Astral Weeks

"She put on 'Astral Weeks,' said, 'I love jazz' and winked at me" 4 Boolean: True

Wanted to like this. Morrison has a great voice, but this just sort of drones on with 7-9 minute songs that really start to blend together into monotony.

Beautiful atmosphere. Almost aimless, but it works. Really interesting that it feels like it has a great songwriting core and yet it also feels like loose jams and atmosphere pieces.

Simply a beautiful album that has aged gracefully (even if Van himself hasn't)

easy listen, don’t remember it already tho. but was fine

Absolutely love this album

Not my favorite Van Morrison album, although it's okay. However, his shout-out to Huddie Ledbetter in the title track has me listening to Lead Belly this morning.

One of the greatest albums we as humans have ever been blessed with

I have already heard Moondance through this project, and while it's not a bad album, it *is* one I find almost impossible to care about. Astral Weeks is a little different though. While bluesy, it is so much more free sounding. The jazz elements of Van Morrison's works make so much more sense here. His riffing is in conversation with the beautiful, nearly formless music across this, and the conversation is just light and airy and wonderful. The textural buzz of bass strings and guitar clacks, and all sorts of odd percussion give this a remarkable crunch and level of textural intrigue. And his lyrical content shines as some of the least abstract, more linear stuff here, which tethers the experience to the familiar in some way. Sweet Thing is just the tip of the iceberg. It frustrates me to no end, because Van Morrison is a deeply obnoxious person, but this album makes me understand the argument that he is (or at least was) kind of a genius. The experience of listening to this feels as crystal clear and pure as spending an awfully long time admiring one particular section of a creek. You can't always appreciate every single detail you see, but you get the sense that if anything was different, it just wouldn't be the same.

Slim slow slider a beautiful song

Quite possibly the origin of get to the point man. This list has softened my take on white man with a guitar greatly but Jesus does Mr Morrison need to stop vocal stimming sometimes. Phenomenal music though. That was a really weak ending to the last track.

Really enjoyed this ethereal and folky take from Van Morrison. It almost has this vibe of being Van Morrison Unplugged. Some of the songs meander a little bit but honestly it all didn't feel too long. No hits on this album which in a way works in its favor. It's just a vibe.

After the appalling curmudgeon that Morrison has become in latter years, I willed myself to hate Astral Weeks this time round. Can't do it, it's still gorgeous and utterly captivating.

I was surprised by how much I liked it. Nice in the background. Listen to the lyrics to appreciate more.

Sounded to me like an Irish Bob Dylan. I think I understand his larger appeal but he’s still just not really for me…

Nothing about this album hooked me. Not a single ear worm.

lijepo lagano, ne bi baš redovno slušala

What a venture into the slipstream. Thanks you Cyprus Avenue for induce beauty.

My third and final Van Morrison album and I just don't get it. There's been nothing outside of perfectly competent music on all three records. It's by no means bad music, but there's been nothing to justify having 3 albums on a list of all time greats.

It is beautifull at times, though some songs linger on for far too long. Madame George is a prime example

My mom was right

This was perfect

Listened to this while walking around Chicago on a perfect fall day, exactly how it was intended to be heard.

There was one little vocal ~~thing~~ in "Beside You" that reminded me of, and made me want to put on, Night Moves by Bob Seger afterwards, so, that's one star. One star for general quality... but some of the stuff really drags on.

Normal

3.5

1. 4.5 2. 3 3. 5 4. 3.5 1. 4 2. 4.5 3. 4 4. 3

Fantastic album. Not sure how he stumbled onto this but wish he had persevered with this style. The musicians are very talented and each song has a basic rhythm that almost keeps up with his singing but interlayered with jazz and folk elements which is so so brilliant. Of course his voice and lyrics are unbelievable. Big 5 star album

This is a truly one of a kind record, hard to really describe it. It has the feel of folk with the spirit of jazz both in instrumental and vocal performance. The lyricism is so expressive and remarkable and Van Morrison has this almost stream of consciousness delivery, like he's more of a jazz soloist. Truly deserved place on the list.

Perfect album. A world unto itself as if they entered the room and collectively brief this into existence. Hyperbole all, but definitely a top 10, probably a top five, and when I’m listening to it, my favorite album ever frustration. Five stars does not do justice, but it’s what I got.

I'm not a George Ivan fan at all, but this was not terrible. Could have been about one song shorter.

One of the few White Guys With An Acoustic Guitar albums I don't hate...

Pack the van, we’re hitting the road!

We’re finally free. No more Van after this one. Dude peaked with the first song on his first album and kept going for 60 years. Gotta respect the delusion

I'm not sure I recognize any of these tracks by title, but it's entirely possible I do know some of them. Otherwise, I've never listened to this album start-to-finish. I'm not a fan of Van Morrison. I mostly just don't really see why people think he's so good. I don't get it.

Some songs are a little long winded. But overall it's an enjoyable album. 3.5/5 rounded to 4.

I really want to like this album at least as much as Moondance which I love. However, his vocal style in this is just not great for me. The music and the lyrics are great but. 3.5

There's like 30% too much flute in this for me to give it a 10/10. But this is absolutely incredible. Best Song: Sweet Thing Rating: 9/10 Stars: 5

Ein Album wie ein fließender Bewusstseinsstrom: akustisch, frei, manchmal entrückt schön. Astral Weeks hat diese schwer greifbare Magie, aber auch Momente, in denen es sich im eigenen Nebel verliert. Die Intensität schwankt, die Offenheit wirkt nicht immer fokussiert.

buen disco

Lovely stuff. Has a real warmth to it, if that makes any sense.

Ok

God the fucking wailing. Clearly a man who needs an orchestra to keep him focused

Well, so many reviews I have seen with highest praise for this album but I didn’t connect in the same spiritual way as others seem to. When I found out that the musicians were improv on the tracks I had appreciation for how cohesive it all sounded but, maybe it was the jazz tones that impacted me but I couldn’t lose myself into it. Sorry Van, not my vibe.

Masterpiece. At first I didn’t get it. Why was this album so highly regarded but I listened and listened and finally got it. Superb

Nice album!

🌬️ 👟 🪽

100

I might not like an album like this by another artist but Van Morrison makes it workpretty well. 4 stars or B-.

4 for the coolness of how new it must have been. I won’t listen to this on rotation or anything but it’s a great record.

Less exhilarating than other Van tacks/albums. Quite a slew of instruments and acapella breaks.

I liked this album so much I went on to listen to some of his other albums after. Really, really good stuff

If I were to name the one album I hated on release and for years after but now consider it a masterpiece and played regularly it would be this one. In fact when I made my peace with it a whole new world of Van Morrison music opened up for me. Cannot claim to have all his albums because there are loads of them. But I have a fair chunk of them now and learning new things about Mr Misery Guts all the time. All thanks to this album. 5/5 11/10/26

I have always liked Van Morrison‘s voice. However, it ends up there’s a limit to how much of it I can take at one time. This album was boring and not easy to listen to for me. When I saw it pop up for my album today I assumed I would like it. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

I really don't want to hear drunk men attempt to sing. this is unlistenable

This is a very enjoyable album from start to finish. There's nothing here that makes me want to skip ahead, and I would definitely come back to this one again.

On first listen, I was mostly trying to distract myself from his horrible voice, but I'm sure this is an album that takes some time to get into, and my opinion of it will probably improve over time.

Final Van Morrison already, huh? This guy has passed by me in no time at all. While I technically listened to his live album in May of this year when I assembled a pre-written review of it, it's been 44 albums since I listened to "Moondance" and a mere 16 since I turned in my review of "It's Too Late to Stop Now". Bye-bye, Morrison. Anyways, while not entirely being my speed, I thought my previous Van Morrison outings all had well-substantiated reasons for being on the list. Three list albums seems about right for an artist of Morrison's standing, so I'm expecting this album to go over just fine as well. Here goes. Much more of a Gaelic, folky sound when compared to what I remember of Moondance. I wasn't feeling this one. The delicate, lilting folk guitars occasionally yield some moments of beauty and other instruments like the pan flute and strings mesh with the sonic palette of this album nicely. I don't mind the relative lack of variety on this album like I do with releases outside of the folk genre, though the winding track lengths and unchanging instrumentals do become tiresome after a while. Where this album really shits the bed for me is in the vocal department. I'm ashamed of being so fickle as to dislike an album for its vocal performances, but really. Morrison's bleating vocal style didn't resonate with me on the brassy albums which followed this release, and they certainly don't with me when paired with a folk backdrop. They're completely jarring in how loud and strained they are, breaking up the free-flowing and seamless instrumentals. All in all, I found this album difficult to engage with. Book time. Marked a pivot in Morrison's career from blues to jazz. The book describes the newfound jazz style as "...the perfect foil to his fugue-like lyrics." Recorded in two days on little direction, with many of the instrumental performances being improvised. "Lyrically, Morrison had never been so oblique and poetic before." Flopped on the charts, though critics were very receptive and the album quickly earned its standing as an all-timer. Wikipedia says "The lyrics and cover art portray the symbolism equating earthly love and heaven that would often feature in the singer's subsequent records." Huh. Anyways, the lyrics of this album have been described as "...impressionistic, hypnotic and modernist." Am I at a Wikipedia article or an art gallery? Widely considered a concept album. Morrison's label (Warner Bros.) did little to market the album. Contradicting the book entry is the fact that this album both bombed on the charts and was ignored by critics at the time of release, though it would later attract perfect reviews pretty much all across the board. When Moondance later took off, Warner Bros. printed advertisements lamenting the scarcity of Astral Weeks, remarking that "If you want [Astral Weeks] and can't find it, yell at the store's record buyer. Loud, because you're the customer and you're always right. Undo the veils of potential obscurity." That's amusing. The album only charted in three countries, notably peaking at No. 55 in the UK. Yeah, I'm on this album's side - I love me an underdog. I cosign this inclusion.

It’s alright

preferiria ser atacado por um fila cheio de vontade de defender seu território a ter que escutar isso de novo

ou, achei chato demais. pior que the way lovers do tem um bom instrumental, meio jazz. mas é só isso mesmo, não deu pra salvar. ruim demais esse aqui! adendo: acabei de descobrir que esse mano fez a música "NO MORE LOCKDOWN" em 2020. o bicho eh antivax kkkkkkkk

beautiful

There are a lot of things to respect off this album - the instrumentations, the prettiness, and its quite vibrant and calming. But as soon as Van Morrison starts to sing, I’m reminded that he’s in it. I’ve tried to enjoy this album numerous times, but can never really get past the singing. Rating: 4/10 Favorite Song: Cyprus Avenue

Not as good as Moondance. But beautiful despite some lyrics being stretched into a completely unreasonable amount of syllables.

Late 60 folk rock. Lovely, laid-back album, a bit like chill Stones.

I think the blending of different styles works, it is consistently engaging, but That being said, I don't think every song is a hit for me, there is half I like the other that I'm like : cool. (To be more precise, Astal Weeks, Sweet Things, The Way Young Lovers Do, Madame George made the playlist). It sounds fresh, it is different, but not always my cup of tea in short.

Van Morrison extricating himself from alleged mafia connections was not on my bingo card for Astral Weeks. But here we are. Astral Weeks is cool in its prog folk way, but you will not find me returning to it as much as its follow-up Moondance.

LOVE this shit. LOVE van morrison's music. BUT☝️i must say he's a horrible man who was a TOTAL DICK to a friend of mine who worked backstage at a show he played at... so FUCK van morrison. GREAT music though!! can't get enough of this shit.... but FUCK him, too!!! highlights - astral weeks, sweet thing, cyprus avenue, the way young lovers do, madame george, slim slow slider

Sweet, light, and lovely. But a little too noodly at times.

I really liked Moondance, so I figured this would at least be somewhere in the same ballpark. It wasn’t. I kept waiting for one of these songs to draw me in and it just never happened. What wore me down was Van’s singing. iIt just sounded like 45 minutes of whining, moaning, and dragging words out way past the point where I wanted to hear them anymore. After a while I stopped listening to what he was actually saying because the delivery was getting on my nerves that much. The band sounds fine, and I can hear that there’s something interesting going on musically underneath him, but I couldn’t get past the vocals..

This music just relaxed and made me happy as I drove home with the windows open. The breeze and the tunes made me feel like I didn’t have a care in the world.

This is a great background album. Your in a bookstore poking around, perfect album. Cleaning your house, yup, doing some tasks at work, sure enough this works great. It's not a sit down and listen album. It could be a go for a drive in the evening album though. Worked well enough for the morning commute. It is NOT a stuck in traffic album. So it's not a bad listen the music is great but ole Van has moments where he sounds like a drunk on karaoke night. The energy is there but not coherent. It enjoyed it more than I thought and when I sat down to listen is when it lost some points.

i don’t love it

Slog City! Population: Van Morrison

Really loved The Way Young Lovers Do. The rest seemed fine, but kinda samey. Sounds like Van felt the same way so I’m okay with that.

A lovely, forgettable album

Fine enough for what it is. Thats about what I got on this. Ive never been high on van Morrison. Like he has a couple good songs but never anything to compel me to listen to a whole record. This was the excuse and my point still stands. Its just OK. A little rocky, a little jazzy, bit acoustic. All those points are OK just ehhh. It doesnt do much for me. Alot of the songs are just too long. They drag on and on. Its just too little and at the same time too much. I dont know. Im just generally kinda bored. It could be worse but no. Just boring is my main takeaway. On to the next please

I get it. It’s very well crafted and it sounds unique with the particular way they recorded it. The performance is stellar. I know people love this kind of slow folky roots music. I think it’s ok and sounds like sad songs without the sad part. It’s good. I’m glad I heard it. And I’ll likely never listen to it again.

GOAT i'm legit scared to peek at the idiots revealing themselves with negative reviews here

I really enjoyed this. Got to be a bit of a slog towards the end, but the majority was great. 4/5

A grey rainy ugly day, was really dreading being served up something that didn't fit or fit so well it would make an ugly day worse. Astral Weeks was a the relief I needed. Suits the grey and rain, but it's a comfort rather than an additional complaint. I love this album, one of my all time favorite recordings. It's got such a great sound, capturing musicians in a room and each of the instruments distinct and crisp. If anything, today it felt like Van Morrison's vocals were a little too aggressive sometimes. Highlights for me are Sweet Thing, Astral Weeks, ... and if I go further, which I'm inclined to do, I'm finishing the tracklist, because can't really cut anything. This is top 100 for me.

Enjoyed the pretty orchestral arrangements, still not totally big on this particular brand of folksy soul singing though.

Like a longer, more drawn out rock album. Not quite prog rock, but leaning that way. Was okay.

De muziek is vaak heerlijk, maar de stem vergalt het dan toch teveel voor mij. Misschien een kwestie van vaker luisteren, maar Van the man is niet the man voor mij. Een 2,5

Interesting that this didn't reach some sort of critical acclaim immediately.

I know a lot of people I love and admire who adore this album. Unfortunately for me this never really reaches farther than just ok

This was pretty boring

I don't really get it. It doesn't sound all that great to me. Not that it's bad, but the Wikipedia blurb suggests that this is one of the most influential albums of all-time? And that just doesn't seem right. Everything about it just kind of screams mid. Favorite Song(s): Sweet Thing

If I were in the studio, we'd get all these tracks down to a tight 3 minutes and 30 seconds. I can tell you that much right now. "Trim the fat, Van!" I'd yell.

Hard for me to be objective on Van Morrison, but in a negative way. Every time we had get togethers at my aunt and uncle's house, the only music that was allowed to be played was Van Morrison, and it was very annoying. "Hey Uncle Tim, can we play something other than Van Morrison for a bit?" "Nope." "Alrighty then!" This album is OK and all, there's just a couple dozen singer-songwriters I'd rather listen to before I get to Van Morrison. 3/5

Very musical. The singing wanders around a lot though. Interesting more than something I'd put on often.

A solid favourite

This stuff is boring... Van Morrison may have been cool at one point, but there's never a point where there isn't a better option for the vibe.

It was ok. All kinda sounded the same

Why does this man's singing sound like he's being strangled?

I feel like Van is singing the same melody over and over. The background music changes and is lovely, but he doesn't and it gets tedious.

The thing I know about this album is that when Bill Hicks had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was listening to this album with friends (who didn’t know about his diagnosis) and one of his friends saw him looking shocked at the end. Apparently the last line is “I know that you are dying and I know you know it too.” His friend told Bill that it was meant to loop back to the beginning in a continuous cycle and Bill said, “Well, turn it over and put it on again!” For all that profundity, I can’t say I’m particularly into this. I still don’t like Van Morrison’s voice and I am not too impressed by the jazz-infused flute noodling underneath. It’s nice enough. I don’t hate it. But I don’t love it either.

Nice, pastoral.

I dig VM. I like the variety of weirdly mystical stuff he does. I know the voice isn't for everyone but it always clicked for me. His lyricism is solid.

An artistic achievement. Van Morrison’s best album hands down. This record melds genres, showcases Morrison’s songwriting and talents. Unique and special.