The Drugs Don’t Work [#1]

RELEASE
September 01, 1997
LABEL
Hut Records
GENRES
Pop/Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Shoegaze, Dream Pop, Britpop, Space Rock

Album Review

For those of you who thought two versions of "The Drugs Don't Work" were not enough, this single has the album version of the song. This second single also has a James Lavelle remix of "Bittersweet Symphony," which offers something the album version does not: a danceable beat. Stripped of its looped three-chord string arrangement, Richard Ashcroft's vocals ride along on a typical Verve bass groove, drum loops, and sparse ectoplasmic guitar fills. The strings do eventually make an appearance, but not until near the end of the song and this time they do not obscure the groove. "The Crab" sounds like a slower and bleaker version of Radiohead's "Karma Police," with ghostly slide work and shards of piano creating a gothic backdrop for Ashcroft's dark vocals and beat-to-hell acoustic strumming. "Stamped" is a paranoid, claustrophobic rocker. Guitars buzz and rage over an otherworldly bassline and Can-influenced drums drop out and then come roaring back in. All the while Richard Ashcroft shouts about "living a bad dream" through layers of reverb. This single is definitely not uplifting, but offers better music than its companion single.
Brian Horgea, Rovi

Track Listing

  1. The Drugs Don't Work
  2. The Crab
  3. Stamped
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