08. THE DRUGS DON'T WORK- The Verve (384,600)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/The_Drugs_Don't_Work.jpg

 

Topping the charts in the direct aftermath of Princess Diana's death, it managed to oddly capture the somber state of mind of the nation in September 1997. The Verve's sole UK no 1 single isn't anywhere near as ambitious as BS but still managed to outsell it, just. It helped to launch the album "Urban Hymns" into becoming one of the top 10 albums of the decade and proved to be the pinnacle of the band's success.

 

07. SOME MIGHT SAY- Oasis (490,900)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Somemightsay.jpg

 

From the Verve's first UK No 1 single to Oasis's. Released In May 95 the original promo video was cancelled to non attendance by Liam, but for me the best aspect of this single is the b-side, the simply superb "Acquiesce", which is one of their best tracks in my opinion.

 

Edited October 29, 201113 yr by gezza76

Two fantastic tracks there.

I've always thought Bittersweet Symphony is a good song, but that's all. I can see why it's gone on to be such a classic, I just don't like it that much. The Drugs Don't Work is by far the better of the two for me.

Didn't know that "The Drugs Don't Work" had sold more than "Bittersweet Symphony" I always assumed it was the other way round like In For The Kill/Bulletproof. While I love TDDW as well, BS - while it's nothing revolutionary - is so purely anthemic and has such an iconic video I can't help but think it's just brilliant.

I reckon BS could outsell TDDW very soon, its still pretty much a staple on the iTunes top 500, if only X factor used it :P

I really cannot think of another song that better summed up the feelings of an era so well, definitely a contender in my books for the best single released ever. It's probably not my personal favourite one as such (although it's close) but it just had literally everything - Perhaps it's just people of my age who get this but Common People was literally a lifestyle at the time and Jarvis' lyrics spoke to me in a way that no other I can think of has come close to.

Dandy speaketh the truth.

 

 

The absolute zenith of Brtipop

08. THE DRUGS DON'T WORK- The Verve (384,600)

 

 

Topping the charts in the direct aftermath of Princess Diana's death, it managed to oddly capture the somber state of mind of the nation in September 1997. The Verve's sole UK no 1 single isn't anywhere near as ambitious as BS but still managed to outsell it, just. It helped to launch the album "Urban Hymns" into becoming one of the top 10 albums of the decade and proved to be the pinnacle of the band's success.

 

Easily their best piece and probably the best song about Cancer ever

I agree, The Drugs Don't Work is by far the better of The Verve's two big hits for me. There's a huge gap between The Drugs Don't Work and Some Might Say, really confirms just how well Oasis sold compared to everyone else at the time.

The Drugs Dont Work makes me cry a lot. BS never even raises a hair on my neck.

The Drugs Don't Work is miles better than BS. Aside from it, most of Urban Hymns leaves me massively underwhelmed.

The Drugs Don't Work is miles better than BS. Aside from it, most of Urban Hymns leaves me massively underwhelmed.

 

I agree. I also like Sonnet and Lucky Man better than BS too.

Agreed with all. I was listening to The Drugs Don't Work on the train earlier funnily enough, it's so affecting musically and lyrically.

First time I ever heard Bittersweet Symphony was in an HMV in Tokyo on a listening post and by the end I was in an absolute bloody teary mess, I thought it was that good. A sublime piece of music that remains my favourite song to this day. And it will be the song that is played when I eventually shuffle off this mortal coil.

The thing about Bittersweet Symphony is that it is all about the strings, remove them and the song is nowhere near as powerful, The Drugs Don't Work is just a powerful song full stop.

 

Urban Hymns was always majorly overrated in my eyes, the singles aside there was nothing that really grabbed me.

The thing about Bittersweet Symphony is that it is all about the strings, remove them and the song is nowhere near as powerful, The Drugs Don't Work is just a powerful song full stop.

 

Urban Hymns was always majorly overrated in my eyes, the singles aside there was nothing that really grabbed me.

Nah, don't agree about that at all, lyrics just do it for me. Not saying that I don't love Drugs as well though.

 

As for Urban Hymns, it is not a perfect album by any means but with Space and Time, The Rolling People, Catching the Butterfly and the almighty f*** off that is Come On it is a good album. Shame there is some some filler on there especially when compared with A Northern Soul which is a much better album.

The bit that always gets me on The Drugs Dont Work is when he signs "I know I'm on a losing streak"...:(

06. ROLL WITH IT- Oasis (563,200)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/36/Rollwithit1.jpg

 

The high point (media wise) of the movement obviously came on 20th August 1995 with the famous Blur Vs Oasis battle that made the national news, we all know that Oasis lost that battle and "Roll With It" came out the worst but still managed a very nice tally of over 500K though over half that total was in the tracks first two weeks of release. Incidentally on the TOTP performance Noel and Liam have swapped places and sing each others parts in protest at the show's insistance on them miming the track- just in case you wondered.

 

5. WHATEVER- Oasis (594,300)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/52/Oasis'_Whatever_Single_Cover.jpg

 

Not bad sales for a No 3 hit, this was Oasis's stab at the Xmas chart topper in 1994, it sold over 160k in each year 94-96 proving one of their tracks with more longevity. Their most obvious Beatles pastiche (and there was a lot) it was their last song of the decade not to make the top 2 but outsold many of those (on paper) bigger hits.

 

4. COUNTRY HOUSE- Blur (645,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ea/Country_House_CD_single.jpg

 

And the highest placed non- Oasis single on this list is naturally "Country House" the song that defeated "Roll With It". Yes the only time that any britpop act managed to sell on the level that Oasis did was Blur in 1995, with a video that was a who's who of the britpop era (Matt Lucas, Jo Guest, Keith Allen etc) it captured a zeitgeist that long hot summer and I still recall Mark Goodier running down this chart that August!