In 2008, Van Morrison decided to revisit his classic Astral Weeks album on the occasion of its 40th birthday by performing it in its entirety at a couple of L.A. concerts. Fortunately, the event was documented for posterity. Accompanied by a band that includes a couple of the original musicians from the Astral Weeks sessions, Morrison digs as deep into the mystic as ever, stirring up a soulful, all-acoustic mix of folk, rock, and jazz that sounds as ground-breaking now as it must have in 1968. If anything, the years in between have only added to Morrison's vocal gravitas, and allowed the Irish troubadour to to dig even further into these poetic, richly evocative tunes and bring out their innate transcendent qualities.
Showing posts with label VAN MORRISON. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VAN MORRISON. Show all posts
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Van Morrison - 1991 - Hymns Of Silence [320]
Described aptly in the liner notes as a "panoramic view of where he's been and where he's going," this weighty double-disc captures Van in all of the guises he adopted in the 1980s and early '90s. There are several devotional pieces, a couple of splendid rants ("Professional Jealousy" and "Why Must I Always Explain"), two collaborations with the Chieftains, and jazzy swingers driven by Georgie Fame's organ. The real heart of the album is Van's evocation of his childhood in lyrics and arrangements that capture the joys of discovering rock & roll while growing up in Belfast amid that city's conflicting passions. There are several high points for connoisseurs of his stream-of-consciousness lyrical rambles, notably "On Hyndford Street" and "Take Me Back." As an album, the mood swings too dramatically to be coherent, but in its individual parts there is evidence of true genius.
Van Morrison - 1980 - Common One [320]
Van Morrison was working through one of his greatest — yet least appreciated — creative periods when he made this album, one that burrows deeply into an introspective jazz-rooted spiritual groove. No wonder the rock critics of the time didn't get it; this is music outside the pop mainstream, and even Morrison's own earlier musical territory. But it retains its trancelike power to this day.
Van Morrison - 1972 - Veedon Fleece [192]
The final album of Van Morrison's remarkably prolific and innovative 1968-1974 period (followed by three years of silence), Veedon Fleece brings the singer full circle, returning him to the introspection and poignancy of Astral Weeks. Composed following his sudden divorce from wife Janet Planet and subsequent retreat from the U.S., the songs are subtle and Spartan, the performances deeply felt; though less tortured and cathartic than Astral Weeks, it's a record fraught with emotional upheaval, as evidenced by such superior moments as "Linden Arden Stole the Highlights," "Who Was That Masked Man," and "You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River."
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