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Track Listings
| 1. Check The Meaning |
| 2. Buy It In Bottles |
| 3. Bright Lights |
| 4. Paradise |
| 5. God In The Numbers |
| 6. Science Of Silence |
| 7. Man On A Mission |
| 8. Running Away |
| 9. Lord I've Been Trying |
| 10. Nature Is The Law |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Richard Ashcroft has always been driven to tackle big topics in music, and Human Conditions finds him earnestly rolling the world into a question one more time. Even the titles tell their own story: "Check the Meaning", "Paradise", "God in the Numbers", "Man on a Mission"--more songs about God, life and passion, then. For better or worse, no contemporary rock star has engaged in such an intense, irony-free existential quest since Jim Morrison.
Human Conditions continues the wide-eyed spiritual odyssey instigated by 2000's Alone With Everybody which is very good. Ashcroft is in persuasive, expressive voice on the fluent opener "Check the Meaning", while the spiritualised "Buy It in Bottles" will increase sales of disposable cigarette lighters in arenas around the globe. "Science of Silence and Man on a Mission" find the ex-Verve vocalist seeking, as ever, truth in an insecure world and the wracked, shoulder-heaving "Lord I've Been Trying" scales new heights of confessional grandeur. There are weighty splendours aplenty here: for Richard Ashcroft, it's clear the quest for catharsis through rock continues. --Ian Gittins
Product Description
RICHARD ASHCROFT Human Conditions (Deleted 2002 UK 10-track CD album The ex-Verve frontman delivers his second album and does not disappoint. He maintains the epic choral sounds that made his first album such a enjoyable listen. Includes the single Check The Meaning and Nature Is The Law which features Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys on backing vocals. Complete with picture sleeve booklet CDHUT77)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The critics will always be there and they will undoubtedly always be the ones who profess that Urban Hymns was the best Verve album and that since then Richard Ashcroft has been heading downhill fast with no brakes. There may indeed have been some weak moments on Alone with Everybody but this, the second solo offering since the split of Verve sees the former front man and main protagonist in rock's higher quest continue his attempt to tackle the mysteries on love and life and everything inbetween - mighty stuff indeed. And all done with an oh so passionate approach.
And the thing that amazes is that he pulls it off with such swaggering self belief that respect can only be given with a pinch of grudging admiration - and that is afterall what Ashcroft expects. This is a musician who sees life's path leading him into a crusade to educate the masses - so he isn't the young prancing self-proclaimed rock messiah of ten years ago, and his musical vision is a reflection of this.
And the thing that amazes is that he pulls it off with such swaggering self belief that respect can only be given with a pinch of grudging admiration - and that is afterall what Ashcroft expects. This is a musician who sees life's path leading him into a crusade to educate the masses - so he isn't the young prancing self-proclaimed rock messiah of ten years ago, and his musical vision is a reflection of this.
This album offers us countless surprises and they are all in the details. The whole album flows seamlessly, each song giving up new facets upon repeated listening.And that is the Key that Ashcroft wants us to use to enter his world. Patience is definitely rewarded in abundance. From the vintage keys that open God in the Numbers to the 'heavenly' cascading harp on Paradise to the double tracked vocal style and orchestrated strings that run through the whole album... This is truly an unnerving confident soundscape without the immature arrogance of too many of rock's wannabes – An absolute classic....
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Well i have to say as a huge Verve fan I was dissapointed with Alone With Everybody. It had a few good songs but nothing like Urban Hymns or A Northern Soul. Excited by the prostect of this new Album "Human Conditions" I bought it straight away. I was blown away. This album is absoloutely fantastic. Check The Meaning screams Verve at you, but before you know it we really delve deep into Ashcroft as a solo aritst. Buy It In Bottles is sure to be classic. The melody, the lyrics it's all so addicive. And as the album progresses, Ashcrofts darker side that was lost on Alone With Eveybody returns most triumphantly with God In Numbers. It is a song so remincent of early Verve and the like found on Storm In Heaven. Ashcroft blends this darkness with poppier upbeat tunes on tracks such as Science In Silence and Nature Is The Law. But it's not the tracks on this album, it's how they fit together and how they move you through every emotion.
This has to be the best album for a long while along with Coldplay's A Rush Of Blood To The Head. Although I doubt that good music will ever return to the top, at least the real music is still alive and kicking in the form of this tremendous album. If you loved the Verve, liked Alone with Everybody,then you must buy this because it will blow your socks off!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Nobody can produce the soundtrack of human emotion like Richard Ashcroft. Ashcroft, the former lead singer and songwriter of the now-defunct Verve, returns to the symphonic-based introspective style of his first solo album, Alone with Everybody, with Human Conditions, a ten-track voyage through the psyche of one British rock's most purely interesting stars. Human Conditions represents the next step of Ascroft's phsychological recovery and self-discovery, but is emblematic for the inner struggles of all individuals. His sound is soothing and his message is universal and real, not feigned like so many of today's pop-folk guitar strummers. Human Conditions can only truly be appreciated for its full value in the context of all the Verve's work and Ashcroft's first solo album, but can still be embraced by those not willing or able to dedicate themselves to those other several albums. Taken alone, the album is a beautiful and triumphant escape from the doldrumms of rejection, loss, and sorrow that plagued Richard throughout a period of his life. Taken alongside the other works, Human Conditions is a medicine for the soul and a continuation of Ashcroft's examination of the full spectrum of emotion through music. Track by track, Human Conditions takes us into Richard Ashcroft's world, and in doing so, strikes a chord in each of us. His knack for doing just this is no new talent though, clear in all his works since the Verve EP and A Storm in Heaven. Take the chance and let Richard in....once you do, in your soul he'll remain.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Lame with only 4 tracks worth a listen.....
Having just spent a few days with this CD tryin to at least cherry pick my way through it , it has to be said it is lame beyond belief. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2009 by Lost Classics
True, perfect, timeless
This is Ashcroft at his confessional best. Always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, this album is his cathartic work, straight from his soul, the best collections of songs from... Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2009 by emjay
missing the point
forget the negativity! this is a great album, a grower yes! but ambitious, reflective, forward looking, not the norm for someone who was vomited out of the consumerist gullet of... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2006 by the gooch
The road is long....
And yes, Ashcroft has come a long way. Some people criticsed his feel towards his debut Alone With Everybody, but I think he has pulled it off. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2004 by "gregorthedrummer"
Hymns Of God and Nature
Richard Ashcroft first solo outing "Alone With Everybody" could have been seen as a false start and a little bit of a dissapointment after The Verves final album "Urban Hymns". Read more
Published on 11 May 2004 by "gav-1985"
definatly one of the best song writers of our time.....
well hes back and i like so many others was well impressed by another one of ashcrofts masterpieces that probably wont do aswell in the charts as we would like but will without... Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2003 by wez hickman
Ritchies Back!
A typical Ashcroft album. Great raw vocals, big guitar riffs and of course, inspired lyrics as illustrated in 'Man On A Mission'. Read more
Published on 24 April 2003 by "katadaa"
Some decent tracks ,but overall not bad.
I have to say that I was a little disapponted with Richards alone with everybody, his frst solo album. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2003 by Gary K
Ignore the critics, this is very very good!
I can't believe some of the harsh reviews I've read here, because this is quite simply a great album. It starts superbly with "Check The Meaning", and just carries on from there. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2003
HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT
I'm a fan of Richard Ashcroft and the Verve, and loved "Alone With Everybody." However, "Human Conditions" doesn't even come close to his prior work--including the fantastic "Urban... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2002
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