u/Londoner1995

I have a few questions about the beginning and end of the Urban Hymns era.

While it is now known that Ashcroft reunited the band sans McCabe in early 1996 to begin the Urban Hymns sessions, with McCabe rejoining in January 1997, I am curious to know when in 1997 it was made public that The Verve were back? Was there a big media campaign fronted by the NME and Melody Maker in spring 1997 to announce the return of the band, or was it as simple as Bittersweet Symphony just randomly appearing on radio playlists one day and people going "woah, what the bloody hell was THAT", coupled with the music video being on heavy rotation?

Conversely, what was the feeling like in the fan community post Munich 1998. Was it already common knowledge in summer 1998 that the band were just fulfilling tour dates prior to splitting up again, or was there hope that things could be salvaged? I imagine the period between Munich with the band plodding on with BJ Cole on pedal steel and the April 1999 announcement that it was all over must've been fairly miserable for the community.