Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
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Free Music Notes for Astral Weeks
Free Music Review: Seminal Van Morrison
Hit: 5 Stars
After 218 reviews and a solid 4+ average rating not much more can be said about this disc, it is just that good. It is really quite incredible that nearly forty years have passed since this seminal Van Morrison work was released; he's still around offering his Celtic soul to whoever will listen. Hopefully you will listen. Start here to understand the Celtic poet-soul-man. It doesn't get much better than this. Begin by listening to "Madame George," from here you will know if this is for you. What appears at first listen to be ramblings of esoteric themes will eventually unveil itself as the offerings of the beauty in a world gone mad. Van Morrison delivers his spiritual sermon in everyday terms that require attention to detail; the details are in your life. No matter the mood your in if you put this disc on your soul will feel cleansed; it's like Irish Spring for the soul. I'm a musical junkie who has countless stacks of music in various formats, from different eras, from different artists but if I had to pick ten discs to take with me to never have access to the others , this one would make the trip with me. I have some 8,800 tunes and counting(must be selective) on my I-Pod and probably only five Van Morrison discs but this is the beginning and the end; he will probably never achieve what he did with this disc. "Hymms to the Silence" is another disc in this vein and a close second. This disc, "Astral Weeks" is a tapestry without seams, an endless stream of conciousness, exhibiting secrets from within the depths of your inner soul and emotions. Van Morrison has a key that unlocks your innerself, leaving you with a smile on your face in satisfaction for the fact that you are a living and breathing being who grasps life and all it's trials and tribulations. Rejoice in this masterwork, it only comes around every forty years or so by special artists. Free Music Review: I Get Chills Thinking About It
Hit: 5 Stars
I've never read it, but Proust's "Rememberence of Things Past" probably has that same tragically bitter-sweet feeling, and, if not, it should wish it does. Anyway, Astral Weeks is the most romantic, poignant, gorgeous set of psychedelic soul. These don't sound so much as full songs, but more so overheard confessions, interrupted testimonials, random diary readings, all set to sumptuous rhythms. One tune flows into the next, the tempo changes are delicate and nuanced, but somehow jarring. Its self referrential, other wordly, and just so awfully, painfully, wonderfully beautiful. I found this album by chance and, like Miles Davis' Kinda Blue, it just happened to change my life. Its a sad, silly ode to being alive.Free Music Review: A Unique Work of Genius Expressing an Honest Spirituality Firmly Rooted in Reality
Hit: 5 Stars
I have Lester Bangs to thank for turning me on to this album and making me realize its genius. Actually, I should probably thank Cameron Crowe and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as well, because Crowe's movie "Almost Famous" (and Hoffman's excellent performance as Bangs) made me want to read something written by the legendary rock critic, so I looked him up online and immediately found his review of "Astral Weeks" (which, incidentally is a great read).
Though prior to this I had no interest whatever in Van Morrison (whom I knew nothing about, not even realizing that I had already heard a couple of his songs, like "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Domino"), Bangs aroused my curiosity and made me want to hear the album so I could see what he saw in it. So I opened my Rhapsody player, found the album and put it on. I was immediately struck by the uniqueness of the sound, not to mention the poetry of the lyrics. And slowly, with a quiet insistence, Morrison pulled me into his world, like an impressionist painter who leaves most of the details up to the imagination of the viewer, painting just enough to evoke an impression of having experienced this dreamlike procession of scenes that seem to hover on the edge of reality.
"Astral Weeks" is to me a sublime culmination of everything that was good about classic rock, folk, and the blues. But this is not the kind of album that you should sample by picking out just one or two songs to listen to. It is my firm belief that in order to truly be appreciated, this album has to be listened to in its entirety from beginning to end. Furthermore, I believe that Morrison is trying to communicate something indefinable with this work... something mystical if you will, but not in the overt -- I'm tempted to say gimmicky -- way that most 60s and 70s artists peppered their songs with quasi-mystical references. Rather, this is an inspired invocation of the mystical as something ineffable that arises from the totality of human experience, and the real genius of Astral Weeks is that it communicates this sense of the mystical not only without ignoring everything that is sorrowful, shabby, painful, or pathetic about life; it often does so by focusing on those very aspects of human existence.
Since first discovering "Astral Weeks" I have listened to everything by this artist that I could find, but so far I have found nothing equalling the deep, honest soulfulness and haunting beauty of this album. I have to concur with Lester Bangs when he says that though Morrison was only "twenty-two - or twenty-three - years old when he made this record, there are lifetimes behind it."
Free Music Review: what the ...?
Hit: 2 Stars
The customary juxtaposition of the existential with the metaphysical may lead one to believe there is more going on here than the VanMan improvising for 45m on a few of his favorite themes. Yaaahuuuhmmm, alright. But its only wordjams, uhhuh. Laaaymedowowowown, jammin with words yaaahuh, yeah. Astral weeks is however a very pretty title. Woyeahuh. How much weed do you have to smoke to 'get' this album? Aaaaaon, on the radio, rayray rayray, raaaaaodio. Alright.Free Music Review: You don't need to be high to see god here
Hit: 5 Stars
If you're wondering why Astral Weeks is widely considered one of the greatest albums ever, chances are you've never heard it. Astral Weeks sounds even less like anything like it than those other "sounds-nothing-like-anything-like-it" records. It's not even a thing like a traditional soul or folk album - in fact, more often than not it sounds like a Medieval record. But Van gets a LOT of mileage out of the harpsichord/strings/flute/acoustic guitar arrangements, as well as his Bellfast reminiscening.
The meat of Astral Weeks lies in tracks three through six. First off is the brilliant love song Sweet Thing. Van's lyrics are excellent, and the swooping strings and flute add another layer. Next off is the harpsichord-happy Cypress Avenue, a coming-of-age story about a boy from the wrong side of the tracks in love with a rich girl. Third, The Way Young Lovers Do starts off sounding like a Celtic folk song, until the soul-influenced horn part enters. And, of course, we have the ten-minute character sketch Madame George, which may or may not be about a transvestite. But that doesn't matter, because it's pure poetry.
But that's not all that's good about the album - the title track, in spite of meandering slightly, is an excellent meditation on death. Beside You is an underrated song, and Slim Slow Slider has a great soprano sax part near the end. Even the semi-filler Ballerina, which wanders for seven minutes without saying much, has a great arrangement.
This was Van before he polished his sound. Even its follow-up, Moondance, is much more of a pop effort than Astral Weeks. Don't get me wrong, I like Moondance, but it's missing something. Astral Weeks, on the other hand, has that something: a layer of mystique that nearly forty years have not diminished.