Signing to Epic Records in the late 80s, singer-songwriter Beverley Craven broke through to the mainstream in 1991 with her now-classic radio staple ‘Promise Me’ – a #3 UK hit launching her to international success across Europe.

Her self-titled debut album – immaculately produced by Paul Samwell-Smith (Carly Simon / Cat Stevens) – was subsequently a huge double-platinum plus seller – staying on the charts for a full year and spinning off more hits with ‘Holding On’, ‘Woman To Woman’ and ‘Memories.’

Having won the ‘Best Newcomer’ Brit award in 1992, Beverley took time off to have her first child, returning in late 1993 with her Gold-selling follow up ‘Love Scenes’. The set displayed a deepening of her exquisitely British brand of chamber pop, featuring guest appearances by Jeff Beck and The London Chamber Orchestra plus a rare cover version of Abba’s ‘The Winner Takes It All.’

After a six-year hiatus to focus on raising her expanding family, Craven returned in 1999 with her final album for Epic, the sweeping, romantic ‘Mixed Emotions’ – her first self-produced outing and arguably her most confessional set including such heartfelt gems as ‘Afraid Of Letting Go’ and ‘I Miss You.’

Following a battle with breast cancer, Beverley has made a welcome return to the spotlight in recent years, joining forces with fellow Brit songbirds Judie Tzuke and Julia Fordham for a hugely successful series of ‘Woman To Woman’ tours and albums.

Memories – The Complete Epic Recordings 1990-1999 is an extensive 3CD anthology showcasing the entire Epic Records catalogue of acclaimed singer-songwriter Beverley Craven. Spanning 48 tracks, this first-of-its-kind collection spans all three of the talented singer- songwriter’s Epic albums including her multi-platinum debut. CD 1: Beverley Craven
1. Promise Me
2. Holding On
3. Woman To Woman
4. Memories
5. Castle In The Clouds
6. You’re Not The First
7. Joey
8. Two Of A Kind
9. I Listen To The Rain
10. Missing You
The B-Sides
11. It Doesn’t Have To End This Way
12. Everything But The Blues
The West Coast Sessions
13. Holding On (West Coast Version)
14. Joey (West Coast Version)
15. Memories (West Coast Version)

On an album that instantly reminds me - albeit only a little bit - of the Lisa Stansfield / Basia phase I had a few years back, with her clear and oh-so pretty voice, Beverley Craven’s Promise Me was a hit throughout Europe in 1991, and remains an adult radio staple today.

Book-ended by a naggingly familiar rolling piano arpeggio, it’s one of those songs with a melody so well-crafted and easy to memorize, you almost imagine you’ve heard it somewhere before. Like most of Craven’s self-titled debut, Promise Me deals with love (clearly her main interest).

She doesn’t really explore the subject in-depth, the way, say, Joni Mitchell might, but her own approach is more akin to that of a paperback romance novel, albeit a classy one. There’s unrequited love (I Listen to the Rain), long-distance love (the aforementioned Promise Me), sisterly love (Memories), and even love for pet dogs (Joey).

This is all well and good, and Craven is certainly a fine and endearingly romantic composer, but what’s missing is a bit of grit. The songs recall work by Karla Bonoff and Beth Nielsen Chapman, but while those two artists occasionally intersperse their lovelorn balladry with rock, country, or folk, Craven refuses to budge from one string-laden musical setting to another.

That said, Two of a Kind and Woman to Woman are uptempo cuts, but they adhere to the same formula as all the other songs, simply with a different time signature. It’s a relief, then, that Craven’s writing is so excellent, and her voice warm and unpretentious; otherwise the musical train here would run so smoothly that you might not even wake up from having drifted off to its sumptuous melodies.

Now inclusive of two B-Sides, the sumptuous duo of It Doesn’t Have To End This Way and Everything But The Blues, it’s the The West Coast Sessions trilogy that make this disc, for me, the stand out being another version of the always-excellent Memories.

CD 2: Love Scenes
1. Love Scenes
2. Love Is The Light
3. Hope
4. Look No Further
5. Mollie’s Song
6. In Those Days
7. Feels Like The First Time
8. Blind Faith
9. Lost Without You
10. The Winner Takes It All
The B-Sides
11. Hush Little Baby
12. Call Me
13. Lost Without You (Live)
14. Look No Further (Live)
15. Love Scenes (Live)
Released back in 1993, for me personally, this is The Winner (that) Takes It All of all of Craven’s self-written four U.K Albums. The year may now be 2023, but due to this being a mainly piano and vocal-based album, you will be hard pressed to tell.

Following on from her superb 1991, self-titled debut album, this was actually my first purchase of any of Beverley’s works way back in 1993 and I must say to me this her best. Indeed, from the off, the album surprised me by the sheer shimmering maturity, beauty and melodies that it contained.

From the titular lead single Love Scenes to the dazzlingly ornate ABBA cover that wrapped the original album, this is one of those rare albums where you simply cannot find a bad track amongst any of them.

A few stand outs include an exceptional, and emotional Hope(the only song to deal with political oppression and not love), the aforementioned Love Scenes, Lost Without You, Look No Further, Feels Like The First Time, and surprisingly, Craven’s only ever cover version, namely ABBA’s stellar The Winner Takes It All.

Originally meant for a UK tribute album to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ABBA’s arrival in the UK, the track retains the emotion of the original and is actually also right up there with my favorite renditions of the brilliant song.

This disc now comes complete with the B-Sides of the singles, the highlights being the new strung together live trilogy of tracks, the stand out, for me, being Look No Further.

CD 3Mixed Emotions
1. I Miss You
2. Tick Tock
3. Come Home To Me
4. Move On
5. We Found A Place
6. Say You’re Sorry
7. Talk To Me
8. She Doesn’t Need Saving
9. Phoenix From The Fire
10. Afraid Of Letting Go
Live at The Birmingham Symphony Hall, Sept 1991
11. Memories
12. I Listen To The Rain
13. Holding On
14. You’re Not The First
15. Castle In The Clouds
Live at The Royalty Theatre, Dec 1992
16. Two Of A Kind
17. Joey
18. Promise Me

Six years on, and with Craven even having built her own home studio to record this alone, Mixed Emotions is what I also have for this delightful album, especially given that whilst tracks such as I Miss You and Come Home to Me are her typically pretty, heartfelt ballads, all be they buried neck-high in heavy-handed orchestration and layered harmonies, overdubs, a lot of the time she wanders into Celine Dion-lite territory.

Tick Tock finds her wagging her finger at women who choose careers over children; an extraordinarily antiquarian stance for a 1990s songwriter, if you think about it, but in the end, it is her own bitter experiences that inspire Mixed Emotions’ best songs - such as Afraid of Letting Go, a striking account of divorce and its sometimes devastating effects on children (Craven’s parents divorced when she was small).

But there are still some stellar moments, proving that her songwriting gifts are no less than they were before, it’s just a shame that the more stripped down approach of her first album has been forsaken for the slushy stylization that accompany a third of these still-beautiful songs.

And the added extras on this third, and final disc include two live set snippets, such Craven’s Live at The Birmingham Symphony Hall, September 1991, where we first get a flawless Memories and one of my own personal favorites, Castle In The Clouds, whereas the second set from The Royalty Theatre, December 1992 includes a delightfully ambient Joe and Promise Me.

Lavish 24 page booklet includes brand new in-depth interview with Beverley plus many rare unseen photographs by Neil MacKenzine Matthews.

Official Purchase Link