Richard Ashcroft to him. Ashcroft began work on his second album "Human Conditions" in 2002. The lead single, "Check the Meaning", was released in early October, and peaked at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was released later that month and reached No. 3 in the UK Album Chart. Reception to the album was generally positive. Review aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalised score of 61% based on 15 reviews. In response to negative reaction to the album, Coldplay's Chris Martin – a fan of both Ashcroft and The Verve – defended the album's merits which "made an impression"
Michael Ashcroft a period in Belize after completing his education, Ashcroft returned to hitch hike around Europe, and then for a short period of time became the manager of a rock and roll band. In 1967, Ashcroft joined Carreras Tobacco as a management trainee. He left in 1969, joining Pritchard Group Services, after several months unemployed. Pritchard Group was a cleaning and business services company and Ashcroft worked his way up quickly to become an assistant in the company's head office accounting department, part of a large acquisitions team. In 1972, at the age of 26, he started his own business, Michael