The Verve Pipe

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The late '90s produced a spate of faceless if hit-making pop-rock bands with names like Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind, Dishwalla--and Michigan's Verve Pipe. The quintet's 1996 RCA debut hit with its title track, "Villains," as well as "The Freshman," pushing the LP past platinum. While their self-titled sophomore album boasts songs not nearly as memorable as its predecessor, the Verve Pipe still deliver an impressive-sounding LP with songs both elaborate and unadorned. On "Supergig," singer Brian Vander Ark infuses the tune's jangly yet driving psychedelia with Richard Butler-like vocal inflections, while the more straightforward and peppy "Hero" finds a happy medium among dense, melodramatic pop-rock tunes and several sweet if nondescript ballads. With a few exceptions (the edgy and devil-may-care "The F Word" and "Hero") the dozen tracks populating The Verve Pipe are forgettable if adroit efforts. --Katherine Turman --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Villains
Average customer rating:

Wiff

Hard to believe this is 10 years old , great stuff

One of my favorite all-time albums.

Big Disappointment

Great Album

Villains
The Verve Pipe
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Verve Pipe

Underneath

Feeling Strangely Fine

Pet Your Friends

Lemon Parade

ASIN: B000002WVW
Release Date: 1996-03-26

Tracks:

Barely (If At All)
Drive You Mild
Villians
Reverend Girl
Cup Of Tea
Myself
The Freshmen
Photograph
Ominous Man
Real
Penny Is Poison
Cattle
Veneer

Product Description

Excellent condition, includes the original CD, case, and paperwork, First Class shipped, ask me for more CDs or my CD List! :)

Customer Reviews:

Wiff.......2007-03-10

Wow, I haven't been this disappointed in an album in a long time. Granted the song "The Freshman" is a timeless classic, but the rest of the album is far from it's greatness. The album lacks melody and is infested with poor song writing. If you like "The Freshman" buy the single, stay clear of "Villains".

Hard to believe this is 10 years old , great stuff.......2006-06-24

Thought this was a great effort by The Verve Pipe. I really thought there wasn't a bad song on this one. Unlike most, I didn't really like "The Freshman" that much, maybe because I heard it ten thousand times that year. However, it was a decent song and there are some definite great ones on this album. My favorites are "Cup of Tea" and the last song "Veneer." Great alternative album definitely. It's too bad these guys didn't take off more.

And, to the reviewer who gave one star, why did you rate 3 songs 4 stars or higher on the album if you gave it such a low rating?

One of my favorite all-time albums........2006-01-13

This album came out while I was in middle school, and I'm not sure I listened to much else back then. I originally purchased the album for "The Freshmen," but I think it's now the least-listened to song (thanks to the overplaying of it on the radio). My music collection has added several thousand songs since then, but I still find I listen to this album more than just about anything else. The transition they make from gentle gentle lyricism to surging melodies and back again has given me a true appreciation of versatility at a time when there's so much that sounds the same. The Verve Pipe has a truly original sound that just can't be duplicated.

Big Disappointment.......2006-01-02

I bought this CD for $2.50. It was worth that, but it is definitely departing from my CD collection. I was so disappointed with this CD. I see many reviews saying how this is a good CD, and it is TVP's best. If this is their best, then I don't wanna touch their other stuff. Songs:

1. Barely If At All (2/5) - Nothing to offer. Sounds like a song you would expect on a first album maybe, not this one.

2. Drive You Mild (1/5) - Sounds like the previous song, only worse.

3. Villains (1/5) - Quieter than the last two, but still awful. And TVP decided to make this their title song?

4. Reverend Girl (2/5) - Better than the last two, with somewhat decent music, but still a below average song.

5. Cup Of Tea (3/5) - Right when I thought all was lost, I actually somewhat enjoyed this one.

6. Myself (2/5) - Drops off down into the level of their first four.

7. Freshmen (5/5) - I've heard a better version of this song, but without a doubt the best song on the CD. One of my favorite all-time songs. Lead vocalist is very passionate in this one.

8. Photograph (1/5) - One of the worst on the album. Very bad choice sitting this one next to 'Freshmen'.

9. Ominous Man (4/5) - Quickly rebounds from 'Photograph' to bring the second best song on the album. Fun to listen to.

10. Real (1/5) - Back into the musical famine. By this point I wanted to just stop listening.

11. Penny Is Poison (1/5) - Not very good lyricism at all. No good music. No passion in the song at all.

12. Cattle (4/5) - The last good song on here. Cool music and good lyrics. Displays some passion and meaning in creating the song.

13. Veneer (1/5) - Horrible way to end it. Worst song on the album. Nothing at all to offer and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Overall, don't get this CD. If you insist, it may be worth the $2.50 total you pay on here for those few good songs. If you want to get a CD by these guys, get the 'Freshmen' single CD. That CD is amazing.

Great Album.......2005-09-26

Although this album has not recieved as much play time in my CD player as "I've Suffered a Head Injury" it is a great album and one of the TVP's finest efforts. Although this is "The Freshman's" third incarnation I would say it is not one of thier best versions. I am not sure when Brian and co. will be happy with this song, but nontheless it is on the album.

The finest song on this album is Cattle. You can almost feel the drive on HWY 31 that Brian is taking you on in this song. If you are not from Michigan or never been - you need to take 31 from south to north in the fall and put this song on. You will feel every note in the sights and smells that pass you by. Now that I love outside of Michigan this song makes me miss home.

Songs like "Drive you Mild", "Reverend Girl", and "Cup of Tea" are all worth the price of the album individually.

This was TVP's first real album to get airplay and I am not sure why thier career did not take off to the moon. I think it was Brian's unwillingness to write songs that the pop culture will easily be able to soundbite. I think this has caused some tension in the band over the years. I think Donnie (the drummer) would like to write more pop friendly songs and I think Brian would not. Perhaps Donnie's style of songwriting would garner more popularity but I for one am happy they have stayed the way they are. A perfect mix of catchy songs and deep writing.

TF

Average customer rating:

ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
Solid from start to finish!
Great CD!
Way more than I expected!!!
New admirer

Underneath
The Verve Pipe
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The Verve Pipe
Villains
Pop Smear
I've Suffered a Head Injury
Back to the Innocence

ASIN: B00005OC6I
Release Date: 2001-09-25

Tracks:

Only Words
Never Let You Down
I Want All Of You
Miles Away
Happiness Is
Medicate Myself
Gotta Move On
Local Boys
Colorful
Wonderful Waste
Underneath

Amazon.com

Underneath returns East Lansing, Michigan's Verve Pipe to their very origins, rediscovering the simple power pop of "I've Suffered a Head Injury" and "Pop Smear," ridding themselves of all the guitar bombast, arty flourishes, and dark shadows that producer Michael Beinhorn cast over their last album. This time out the band availed themselves of the talents of Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger--an underrated pop genius himself--to man the boards, helping them clean out the cobwebs and return the band to the engaging, almost New Romantics sound of their formative years. As a result the Verve Pipe has turned out a bevy of literate, tightly constructed gems that veer from the clever to the confessional, without ever being sappy. But stylish writing has always been this band's strong suit, as well as their full-bodied rhythm section that adds depth, texture, and an interesting complexity to harder-rocking songs. "Never Let You Down" is anthemic in its appeal, what with its stalwart message and dynamic chorus that are reminiscent of Foreigner at their most sincere, while "Medicate" is an earnest postgrunge solution to an age-old problem, moving into them into the territory that Bush used to occupy. --Jaan Uhelszki

Customer Reviews:

ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME.......2006-07-02

This album is perfect from start to finish. Every song is incredibly with amazing lyrics and melodies. A MUST HAVE

Solid from start to finish!.......2005-12-30

In April 1996, my freshman year of college, Verve Pipe performed live. They'd just released their major label debut, Villains, the previous month and the song Photograph was starting to get some serious airplay (at least in their native Michigan, where I was attending college). I purchased Villains and later their Indie label debut EP , I've Suffered A Head Injury and their 2nd release, Pop Smear. Other than a few tracks I really didn't get what all the fuss was about.

For the next few years I was content to ignore them. Their next eponymous release wasn't even a blip on my radar in 1999. Then in 2002, I stumbled upon one of the songs from Underneath and I had to hear more.

At a small out of the way music store in an out of the way strip mall in Elyria, Ohio I picked up a used copy of Underneath-- and the money was very well spent. Unlike their other albums which were lukewarm at best, Underneath was a prize. One of those rare CDs with not a bad track on it, a solid effort from start to finish.

Now when I put this CD on, I'm transported back to cool spring and summer nights of solitude as I was trying to find my way back to me after getting lost somewhere along the way a few months before. Along with Dream Theater's Awake album this CD was my emotional road map that led me back to the person I'd somehow forgotten I was.

Great CD!.......2004-04-09

Good words, good music, what else could be better!?!

Way more than I expected!!!.......2004-01-21

Right off from track one I was blown away. This is hands down the best work for BVA. It is sad to see a band of this caliber split up, but none the less, "miles away" and "medicate" are two the most lyricly interesting songs on the cd. I think that it will be a long time till we see another album of this magnitude

New admirer.......2003-04-20

I found The Verve Pipe when tracking down some favorite songs from movies I'd recorded. Two songs (from "Rock Star" and "Joe Somebody") came from this one band, and I bought this CD as well as Villains and Pop Smear. I can understand the less than complimentary reviews some long-time fans have logged. Some of the pieces on Underneath are a bit over-produced, with too many acoustic gizmos. (Case in point: "Happiness Is".) But I think the more polished presentation also allows TVP's talent to come through on this CD clearer than the others, showcasing catchy and innovative themes, multiple layers, tight harmonic vocals, and lyrics that are worth listening to. (A rare thing these days.) I think this is a good CD for listeners to start with, there are several excellent cuts here I find myself listening to over and over.

Average customer rating:

4 1/2 stars to be exact
INCREDIBLE ALBUM
3 stars compared to most, 2 stars compared to other TVP CDs
TVP's most honest-sounding release to date.
La La Means I Love You

The Verve Pipe
The Verve Pipe
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Underneath
Pop Smear
Villains
I've Suffered a Head Injury
Freshmen

ASIN: B00000JJIQ
Release Date: 1999-07-27

Tracks:

Supergig
She Loves Everybody
Hero
Television
In Between
Kiss Me Idle
Headlines
The F Word
Generations
Half A Mind
She Has Faces
La La

Amazon.com

The late '90s produced a spate of faceless if hit-making pop-rock bands with names like Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind, Dishwalla--and Michigan's Verve Pipe. The quintet's 1996 RCA debut hit with its title track, "Villains," as well as "The Freshman," pushing the LP past platinum. While their self-titled sophomore album boasts songs not nearly as memorable as its predecessor, the Verve Pipe still deliver an impressive-sounding LP with songs both elaborate and unadorned. On "Supergig," singer Brian Vander Ark infuses the tune's jangly yet driving psychedelia with Richard Butler-like vocal inflections, while the more straightforward and peppy "Hero" finds a happy medium among dense, melodramatic pop-rock tunes and several sweet if nondescript ballads. With a few exceptions (the edgy and devil-may-care "The F Word" and "Hero") the dozen tracks populating The Verve Pipe are forgettable if adroit efforts. --Katherine Turman

Customer Reviews:

4 1/2 stars to be exact.......2006-09-15

I stumbled across this band by winning the Underneath album from a radio station. Since then I been purchasing their music, and can't get enough. This album is not quite a good as Underneath, but quite worth owning. Although comments listed here state that Villians is a better album, I disagree. The songs on this particular album seems to be more soleful and evoking more emotion than Villian. I am also glad that Brian Vander Ark, who seems to be the heart of this band, has branched out and done some solo albums as well.

INCREDIBLE ALBUM.......2006-07-02

Every song on this album is amazing. The best are "Hero", "The F Word", "La La", "In Between", and "Television". A MUST HAVE

3 stars compared to most, 2 stars compared to other TVP CDs.......2003-09-03

My review title pretty much says it all. Compared to the three set of Villains/Pop Smear/I've Suffered A Head Injury, this is a very disappointing CD and certainly marked the beginning of the slide into oblivion that now has Brian Vander Ark out soloing. What I really wonder is what has happened to Donny Brown, as I have always thought his fabulous drumming and percussion was as or more important than Brian's vocals and guitar (although I seem to be the only one that feels that way). Anyway, this album appears to be a standard issue, just going through the motions. A few notable tracks, but nowhere close to the consistency of previous efforts. Before I read the reviews indicating the distortion/sound quality, I was wondering if it was just my car's CD player - I'll play it on my perfectly amped and speakered SUV system, and will come back and edit this review if the distortion isn't there, but I suspect it is. Crazy that the production crew, and the band itself, didn't note it. As carefully crafted as previous works have been, you almost wonder if it might be intentional - TVP letting us know that they know their sound was going, going.... Easy to say in 2003 that this was the beginning of the band's slide, but it appears that way. Even the fact that all of the song's lyrics aren't clearly printed as on the 3 prior works makes you wonder - again, intentionally trying to make us work to figure out how good the album is? or recognizing that the brilliance of previous efforts just wasn'there? I will continue to give the album additional listens, and it is a good album, just disappointing when you have gotten used to fabulous.

TVP's most honest-sounding release to date........2003-08-09

In the tradition of albums such as Weezers' 1996 release "Pinkerton," The Verve Pipe's 1999 self-titled album was, for the most part, overlooked and underrated. People who couldn't get enough of the poppy, formulaic-sounding tracks off of their earlier releases found themselves disinterested with the band's new sound, complete with heavier and more distorted guitars, use of electronic devices, and comparatively vulgar references to sex and alcohol. These are the same people who welcomed the band's most recent radio-friendly release "Underneath" with open arms.

The truth is that this quintet from Michigan will probably never release an album that surpasses this particular album in its amount of sheer honesty. The Verve Pipe take us through a relatively short, but dynamic spectrum of sounds, past events and emotions, ranging from contempt towards the modern mainstream music audience ("..."), to regretful memories of lost love, ("She Loves Everybody," "In Between,") finally ending in contentment ("She Has Faces," "La-La.") The songs merge into one another, some loud, some more subdued, some short and catchy, others perhaps drawn-out and chaotic.

The bottom line is that giving this album a listen and discarding it, without taking the time to read the lyrics and skipping tracks simply isn't enough. It deserves more, especially from fans who want to discover who The Verve Pipe REALLY are. Like the cover artwork may suggest, this album is an attempt to dissect the music and perhaps find what fuels the band's creativity.

La La Means I Love You.......2002-11-30

I bought this CD on it's release date-years ago. It was a disappointment to me. However, with a few more plays it won my heart. Yet again, another CD you might want to listen to a few times before you judge it. It isn't something you can always appreciate right away. I personally have found special places for many of the songs on this album.

Tracks:

Barely (If at All)
Drive You Mild
Villains
Reverend Girl
Cup of Tea
Myself
Freshmen
Photograph
Ominous Man
Real
Penny Is Poison
Cattle
Veneer

Average customer rating:

Find the original
College Sound Track
A little TVP history here...Too bad they cut the best song
Must have for TVP fans
I wish I knew about these guys in 1992

I've Suffered a Head Injury
The Verve Pipe
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Pop Smear
The Verve Pipe
Underneath
Villains

ASIN: B000002X4J
Release Date: 1997-07-01

Tracks:

Ark Of The Envious
Even The Score
Acting As Your Score
Oceanside
I've Suffered A Head Injury
Clean Break
Martyr Material

Customer Reviews:

Find the original.......2006-01-06

My introduction to the orignal release of this cd was in the fall of 94, my freshmen year(it seems to have been released 2 years prior). This cd was holding it's own in 5 disc changers all over the Central Michigan University campus with giants Under the Table and Dreaming, August and Everything After, Tuesday Night Music Club and Four (blues traveler). Also, a little George Benson never hurt anyone.

The business of music created the 7 song mutation you see here. The Freshmen on the original is the best version. Great songs like Martyr Material, Ark of the Envious and the title track remain though and would make this a safe buy. But if you can find the original with 'Brian's Song', 'Monterey' and 'The Freshmen' get it. Obviously The Freshmen is great, but I think the other 2 songs are key compnents of a complete album.

If you are a TVP fan or someone who enjoys seeing sucessful bands when they were at their most raw you should really enjoy this album. Now if we could just re-create the feeling of hearing it in the dorms for the first time......

College Sound Track.......2005-09-26

I saw this band my freshman year at Club Soda in Kalamazoo Michigan and was blown away. I have loved this album since it was released (thier first). For those of you that were introduced to TVP with Villians you need to go back and buy this album.

The Freshman debuted on this album and is later known as 'the fast version' (in concert atlease I have heard Brian refer to it as this) and is the most raw of the three or four recorded versions I have heard. Excellent.

One of my greatest memories was singing along to Martyr Material in concert at "The State Theatre" in Kalamazoo, MI with a pile of my friends.

I cannot say enough about this freshman appearance by a chronically underrated band.

TF

A little TVP history here...Too bad they cut the best song.......2003-11-15

1991. Kalamazoo Michigan. The band (or at least the key elements) was then called "Jonnie with an Eye" and they often played at a bar called Ricks on the campus of Western Michigan. End of the show, Brian Vander Ark came on stage alone with just a guitar and sang "The Freshman." Then and there I said this song is top 40 all the way. I was stunned to hear so good a band playing a campus bar.

This album, originally self produced at a studio in Grand Rapids, originally had three additional songs including the accoustic, non-commercialized "The Freshman". The RCA version now available has the first 7 tracks, but it's a serious shame that version of The Freshman never got out.

But this ablum does have some excellent VP tunes from the VERY early days. "I've Suffered A Head Injury" is a brilliant slam on Vanilla Ice and "oceanside" and "ark of the envious" are also excellent.

I'll save my ancient original CD. But you should get this one.

Must have for TVP fans.......2003-09-02

WOW! This is my edited review - the first was made after a week of listening. This after two months of non-stop listening. Move over Villains, this is my favorite TVP album. A Top 10, Take It To The Desert Island selection.

One song lends to another. Acting As Your Slave with perhaps the best two lines ever (the first two).

Not sure why someone would like Pop Smear (or Villains) and not like this album. While obviously coarser and less complex than those, the lyrics, driving drums and guitar, and seeds of future creativity are all there. Brilliant stuff.

If you can, try to get the original album (you will have to get it used) - the acoustic version of Freshman is a great alternative to the later Villains' version, and there are two other songs also not on the current version.

I wish I knew about these guys in 1992.......2001-08-28

While this album has only seven songs, it is worth every penny. "acting as your slave" is one of the most georgeous songs I have heard in a long time - and anyone who remembers the beginnings of pop-rap, like vanilla ice, and mc hammer, ... will have a chuckle to themselves as they listen to "i've suffered a head injury". The chorus of "ark of the envious" is one catchy little ditty, 'if you do not care you will not cry, if you do not dare you will not try'. Okay, the music is not as complex as the latter tvp albums, but that is part of the charm. If you enjoyed Villians, you will enjoy this album.