Alone with Everybody

Richard Aschcroft, who recently rejoined with his band, the Verve, released his first solo album, "Alone with Everybody," in 2000.

This album reveals his studied mastery of the recording studio. He shares the production credits on the album and utilizes a basic song format for its emotive qualities.

This is achieved through background harmonies, synthesizers, stringed symphonies, as well as acoustic and electric instruments. Each song's sentimentality conveys a visionary hope for love and fulfillment.

As a whole, the album can be heard as a sonnet - a sonnet to those he loves, has loved, and the appreciation of life's experience. This is clear in "You on My Mind in My Sleep" and "On a Beach" ? some of the album's best - both songs reaching to heaven for an eternal future of love and stability. The album is spread even with an upbeat posture of soft rock and a lamenting celebration of love.

By taking advantage of less, the album reveals more. Its simplicity in "Brave New World" and "Everybody" leaves room for concise arrangements of music. In "A Song for the Lovers," a subtlety of longing and confusion are received with a Middle Eastern flair.

Ashcroft's vocal precision delegates the direction each song takes. He is at the helm, steering his passion from the edges of uncertainty up to the peaks of conviction; all stemming from his foundation of love.