The Verve are probably the only band in history who were much better during their reunion than they were the first time around. The Wigan boys' first break-up in the mid-90s went largely unnoticed, their passionate but blustering indie-rock having failed to find mass approval (although Noel Gallagher was always their biggest fan). It was something of a shock, then, when they re-emerged a couple of years later with the mighty Urban Hymns, where Richard Ashcroft's messianic vision was finally matched up with some decent tunes. Inter-band rivalries ensured that it proved to be their swansong, but not before such haunting songs as 'Bittersweet Symphony', 'The Drugs Don't Work' and 'Lucky Man' had burned themselves into the public consciousness. This singles collection (including two Urban Hymns cast-offs) is, by turns, brooding, over the top, infuriatingly pretentious and quietly moving - a bit like the Verve themselves. Not a bad way to remember them.
