A Storm In Heaven - The Verve

Verve, for the confused are one and the same as 'The' Verve. The name change after this record came about due to a wrangle with the Verve jazz label. And with the new name change, came a new sound. A sound not entirely dissimilar to the Oasis boys at their early peak. The band promptly split then returned with their commercial peak, then dissolved again. A savage history. Before 'Urban Hymns', and before 'A Northern Soul', (The) Verve were a completely different band. They didn't so much specialise in an indie TM'd by Oasis, but more so paved a psychedlic blueprint quickly stolen by modern and more accepted bands like ...  Read the complete review

In order to avoid being sued by legendary Jazz Record Label ‘Verve Recordings’, Mad Richard and his troops needed to prefix his bands name with the unappealing ‘The’. So ended the innocence but not the success as ‘Urban Hymns’ went on to prove. Back in the early days Verve were cosmic nomads capable of generating sublime tunes that were galaxies ahead of their contemporaries. Led by the ‘mad as in angry but just not plain nuts’ lead singer Richard Ashcroft, Verve were an impossibly attractive proposition that had it in them to knock all listeners sideways. A Storm in Heaven is the debut that Verve’s ...  Read the complete review