Keys To The World - Richard Ashcroft Album Review

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Album Review

Shaking off past glories and believing recent self-hype have become a major problem for Richard Ashcroft. Since leaving his role as leader of Manchester outfit The Verve, Ashcroft has tried to establish himself as a bona fide solo artist. It's been a rocky ride. During the past five years, he's had reasonable singles success, a number one and number three album in the UK charts. Keys To The World's ten songs once again comes with varying degrees of success. For some inexplicable reason he just falls short of hitting the bull's-eye. Undoubtedly the album's taster single, Break The Night With Colour, is quite magnificent and will become a concert anthem, though after two weeks in the chart (W.C. 23 Jan) it drops from 3 to 9. On the evidence of the single, it will arouse curiosity from die-hard fans and beyond, but I fear that's where it will all end, with the album plummeting quite quickly.

So what's on offer with the remaining nine songs?

Over the years, Ashcroft has had a propensity for doom and gloom.

It comes as no surprise that the over all feel is tinged with whinge.

Opening with a rockier edge than usual, rip-roaring Why Not Nothing soon melts away, into familiar mellow territory - Music Is Power, full of lush strings and sublime wiry guitar ghosting in the background as he firmly believes the lyrical intention. Plaintive 'Words' is a classy rambler which contains some impressive male backing vocals, segued by even more impressive chick backups on 'Keys', not quite turning into the epic is should have been. It lacks that killer punch. Wailing guitars feature heavily on Wait Til The Morning, however, it lays to bed Chris Martin's claim Ashcroft being "the greatest singer in the world." Sweet Brother Malcolm is totally destroyed by undisciplined singing: yet another golden opportunity missed. Just saving the song are some wonderfully understated melodies.

Gentle guitar and piano musings, and a bad vocal, turn Why Do Lovers into an anti-climax, which is a shame: this could have been the album's high point.

Bringing it to a close, we're given sweeping strings, a regular beat and impassioned vocals, rounding off a solid album.

It's not a classic. One day Ashcroft might pull it off. Right now, he doesn't have the keys to the world domination he might aspire to.

Elly Roberts