The Verve to Release Deluxe Edition of "Urban Hymns" For 20th Anniversary

by VVN Music

The Verve took the music world by storm when their album Urban Hymns was released on September 29, 1997.

While it only reached 23 in the U.S., it was an immense hit in England where it hit number 1 and is eleven-times Platinum, making it one of the twenty biggest selling albums in British history.

Bittersweet Symphony is probably the best known of the songs on the record although it failed to make it to the top of the charts in England while the second single from the album, The Drugs Don't Work, did hit the peak.

On September 1, UMe will release a special 20th Anniversary Edition of Urban Hymns that will be available in a single-CD, two-CD Deluxe Edition, five-CD/one-DVD Super Deluxe Edition, three-disc vinyl box set and via digital retailers.

Among the extras are all of the b-sides along with three hours of powerful, previously unreleased live material, including the full triumphant May 1998 hometown show in front of around 35,000 fans at Haigh Hall, Wigan (on both CD and DVD).

The remastering and mixing work have been undertaken by Urban Hymns' original co-producer Chris Potter and Metropolis' Tony Cousins – as it was for the two super deluxe Verve reissues issued last year, A Storm In Heaven and A Northern Soul.

The DVD includes the documentary The Video 96-98, only ever previously available on VHS.

The deluxe packages also feature new interviews with all of the band and all physical releases draw on a vast array of previously unseen photography by Chris Floyd, who first travelled with The Verve on their U.S. tour of 1994 and was granted unprecedented access during the making of Urban Hymns and beyond - up to and including the Haigh Hall show. His work brilliantly captured the band in the studio, on stage, backstage, during down time, on their video sets and tour bus.

The Super-deluxe CD includes a lavish 56-page hard cover book plus a poster and five postcards. The Vinyl Edition comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes a 20-page booklet plus a download card which entitles purchaser to all audio from the super-deluxe CD box.

The track lists:

Standard CD (Remastered Album)

• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• Sonnet
• The Rolling People
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Catching the Butterfly
• Neon Wilderness
• Space and Time
• Weeping Willow
• Lucky Man
• One Day
• This Time
• Velvet Morning
• Come On

2-CD Deluxe Edition

Disc 1 (Remastered Album)

• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• Sonnet
• The Rolling People
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Catching the Butterfly
• Neon Wilderness
• Space and Time
• Weeping Willow
• Lucky Man
• One Day
• This Time
• Velvet Morning
• Come On

Disc 2 (Live 1997/98 - Tracks 1-11 from Haigh Hall concert - May 24, 1998)

• This Is Music
• Space and Time
• Catching the Butterfly
• Sonnet
• The Rolling People
• Weeping Willow
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Lucky Man
• Life's an Ocean
• Velvet Morning
• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• A New Decade (Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97))
• History (Brixton Academy (16/1/98))
• Slide Away (Manchester Academy (11/8/97))

Super Deluxe Edition (Remastered Version) – 5CD/1DVD

Disc 1 (Remastered Album)

• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• Sonnet
• The Rolling People
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Catching the Butterfly
• Neon Wilderness
• Space and Time
• Weeping Willow
• Lucky Man
• One Day
• This Time
• Velvet Morning
• Come On

Disc 2 (B-Sides)

• Lord I Guess I'll Never Know
• Country Song
• Bitter Sweet Symphony (James Lavelle Remix)
• So Sister
• Echo Bass
• Three Steps
• The Drugs Don't Work (Original demo)
• The Crab
• Stamped
• Never Wanna See You Cry
• (Bitter Sweet Symphony) MSG
• The Longest Day
• Lucky Man (Happiness More or Less)

Disc 3 (B-sides (cont.) + 2 session tracks issued in 2004)

• Bitter Sweet Symphony (extended version)
• Session Tracks (2004)
• This Could Be My Moment
• Monte Carlo
• BBC Evening session August 27, 1997
• Life's An Ocean
• A Man Called Sun
• The Drugs Don't Work
• On Your Own
• So Sister

Disc 4 (Live at Haigh Hall May 24, 1998)

• This Is Music
• Space and Time
• Catching the Butterfly
• Sonnet
• The Rolling People
• Neon Wilderness
• Weeping Willow
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Lucky Man
• Life's an Ocean
• Velvet Morning
• Bitter Sweet Symphony

Disc 5

• Haigh Hall Encore
• One Day
• History
• Come On
• Further live material (Washington / Brixton / Manchester – 1997/8)
• A New Decade (Washington DC 9.30 Club (November 3, 1997))
• The Rolling People (Brixton Academy (January 16, 1998))
• On Your Own (Brixton Academy (January 16, 1998))
• History (Brixton Academy (January 16, 1998))
• The Drugs Don't Work (Washington DC 9.30 Club (November 3, 1997))
• Slide Away (Manchester Academy (November 8, 1997))
• A Man Called Sun (Washington DC 9.30 Club (November 3, 1997))
• A Northern Soul (Washington DC 9.30 Club November 11, 19/97))
• Space and Time (Brixton Academy (January 16, 1998))
• This Is Music (Manchester Academy (August 11, 1997))
• Weeping Willow (Washington DC 9.30 Club (November 3, 1997))
• Stormy Clouds (and Reprise) (Manchester Academy (August 11, 1997))

DVD

• The Video 1996-1998
• Later with Jools Holland – November 1, 1997
• Lucky Man
• Life's An Ocean
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• Live at Haigh Hall
• This Is Music
• Space and Time
• Catching the Butterfly
• Sonnet
• The Rolling People
• Neon Wilderness
• Weeping Willow
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Lucky Man
• Life's an Ocean
• Velvet Morning
• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• One Day
• History
• Come On
• The promo videos
• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Lucky Man
• Lucky Man (US version)
• Sonnet

Vinyl Box Set

Disc 1 (Remastered album)

• Side 1
• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• Sonnet
• The Rolling People
• Side 2
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Catching the Butterfly
• Neon Wilderness
• Side 3
• Space and Time
• Weeping Willow
• Lucky Man
• One Day
• Side 4
• This Time
• Velvet Morning
• Come On

Disc 2 (B-sides, session tracks issued in 2004)

• Side 1
• Lord I Guess I'll Never Know
• Country Song
• Bitter Sweet Symphony (James Lavelle Remix)
• So Sister
• Side 2
• Echo Bass
• Three Steps
• The Crab
• Stamped
• Side 3
• The Drugs Don't Work (original demo)
• Never Wanna See You Cry
• (Bitter Sweet Symphony) MSG
• The Longest Day
• Side 4
• Lucky Man (Happiness More or Less)
• Bitter Sweet Symphony (extended version)
• This Could Be My Moment
• Monte Carlo

Disc 3 (Live at Haigh Hall)

• Side 1
• This Is Music
• Space and Time
• Catching the Butterfly
• Sonnet
• Side 2
• The Rolling People
• Neon Wilderness
• Weeping Willow
• The Drugs Don't Work
• Lucky Man
• Side 3
• Life's an Ocean
• Velvet Morning
• Bitter Sweet Symphony
• Side 4
• One Day
• History
• Come On

Disc 4 (12" Single)

• Side A
• Bitter Sweet Symphony Alt. Version (limited promo-only in 1997)
• Side B
• The Drugs Don't Work – Washington DC 9.30 Club (3/11/97) (unavailable elsewhere on vinyl)