Search - The Verve :: This Is Music: The Singles 92-98

GOOD INTRODUCTION BUT LOUSY REMASTERING OF "STORM IN HEAVEN"

Magpie | NH United States | 12/16/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This collection is a good way to be introduced to The Verve but the tracks taken from the album "A Storm In Heaven," "Slide Away" and "Blue" are not so much remastered as remixed, bringing Richard Ashcroft's vocals to the forefront instead of letting them swirl through Nick McCabe's amazing guitar work as on the original album. I was incredibly disappointed by this decision as "A Storm In Heaven" is a powerful album as it was originally mixed and was I was looking forward to hearing the two tracks remastered on this collection. I sincerely hope this isn't a sign of what's to come if all three Verve albums are remastered. "A Storm In Heaven" is an amazing album and if it is to be remastered, the sound should be expanded, not re-done. Whether this is Richard Ashcroft's ego interfering and trying to re-write history (no pun intended) or just a poor choice by the album producer I'm not sure. For excellent examples of remastering work, see the remasters of the entire Slowdive catalog and The Jesus and Mary Chain. For an example of a poor remastering job where tracks were re-done, see Tori Amos' collection "Tales Of A Librarian.""

The Verve were a great band

Dr Jeremy Buddle | Battery Point, Tasmania Australia | 03/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Verve was a British band of the 1990's who have since broken up. On this CD we have 14 of the best Verve songs from their era of existence 1992-98. I really like this album and am awarding it 4.5 stars. I first heard of this band in June 1997 when staying in London, when their justly-famous and classic song Bittersweet Symphony made the UK top 5 . Even better was the achingly-beautiful yet despairing lament The Drugs Don't Work, which reached #1 on the UK chart in September 1997. I was working as a locum doctor in a psychiatric clinic at the time in Birmingham, England, and could really relate to the heartfelt pain that this song evokes, yet it has one of the most beautiful of melodies. Third song Lucky Man was also fantastic, as was the fourth song: Sonnet. All these were off the 1997 album Urban Hymns. After really getting into these songs in 1997-98, I later found out that the Verve actually had two earlier albums I'd not heard, and from these were taken other good songs like This Is Music, History and Gravity Grave etc.



The Verve were a great band with strong choruses, trippy production, and emotive, slightly avant-garde lyrics. Their vocalist Richard Ashcroft is a distinctive and highly-talented singer/songwriter who has continued on in the 2000's as a solo artist, though I know little about the other band members.



Highly regarded compilation CD."