Verve E.P. CD

This EP, which was released just prior to the Verve's debut album A STORM IN HEAVEN, combines five tracks from band's first three UK singles, "All In The Mind," "She's a Superstar," and "Gravity Grave." Over the course of these singles, the band charted a course that explored the territory between spacey neo-psychedelia and full-on, searing rock and roll--often, as with the muscular ebb and flow of "She's a Superstar," within the same song.

"Gravity Grave" uses Simon Jones' bass guitar as a skeletal framework, fleshed out with a whirlwind of guitar. The rather sedate "A Man Called Sun" proves that finding a good groove doesn't require a lot of volume. "Endless Life" slowly encircles the listener with ever-expanding concentric waves, while the nearly 11-minute long "Feel" features a laconic rhythm pattern against which McCabe's guitar shimmers as delicately as an ultra slow-motion explosion of splintering glass. Though the original UK single versions of "Gravity Grave" and "She's a Superstar" are substantially longer, THE VERVE EP is a fabulous introduction to a band that truly understands the value of a barbed and sinewy hook.NME (Magazine) (11/28/92) - 8 - Excellent - "...one of the few bands who still believe that the space between your ears is infinite, that nothing is impossible, that it's all within our reach...they soar...This is no easy ride but it's a hell of an adventure, a risk well worth taking..."