The Verve
Voyager 1

THE REVIEW

The absolute beginnings of the band from Wigan. When the article "The" was not yet part of the name.

For those who don't know exactly what I'm talking about, we can divide the band's "broken" career into 3 periods: the first of pure Shoegaze, the second of Shoegaze mixed with Britpop, and finally the one almost entirely Britpop with a good background of the psychedelic sound that characterized them at the beginning.
When we simply and solely talk about Verve, we refer to the first period, the time of the debut studio album "A Storm In Heaven", in this case even earlier.

They were born around 1990, and the following year they were already signed with Hut Records, which released the first singles and the self-titled EP during 1992, giving them the opportunity to embark towards the United States to support these first releases, which were already doing well in the British charts. Very precocious.
"Voyager 1," live EP dated 1993, is precisely the result of some recordings made between New York and London in 1992 and is considered the rarest gem in the catalog that the Verve offered us. Vinyl (blue) released only in the United States and limited to 1,000 copies, of which about 300 were damaged in the UK-USA journey; currently, on the Internet, there are about ten people selling their copy (considering also the bootlegs with the red and black vinyl), and Wikipedia states (and it's right!) that there's an original copy on Amazon.com at the modest price of $10,000.

Returning to the record itself, it features 6 tracks mostly from the early releases, as expected, and the final product is an extraordinary concentration of sounds wandering gently and erratically in a dreamy chaos, among colored and fragrant mists where voices and instruments seem electrically immersed in an ocean of ecstasy.
For this, we must especially thank the atmospheres created by Nick McCabe and his guitar (along with his infinite effects), the "Verve sound" comes from his creativity, which unfortunately will have less and less space over the years.

You have the chance to encounter a primitive, longer, albeit almost-complete version of "Slide Away", considered one of the most famous tracks from the group's underrated era, here still without the chorus. The track with the unmistakable and obsessive bassline has always been a certainty in concerts, between feedback, echoes, and fuzz. It will later be included in the aforementioned debut album "A Storm In Heaven," along with "Already There", another raw (in a good way!) and pleasantly mesmerized number present here.

Can't miss "Gravity Grave" and "She's A Superstar", the very singles mentioned, tracks of lengthy duration that respectively constitute a real mental trip (always accompanied by Simon Jones' persistent bass), a raging river, and what we can define as a psychedelic love song (perhaps), an intense and truly poignant performance.

It's also essential to mention the completely unknown tracks "One Way To Go" (directly from the first single "All In The Mind") and "South Pacific", a track never recorded in studio, performed live during 1992 but then completely abandoned.
The first track is a real Shoegaze masterpiece, which deserved to be included in the debut: with its slow pace and the combo of bass & guitar, it teleports us to vast shores, it feels like swimming in the deepest abysses. The second is an excellent track, no doubt, reminiscent of the sounds and structures of "Star Sail" and "The Sun, The Sea" (also from the debut), a sort of prelude.
As for Richard Ashcroft's lyrics, one must absolutely thank drugs, especially MDMA.

In short, forget about "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and go try this album with a rainbow flavor. Among my absolute favorite bands, I would dare to say.