Human Conditions

Amazon.co.uk Richard Ashcroft has always been driven to tackle big topics in music, and Human Conditions finds him earnestly rolling the world into a question one more time. Even the titles tell their own story: "Check the Meaning", "Paradise", "God in the Numbers", "Man on a Mission"--more songs about God, life and passion, then. For better or worse, no contemporary rock star has engaged in such an intense, irony-free existential quest since Jim Morrison. Human Conditions continues the wide-eyed spiritual odyssey instigated by 2000's Alone With Everybody which is very good. Ashcroft is in persuasive, expressive voice on the fluent opener "Check the Meaning", while the spiritualised "Buy It in Bottles" will increase sales of disposable cigarette lighters in arenas around the globe. "Science of Silence and Man on a Mission" find the ex-Verve vocalist seeking, as ever, truth in an insecure world and the wracked, shoulder-heaving "Lord I've Been Trying" scales new heights of confessional grandeur. There are weighty splendours aplenty here: for Richard Ashcroft, it's clear the quest for catharsis through rock continues. --Ian Gittins Product Description The much anticipated follow up to the debut (UK) Number 1 solo album 'Alone with Everybody'. Featuring ten new songs, 'Human Condition' is Ashcroft at his most hypnotic, epic & focused. Such songs as 'Buy It in Bottles', 'Lord I've Been Trying' & current single 'Check the Meaning' are an expression of Ashcroft's deepest soul with his most classic & infectious musical vision to date. Amongst the contributors to the album are Beach Boys' founder & musical genius Brian Wilson, who adds harmony vocals to 'Nature Is the Law'. Chuck Leavell the keyboard player whose recording credits include work with such luminaries as Aretha Franklin & the Rolling Stones as well as former Verve drummer Pete Salisbury & Mercury winning Talvin Singh on Tablas. Virgin. 2002.