Alone with Everybody

1	A Song for the Lovers 5:26
2	I Get My Beat 6:02
3	Brave New World 5:59
4	New York 5:30
5	You on My Mind in My Sleep 5:06
6	Crazy World 4:57
7	On a Beach 5:09
8	Money to Burn 6:15
9	Slow Was My Heart 3:44
10	C'mon People (We're Making It Now) 5:03
11	Everybody 6:32

Barnes & Noble

It's easy to understand why the former front man of The Verve was sometimes dubbed "Mad Richard," given the degree to which he pursues his obsessions. On his solo debut, Richard Ashcroft pays homage to skid-row poet Charles Bukowski, tragic folk figure Nick Drake, and the late Brian Jones -- and then he pauses for breath. Each of the album's 11 songs unwraps differently, trailing odd origami patterns and cantilevered melodies that can lull or disturb, but seldom leave you thinking you've heard this before. "A Song for the Lovers" is probably the most accessible track here, but even there, Ashcroft spikes the driving melody with fillips redolent of Marrakech. Similarly, the echo-drenched vocal that wafts in and out of "New York" replicates the Big Apple's sensory overload, but brings in a bit of Summer of Love-era San Francisco as well. For the most part, Ashcroft steers clear of sensitive singer-songwriter cliché (misstepping only on the string-drenched "You on My Mind in My Sleep"), but Alone With Everybody is still a clean break with the rock excesses that characterized The Verve's later days. Call it a quiet pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless. David Sprague

All Music Guide

He experienced what could have been a traumatic blow to his inventiveness and creativity as a musician but ex-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft is fresh. He has moved on from the effervescent prettiness of his former band to make music for himself -- something the Verve might have done somewhere in time, but it wouldn't have been so honest or stripped as this solo jaunt, Alone With Everybody. Another look into the shoegazing mind of this singer/songwriter, this record is not a comeback.

Ashcroft is optimistic, hauntingly spellbound on the album opener "A Song for the Lovers." It is a signature love song, flowing with its illustrious string arrangements and simple brushing percussion. His drawl is naturally smooth and one cannot help but to be pulled into the seductiveness behind his words. "Brave New World" and "You on My Mind in My Sleep" are also songs that can carry emotion to another level, weighing in on something surreal. He also gets poppy with a sarcastic twist on the trippy groove "New York," and the twangy sounds of "Money to Burn" clap alongside folk-rock guitar riffs. Richard Ashcroft is still tastefully infectious.

He still believes that music has a soul -- with or without his former band. He is certainly a rock star and a believer in love, death, musical spirituality, and individuality. That is what made the Verve a great rock band in the first place, but Ashcroft's superior drive to do something real only makes him and his music more endearing. He is looking ahead, not wishing for past adventures. He celebrates life, pure and simple. MacKenzie Wilson