The Verve then took to the States to tour their first album. However, the tour itself was one of many complications, with Ashcroft being hospitalised after drinking himself into dehydration and Salisbury being detained for destroying a hotel room when out of his mind on drugs. Ashcroft would later claim: “At the start, it was an adventure, but America nearly killed us”. Potter receives credit in the liner notes for "additional production and mixing" on the songs that the band recorded with Youth. "The Verve – Urban Hymns HUTLP 45". Discogs . Retrieved 1 April 2017. The Verve to release deluxe 20th anniversary version of 'Urban Hymns' – NME". NME. 6 July 2017 . Retrieved 18 October 2017.

a b Kot, Greg (26 December 1997). "The Verve: Urban Hymns". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 1 January 2017. Melody Maker named Urban Hymns as the number one album of 1997 in its year-end list, [40] and the album ranked at number three on NME 's year-end critics' poll. [41] Q also included it in their own list of the best albums of 1997, [42] and it ranked at number 18 on The Village Voice 's year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll. [43] At the 1998 Brit Awards, Urban Hymns won the award for Best British Album and the Verve were awarded Best British Group. [31] The same year, Richard Aschroft won an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year. [31] The album was also shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, which was ultimately awarded to Gomez' Bring It On. [44] By April 1999, however, renewed tensions within the band, particularly between Ashcroft and McCabe, would lead the Verve to split up for a second time, at the height of their success. [31] For the first time, the Verve achieved commercial success with their new material. The first single, " Bitter Sweet Symphony", entered the UK charts at number 2 in June 1997. The BBC wrote that it "became one of the anthems of the year" and "became almost inescapable" after it was used in a television car advert. [25] MacQueen, Ali (2006). "The Verve: Urban Hymns". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. p. 818. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3.So too, was the sound of the music. When the Verve EP dropped in 1992, McCabe’s effortless and technical guitar work came to the fore, and Ashcroft’s vocals shifted splendidly between octaves. In many ways, the EP and the band’s debut album, A Storm in Heaven, solidified the basis for the growing sound of British shoegaze that had begun to make waves overseas in the United States. The Verve Resources and Information". The-verve.info. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Album – Classifica settimanale WK 42 (dal 10.10.1997 al 16.10.1997)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana.

In the years following its release, Urban Hymns has received much acclaim. In 2000 it was voted number 213 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. [45] Q included it in their 1999 list of the 90 best albums of the 1990s, [46] while the magazine's readers voted it the eighteenth best album of all-time in 1998, [47] later moved up to sixteenth place in a similar list compiled in 2006. [48] The Verve were awarded with the first ever Q Classic Album award for Urban Hymns at the 2007 Q Awards, [49] and the following year, Urban Hymns was ranked as the tenth best British album of all time in a poll jointly conducted by Q and HMV. [50] It was also nominated for Best British Album of the Last 30 Years at the 2010 Brit Awards, but lost to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. [51] In 2013, NME ranked it at number 128 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [12] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [52] The Bittersweet Symphony dispute is over". BBC News. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021 . Retrieved 23 May 2019. Daniell, Mark (8 February 2006). "CANOE – JAM! Music – Artists – Ashcroft, Richard: Ashcroft on new CD, Verve reunion". Jam.canoe.ca . Retrieved 13 September 2010. Top 40 Best Selling Albums: 28 July 1956 – 14 June 2009" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016 . Retrieved 26 July 2011.Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1sted.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. In 1997, lyricist Richard Ashcroft wrote the best song he'd ever written. Its name was "Bittersweet Symphony" and it was a masterpiece. The orchestral sample builds meticulously from a tentative opening to a tumultuous crescendo in the closing seconds, accompanied by a smashing drum machine which mirrors the vicious social philosophies reflected in the lyrics perfectly. There's a tangible sense of desperation as the song progresses and the vocal symphony become increasingly prominent. It only managed #2 in the UK's charts, but it will forever live on in fans' hearts as the single that made Ashcroft's band, The Verve, hit it big. American certifications – Verve, The – Urban Hymns". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 9 February 2010. The band released the album's first single " This Is Music" in May, and it reached No.35, their first single to reach the Top 40. It was followed by " On Your Own" in June which performed even better, reaching No.28. This single was particularly new for the Verve as it was a soulful ballad. The album reached the UK Top 20 upon its release in July, but Ashcroft broke up the band three months later, just before the release of the third single " History", which reached No.24 in September. Ashcroft later stated: "I knew that I had to do it earlier on, but I just wouldn't face it. Once you're not happy in anything, there's no point living in it, is there? But my addiction to playing and writing and being in this band was so great that I wouldn't do anything about it. It felt awful because it could have been the greatest time of our lives, with "History" doing well, but I still think I can look myself in the mirror in 30 years time and say, 'Yeah man, you did the right thing.' The others had been through the same thing. It was a mixture of sadness and regret, and relief that we would have some time away." [21]