I first heard this band back in 1993. It was a hot summer day & I was sitting with a good friend of mine on a beach where he worked. We were listening to a local college station when I heard a bass line intro that flowed into guitar sounds & drums that had me stopped mid-conversation. The song made me feel like I was soaring & brought out so many feelings that it felt almost like a drug. I felt like my brain was running away from to go play with this song I was hearing! I couldn't pull myself back into the conversation with my friend. I listened to every note of the song & just looked at everything around me. I saw the green trees, the blue lake & the sun in a way that, for about 4 minutes had me entranced. After the song was over the DJ said it was a song called "Slide Away" by "The Verve." Now, if you've ever listened to college radio, you can more often than not, get a feeling wether they'll amount to anything more than a one hit wonder on a small station in Auburn Washington. This song & the way the band had written it, gave me very high hopes for their future. In fact I prayed for their success because their music had struck such a strong feeling in me, it made me feel like I could never get enough. The song was played somewhat frequently, but never went anywhere beyond college radio, not one corporate station around my home state played it. I remember hearing a couple more songs from a later album that was called "No Come down." It was a collection of b-sides. I ended up buying this album & liked it a lot, but for one odd reason or another, never bought "A Storm In Heaven" until sometime later.

One day I let a good friend of mine borrow the B-sides album. He ended up letting his dad borrow it & came back telling me how much he & his father enjoyed it. His dad ended up going out & buying "A Storm In Heaven" to get a feel for The Verve's other releases. Having never listened to this album, I asked to borrow it one day primarily because I hadn't heard the song "Slide Away" in so long & missed the feeling it gave me. I brought the CD home & listened beginning to end without moving from my perch in front of the stereo. I was so entranced by EVERY song that nothing short of a house fire could've moved me. I had tingles & prickles all over.

The first song is "Star Sail." This song has so many layers to it. The Verve doesn't mess around. They wanted this album to slam your imagination from the first opening guitar chord. Nick McCabe is the lead guitarist for this band & in my opinion, is one of the most creative musicians when it comes to using effects. Now don't get me wrong here, Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine & Ler for Primus hold their own in a huge way, but for the kind of music The Verve plays, there couldn't of been a better guy to make it all work. The early songs of this band are so intricate. There are so many things going on, but not once do you feel smothered or confused. The singer Richard Ashcroft, has an amazing voice & lyrics that allow you to put whatever meaning you want to them which I love because sometimes the best songs have lyrics that force things down your throat which, in my opinion, keeps a lot of doors closed in your mind. One of my favorite lines is from "Slide Away." It goes "I read your mind. I read it because it takes me where I can fly." Other songs that I love from this album are "Already There" & "Beautiful Mind."

The rest of the album produces feelings of surging highs & feelings of mournful beauty. Each song has its own identity & feel, but not once do any of them take away form the overall vibe of the whole album. These songs ended up being the soundtrack to the next 5 years of my life. They have accompanied me through everything from hot summer nights under the stars to long road trips & horrible heartbreak. I cant live without them. The guys in this band were very young when they put this album out. I think around 19 or 20. The crazy thing was that "A Storm In Heaven" was their second album. They had put out an LP simply called "The Verve LP" the previous year & in many ways those songs were just as impressive as those on the latter album. I wish I had that kind of talent at that age! Songs like "Gravity Grave" & "She's a Superstar" give me the same brain-wanders that I get from their later work.

I wish I could say that The Verve continued to impress me with following albums, but I can't. A few songs on their next album "A Northern Soul" were good, but never the same caliber as the earlier days. I can't say I cared much for "Urban Hyms" either. I know, I know, so many people love this album etc. etc., but for me & those who have really listened to older Verve & have experienced what it can do to you on a beautiful day by a lake in the summer, "Urban Hyms" falls short in a huge way, it sounds generic in comparison. So, if there comes a day when you feel like you want to be really moved by music written by The Verve, have a listen to "A Storm in Heaven", then you'll know what it can be like...



Recommended: Yes