Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2014. This is as good an album as Van ever made after leaving Warner Brothers. Enjoying listening to the albums again after reading the reviews. Van still doesn’t sound like he’s listened to much, if any, contemporary music since the mid-‘70s, so most of this material still sounds – both in terms of production and sound quality – as if it could herald from Into the Music and feels years behind the times. Poetic Champions Compose (1987, Mercury)A –Easily Van’s best album since Beautiful Vision, this album boasts the same gorgeous production and sonic crispness of No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (the latter is apparent literally just two seconds into the disc, as Morrison’s saxophone on the utterly gorgeous and tranquil opening instrumental, “Spanish Steps,” sounds as if it were practically in the room with you) but bests its two predecessors by both being less insular (Van’s lyrics, for starters, are much less obtuse here than they’ve been since he left Warner Brothers) and containing a more appealing – and more immediate – set of songs, highlighted by the infectious toe-tapper “Did Ye Get Healed” (featuring some heavily amusing interplay between the brass players and background vocalists throughout most of the song), the cleverly-arranged, harp-driven ballad “Queen of the Slipstream,” and, best of all, the lush and stirring love ballad “Someone Like You,” which isn’t nearly as famous a Van Morrison ballad as “Have I Told You Lately” but is arguably the more beautiful of the two songs and really ought to have become a modern-day wedding standard. Discover songs you may have missed.

I had my own top 20 in mind, and this list follows a similar pattern, but with surprises thrown in along the way. by Jeff Fiedler. When he was cooking, you saw God. Mr. Holmes does this by discussing the 20 most favorite Van albums in his personal collection. At the outset, Mr. Holmes acknowledges that there is a plethora of people who have more intimate knowledge than he of matters such as what impelled Van Morrison to compose individual songs, and how those compositions evolved into their final, recorded forms. His twenty best albums according to the author. [The disc does, though, boast Van’s hardest-rocking song since Wavelength in “The Street Only Knew Your Name,” which helps to give the back half of the disc a nice burst of energy.] Recommended, Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2014. It’s a mildly schizophrenic record, to be sure, but the quality of the best songs here – particularly “Higher Than the World,” “Celtic Swing,” “The Street Only Knew Your Name,” and the ballad “River of Time” – really goes a long way towards making this a stronger listen on a whole than it might otherwise be.

), Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2017. Common One (1980, Warner Bros.)B –As weird a career move as Morrison has ever made, Van’s first album of the Eighties found him following up Wavelength (his best-selling album in years) and Into the Music (his best-reviewed album in years) with an experimental affair that ranks as his most heavily jazz-influenced album since Astral Weeks. Note-Arklow is not in Northern Ireland. I'm listening to Common One right now as I write this.

Accordingly, it has been quite some time since I have had frequent opportunities to share Van Morrison's music with fellow enthusiasts and/or debate the merits of his various works. I accurately pick 4 of the last 5, but not in correct order. Sound comments, though I quibble with many of the author's judgements, inevitably. But if you are, this is the best 99 cents you ever spent.
Two Morrison originals from past albums (Beautiful Vision’s “Celtic Ray” and Inarticulate Speech of the Heart’s “Irish Heartbeat”) have been re-recorded here, but the new versions are arguably superior to the original recordings and don’t feel in the least like padding. Discog Fever - Rating and Reviewing Every Van Morrison Album (Part 2), ← Discog Fever - Rating and Reviewing Every Van Morrison Album (Part 3), The Great (Live) Albums: The Grateful Dead’s ‘Live/Dead’ →.