A Storm In Heaven (LP)

Released in the UK on 21 June 1993, A Storm In Heaven was a modest UK hit (No. 27 in the album chart) but over the last two decades has come to be regarded as something of a psychedelic classic. Drenched in echo and reverb it is highly atmospheric, extremely nuanced and for many long term fans of the band, it remains the band's 'lost' masterpiece.

When they first emerged , Verve (before they were obliged to add a "The" by the American jazz label of the same name), like many bands of the time, were lumped into the shoegaze scene pretty much by dint of the fact that their moniker was singular as was the fashion (Ride, Lush, Moose etc), and guitarist Nick McCabe's desire to make his guitar sound like anything but what it was via an array of effects pedals. But Verve were from Wigan, not the Thames Valley, and at the outset Ashcroft didn't even wear shoes - not since Zola Budd has one person's avoidance of footwear caused such consternation in the media - and "Mad Richard" (as Melody Maker unforgettably christened him) and his cohorts were very much gazing at the stars.

After three indie chart-topping singles, including two clocking in at over eight minutes, the band had expectations to live up to but very little material prepared as they entered Sawmills Studio in Cornwall with producer John Leckie in late 1992. As Nick Southall revealed in his excellent piece on the album for Stylus in 2003, "Verve went into the studio with half a dozen riffs, half a dozen half-baked lyrics and a thousand ideas of ways to reach the sky. John Leckie managed to seize the controls and apply the necessary degree of restraint and maturity, guiding the band back down to earth when they threatened to fly too close to the sun."