You're a slave to money then you die

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

05/11/21 : Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 - Richard Ashcroft



Serious question - was there ANYONE in the country asking for this?  A more cynical fellow than me (and some do exist) might suggest he was exploiting his increased profile after his recent anti-vax stunts.  And if the words "Vol. 1" don't strike fear and terror into your heart, then you're a stone-cold psychopath.  To be fair though, I was expecting the good bits to be good, but utterly inessential nonetheless.

And yes, this was pretty much what came to pass.  I'd say 'Bittersweet Symphony" wasn't quite as good as I was hoping, but "Lucky Man" and "The Drugs Don't Work" were both perfectly acceptable versions.  The rest of it was mostly listenable but I would struggle to recognise it if I heard it again.  Which I won't, so all is good.  If you like Richard Ashcroft, then there's no reason you won't like this but I suspect even you will struggle to feel it was something you needed.

I was surprised that this debuted as high as #2 (yes, it was Ed at #1, but it was his week of release, so I'll never have to type that again - or not for some time, anyway) - there's either a loyal band of fans or a lot of people looking for a hit of 90s nostalgia, I guess.  It didn't hang around for long though, dropping out after 2 weeks and then popping back in for 2 more weeks at the beginning of the year.

Wikipedia doesn't have anything on the album - never mind eh?  It does that particularly bizarre entry on the man though - "(he) was arrested in Wiltshire after bursting into a youth centre and asking to work with the teenagers present at the club. He began swearing and refusing to leave so employees called the police".  He has gone up in my estimation though by managing to be friendly with both Noel and Liam - which I can imagine takes a lot of careful work at times.

"Customers also listened to" other Richard Ashcroft albums (under various guises) and various versions of Gallagher music.  And all of them, but most particularly this album, are fine if you need your 90s hit - but it really doesn't add anything new to the canon, I'm afraid.

29/10/21 - More interesting than I was expecting
12/11/21 - Not sure I see the point to this

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