is Richard Ashcroft's third studio album. Contrary to what happened to his first two solo albums, Keys to the World was well received by the critique. I really don't like it. I think that in Keys to the World, Ashcroft just repeats what he did in his previous solo albums in the best scenarios, and in the worst ones, he just sounds like S Club 7. Richard Ashcroft failed to perform every artist's duty: betraying his public.There's simply no point of comparison between The Verve's first albums and Ashcroft recent material. In almost 20 years, the concept of Cool Britannia was displaced by Londonistan and, more recently, Reykjavik-on-Thames. Ashcroft had children, so I guess that it's just natural that his music moves from drugs to love, from distorted guitars to melodic keyboards.
But then, is it valid that a singer keeps performing forever? Wouldn't it be more honest to simply retire and produce younger artists, or write poems, or something like that? By trying to remain within their style and repeat it endlessly, some artists just betray the memories of their fans.
There's one song that I like, though: it's called "Keys to the World". Here's the live version:
is a light Brit-Pop album by