Richard Ashcroft Songs Ranked
Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their original split in 1999. Songs he wrote for the band include “Bitter Sweet Symphony”, “Lucky Man”, and the UK number one “The Drugs Don’t Work”. He became a successful solo artist, releasing three UK top three solo albums. The Verve reformed in 2007 but again broke up by the summer of 2009. Ashcroft then founded a new band, RPA & The United Nations of Sound, and released a new album on 19 July 2010. On 22 February 2016, Ashcroft announced his fourth solo album, These People, which was released on 20 May 2016. In May 2019, Ashcroft received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. Chris Martin of Coldplay has described Ashcroft as “the best singer in the world”. Here are all of Richard Ashcroft’s songs ranked.
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11. New York (Alone with Everybody, 2000)
“This is one of those great releases that never ceases to amaze my hears and my spirit. Don’t ask me why, but I have the feeling that he is going to be as overlooked as were The Verve, and that’s a serious shame.”
10. Black Lines (These People, 2016)
“Without a doubt These People will musically thrill many, it’s romantically lush streaming orchestrated rock at it’s very best. Yet just below the surface a hallowed more sinister side blossoms, one showing a churning maelstrom of death, two faced politicians, riots and revolution, all ebbed on by a media that corners the edges in order to manipulate the masses.”
9. Music is Power (Keys to the World, 2006)
“Richard Ashcroft is one of the up and coming New Great Songsmiths’. Both his Music, in it’s Raw Simplicity and his brilliant lyrics of Soulful depth, are the New ‘Cutting Edge’, and yet harken back to the writing of both Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Another song I plan to cover.”
8. Out of My Body (These People, 2016)
“Ashcroft still has shards of genius left to offer us. I have to say on first listen there are a few eyebrow raising moments, opening track “Out of My Body” for example has a strangely pop dance beat behind it which can distract from the song itself.”
See more: Richard Ashcroft Albums Ranked
7. They Don’t Own Me (These People, 2016)
“Best track on the LP. No point slagging RA, this isn’t 1992 anymore, he’s changing and I’m into all he does for his artistry and daring, don’t listen to it all more than once, but still he’s great.”
6. These People (These People, 2016)
“This solo album, his first for ten years has not been well-received. But I suspect that listeners have not listened. The first track is a fairly poor introduction to this set, it’s the most ‘pop’, the most artificial sounding – and listeners with less patience than I, might have hit the eject button prematurely.”
5. This is How It Feels (These People, 2016)
“Great sonics and presence. Richard Ashcroft of The verve has a great talent for mixing power rock pop and strings into the mix great record .”
See more: The Verve Albums Ranked
4. Break the Night with Colour (Keys to the World, 2006)
“Break The Night With Colour 2006 UK single – the 1st single to be taken his 3rd solo album ‘Keys To The World’ .I bought this mainly for the bonus track The Direction,which as in many”
3. Check the Meaning (Human Conditions, 2002)
“‘Human Conditions’ starts with one of his best solo tracks in ‘Check The Meaning’ but then the remaining nine tracks would all need to be filed in the ‘quite ordinary’ category, and hence I regard this set as his weakest solo album at this time.”
2. Hold On (Hold On, 2016)
“His solo albums actually sound very similar to The Verve. His voice is the sound of The Verve and his solo albums (including this one) are all mid-paced, light and include the ‘usual’ heartfelt, hippy, trippy lyrics and feel. Perhaps the solo albums are a little lighter than The Verve albums, but as I said very similar.”
1. A Song for the Lovers (Alone with Everybody, 2000)
“Definitely not on the level of his The Verve days, but the song is still enjoyable and pretty fun to listen to. He still heavily relies on the string section, but here we are also presented with a subtle flute at points making it more interesting. The sing has a great flow, and though the hook is not spectacular it makes the song flow along. The two other tracks are also high quality material, even better than the A side (i guess they are more similar to he verve sound).”