"Best New Reissue" - "The Verve's blockbuster third album-newly reissued in a five-disc expanded edition-has come to be seen as the swan song for Britpop's cultural hegemony. But in 1997, it felt like a step forward ... the wealth of bonus live material here serves to restore some of their formative mysticism. Urban Hymns represented millions of people's first contact with the Verve, and the band used live appearances to bring the newbies up to speed on their previous travels-like on a 1997 BBC Evening Session where they dip into moody, mercurial versions of A Northern Soul's "Life's an Ocean" and '92 debut-EP cut "A Man Called Sun." And while including the band's entire May 1998 set at Wigan's Haigh Hall (i.e., The Verve's own Oasis-at-Knebworth moment) plus a whole 'nother disc worth of random live tracks from the era may seem like overkill, the recordings capture a band committed to elevating concerts to holy communions, no matter the venue"