whatever you do please do not buy this album. as a verve fan since i first saw them in 1993 i was hoping against all hope that somehow richard ashcroft could possibly rebound from his steady decline since the end of the verve. however, this album sinks to a low which i could never imagine. he has become a middle of the road balladeer with none of the fire or passion which set him apart earlier in his career. upon buying this album a friend and i listened and were overcome by the sheer ridiculousness of the album. we actually laughed more than once at the overblown lyrics. what exactly is "restless swagger" anyway. say your hopes and money on possibility nick mc cabe will one day make an album to remind us all why the verve were great.

On his second solo release, Human Conditions, Richard Ashcroft continues in the ponderous vein of Alone with Everybody. Amidst the mid-tempo ballads he prefers, his plaintive tenor is an instrument given to ruminative musings. Check the titles: "Check the Meaning", "God in the Numbers", "Nature Is the Law", etc. Because his tempos rarely stray more than one or two degrees from center, these ten songs are unusually consistent, occasionally familiar. When he's on his game - as he is for half these tracks - he's a compelling seeker of "higher truths". But his everyman messiah can grow tiresome. The songs are too long by half. The symphonic touches - fresh around the time of "Bittersweet Symphony" - have become an affectation. When you make philosophical reach your goal, you should never settle for less than incendiary, which he achieves here once on "Bright Lights", where the rocking guitar pushes him harder than usual, and close to the grace usually reserved for out-and-out visionary weirdos like Patti Smith.

Why is this masterpiece not available in the U.S yet?