Year 7, Day 71

Good Morning! Today's song is Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve.

Photo by: Eduardo

The Verve was a band active from 1990 to 1999, and then briefly from 2007 to 2008. Members included Richard Ashcroft, Nick McCabe, Simon Jones, Peter Salisbury, and Simon Tong. They met and formed in college, before getting sign in 1991 and releasing their first EP in 1992. Their debut album was released in 1993 and another in 1994, a B-side album. They were originally called Verve, but switched to The Verve for their 1994 album after a legal dispute with Verve Records. They toured for it, but at that point members of the group were getting into drugs and alcohol, leading to some disturbances. Their next album was released in 1995. The band broke up for a few weeks, with everyone but McCabe coming back, who got replaced by Tong. McCabe did come back in 1997, completing the line up and in time to release their next album together that year, which is where this song is from. This song was actually the center of another massive legal dispute, but I'm not going to get into it. By 1998 the band members were starting to fight, with a big battle leading to McCabe leaving halfway through a tour, and then their touring continued to get worse and worse under the group split in 1999. After being adamant that they wouldn't reunite, they actually did in 2007 with the original line up, doing some touring and releasing an album in 2008. They again split up in 2009, when the other guys thought Ashcroft was using them to further his solo career. From the sounds of it they just should never have been together as a band. The members seem like they clash way too much, some more than others. I hope they all figure out how to make music the way they want, but I'll always be happy that we at least got this song from them.

Peace.