Van Morrison

A generally middle-of-the-road set of Morrison covers, tracks and artists selected by The Man himself, who also co-produced the album. So, unlike a lot of tribute albums, this one has the hand of the original on the tiller. A shame, then, that Van piloted it through such safe waters.

There are a few better than average tracks here, though, being Crazy Love by Cassandra Wilson, which captures the emotionality of Morrison's original; Full Force Gale done a capella by Elvis Costello with backing show more vocals by a male close-harmony trio, and; You Make Me Feel So Free done by Sinead O'Connor in rhythm-and-blues songstress mode. 3.5 stars, then, rather than 3 stars, thanks to these songs. show less

The followup to Astral Weeks, a much more traditional (and commercial) record. When it was an LP it had one of the best first sides ever. More than any of his other records, it takes me back to a time and a place. It's a personal time and place, but this music is playing in the background.

He's casting off labels and affiliations here, and I think it's his best, most fully realized work.

Morrison and the Chieftains sound made for each other on this beautiful album. "On Ragland Road" is a favorite, from a poem by Patrick Kavanagh. Heard them do it once live, and it was electrifying.