Urban Hymns is the third studio album by English rock band the Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Records. The group had broken up while promoting A Northern Soul in August 1995, though they reformed two weeks later without guitarist Nick McCabe. Frontman Richard Ashcroft moved to Bath, Somerset, where he made demos; Simon Tong joined the group soon afterwards. Following aborted recording sessions with producers John Leckie and Owen Morris, the band sought a new guitarist, contacting former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, who played with them for a week before departing amidst creative differences. In 1996, The Verve started recording at Olympic Studios in London, first with producer Martin "Youth" Glover, followed by engineer Chris Potter. Ashcroft contacted McCabe in early 1997, inviting him back into the band, which McCabe accepted. Several songs were re-recorded to allow for the inclusion of McCabe's guitar parts, with sessions continuing into May 1997.
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" was released as the lead single from Urban Hymns in June 1997; the track suffered from a debate over its writing credits due to its use of a sample of the Rolling Stones. "The Drugs Don't Work" followed as the second single from the album in September 1997, which was promoted with three supporting dates for Oasis in London. "Lucky Man" appeared as the third single from the album in November 1997. Nike, Inc. used "Bitter Sweet Symphony" in an advertisement for three months, which in turn helped promote Urban Hymns. "Sonnet" was released as the fourth single from the album in March 1998. The Verve played a hometown show at the Haigh Hall in Wigan to an audience of 40,000 in May 1998. The following month, "The Rolling People" was issued as the fifth and final single from the album as a US radio-only release. Citing stress, McCabe sat out of further touring commitments and was replaced by B. J. Cole. They went on a US tour in July and August 1998, leading up to a show at Slane Castle in Co. Meath, near Dublin, Ireland, before breaking up.
Urban Hymns received widespread praise from music critics, many of whom praised Ashcroft's role in making the album; several saw it in the context of Britpop; and others touched on the overall quality of the writing. Retrospective reviews focused on how the Verve mixed their new sound with their old sound and on McCabe's role in the album. It peaked at number one in Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the UK and reached the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, and Portugal. Initially selling 250,000 copies in its first week of release, Urban Hymns went on to become the fifth fastest-selling album in the UK and has been certified 11-times platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The album's first three singles peaked within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, with "The Drugs Don't Work" peaking the highest at number one. The BPI have subsequently certified the album's songs: "Bitter Sweet Symphony" at quadruple platinum; "The Drugs Don't Work" and "Lucky Man" at platinum; and "Sonnet" at gold.
At the 1998 Brit Awards, the Verve won Best Album for Urban Hymns and Best Producer alongside Youth and Potter. Melody Maker, NME, and The Village Voice included the album on their lists of the year's best releases; NME also included it on their list of the 500 best albums of all time, while author Colin Larkin featured it in his book All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). It has appeared on best-of lists for the Britpop genre by Musikexpress, Pitchfork, and The Village Voice. Urban Hymns, alongside OK Computer (1997) by Radiohead, is seen as leading to the end of Britpop and influencing acts such as Travis. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was the genre's last anthem, while "The Drugs Don't Work" has become a cross-generational song.
Background
The Verve released their second studio album, A Northern Soul, in July 1995 through Hut Records, peaking at number 13 in the UK Albums Chart. Its three singles – "This Is Music", "On Your Own", and "History" – all charted within the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, with "History" reaching the highest at number 24. In the lead-up to the album, the culture of the 1990s had shifted with the emergence of new lad and Loaded magazine, as well as the continual evolution of football culture and Britpop becoming a mainstream movement. Initial promotion consisted of a one-off show in Newcastle, a supporting slot for Oasis in Scotland, a performance at Phoenix Festival, and a US tour. The strained relationships between the band members came to a head when they performed at T in the Park in August 1995; at its conclusion, frontman Richard Ashcroft announced his departure from the band. Bassist Simon Jones saw the situation as an argument rather than a breakup, though the event was reported in press outlets as the latter.
When the departure was made public, the press could not reach Ashcroft as he was on a camping trip in Cornwall. Unlike the other members of the Verve, Ashcroft was not concerned about his future career path. Being known as the main songwriter in the band, he was seen as a viable option by Hut. Ashcroft's reputation for offering soundbites to publications appealed to even people who had no interest in the Verve, giving the label an ideal starting point for a solo career. Following the breakup, Ashcroft spent time in hotels, at friends' residences, and at his mother's home. Co-manager Jane Savage said Ashcroft showed up at the offices of their PR company, Savage & Best, saying that he was going to work with different people and at one point planned to form a six-person band. Within two weeks of the split, Ashcroft started collaborating with Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury again. Author Trevor Baker, in his book Richard Ashcroft – The Verve, Burning Money & The Human Condition (2008), said this made the public think that the reported breakup was nothing more than a method to get guitarist Nick McCabe out of the band. Ashcroft vehemently denied breaking up the Verve and reforming immediately afterwards to exclude McCabe. He admitted that they had personal issues with one another, "but we all individually had our problems and we'd been through the insane tours, the insane albums, blah blah blah." McCabe said in an October 1997 interview with Vox that he was being a difficult individual while being completely paranoid, and as a result, they fired him. "Well, no-one was asked to leave, but that's how it felt at the time. Me and Richard don't always get on, we're polar opposites." Ashcroft asserted that they were not the Verve without McCabe, deciding that the studio time would be for his debut solo album or they would name themselves something else. They drafted Simon Tong, a friend they met at Winstanley College, who was expected to play a keyboard and to accompany Ashcroft's guitar parts. Leckie explained that nothing was completed because they were too familiar with one another. Ashcroft did not give Hut permission to release the songs, as he was unhappy with them.
Due to the absence of McCabe, who was previously the foundation of the band's sound, Ashcroft had to learn how music worked. One such idea saw him coming up with tempos with hand clapping or using a piano and going from there. He struck the instrument, from which he built rhythms. In May 1996, the band started working with producer Owen Morris, who produced A Northern Soul, at Rockfield Studios in Wales, though they were unable to remake the chemistry that fuelled the A Northern Soul sessions. It was expected to last a week, but they only made it to two days. As Best noted, they lacked a guitarist. According to author Sean Egan, in his book The Verve: Star Sail (1998), Squire initially agreed until he started working with the Seahorses instead. The Seahorses issued their only album, Do It Yourself, in mid-1997, which was met with a mixed response.|group="nb"
Ashcroft then met with Butler, at Best's suggestion; The band and Butler jammed for a week, though Ashcroft brushed aside these sessions, saying that it was only two days in a practice room and that there was no chemistry between them and Butler. Best, putting the lack of a guitarist situation aside, set about finding another producer for them. He thought that Ashcroft's bohemian, devotional personality could work well with Martin "Youth" Glover from Killing Joke. Ashcroft liked Youth's restrictions and was relieved that his hedonistic tendencies were reined in when they were working, though he eventually started showing up later to the studio. While there was not a name for the band, Ashcroft planned to title the album Urban Hymns.
thumb|left|alt=A close-up of a man smoking a cigarette and playing a bass guitar|[[Youth (musician)|Martin "Youth" Glover (pictured in 2021) initially produced Urban Hymns before engineer Chris Potter took over the role.]]
During this time, Oasis performed at Knebworth, which was viewed as the zenith of Britpop. Ashcroft was frustrated with the Verve's success beyond the UK, debating if Best could give them a Knebworth-like moment. Upon hearing the new material, Summers told Ashcroft that he could make them the most popular act on the planet. By this point, Summers was known for helping to break British acts in the US, such as Lisa Stansfield and Wham!. This became the catalyst for Ashcroft wanting to work with Big Life. Baker said that though Savage & Best had success with Britpop acts Pulp and Suede, Summers' company gave Ashcroft the opportunity to move beyond the indie credibility they had ascertained. Youth's orders gave them focused recording sessions, which at times were creatively stifling, in contrast to the free-form jam sessions they used to have. Over several months, Ashcroft had been thinking of McCabe. Youth recounted that Ashcroft often mentioned how good of a musician McCabe was during the sessions. Simon Clarke of the Kick Horns, who had previously worked with the Verve on A Storm in Heaven, said that the sessions had a different atmosphere. Kick Horns went into the studio, recorded their parts, and left, feeling like they had less of a rapport with the Verve. Saxophonist Tim Sanders, also acknowledging the tonal shift, said it was an Ashcroft-led environment and was unsure if anything they made ended up on the finished album. He was aware they were repeating parts they employed on A Storm in Heaven, contemplating if they were needed as they were "just fattening things out." After reaching this conclusion, there was initially trouble contacting McCabe in early January 1997. Ashcroft called McCabe's flat in Wigan and then his mother, eventually finding him at a friend's place. Ashcroft reportedly said that he would quit music if McCabe did not rejoin them, while McCabe told Ashcroft that he wanted to tell him to go away but was pleased about the contact. He complimented the material, though mentioning that the proceedings had stalled. McCabe said that a few of the tracks were created by using loops, which had the side effect of forcing the music into segments of four bars that had minimal changes between them. When he heard "Lucky Man", he decided to add a guitar part similar to the one heard in "The Calvary Cross" (1974) by Richard Thompson.
With the shift in the producer role, the sessions became more fruitful. Baker said that barely two years prior, it was very uncommon for people to be trading audio files online, and this had become prevalent by this point. They returned to recording in February 1997, tracking re-recorded versions of A Northern Soul outtakes "The Rolling People" and "Come On". Baker said these new renditions were a noticeable improvement to the extent that they influenced the Verve to try and reclaim the energy they had in 1994. It initially lasted half an hour until it was edited down to over six minutes. The bulk of "Weeping Willow" was done while McCabe attended a wedding, and when he came back, Baker said he contributed a powerfully psychedelic, effects-enhanced guitar part to what the band had recorded. For the mixing sessions, Potter worked from partway through the morning one day until 4 a.m. the following morning.
Composition
thumb|left|alt=A close-up of a man holding a microphone in one hand and a microphone stand in the other|Ashcroft's vocals evoked [[U2 frontman Bono, circa October (1981).]]
Music
The music of Urban Hymns has been described as Britpop, orchestral rock, and post-Britpop, in the vein of Big Star and Oasis. Author Velimir Ilic noted in his book The Verve: Mad Urban Soul (1997) that mid-tempo compositions that owed their debts to Roxy Music, alongside giving it references, points to the likes of Astral Weeks (1968) by Van Morrison, The Wall (1979) by Pink Floyd, and Exile on Main St. (1972) by the Rolling Stones. Max Pilley of Drowned in Sound commented that with McCabe and Potter working on the album, the work of Amon Düül II and Spacemen 3 acted as influences in its creation. A Northern Soul string-laden ballad "History" acted as a prototype for the material on Urban Hymns. On the latter album, the songs did not feature the typical publishing credit attributed to all of the band members. Indicative of the album's phases of recording, some of the tracks were credited solely to Ashcroft, the Verve collectively, or in one case, to McCabe and the Verve. Baker said a difference was noticeable in the material Ashcroft wrote before, like "The Drugs Don't Work", and after marrying Radley, with "Sonnet" and "Lucky Man" touching on contentment in the music.
Author Martin Clarke wrote in his book The Verve: Crazed Highs + Horrible Lows (1998) that Urban Hymns strength lies in the material Ashcroft wrote on his own without McCabe, such as "Bitter Sweet Symphony", "Sonnet", "The Drugs Don't Work", and "Lucky Man". Upon McCabe's reappearance, Clarke noted a shift towards the improvisation style of the Verve's older material. He saw a stark contrast with the common factor being Ashcroft, as he wrote: "To put it bluntly, The Verve's balladry is currently unparalleled, but their rockier songs are more ordinary." Baker wrote that the album was accessible to people who had little regard for popular music, while at the same time, it came across as their most mature work. He gave the string section in "Bitter Sweet Symphony" as an example, stating that if the prior releases from the band "had worn jeans and a t-shirt, this one was dressed up like James Bond." Baker saw it as the Verve trying to merge two separate sides of themselves, mentioning the classic pop writing of "The Drugs Don't Work" and the urge to create contemporary rock music. He intentionally altered his lyrical style for Urban Hymns. Egan said the lyrical transformation of leaving behind such allusions that had started with A Northern Soul was completed by Urban Hymns. Clarke noted the emphasis on love in the majority of the songs, which he attributed to Ashcroft's marriage to Radley. Wilding also pointed out the love theme, adding that it also discussed the human condition, understanding that life is an enigma. He said it was not simply about Ashcroft being direct; "It was going to be bigger than that."
Songs
Tracks 1–7
The opening track of Urban Hymns, "Bitter Sweet Symphony", is centred around an orchestral arrangement of "The Last Time" by the Rolling Stones. It was taken from The Rolling Stones Songbook (1966), which that band's manager Andrew Loog Oldham had created. Upon hearing the reworking, Ashcroft wanted to reimagine it as a piece of pop-art. He focused on one orchestral lick that stood out to him. Ashcroft thought that he could change it into another song; he started to loop four bars that included its strings and bells instrumentation and made a new track from it. In the context of hip hop, samples were employed as the song's hook. For "Bitter Sweet Symphony", the song's string refrain – the most memorable section of it – was written by the Verve.|group="nb" Baker said Ashcroft repeated a process that he employed on the songs found on A Storm in Heaven, monologuing the entire vocal section over an existing piece of music. The song's lyrics were influenced by a work he read at school, Death of a Salesman (1949), by Arthur Miller and its main character, Willy Loman. Baker said the latter was a typically average man, trying to make a living and yearning for money before ultimately dying without any fortune. backed by a trip hop beat, with vocals that were layered in order to make it appear like an angelic choir. Malone's looped strings served as an inverse of Ashcroft's sermon-esque lyrics. Baker said McCabe offered these peculiar "swirling guitar sounds", which appear shortly prior to Ashcroft's voice. Baker said it could be about the start or the demise of a relationship, backed by string parts and an acoustic guitar, the latter of which he felt was subdued compared to its appearance in the later track on the album, "Lucky Man". He compared the minor electric guitar parts to what a listener could hear on FM stations in the US. "The Rolling People" evokes the Verve's earlier work, opening with what Baker described as gale sounds, "as though it's being recorded in a desolate wilderness somewhere." It takes elements of "The Four Horsemen" (1972) by Aphrodite's Child and "I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing" (1970) by Funkadelic,
"The Drugs Don't Work" dates back to 1995, when Ashcroft revealed the song's existence in an interview with Select. Egan suggested that the song's protagonist attempts to escape his misery through other means until he realises that he can no longer suppress the pain he is experiencing.
The introduction to "Catching the Butterfly" was compared to the Beatles during their Eastern music period, with a guitar riff heard in the distance. The song discusses lucid dreaming;
Baker considered "Neon Wilderness" to be a musical counterpart to the A Northern Soul track "Brainstorm Interlude", acting as a break in the album. It lacked any form of chorus section or hook, serving as an extended outro, with Ashcroft's voice being placed lower in the mix while McCabe can be heard contributing ambient guitar parts, recalling the work of Jeff Buckley. "Space and Time" is the oldest song to appear on the album, having been performed by Ashcroft while in New York with Oasis, The track deals with an unsuccessful love affair.
Tracks 8–13
"Weeping Willow" is a personal song that includes allusions to drugs and guns. Egan said it had a refrain where the narrator needs to be saved, a frequent topic in Ashcroft's material from this time period. Ashcroft said the guitars in it came across as the work of Neil Young playing in Hell; Clarke suggested that the Verve's previous tours with Oasis had influenced them as he compared the track to the 1995 Oasis songs "Champagne Supernova" and "Wonderwall". McCabe's role on the track was instead played by Tong, whose style Baker dubbed "much cleaner and brighter." Egan compared the influence of Radley on Ashcroft to that of Sara Dylan for "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" (1966) by Bob Dylan and Patti Boyd for both "Something" (1969) by the Beatles and "Layla" (1970) by Derek and the Dominos. He added that it also refers to Ashcroft talking about artists that involve themselves in drama "of the raging elements", while other lyrics of the song detail individuals being unable to find the happiness they experienced when they were children. Clarke thought it was derivative and too dissimilar to "Lucky Man"; Ashcroft explored the sound of "One Day" on his subsequent solo albums. The noise heard in the background came about from the band using coat hangers against the recording tape. Egan called this improvisation method akin to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, whom Ashcroft highly admired. Clarke thought the track sounded like something from 1989, highlighting Ashcroft's spoken-word voice, guitars in the vein of Squire, and a shuffling drum pattern. Subsequently, his voice was treated with a loudhailer that he got from a car boot sale a week prior to recording, The guitars eventually earned a comparison to Echo & the Bunnymen, part of the lyrics have him trying to contact God using a phonebox. Ashcroft can be heard saying "fuck you!" Liam Gallagher of Oasis does the backing vocals on the track, screaming the titular phrase. The song was compared to the material on A Northern Soul due to its aggression. Baker said it shared qualities with "The Rolling People", such as Ashcroft's ranting vocal style and guitars sounding like rottweilers. The backing track was done in a single day, which Baker said lent it a "ferocious energy" to conclude the album with; jangly guitar parts, and a baby crying. For the album, Ashcroft told Cannon that he did not want anything too complex for the artwork, wanting the music to speak for itself. The cover photo was a group shot that Egan said was peculiar, as the members did not want to intentionally pose for it. To compromise, the band, Cannon, and photographer Michael Spencer Jones visited Richmond Park in London solely to see what a photography session might result in. though none of the band were aware at the session. The subsequent photograph shows nearly all of the members, bar McCabe, facing left. Wilding saw this as a big contrast to how the band are seen in the artwork for A Storm in Heaven, which, to him, seemed like a dissimilar band of people.
Release
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" single and sample dispute
The Verve's return was not formally announced until May 1997, the reveal of which was met with scepticism; critics had diverted their prospects to the likes of Radiohead and Stereophonics. During the time the Verve were absent, Britpop started to decline in popularity as electronica and its associated acts, such as the Chemical Brothers, the Prodigy, and Underworld, grew in prominence. Prior to "Bitter Sweet Symphony" being issued, the Oldham sample had to be cleared. The band were hopeful about it, having learnt that Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards enjoyed the song. The copyright for the sample was owned by businessman Allen Klein and his company, ABKCO Records. Despite not working with the latter for decades, Klein retained a financial interest in them, owning the copyright to all of the songs they recorded in the 1960s. Klein said he did not like sampling as a concept and would not allow it for a Rolling Stones song. Oldham said that the members of the Rolling Stones likely do not remember where they themselves had stolen it from. His terms of agreement were for 50% of all royalties, the standard percentage for samples, which the Verve agreed to. ABKCO contacted them again shortly before the song's release, demanding 100%, though this bid was too late to have an effect. Egan said the song listed "farcically complicated credits", denoting a performance by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra, production credit to Oldham, with vocals from Ashcroft. The writing credits were changed to Jagger–Richards and lyrics from Ashcroft, with publishing going to ABCKO. The song became an unanticipated success, with a significant portion of the money going towards Klein's company. The video, which was shot on Hoxton Street in North London over several days due to inclement weather has Ashcroft walking down a pavement as he mimes the song's lyrics. Ashcroft came into contact with other pedestrians along the way, appearing oblivious as he bumped into them or knocked them to the floor. It was directed by Walter Stern, Baker remarked that while Nelson appeared to be lost in her thoughts, Ashcroft had "more belligerence and aggression", accurately depicting his "single-mindedness, not to mention his ability to brush aside people who got in his way or who couldn't keep up." Ashcroft loathed that his stare was becoming a defining aspect of his personality and explained that he was seriously angry while filming the video. Upon being spotted on the street by people, they recalled the video; some van drivers went by him and told time, "Ere, mate! The video's finished!" The music video for the song was directed by Andy Baybutt and George Hanson and filmed at the flat of Hut Records boss Dave Boyd in London. The Chart Show alleged that one of its employees revealed that Ashcroft's illness, which resulted in a cancelled UK tour, was fake as he saw Ashcroft at a Spiritualized show at that time. They said the band were being petty in retaliation with the captions. Summers did not like the show's stance on the matter and withheld a tape copy of the video from them. As a result, the show aired a portion of the "Bitter Sweet Symphony" video and gave more airtime to a Portishead video.
Ashcroft assumed part of the album's success came from radio stations, including BBC Radio 1, who had previously ignored A Northern Soul and, in particular, its track "History". He saw it as stations, coupled with British press outlets, feeling guilty for not backing A Northern Soul. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was released to modern rock radio stations in the US in September 1997 and pushed to mainstream radio the following month. Support for the US airplay came from music publicist Scott Piering; in addition to post-grunge. Urban Hymns was released in the UK on 29 September 1997 and issued in the US the following day. They did not wish to put out any further singles after "Lucky Man", wanting to instead focus on performing live. Near the end of 1997, Ashcroft stepped down from doing interviews, saying he was annoyed with having to defend and explain himself all the time.
Nike advert and later promotion
Though the Verve had been sent substantial offers, none of their music had featured in advertising placements. Numerous advertising agencies wanted to use "Bitter Sweet Symphony", but they were denied. If they wished, ABKCO could have musicians make a different recording since the Verve did not want to use their own. Summers cautioned the band that it could end up to advertise the likes of General Motors and Nike, Inc. The advert's targeted audience of younger people would not be familiar with the Oldham rendition, and despite this, they picked it as they thought the Verve would not let them use "Bitter Sweet Symphony". When Nike finished making a deal with Klein, they explained to Summers that he should let them use "Bitter Sweet Symphony" as everyone would assume it came from the Verve anyway if they went with the Oldham recording. Baker suggested that, in the US, the commercial gave the song considerably more reach than airplay could have. Egan said the Nike commercial was essentially a free advertisement for the album, with it playing multiple times a day across the country. The band's issued a statement, explaining that had they not lost the publishing to Klein, the commercial would not have happened in the first place.
Following this, they said they were not giving any further interviews to press outlets, with the exception of cover stories. Clarke noted that with how popular the Verve were at this stage, instead of forcing publications to give them front page stories, the magazine editors picked other acts instead, such as Spin with Travis, ignoring the Verve altogether. "Sonnet" was released as a single on 2 March 1998, albeit in a format that made it ineligible for charting: a collection of four 12-inch vinyl records with the song and its B-sides, "Stamped", "So Sister", and "Echo Bass", spread across each disc. Limited to 5,000 copies, it was packaged into a cardboard mailer; the previous three singles were reissued on the same day, with the intention of them fitting into the mailer.
After long-form documentary videos by Black Grape and Radiohead, the Verve announced they would be doing the same thing with the tentatively titled This Is The Verve: Do Not Panic. Filmed by Hanson and Baybutt, it contained footage of their UK and US tours throughout 1997, live performances, and interviews. "The Rolling People" was released to modern rock radio stations in the US in June 1998, followed by "Sonnet" in July 1998. On 27 April 1999, the band's management released a statement detailing their decision to break up; Ashcroft said the band could have kept working had their situation been different. Though Ashcroft did not explain the circumstances, commenters suggested a rift between Ashcroft and McCabe. while music videos for all of them were featured on the video album of the same name. Urban Hymns was re-pressed on vinyl in 2008, 2016, 2018, and 2022. In 2017, an expanded version of the album was issued, including B-sides, outtakes, BBC Radio 1 session material, and live recordings from several shows. A CD of unreleased material for it was vetoed by Ashcroft; McCabe was frustrated by this, saying Ashcroft was the last person to contribute to the box set, adding: "It runs counter to his narrative. I think he's so wrapped up in this notion of Urban Hymns being his solo album and the existence of that CD probably rankles with him." Ashcroft did not involve himself in the reissues of their prior two albums; McCabe said Ashcroft only got involved with the one for Urban Hymns as he saw it as his debut solo album. Despite this, only Simon Jones and McCabe handled the press interviews for the reissue.
Touring
Initial treks and Haigh Hall
In the lead-up to the Verve's first live show in nearly two years, Ashcroft was in pain while they rehearsed. The gig at The Leadmill in Sheffield on 14 June 1997 was cancelled a few days before it took place. It was discovered that because of the stress of the recording sessions, Ashcroft had swollen lymph glands in his neck, which caused issues when he tried to sing, eventually leading to him collapsing. The band finally returned to live performances on 9 August 1997 at The Leadmill. After some more shows, they performed at the Reading Festival, where they headlined the Melody Maker stage. Egan said that after the success of both "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and "The Drugs Don't Work", it turned the perception of these support dates into special events. He saw it as a form of Battle of the Bands between two popular British rock bands vying to win over support from critics and the general public. Neil McCormick of The Nation commented that within the volatile space of pop music, several critics had considered Oasis to be past their prime and were seeing the Verve as important figureheads in British music.|group="nb" Ashcroft felt that, given the Verve's recent increase in popularity, they were able to hold their own against Oasis. They played at a WHFS-sponsored Christmas festival and were due to appear at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas festival, but had to pull out because of a death in Ashcroft's family. US dates in a few months' time were postponed as Ashcroft wanted to recuperate. At the start of 1998, the band went on a UK tour of mid-sized venues, despite being able to fill arenas at this stage. In lieu of appearing at the Brit Awards, they instead played at a homelessness benefit that same night. McCabe did not wish to continue touring; at Summers' suggestion, he saw a doctor, who told him that he was suffering from glandular fever. It was recommended that he take a two-month break, and when he told the rest of the band, the members individually talked him into continuing with the touring. but had to cancel when Jones became ill while on tour in Germany. This subsequently saw the cancellation of three further shows in the country, one festival appearance in Sweden, and another in Italy.
Second US tour and Slane Castle
The US shows that were planned earlier in 1998 were shifted to July and August of that year, swapping the initial 3,000 capacity venues for 10,000 capacity venues. To make up for any disappointment, the Verve donated $10,000 to charities. Before the trek was underway, some shows were downsized to smaller venues. Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni said that the band's decision to play larger venues in the country was seemingly ambitious, noting that they were more popular in the UK and suggesting that they had a British mindset when securing US dates. On 7 July 1998, McCabe said he would not be touring for the remainder of the year, citing stress as a factor. At first, he was fine with playing on festival dates but did not look forward to another stint in the US. He was aware that the majority of the crowd would be less familiar with the pre-Urban Hymns material. The following day, Massive Attack, who were planned to be the support act on their US next tour, pulled out, wanting to embark on their own trek in the country later in the year.
Radley suggested B. J. Cole, who was known as an expert pedal steel guitarist, to fill in McCabe's position. Baker said Cole was a founding member of Cochise, where he took typical country forms and "given them a psychedelic, hippyish flavour", which Ashcroft was aiming for, while a typical guitarist that could perform "'licks' or riffs in the conventional sense, [that] just wouldn't work." Cole said Ashcroft invited him to a rehearsal, where he was fascinated by the Verve. A Spanish festival performance was cancelled to give the band more time to rehearse.
The day before the US tour started, another date was cancelled and the Michigan show was downsized, marking the fifth venue to have done so since the tour's initial announcement earlier in the year. Upon arriving in the country, a week was spent in Chicago, Illinois, where they tried to mesh Cole's playing style into the band's material. Ashcroft said the shows did not meet the band's expectations, and he was concerned about the band's future. the band had been requested by the show to half the song's runtime, which meant playing it from partway through. They rejected this demand, resulting in the show's credits starting as they were partway into the track. After returning to the UK, they performed at Slane Castle in Meath, Ireland, on 29 August 1998. Cole said it was a highlight of his career, and while the rest of the band felt fatigued, he did not.