Van Morrison - Hymns to the Silence
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Free Music Notes for Hymns to the Silence
Free Music Review: What a delight
Hit: 4 Stars
What a delight to find that this CD is still in print! I own the two CD set. The first CD is full of songs that are spiritual, hopeful, and candid in the way that the best Van Morrison songs always are. Probably not cool to say this, but listening to Van Morrison makes me optimistic for mankind.
I think the second CD is filler with just a couple of good tunes. That's why it only gets 4 stars. Still, the first CD is one of his best albums in 15 years. You should avoid the later Sony versions of this CD, as they sliced it up like too much Salami.
Free Music Review: This is the best of Van
Hit: 5 Stars
This is my Friday night after work music, mySaturday night party music, and my quiet Sunday
morning music rolled into one. Yes, I too,
never get tired of the second cd. Hymns to the
Silence and Carrying a Torch are beautiful. I even
like Village Idiot alot. The clips they chose
are so questionable. Get this Van and open
a nice red wine. It's his best.
Free Music Review: The Whole Spectrum
Hit: 4 Stars
In this CD Van gives you a taste of various styles he employs. This is a sweet album full of sentimental childhood memories. You get great R&B, Gospel, Irish Folk, Ballads, Poetry, and even a couple of Hymns.Free Music Review: Tears to the Silence
Hit: 5 Stars
I've often regretted, with each VM album release, the fact that I never discovered the guy until "Too Long In Exile", which netted the Belfast Bard a little bit of US Adult Contemporary play, if only because John Lee Hooker played on the album - which is WONDERFUL, BTW.I've been catching up ever since.
At any rate, HTTS will resonate particularly well if you've been exposed to the "spirituals" VM has decided to treat so tenderly on this album. It will also resonate well if you are, as I am, completely addicted to his passionate, unpretentious vocal styling and sensitivity. Even your most cynical atheist would give pause to his rendition of Cristy Lane's "Just Another Walk With Thee", if only because of the 'intimate detachment' that the Bard pulls off. Throwing my atheist/relativist friends a bone, the bulk of the songs are, indeed, non-religious, and kick an even greater amount of barnyard animal out of the cynic. Enjoy at high volume with a nice Pinot Noir.
Free Music Review: 5 STARS, IN SPITE OF 3 OR 4 WEAK TRACKS
Hit: 5 Stars
Oddly enough, I didn't pay Van Morrison too much attention while I was growing up in the late 60's and early 70's. I knew his many hits well, enjoyed them, but never really delved into him. I was mainly into the rambling progressive rock of that era. As I entered my early 30's, I found myself with a copy of "Avalon Sunset" and realized what I'd been missing all those years. This double disc set came out in the Fall of 91. Public radio was playing it often and I just had to hear more. Though it swings too wildly between moods to have a sustained flow to it, it contains what I feel are some of the best songs he'd written since "Moondance". Every style he had ever done up to this point is covered, not rehashed. His reading of "I Can't Stop Loving You" with The Chieftains is priceless. It ranks right up there with Ray Charles splendid version. The first disc is the stronger of the two, but the second one isn't a slouch either. "On Hyndford Street" is an incredible spoken word reverie set to ambient electronic sounds. The mood he evokes there is incredible. The second disc also has "Carrying A Torch" which is one of the most heartfelt ballads he's ever penned.There's another spoken word piece called "Pagan Streams", but it falls a bit short as does his version of the hymn, "Be Thou My Vision". In spite of a few short commings, this disc holds a special place in my heart as it's overall spiritual tone hepled get me through a very difficult few months in my life, after the sudden death of my partner of eight years at the hands of two car theives in Detroit.
If you're not too familiar with Morrison's work, I'd recomend this beacuse it covers so much musical territory. These two discs cover about 97 minutes, and you might find that some of what you didn't care for much on the first few listenings grows upon you. It's all here. from Chicago style blues, Country, Jazz, to Celtic folk mysticism. I would also recomend "Moondance", "Tupelo Honey", "Saint Dominic's Preview", "Enlightenment" and "Avalon Sunset". Morrison's output has been massive over the last 30+ years. It's hard to keep up with him, but very rewarding in the trying.