A Storm in Heaven

by

The Verve

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This review is directed to people like me - 40-somethings who believe that music for the most part entered a vast wasteland at some hard-to-pin-down date, but it was sometime in the late 1970s. Sure, you'll occasionally find a little something that keeps your interest, but nothing compares to the music of your youth. Well, I'm here to tell you that your search is over. "A Storm in Heaven" matches anything you've ever known and loved.

I had only a vague awareness of The Verve's music until recently, and knew nothing at all about "A Storm in Heaven" until about a month ago. Since that time, I haven't been able to bring myself to extract it from whatever CD player I happen to be near (home computer, office computer, living room stereo, car). Yes, it's become an obsession, but the CD is a treasured thing to me, a work of finely crafted beauty. Every track, and they range from dreamy, sensual ballads to trippy psychedelia to bluesy hard-driving rock and roll, is a gem. Ashcroft's vocals veer from tortured to anguished to hopeful, but they're always beautiful. McCabe's guitar work has to be heard to be believed, but ALL the music is incredible.

As other reviewers have said, this album is reminiscent of Pink Floyd's best without necessarily sounding anything like Pink Floyd. But it's impossible to make such comparisons, really. The Verve, and especially this, their best work, has a unique sound. I weep when I think about how most of the world (well, at least the USA) was listening to grunge and crap-pop in 1993, rather than this CD.

And while I'm talking about Pink Floyd, I remember the exact place and moment when I first heard "Wish You Were Here" back in about 1975, and I've never felt I would ever find an album that could replace it as my choice as THE album I would choose to have with me were I ever stranded on a remote island. "A Storm in Heaven" may have done it.

Buy it. It's not for everyone, for sure. But there's an excellent possibility that you'll react like I did the very first time I heard it - my heart soared and my mind expanded.