The Verve Pipe - Super Hits (CD)

All Music Guide

The Verve Pipe were one of the handful of postgrunge bands that had a hit in the mid to late '90s that was ubiquitous, and then had the bottom suddenly fall out from underneath them. That hit, of course, was "The Freshmen," a pained, earnest midtempo dissection of a relationship gone wrong that the band's lead singer/songwriter, Brian Vander Ark, wrote years before the Verve Pipe had formed. Starting as an acoustic ballad, by the time it turned into a radio hit it was given a brooding sensibility, heavy on heavy guitars and echo, that didn't just fit into the postNirvana landscape of '90s modern rock, it epitomized how alternative rock was no longer underground it was a commercial juggernaut. If the Verve Pipe never had another hit to match "The Freshmen," it was not for lack of trying, nor was it for lack of material as their first hits compilation, Platinum Gold Collection (repackaged in 2007 as Super Hits) proves, they had similarly hooky material that fit well into mainstream a...ltrock radio. And they did have other hits, like "Photograph," "Villains," and "Hero," but while sturdy, none of them became a touchstone like "The Freshmen" since they had neither the immediate hook nor the universal subject matter of that single. The Verve Pipe might have been able to retain a small cult if their second majorlabel album, an eponymous 1999 effort helmed by superstar producer Michael Beinhorn, didn't tank, bringing their career down with it; by the time they released their very good, Adam Schlesingerproduced 2001 album Underneath, they were already considered a footnote to the altrock era. While they were by no means trendsetters, they were a solid, reliable band, and this compilation proves that out. This naturally relies very heavily on their one big LP, 1996's Villains, with three tracks apiece from Verve Pipe and Underneath and a live version of the Pop Smear favorite "Spoonful of Sugar" added as a closing cut. It's an excellent summary of their threealbum stint with RCA, and while this music is emblematic of its time, it does prove that of the onehit postgrunge wonders of the second half of the '90s, the Verve Pipe had one of the most consistent bodies of work. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less