The Verve’s 1997 album Urban Hymns, released on September 29th 1997, was one such record. It captured the mood and spirit of the times with songs of an emotional and musical depth that touched a raw nerve throughout the world and ensured this band would graduate from highly respected indie favourites to a genuine rock colossus. A certified classic, Urban Hymns is one of the 20 biggest-selling albums ever in the UK (now 11 times platinum) and has sold over ten million copies worldwide. The album spawned three highly successful singles. The first was the epoch-making worldwide smash Bitter Sweet Symphony, which trailered the album and became the sound of the summer. It was followed in the UK by The Drugs Don’t Work (No. 1) and Lucky Man (No. 7). 20 years on the strength of the writing, the quality of the ensemble playing and sensitive production ensure the album sounds as riveting as ever and to mark this anniversary, Virgin/USM are releasing a remastered version of the album with a bounty of bonus material – all of the accompanying bsides plus 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 has 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.
Super deluxe five CD + DVD edition features the remastered album, B-sides, unreleased live tracks and BBC sessions, a full live performance, promo videos and more. 56 page hardcover book, five postcards, and a poster are included as well. Urban Hymns is the third studio album by The Verve, originally released in September, 1997. It earned unanimous critical praise upon it's release, selling over 10 million copies worldwide. Features the singles ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, ‘Lucky Man’ and ‘The Drugs Don't Work’. The critical and commercial success of the album saw the band win two Brit Awards in 1998, including Best British Group, and appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in March 1999. Bitter Sweet Symphony was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.