''Human Conditions'' is the second album by English singer-songwriter,

Richard Ashcroft 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. So ...

. It was released on

Hut Records VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records. Despite being wholly owned by a major label, it was classed as an Independent record label, independe ...

in 2002.

Release and reception

Review aggregating website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

reports a normalised score of 61 based on 15 reviews, which indicated a "generally favourable" reception. However, many of the critics had negative views of Ashcroft's ideas. Some of the negative reviews, included Nick Southall of ''

Stylus A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision w ...

'', who remarked that "Ashcroft obviously sees himself as some kind of incisive commentator with a greater depth of understanding of the human condition than those around him. This record reveals with alarming clarity that he is actually a poor songwriter, dire lyricist, and arrogant buffoon all at the same time." Andrew Lynch of

entertainment.ie ''Entertainment.ie'' is an Irish web company based in Dublin. The company provides news and reviews of programs and films for TV and the cinema. It also provides information on upcoming comedy, comedies, festivals, theater shows and music in Ir ...

gave the album two stars out of five, calling it "in the final analysis, quite unbelievably boring." Rowan Shaeffer of ''Counterculture'' gave it three stars out of five and praised aspects of the album, though still feeling that "for the most part Richard Ashcroft seems be going through the motions; and while he's produced a good album, it's an ultimately unfulfilling listen."

Details

In 2003, when asked about the naysayers to the album, Ashcroft responded: "If I had put on fifteen stone and

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

had left me and I’d almost verdosedon smack, then this record would have been received very well".

Track listing

All tracks composed by Richard Ashcroft #" Check the Meaning" – 8:04 #" Buy It in Bottles" – 4:39 #"Bright Lights" – 5:15 #"Paradise" – 5:37 #"God in the Numbers" – 6:58 #" Science of Silence" – 4:15 #"Man on a Mission" – 5:29 #"Running Away" – 4:16 #"Lord I've Been Trying" – 5:23 #"Nature Is the Law" – 4:55

Bonus track

The Japanese and American editions of the album featured one

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

originally released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

for the UK single "Check the Meaning". *"The Miracle" – 3:51

Personnel

*Richard Ashcroft – vocals, guitar, percussion, bass, piano, Wurlitzer, keyboards *

Peter Salisbury Peter Anthony Salisbury (born 24 September 1971) is an English rock drummer, best known as the drummer for The Verve, whom he co-founded in 1990. Personal life Salisbury resides in Derbyshire with his wife Pam, sons Ben and Isaac, and step s ...

– drums *

Kate Radley Kate Radley (born 19 February 1967) is an English keyboard player, best known for her work with the British rock band Spiritualized. She was a member during the time period which saw the release of the ''Lazer Guided Melodies'', '' Pure Phase'' ...

– keyboards *

Martyn Campbell Martyn Craig Campbell (born 1970 in Liverpool) is an English people, English bass guitar, bass guitarist. He is best known for his work with Rain (British band), Rain, The Lightning Seeds,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'' ...

– bass *

Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is an English musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...

– tablas, beats, drones, shruti box, duggi tarang,

madal The madal ( ne, मादल) or maadal is a Nepalese folk musical instrument. The madal is used mainly for rhythm-keeping in Nepalese folk music. It is very popular and widely used as a hand drum in Nepal. The madal has a cylindrical body with a s ...

Chuck Leavell Charles Alfred Leavell (born April 28, 1952) is an American musician. A member of the Allman Brothers Band throughout their commercial zenith in the 1970s, he subsequently became a founding member of the band Sea Level. He has served as the pri ...

– piano, Hammond organ *Richard Robson – programming *Steve Sidelnyk – drum programming, programming * Craig Wagstaff – percussion *Jim Hunt – flute, saxophone *Matt Clifford – Wurlitzer *

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

– backing vocals, backing vocal arrangement *

Wil Malone Wil Malone (born 1952, in Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and Italian rocker Gianna Nannini ...

– orchestral arrangements, conducting *

The London Session Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

– strings *

London Community Gospel Choir The London Community Gospel Choir is Britain's first renowned contemporary "performance touring, inspirational gospel choir band", fusing gospel with multi-genres of music, including pop, soul, jazz, R&B, and classical. It was founded in 198 ...

– choir

Release details

References

External links

* Billboard.com – Discography – Richard Ashcroft – Human Conditionsat ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''.com {{Authority control Richard Ashcroft albums 2002 albums Albums produced by Chris Potter (record producer) Hut Records albums Virgin Records albums