This tale tells the story of four lads from Wigan, who formed a group in 1993! This band were to become one of the finest bands to hail from Manchester. Along with all the other Manchester bands The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays and The Charlatans, the list goes on!!

The original band members included Richard Ashcroft(vocalist), Nick Mc Cabe(guitars), Simon Jones(bass) and Peter Salisbury(drums).

In 1993 the band released their debut "A Storm in Heaven". This was by all means a master piece and there was only a select few that knew it at that time! The Verve, up until their comeback in 1997 had a cult following. There was no sign of the Verve going mainstream when they released "Slide Away" and earlier EP's like "Gravity Grave". Verve had earned the respect of a small but dedicated following, nothing like the attention they are receiving now. This track had a lazy bass line and electrifying guitar riffs that appealed to a bemused audience who were left speechless and captivated by its unique style.

By 1995 the band had progressed and were now ready to release their second album "A Northern Soul". By this time the band had changed their name from Verve to "The" Verve. This album was more widely recognised than the former. Perhaps time had taken its toll, or maybe the more boistrous guitar riffs appealed to a bigger audience, who knows! But it was not long after the release of this album that The Verve had made a crucial decision, one that I had not been expecting. The Verve were going to split up. They released three singles off the album. "This is Music" a track which many consider a pinnacle of the Verve's sucess. Later they released the track known as "On your own" a ballad, and finally the Verve released what everyone thought was their poignant last single ever to be released, "History". The video for this single is a mesh of all of the other videos and it shows clips from "She's a Superstar", "This is Music", and "Slide Away".

When The Verve announced their break-up back in 1995, for me guitar music of the time had died with it! The Stone Roses had already split up along with the Mondays. Ride, another foursome from Oxford were on their way out with the ever persisting feuds with their frontmen Mark Gardner and Andy Bell. The Charlatans, being the only decent British band that are still going and who are still worth listening to, not forgetting the legacy of the Roses and the Mondays! The band had split supposedly because of Richard Ashcroft and his mental state. All of the band needed a break and so the decision was final. The Verve had split, what next for the Wigan Lads? Would they persue solo careers? Was it to be the end of an era...

During their split there was some talk of the band reforming. Richard Ashcroft was rumoured to have approached John Squire (ex-Stone Roses) in the hope of him joining the band. But Squire was working on a project of his own "The Seahorses"

Eventually Nick Mc Cabe agreed to come back and soon they had released their comeback single "Bitter Sweet Symphony". It was a huge success more sucessful than any other single they had ever released before. But that was only the beginning, The Verve have released two other singles since, "The drugs don't work" reached number 1 and their current single "Lucky Man" is a huge success. All of these have been released off the new album "Urban Hymns" which is, in my opinion, just as good if not better than the former two! In a recent interview Ashcroft commented on how the band had needed a break and they were back with positive attitudes. One lyric in particular that might suggest this "There is no time for cracking up believe me friend", this song "Weeping Willow" which is written by Ashcroft might suggest he is veering away from his problems in the past, let's hope so! The new album has a very optomistic outlook and the attitudes of all the lads including the newest recruitment Simon Tong(Guitars, Keyboards)coincides with this. The lyrics of Lucky Man might suggest Ashcroft is referring to himself here. The new album is an all round success loved by Verve fans and many more(My friends mother even bought the new album!). The album features classics such as Velvet Morning(which is my personal favourite), One Day, Space and Time, Come On and The Rolling People.