Fans of the Verve will have two new releases to look forward to this fall — though both are very familiar in nature.
The British band announced this morning that they will re-issue their first two albums, 1993’s A Storm in Heaven and 1995’s A Northern Soul, via deluxe, expanded box set editions and 180 gram vinyl, remastered by Urban Hymns producer Chris Potter. Both hit the shelves on September 9.
Each album will be issued as a three-cd box set, with A Storm In Heaven providing a bonus DVD, of unreleased songs, b-sides, and BBC sessions. Interviews with frontman Richard Ashcroft and the band will also be featured.
The NME has more details from the press release:
A Storm In Heaven, released in 1993, adds songs from The Verve’s early pre-album singles, as well as B-sides, acoustic versions and two unreleased BBC sessions. There are also two previously unreleased songs, “South Pacific” and “Shoeshine Girl”. The DVD for A Storm In Heaven features a 1992 gig from Camden Town Hall, footage of the band in New York, the videos for the album’s five single, the US video for “Blue” and a video for “South Pacific” comprised of footage of the band recording the album, taken by producer John Leckie.
The box adds a poster, four postcards, a 48-page book of interviews and previously unseen photos by bassist Simon Jones and sleeve photographer Michael Spencer Jones.
The box-set for 1995’s A Northern Soul adds B-sides and two previously unreleased BBC sessions. It also has seven previously-unreleased songs, including two that were later released on Urban Hymns (“The Rolling People” and “Come On”) and two that were finally recorded on 2008’s comeback album Forth (“Muhammad Ali” and “Mover”.) The other unreleased songs are “Echo Bass”, “King Riff” and “Brake Lights”. The box also features a poster, four postcards and a 36-page book of interviews.
Watch a trailer for the box sets below.