The Verve - One Way To Go (1993)

For a couple of years over 1997 and 1998 The Verve were one of the biggest band on the planet, with singles like 'Bittersweet Symphony' and 'The Drugs Don't Work' propelling them into the mainstream charts, and the 'Urban Hymns' albums becoming an instant indie classic. But it wasn't an overnight success for the band, who'd been slogging around the indie circuit since 1990, releasing singles and EP's to limited underground success, but never managing to break the mainstream. Their 1993 album 'A Storm In Heaven' had a distinctly psychedelic bent, and their live shows were well-received, especially Nick McCabe's  innovative guitar-work and Richard Ashcroft's unpredictable vocals. The band were originally called Verve, but after a legal dispute with the record label of the same named, they rechristened themselves The Verve in 1993, and released a flurry of new music. A few more singles in 1995 helped build their reputation, and two years later they'd hit the big time. This collection charts their slow build-up to mega-stardom, including all their non-album singles and b-sides from 1992 and 1993, as well as a couple of recently discovered out-takes from the 1993 album sessions. Early songs were often lengthy indie/psyche workouts, while later ones embraced the full indie sound, and pointed the way to their later success. Because of the length of some of the songs, this is one of the longest albums I've posted, clocking in at just under an hour and a quarter, but a 73-minute album was not unheard of in the CD age, and I just couldn't bring myself to leave off any of these tracks. 

Track listing

01 All In he Mind (single 1992)
02 One Way To Go (b-side of 'All In The Mind')
03 A Man Called Sun (b-side of 'All In The Mind')
04 She's A Superstar (single 1992)
05 Feel (b-side of 'She's A Superstar')
06 Shoeshine Girl (previously unreleased Sawmills session recording 1993)
07 Gravity Grave (single 1992)
08 Endless Life (b-side of 'Gravity Grave')
09 6 O'Clock (b-side of 'Slide Away' 7" single 1993)
10 South Pacific (previously unreleased Sawmills session recording 1993)
11 Where The Geese Go (b-side of 'Blue' 1993)
12 No Come Down (b-side of 'Blue' 1993)
13 Twilight (b-side of 'Blue' 1993)