A Requiem of the Past

17-Apr-1995- The Cliffs Pavilion _ Southend, UK
Start of the UK and Paris Tour April '95.  Supporting Oasis.
 

18-Apr-1995 - The Duchess of York _ Leeds, UK
 "They arrive on stage to David Essex's 'Rock On'….The smattering of new material they play - "This Is Music' and 'No Knock On My Door' in particular - reveal a new-found edge. They're more garage-born than the songs on their debut, 'A Storm In Heaven' - guitars riff, the bass pile-drives through the crowd and the ghosts of The Stooges, The Doors and Thee Hypnotics are all ceremonially invoked. An evening of rare pleasure in an otherwise unremarkable city." - MELODY MAKER
 

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20-Apr-1995 - The Bataclan _ Paris, FR
 "…..appearing in front of a worryingly partisan audience and delivering an astonishing performance that rises to a brilliantly fitting apex. At the close of 'Come On', Richard retreats from the microphone, stares into the middle distance and yells 'rock 'n' roll is alive in Paris!' Two hours later…..bad karma strikes. Guitarist Nick McCabe, wishing only to rejoin his band in their dressing room, is punched downstairs by one of the neanderthal security officials…..He's broken one of his precious fingers, scuppering The
Verve's British tour….." - NME
The rest of the tour is postponed and rearranged.
 

01-May-1995 - This Is Music uk
This Is Music, Let The Damage Begin, You And Me
Single: Label: HUT RECORDINGS. UK Chart : 35. Formats: UK Cat #: HUTT54 : 12" Single Released 01/05/95 UK Cat #: HUTCD54 : CD Single Released 01/05/95, UK Cat #: HUT54 : 7" Single Released 01/05/95, Non UK Cat #: HUTDE54 : CD Single Released

'This Is Music' is The Stooges if they moved forward a couple of decades and moved from the industrial hell hole of Detroit to the post-industrial hell hole of Wigan. Except The Verve replace The Stooges' delicious nihilism with a searching, yearning guitar rush. Good to have you back, space cadets." - MELODY MAKER

It's taken an awfully long time for them to return from America's hideous heartlands, though the pleasure of this single and the imminent album will make it seem mere moments. Beautiful, powerful and ludicrously necessary." - SPARK

"The Verve obviously reckon that hotel-trashing bonding with Oasis is an easy ticket to the top. They have, in the words of their frontman, 'mad' Richard, been 'on the shelf too long'. Sadly for them, I rarely reach for the shelf marked 'aimless nodding' in my cupboard." - RASP
 

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10-Jun-1995 - Preston Heineken Music Festival _ Preeston, UK
THE VERVE HEADLINE A FREE FESTIVAL IN PRESTON'S AVENHAM PARK. SUPPORT FROM POWDER, PURESSENCE & BLAMELESS.
    A fine performance to a sizeable crowd on a dull evening. One fool lobbed a bottle at Richard in mid-song and Richard stopped to let the guy know he was less than impressed. Security stepped in to drag the guy (who at this point realised he'd bitten off more than he could chew) away. Needless to say, he didn't want to go and it was an amusing spectacle to see about six security blokes trying - with difficulty as the guy must have weighed 250 lbs - to pull him out of the crowd.
 

12-Jun-1995 - On Your Own uk
On Your Own, I See The Door, Little Gem, Dance On Your Bones
Single: Label: HUT RECORDINGS. UK Chart : 28. Formats: UK Cat #: HUT55 : 7" Single Released 12/06/95 UK Cat #: HUTC55 : Cassette Single Released 12/06/95 - Deleted 21/06/96, UK Cat #: HUTCD55 : CD Single Released 12/06/95

"….a mellow, meandering song with big pretensions but no direction. The other tracks are even more disappointing: 'I See The Door' is a messy acoustic song; 'Little Gem' an unfocussed mess; 'Dance On Your Bones' over seven minutes of rambling stoned indulgence." - NME

"….compelling although maybe too laid back and cool to become a rel crossover hit." - MUSIC WEEK

"Stonesy acoustic bliss that sounds so authentic you can smell the skunk in the air. Brilliant." - RAW
 

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03-Jul-1995 - A Northern Soul uk
A New Decade, This Is Music, On Your Own, So It Goes, A Northern Soul, Brainstorm Interlude, Drive You Home, History, No Knock On My Door, Life's An Ocean, Stormy Clouds, Stormy Clouds (Reprise)
Album: Label: HUT RECORDINGS. UK Chart : 13. Formats: UK Cat #: HUTLP27 : 2 x 12" LPs Released 03/07/95 UK Cat #: HUTMC27 : Single Play Cassette Released 03/07/95 UK Cat #: CDHUT27 : CD Album Released 03/07/95 UK Cat #: DGHUT27 : CD Album Released 03/07/95 - Deleted 04/07/96

"Since the last album we have spent two years playing music every night and that means you get
a lot better." - NICK McCABE

"This record's got northern soul in it, stuck in a Welsh valley. We recorded twice as much as we needed. It wasn't that the songs weren't good, we just didn't get the magic when we recorded them…..we missed two or three of the best songs so we'll go back and do them again. Get 'em right." - PETER SALISBURY

"Lyrically the whole album is me asking myself who the fuck am I? Am I the guy in 'This Is Music', standing tall in the world with these huge guitars around him like the king of rock 'n' roll, or am I the guy in 'A Northern Sou'l who's wasted and desperate, or am I the guy in 'On Your Own', who's in between life and death, or am I the guy in' Life's An Ocean' imagining the future and buying feelings from a vending machine, am I this future shock guy? But I'm all of them, you see. It's dangerous to fracture your personality too much, but that's what it was." - RICHARD ASHCROFT

"On this triumphant second album, these four Wigan lads return in a swirling, tortured, cloud of Doors-ish psychedelia. Richard Ashcroft's soft, druggy drawl twists round spacey guitar lines and blurred distortion, while the pain of the gentle 'On Your Own' disturbs and sticks in your mind." - GQ

"As befits their recent titular addition - the US jazz label Verve objected to the unprefixed moniker - 'The' Verve are suddenly the definite article." - Q

"Global domination? Maybe next time, chaps. Maybe next time…." - NME

"…..'Soul' doesn't flow with the seamless cadences that marked their debut, especially
earlier on. The thick strings that flush out the edges on several tracks are nowhere near as
cool as the horn trio that supplied an adjunct environment on 'Storm'. Nonetheless, with music
that can drift from puffy clouds and cool breezes to thunderclaps and stirring gusts, 'Soul' only
falls one breath short of aural ecstasy." - SAN FRANCISCO WEEKLY

"…..the way the whole lot hangs together as a complete journey puts 'A Northern Soul' ahead of most albums you'll hear this year…..it'll still be blazing your synapses for many months to come." - SELECT
 

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18-Jul-1995 - Slims _ San Francisco, CA, US<
 THE 'CONQUERING AMERICA' TOUR, SUPPORT FROM HUM
 "The Verve hypnotise the audience with their laid-back but epic rock. Dramatic, swirling chords pulsate as singer Richard Ashcroft prowls the stage. ….Insolent and indolent, their compositions can be wearing on record but in live performance they really shine." - THE OBSERVER
 

18-Sep-1995 - History uk 
History (Radio Edit), Back On My Feet Again, On Your Own (Acoustic), Monkey Magic (Brainstorm Mix), History, Grey Skies, Life's Not A Rehearsal
 Single: Label: HUT RECORDINGS. UK Chart : 24. Formats: UK Cat #: HUTCD59 : CD Single Released 18/09/95, UK Cat #: HUTC59 : Cassette Single Released 18/09/95 - Deleted 21/06/96, Non UK Cat #: HUTDE59 : CD Single Released, UK Cat #: HUTDX59 : CD Single Released 18/09/95, UK Cat #: HUTCDP59 : CD Single (Promo) Released - Deleted, UK Cat #: HUTCDP59 : CD Singgle (Promo) Released - Deleted

"Hands up those who like The Verve, what's that, about three, no maybe four or even five. To be honest, The Verve were the most overrated thing since Christianity. Both are based on men with long straggly hair and both will never come back." - STRATHCLYDE TELEGRAPH

"History is a startling finale, all dashed hopes and kaleidoscopes. And as the summer fades into memory, truly a song to begin the end of the year with." - NME
 History: released on two CD's