Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
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Free Music Notes for Astral Weeks
Free Music Review: the infinite poetic voice of van the man
Hit: 5 Stars
this is , for me, the most exciting cd of the all popular music . i love this.romantic, mystic and impressonist poetic.
the voice of van...the trance sensations in the songs, beautiful.
Free Music Review: A Rough Draft in Need of Editing
Hit: 2 Stars
Astral Weeks has been praised to the sky by rock critics and fans alike. It made the ten best in Rolling Stone's top 500 albums of all time. As a person who is not a big fan of Morrison, but who has tried to be, I bought it with high expectations. I was very disappointed. Astral Weeks is in desperate need of editing and polishing. It's like a freshman essay with some good ideas, but which needs drastic cutting and reworking. In short, Morrison needs an editor. I think a casual fan of his, as I am, need only buy the "Best of" collection. Astral Weeks is like a Joyce novel that has kissed the Blarney Stone too long. As with Joyce, Morrison tests your patience. Too often, he repeats, in a stream of consciousness vein, the same lyrics over and over, such as "you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out," etc. I do not mind repetition in a song, per se. I don't mind when George Harrison sings "please don't be long" 27 times on "Blue Jay Way" because "Blue Jay Way" has interesting, trippy music. There are some interesting musical ideas on Astral Weeks, but it perhaps has enough music for a 35 minute album, not its 50 minutes running time. Morrison should have had the discipline to have trimmed down these songs. And his voice was not really made for the quiet, acoustic, flute-filled arrangements that make up the bulk of this CD. He works much better when accompanied by horns and a good, driving rhythm section. But, you don't get a "Domino" or "Moondance" here. Free Music Review: It's all been said
Hit: 5 Stars
This album, every song, has been reviewed to death. The title song is outstanding but most of what Van does is outstanding. I have read reviews of this album over the years. Most speak of the bluesy soul wrenching songs Cyprus Avenue and Madam George. These are wonderful songs. But, I'm a romantic. I could listen to Sweet Thing and The Way Young Lovers Do, forever. More importandly, although we own more than 20 Van Morrison albums, the three that are played repeatedly are Astril Weeks, The Best of Van Morrison Volume 2, and Poetic Champions. This is a "must have" CD. Free Music Review: An ACCURATE Review For The CASUAL Van FAN: Had To Be There
Hit: 2 Stars
I got into Van Morrison with "Poetic Champions Compose" back in the '80s, and can say that through the lovely services of Amazon.com I have now bought EVERY one of his albums. Yes, I'm talking even clunkers like "You Win Again." Yet, I am not a rabid Van fan; rather, a crazed collector of Kate Bush, Roxy Music, Peter Gabriel and Cocteau Twins. That being said, I recognize that the Van Fan Club has apparently descended on this site with the overwhelming 5 star review for ASTRAL WEEKS, and I recognize many critics give this album high regards as well. But this review is not for the Fan Club, but for you, dear casual buyer of Van's work, who is looking to expand beyond, say Moondance, Poetic Champions and Avalon Sunset. To thee, I say, verily "this album is not very good." ASTRAL weeks came out late in 1968, and is truly a product of its times (and thus NEW Van fan beware): Its hippy sentimentalities and instrumentation are just downright annoying today. If you were THERE at the time, back in 69-70, or picked this up in the early 70's after hearing Moondance blow your mind, then this album RESONATES with you because it comes with the dust of nostalgia (credits to Dylan on that phrase). Stripped of any personal nostalgia, casual Van fans, this album is not very good. Up until the Beatles' monumental "Seargeant Peppers" effectively established modern album rock in '67, Van was known as the 3 minute rocker/popper doing "Here Comes the Night," "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Chicka Boom." He obviously went back to the woodshed and retooled his songwriting (for a year plus!) after "Seargeant Peppers" came out. ASTRAL WEEKS was a startling new vision from a heretofore 3 minute rocker, and that probably blew people's lids back in the 60's. OK, highlights would be "Sweet Thing" which is as close to a structured song (chorus/verse) that one could come, and maybe the last bit of "Madame George" where Van starts to settle into a nice groove. But the album is just darn annoying. Van's voice is HARSH - both in terms of its timbre (high, thin, kinda angry, in-your-face in the mix), and in how he uses it, trying to swoop, scat, etc. Other than Sweet Thing, there is no real song STRUCTURE to these songs - it's mainly bass player Davis soloing (mixed very high in the mix) to Van's stream of consciousness vocals. And if you want Sweet Thing, get the Best Of, Vol. II, which has other great tracks as well. I guess if you were there in the 60's and see this as a soundtrack to your '69 'Cuda roadtrip, or if you're a student of poetry, regardless of the MUSICALITY of the song, then this album may have further rewards. But really, if you're getting into Van and want to explore beyond the usual greatest albums, Moondance, Tupelo Honey, Avalon Sunset (yeah!), Poetic Champions Compose or Best Of Volume I, try the following, available on Amazon.com: Wavelength (Oh come on people, how about "Hungry For Your Love"?); His Band and Street Choir (Gypsy Queen, etc.); The Crying Game (love it, sounds like the whole thing should be covered by Bonnie Raitt). The problem with ASTRAL WEEKS is its just so damn free form, without much song structure (and without the exhilerating unexpected rewards of improvisation that one gets from say bebop Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis etc). I mean, come on, 8 minutes repeating one chord progression? I don't care how "meaningful" the lyrics are; even Arlo Guthrie on the 18 minute Alice's Restaurant (from the same 60s hippy period) had a snappy chorus to reward at the end). I really WANTED to like ASTRAL WEEKS, especially since I forked out the $$ to Amazon.com to buy it. So go into buying this album knowing it's historically significant and well regarded by those who were there when it came out, but if you don't already know all the songs on this album, the plain fact is you probably won't like it much. And that's hard to say for someone who even has "Hard Nose The Highway." Free Music Review: I'm Still Trying to Like This
Hit: 2 Stars
I am a huge Van fan, and have tried for 20 years to like this album. Classic, masterpiece and desert island record are just some of the praise you will see for this cd. But try as I may, it just doesn't sound very good to me. Maybe the lyrics are the key to those who love it.
It is basically a late-night, loft jazz type recording, very very mellow. The accoustic and bass work are good. Van is still using his somewhat high pitch, wailing voice - not the mature voice of St. Dominic's or Into the Music. I'm still trying to like Astral Weeks, but so far its just not registering. I do like this more than Common One or Period of Transition, but these are the 3 weakest Van Morrison recordings to me.