Modern Music Masters - The Verve - Richard Bowes

Four equally vital components in one machine, The Verve emerged in the early 1990s and set themselves apart from both shoegaze and then Britpop. From shimmering, other-worldly elegance to timeless song-writing, they set about creating their own psychedelic sonic soundscapes, releasing four albums which represented different corners of their world. Along the way they had musical differences, went through drug hell, split up three times and released an album that defined the latter years of the 1990s.

This book is a chronological journey through their career from their early days in Wigan to the present day, encompassing their highs, lows, solo and other musical projects, and attempts to study their unique alchemy which even the four key members can't fully explain.

Now published in their second editions, and in partnership with the Official Charts Company, 'Modern Music Masters' is a series of books about the artists you know and love, or are discovering for the first time. With a strong focus on the UK charts, placing the artists in a social and political environment, MMM do not claim to be exhaustive, but offer an accessible route into the music and the history.

Richard Bowes writes about music, reviewing albums and gigs. He is the author of 'Some Might Say - The Definitive Story of Oasis'.