UKC

Can't believe it's 20 years old now, still a great album in my opinion, would be great to have a Verve reunion and tour to mark the occasion...

In reply to Sl@te Head:

I've been a big Verve fan since the mid '90's and the 20th anniversary BSS really hit home. Big album from my year of graduation so its a real 'time of life' deal.
It's still a huge sounding album which bear repeated listening very well. The more your learn about the BSS saga as well the disjointed way the album came together makes it even more intriguing. You can really hear the difference between the RA compositions and the band/jam compositions.
I kept faith with RA for a while but in truth I think he could probably find just one decent album's worth of material of his first three solo releases. There's a lot of sham in shamenism.
I hope that people who discovered (The) Verve through UH have made the journey backwards though Northern Soul and A Storm in Heaven. Different sound and intense experiences.
Verve reunion. Not sure. I saw them at the Camden Roundhouse just at the time of the Forth release and they were incredible. My wife rated it the best gig she had been to. The band were tight and playing an eclectic range of tunes from all eras. I saw them a few months later at the O2 and they were insipid, the bad blood was seeping back in! The way they closed Glasto was stunning though.
20 years!! 20 years!!! My waistline knows its been 20 years.

In reply to TMM:

I was lucky enough to get in to a sort of re union / secret set at the Kendal Calling Festival last week, absolutely awesome even though Richard Ashcroft wasn't there...

http://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/the-verve/news/verve-charlatans-perform-rol...

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Being my local (by birth) "big" band I probably should like them...and indeed I do...that album is sort-of the soundtrack of memories from my time at uni...

In reply to Sl@te Head:


That's cheating, it's only The Verve if Mc Cabe and Ashcroft share the stage

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Aye, they didn't do badly for the second-best band in Wigan.

T.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:



After Limahl?

In reply to TMM:

>the 20th anniversary BSS

Brian Schwandt State?

In reply to TMM:

I always thought A Storm In Heaven was their masterpiece. As you say - intense.

In reply to Adam W.:


Was he from Wigan? Third best, then.

T.

In reply to pasbury:

Both a Storm in Heaven and A Northern Soul are really great records. Much more distinct than the stuff the followed (I know, the classic "I liked them before they were famous" schtick) and even my missus was forced to agree that Storm in Heaven was ace and she *hated* their ubiquitous Urban Hymns stuff.

In reply to MonkeyPuzzle:


You get away with it with Verve / The Verve though, because a) they were already a pretty big nationally known indie shoegaze-rock band on A Storm in Heaven and b) they to my ears took such a different musical direction with Urban Hymns, that it's almost like a different band. Maybe that legal issue over the name had an effect on them

Admittedly I say this having never really been into them that much, but I do recall Storm in Heaven era Verve getting quite a bit of Radio One play albeit on the indie Evening Session.