Kid A
4th LP. No. 1 in the UK, US, Ireland,
Scotland, New Zealand and Canada.

The Guardian: “Even listeners raised on krautrock or
Ornette Coleman will find Kid A a mystifying experience.”

PLAY


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Instagram
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Artist: RICHARD ASHCROFT

Album: Alone With Everybody
Solo debut.

NME: “Ashcroft’s newly discovered stability has done nothing
to blunt his powers of communication or reduce his belief in
the apocalyptic potential of music.”

PLAY


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Instagram
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Band: SHELLAC

Album: 1000 Hurts
3rd full length.

AllMusic: “True to Shellac form, the record is a sound purchase.
Within the domain of atonal, anti-commercial rock & roll, very
few are on their level.”

R.I.P. Steve Albini.

PLAY


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Instagram
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Band: THE DELGADOS

Album: The Great Eastern
3rd longplayer. #12 in the UK, #37 in
their home country Scotland.

DIS: The Great Eastern is a majestic
journey of astounding beauty.

PLAY


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Instagram
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Band: GRANDADDY

Album: The Sophtware Slump
Second LP.

The New York Times: “A heart-achingly beautiful requiem for
a culture in which progress and technology have led to alienation
and disposability”.

PLAY


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Linktree
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Band: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

Album: Rated R
Second one. #16 in the US,
#54 in the UK.

AllMusic: “R is mellower, trippier, and more arranged than its predecessor, making
its point through warm fuzz-guitar tones, ethereal harmonies, vibraphones, horns,
and even the odd steel drum.”

PLAY


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Instagram
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AtTheDriveInn

Band: AT THE DRIVE IN

Album: Relationship Of Command
Their 3rd. #33 in the UK,
#116 in the US.

BBC Music: “Mesmerising. A statement of
grand intent that could never be followed.”

PLAY


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Instagram

Power Pop Ballad Champ RICHARD ASHCROFT Wins Gold Medal In BELGIUM

Posted on by JL

7 August 2024

Power pop champ and former The Verve (1990–1995, 1996–1999, 2007–2009)
frontman RICHARD ASHCROFT (aged 52 now) came, saw, and conquered Belgium
last Monday at Lokerse Feesten.

He did it with only 9 songs (with long outros) over a one-hour set. 6 epic ones from The Verve‘s grand 1997 opus Urban Hymns and 3 solo songs. This is what all artists/bands should do at festivals (to my ears), limiting their show to 1 hour, performing all the fans’ favorites in 60 non-stop ecstatic minutes.

Ashcroft is an expert in the matter. Every song was sung-along by the exultant crowd.
Every song was worth a gold medal. Everybody had a big smile, from left to right and
back on their faces even long after the show. Passionate music unites people.

And that’s what former weirdo Richard‘s goal is at every one of his concerts (as I witnessed myself several times), connecting the audience in an over-the-moon rapture. This time he got a big helping hand from his new guitarist, who got space and time for some mind-boggling guitar solos à la, yes, Jimi Hendrix. Exhilarating, just exhilarating.

Of course, as expected, RA closed the near-spiritual spectacle with all-time classic Bittersweet Symphony (more than one billion streams on Spotify). One of the best ever concert closers in my extensive concerts book. Watch fan footage here… Hail hail Ashcroft!

Hail hail Ashcroft!

SETLIST

1. Space and Time
2. Sonnet
3. Weeping Willow
4. Music Is Power
5. A Song for the Lovers
6. Break the Night With Colour
7. The Drugs Don’t Work
8. Lucky Man
9. Bitter Sweet Symphony

(All photos by Turn Up The Volume)

Summer Live – RICHARD ASHCROFT With His ‘BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY’ At ISLE OF WIGHT (2019)

Posted on by JL

No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I’m here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I’m a million different people
From one day to the next
I can’t change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
(Have you ever been down?)
I can’t change, oh, no
I can’t change, oh

‘Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, that’s life
Tryna make ends meet, tryna find somebody then you die
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah

RA: Instagram

New RICHARD ASHCROFT Album – 12 Bittersweet Lockdown Symphonies For Your Candlelight Dinners

Posted on by JL

31 October 2021

Like many other artists during lockdown, the question for Richard Ashcroft was also “What I am gonna do with all this free time between four walls?” Most of them started to cover others (that trend never seems to stop), some continued making new music and some were counting their money and/or annoyed their families.

Ashcroft decided to re-dress 12 of his most famous songs (The Verve/solo) and released Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 this weekend. Acoustic? No, not really. Besides an acoustic guitar,
I hear piano, strings, synths, horns, and layers of harmonies. This album is actually about killing time by turning the selected tunes into bittersweet lockdown symphonies with smooth, elegant, and soothing arrangements.

I’m an Ashcroft fan, but I’ll go back to
the originals for my candlelight dinners.

Stream album via Spotify…

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RICHARD ASHCROFT: Facebook

RICHARD ASHCROFT Shares Stripped ‘SONNET’ Version

Posted on by JL

New striking strokes

26 October 2021

RICHARD ASHCROFT, who celebrated his 50th birthday last month offers us
a new album titled ACOUSTIC HYMNS VOL 1 featuring twelve acoustic versions
of classic songs from his career – with The Verve and solo, on 29th October.

Order info here.

As third taster, we get a stripped version of SONNET,
one of the highlights of Urban Hymns, The Verve‘s best
ever album released in 1997.

Press play…

RICHARD ASHCROFT: Facebook

RICHARD ASHCROFT Drops Second Taster From His Upcoming Album – Here’s ‘THIS THING CALLED LIFE’

Posted on by JL

New striking strokes

2 October 2021

RICHARD ASHCROFT, who celebrated his 50th birthday last month offers us
a new album titled ACOUSTIC HYMNS VOL 1 featuring twelve acoustic versions
of classic songs from his career – with The Verve and solo, on 29th October. Order
info here

We already heard a stripped-down version of Bittersweet Symphony.

Here’s taster number two. A re-worked version of a song called A Thing Called Life
from his 2010 album with The United Nations of Sound. Unless there’s something
wrong with my ears I hear not much difference from the original.

Check it out…

RICHARD ASHCROFT: Facebook