peter-williams
did-not-listen
Van Morrison is very boring to me.
Great depth and layering in the production and that's about the only positives I've got. The vocals are annoying and the whole things sounds like a jam session more than anything.
Weird album. I liked it, but it was also pretty same-y. There was some weird things with desyncing between instruments in like, Madame George. That was off-putting a bit, as it just seemed clumsy and didn't add to the music. Also, Slim Slow Slider just fucking ends. It has a little weird freakout and then quick fade. What a weird way to end an album. 3/5
Van Morrison may be an anti-vax asshole, but damn if he’s not able to write a good melody. I do prefer Moondance, as the tracks here go a little too long for my tastes, but the songwriting is just splendid throughout. B
Album starts off decent. Noodling on flute, acoustic guitar and bass on Astral Weeks is interesting, maybe a little disjointed. Love the vibrophone on Beside You. Cyprus Avenue is a mess; each performer is doing their own thing and the harpsichord is just plain distracting It sounds like Van Morrison recorded himself first then everything got overdubbed afterwards. I read the wiki article on the recording sessions after listening and it's close to what I guessed; Morrison recorded in a separate iso-booth while the rest of the session players recorded together in a room. The session players were all jazz musicians, which explains the constant noodling, and most tracks were done in a single take. Overall a super-meh album. None of the songs beyond the first three stood out to me at all other than the constant distraction of trying to figure out why everything sounds so off. Could potentially be better on further listens.
Some of the instrumentals are alright, but Van’s vocals are atrocious and annoyingly repetitive. I listened once through and that was very generous of me. This list can definitely be cut to 1000. 0/5