The Verve "Voyager 1" (RSD 2025)

Voyager 1 can reasonably be described as a “pseudo-bootleg” album because it was a band-endorsed, official recording designed to look like an unofficial pirate release. This rare and highly prized live album was originally issued on vinyl in small quantity in 1993, with used copies going for upwards of $500! Made to introduce the band to the American market via Virgin’s then-newly inaugurated US ‘indie’ label, Vernon Yard Recordings, the music it presented was recorded in concert in London and New York during 1992 and released before the debut album, A Storm In Heaven, the following year. As a live band, Verve (as they were then known before they were forced to change their name by legal action from the US jazz imprint of the same name) were already a significant force. Simon Jones’ bass and Pete Salisbury’s in-the-pocket drums provide a substantial foundation for Nick McCabe’s virtuoso guitar work, which deftly blends feedback, delay and reverb to sound like several instruments simult