The Verve: Acoustically yours

The Verve
On Your Own single
(EMI, 1995)
7/10

AMG (2/5)

Less sonically heavy than their previous single "This Is Music," "On Your Own" is nonetheless heavy -- in the emotional sense. On the grand A-side, Richard Ashcroft's melancholy story of loss and loneliness are supported by lush acoustic guitars, piano, and strings. Sleepy slide and echoed guitar add a country tinge to the heartaching ballad "I See the Door." "Little Gem" sounds labored and never quite achieves the groove that it's working toward. The nails-on-a-chalkboard unsettling "Dance on Your Bones" lurches along on its dirge-like bassline and choppy, snare-centered beat, while fragmented guitars squawk and a piano weaves in and out of Ashcroft's tale of the perils of heroin addiction. -Brian Horgea

1. On Your Own*
2. I See the Door*
3. Little Gem
4. Dance on Your Bones