What does it sound like?:
It sounds a lot better than many of the reviews might suggest. Band is excellent, some superb arrangements and Van is in good voice (as ever). See my track by track take in the comments.
What does it all *mean*?
It means it is as good as any studio Van Morrison records he has released this century.
Goes well with…
Anti lockdown gigs
Release Date:
Last week
Might suit people who like…
Van Morrison, conspiracy theories.
Latest Record Project
Repetitive lyrics bemoaning the routine of being in the record business for nearly 60 years. Decent shuffle, great keyboards and backing vocals.
Where Have All the Rebels Gone
I really like this. Rock n roll! Could conceivably be great in a live setting, possibly at an anti lockdown rally. Guitar is great.
Psychoanalysts’s Ball
First really troublesome lyric possibly slamming those who seek professional help. Fairly lovely tune that reminds me of Days Like This
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
i like this one too. Van making complaints about his lady friend it seems. Some good turns of phase.
Tried to do the Right Thing
Again trouble in paradise? Lovely jazzy arrangement. This is close to a classic, would make my “Best of Van 1990-2021” playlist
The Long Con
First appearance of the harmonica, presume social distancing could mean it is in clean prostine condition. Van unhappy about a court case going against him.
Thank God For The Blues
Exactly as you might expect.
Big Lie
Great groove, dodgy lyrics
A Few Bars Early
Absolutely fine, top drawer.
It Hurts Me Too
Excellent song. As good as it gets these days
Only a Song
Van by numbers, he gets his big saxophone out
Diabolic Pressure
It’s ok. He is complaining about something but stil appears to be enjoying himself. I like the backing vocals.
Deadbeat Saturday Night
Absolutely loads of fun. Great stuff
Blue Funk
It’s bluesy and funky with bizarre lyrics about “mainstream media junk”
Double Agent
“succomb to the mind control”, given stuff like that it is fairly listenable.
Double Blind
Dark paranoid blues, once more the band hits a great groove
Love should Come With a Warning
Nothing new here, nothing too troublesome either
Breaking the Spell
an excellent pop song, in another era would be storming up the charts.
Up County Down
We have heard all this before, but why not again? Glorious
Duper’s Delight
Another near masterpiece. It could be 1970, bass sounds like Into the Mystic and the song is similar to the one he did he did with The Band, lyrics are questionable.
My Time After a while
Exuberance!
He’s Not the Kingpin
About Trump? Could imagine hearing this in a Soho coffee bar ca 1959.
Mistaken Identity
Pretty forgettable
Stop Bitching Do Something
Dreadful lyrics but some nice sax and it grows into a dance floor filler at a non social distancing nightclub.
Western Man
Lovely country song but the lyrics mention “lunatics” and “asylums”
They Own The Media
Van is warming to his theme(s) here. Could be about moguls like Murdoch, he’s not happy.
Why Are You on Facebook?
This is not how it seems if you judge it on the title. Another great pop song for your anti lockdown parties.
Jealousy
Van by numbers again but nothing offensive at all.
Mods! Scam alert! This thread should be removed!
This thread is obviously just banged out on a rubber stamp by someone pretending to be our pal @dai. Maybe dai has been kidnapped by lizard skinned aliens and is currently sitting in a cell at the centre of the hollow earth, getting de-brainwashed and being enlightened by members of the Illuminati, who are spilling the true beans on the Royal Family, the evils of vaccination and how the entire world is in thrall to a secret cabal of Irish troubadours who are not Van Morrison, so we must all rush out and buy his new double LP to counter their wicked plans.
🙂
He’s determined to get his £15’s worth isn’t he?
one to not feel guilty about downloading an mp3 of.
One thing to note is that this album is 127 minutes long, a triple vinyl album. Longest record of his career by more than 30 minutes, longer than the White album, Blonde on Blonde, Exile on Main St, Quadrophenia, London Calling etc. It is shorter than Sandinista though.
I suspect the next one will be longer, it seems to be a recurring theme.
No surprise, though, that the no-hits were ahead of the game.
They saw the future and it was… very tedious, with no hits.
I’ve seen the future and it is full of ridiculous, repetitive and boring posts.
Don’t be so hard on yourself…
I’m with Jaygee… give yourself a break, Dai.
That said, thank you for listening to an album of a jaw-droppingly length that even… no, especially… Van Morrison will never ever listen to.
Mind, he’ll probably sign a few for you. I could sign some myself – $100?
As it’s you Dai, and you know a bargain, $500.
Have you not seen The Fast Show? It starts out as perplexing gibberish, then becomes thoroughly irritating through constant repetition but, one day, magically, it’s a fondly remembered catchphrase.
Which is nice.
Still haven’t listened to it yet but I enjoyed this review. @dai – Your review implies that there might be a decent single album buried in there – or perhaps an EP?
Thanks. I only listened once so far. I think you are right @Blue-Boy. I would say 10 or 12 tracks are possibly keepers. Most of it is generally listenable though if one ignores some of the lyrics. Looking forward to receiving my “signed” triple album to investigate more, I will not be bothering to read the included lyric sheet when playing it,
Also part 2 is allegedly coming before the end of the year!
So…
see above…
…there is going to be another one. Thanks for that, Dai, I was right.
You didn’t mention that.
Anyway, quick everyone, get some signed copies of Volume 2 to Canada by husky! The rest of us can wait a week and get it in a charrridddeee for 49p.
Sandinista (my edit of it at least) is the best Clash album, and would be shorter than this effort.
Thanks for the review @dai .I like the fact you have ploughed your own furrow and not gone with critics most of whom have probably not even listened to it. I have heard two of the tracks on the radio – neither of them were terrible so I may well dip my toe in the water.
No prob @SteveT Just some first impressions really. Went in with extremely low expectations, but it is not bad at all. It’s not Astral Weeks but pretty decent for a paranoid 75 year old with many issues.
Heard it called AstraZeneca Weeks.
Ha!
With added bonus track C-19 Sheets
And the now legendary outtake ‘Did Ye Get Jabbed?’
Not forgetting a reworked version of an obscure 1984 track, now renamed LateralFlow & Spike.
We’ve had “Van by numbers” so that’s OK, and “neither of them were terrible.”
The numbers in question presumably being number one and number two
“It means it is as good as any studio Van Morrison records he has released this century.” That’s one of those phrases that can be taken two ways, innit?
@mikethep will know the Greek word for it.
The classical word for that is ‘sneeki’.
One needs to have realistic expectations from a 75 yr old. Could be superior to some 90s work too. Is it better than St Dominic’s Preview, Beautiful Vision, Moondance, Sense of Wonder, The Healing Game etc? No.
Up there with the duets album then?
I didn’t count that one. I do like it.
Age is no excuse. Leonard Cohen’s last three albums were amongst his best and he was about 300 years old when he died.
He hadn’t released 43 previous albums though. Also Van was very good into his 50s and unlike many of his peers he had a very good 1980s. I should have said from this 75 yr old.
Straight it in no. 5. The people have spoken.
All 62 of them!
You don’t need to sell that many copies to get into the charts nowadays, though.
Also It’ll drop a bit when all the people he ripped off with his autograph scam
return their copies.
There’s some very good songs on there, and some mediocre, but a very tight band, and in that sense he’s sounding a lot better. Ideological pile ins and ‘he didn’t individually sign my individual actual copy’ is like old ladies trying to play fish cricket.
Surely ‘ideological pile-ins’ are legitimate when most of the album is based on an ideological stance?
Having subjected us to half a century of his whingeing about Bert Berns, the same applies to calling Mr M out for his shameless (presumably he wasn’t wearing a mask) autograph rip off.
Ideological means “saying things I disagree with”. Do keep up.
I am aware albums sell much less these days. Still sold or got more Spotify plays than 95 other albums in the current top 100.
Still glad i’ve saved my money by not buying this as the artists responsible for the four albums above it must be even more deserving of my dosh by your reckoning.
It’s all the free publicity he’s been getting on here wot won it.
David Bowie had to die to get this much AW coverage..
God, lighten up a bit please (and once more not what I said)
So we can expect ‘ Spotify ripped off my songs…’
I’ve enjoyed some of the reviews on Amazon. Top guffaws reading the one from some pillock who calls themselves ‘Freemind’. A ranting spew of incoherent gibberish dotted with clumsy jibes at pretty much anything with any critical clout. Turns out they’ve only ever submitted one single review to Amazon – this one. Figures.
“A ranting spew of incoherent gibberish dotted with clumsy jibes at pretty much anything” – is it not just a transcription of the lyrics?
Afterword t-shirt, though it would have to be at least XXXL.
Good review. There are some fine moments indeed on this album that make it more than worth the effort. It seems that ideology gets in the way with some, where a shrug and enjoying the grooves should suffice really. That one star review in the Guardian was purely a display of smart-arsery, and ‘Why Are You on Facebook’ is a hoot.
Cheers. Yes you describe the Facebook song perfectly
I enjoy that his hat seems to have lost contact between the rim and the brim.
In much the same way as its owner has lost contact with reality
@Jaygee Have you heard the album? My review was some encouragement to try and change the critical narrative somewhat while recognising some of it’s weak points. There is plenty of good stuff on there.
Despite having wasted my money paying for five or six of his distinctly poor post-Healing Game albums I’ve taken the time to listen the free sample tracks.
Sorry, did not hear anything there that made me want to investigate any further or give Van any more of my hard-earned cash.
Used to be a huge Van fan, but my admiration for him has steadily diminished with every new half-hearted release – what is it now – five albums in the last six years, this latest one a triple?
It’s actually a staggering seven albums in the last five years.
So the answer is no then (apart from a couple of tracks), maybe refrain from your constant slagging off of the album unless you have heard it? Maybe you can comment on other album reviews where you have actually heard the album.
If you go back through my posts on this thread and the fake signature thread, i’ve hardly slagged the record off at all..
If I’m guilty of slagging off anything its Morrison himself and as someone who loved the man and his music for more than 40 years that’s something I’m perfectly entitled – and qualified – to do.
10 posts on this thread which is about a specific album that you are not interested in. Thanks for your contributions.
You’re welcome.
Aren’t we free to slag something off if we see fit? I’ve not heard it and have no desire to, but I enjoy reading the arguments both pro and anti. Personally I ain’t touching any album with a tracklisting like this one. Especially a really long one.
Yes we are free to slag anything off, but I did this review with the attempt to give a different (but genuine) slant from the default slagging off it was getting in most other places in some cases from people who hadn’t heard it.
If you have general opinions about Van there are at least 2 other recent threads to express them. This is about his new album called Latest Record Project Vol 1. Prefer to discuss that album on this thread.
If you have heard it and hate all or most of it then feel free. I strongly dislike about a third of it, but have tried to indicate that parts of it are pretty strong.
Thanks for the review Dai, and for taking the time to listen, but nothing you’ve written would encourage me to buy (or even listen to) it.
Mind you, I probably wouldn’t have bought it even if the lyrics were not what they are. Nothing I’ve heard of Van post-1995 has parted me from my cash, and a triple album would be unlikely to do so – even before the conspiracy theories.
My loss, I expect…
Fair enough, thanks.
One day I’ll take the time to listen to the best of c.21st Van playlist from that other thread. Today was not the day, though…
I’m always on these threads because I love Van Morrison, in spite of having had no interest in any of his new records since the early 90s. If I met him I’d just want to give him a great big hug because of how much his music has meant to me since I was nobbut a lad of fourteen at those wire-less knobs*, and no amount of arseholery will erase that.
(*hur)
Van Morrison seems a remarkably divisive character. Fair play to Dai for giving an honest assessment and finding some good where it seems the whole world doesn’t.
Cheers Dave
5 stars in the prestigious Hi-Fi choice magazine …
@dai’s review really gets it spot on; I’m in awe that he could get it so right from just his first listen. But here are my reflections, having listened to it around half a dozen times,
First the good news. There’s a lot on here to really enjoy. As Dai points out there are some great tunes on here, with surprisingly strong influences from 60s pop and even doo-wop as well as the more predictable rhythm and blues. There are more uptempo, upbeat tracks here than he’s done in years. Songs like Up County Down, Where Have All the Rebels Gone?, He’s Not the Kingpin, and Deadbeat Saturday Night have a real energy and groove about them. And there are some fine melodic tracks as well – songs lie Duper’s Delight, Tried to do the Right Thing and My Time After a While are lovely. The whole record is given the best production he’s had for ages, with a trio of backing vocalists, Richard Dunn’s Hammond organ, and Dave Keary’s guitar (his best ever for Van) adding real colour. And Morrison’s voice is in astonishing shape.
But….there are two big problems with this record.
Firstly the lyrics. There’s no getting away from it, the paranoia, misanthropy and aimlessly vague conspiracy theories are just exhausting. The worst though are his songs about a woman who has done him wrong – clearly his ex-wife with whom he had a messy divorce recently. Songs like ‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’ are just nasty trolling and leave a very sour taste. Some reviewers have said you should just ignore the lyrics but with too many of these I just can’t do that.
Secondly, the sheer bloody length of the thing. I doubt Van Morrison has ever had a viable triple album worth of good material even at the peak of his career, and he certainly doesn’t here. It means the good stuff – and there is plenty of it – gets buried in the dross.
There’s something almost Shakespearean about this. If he’d only cut the album down by about half to make it 50-60 mins; and if he’d replaced the worst lyrics with something else, at the very least something relatively neutral and bland, I honestly think this album would have been met with universal acclaim as a great lockdown triumph. But that’s not the way Van rolls. This unpleasant and self serving paranoia has always been his tragic fatal flaw. It’s been there throughout his career, but generally kept in check and more than outweighed by the brilliant other things he does in his lyrics. Clearly this was never going to be the case this time around, and it’s a real shame.
Well thanks @Blue-Boy and thanks for your review which says similar things in a much more elegant way.
I haven’t listened again because I am still waiting for my triple vinyl copy to arrive. I assume the delay is because it had to go back and forth across the Atlantic in order for Van to sign it 😉
Or maybe he’s having to have a rest after getting cramp from personally signing all those thousands of copies that have already gone out….
I have just read his interview in Record Collector where he was very open and almost effusive. His comments on social media are actually bang on the money and actually more measured than comments I have seen on here. I am intrigued enough by the album to actually invest in it because it sounds like there is much good stuff.
It seems there will be a part 2 which is also a double and is pretty much complete
If that also means a triple on vinyl we are getting 6LPs of new material in one year. This following 5 albums between 2017 and 2019.
Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel please take note.
This just in. Sir will be feeewmin’!
“Sir Van Morrison: Hotel forced to cancel Belfast concerts – BBC News” https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-57433781.amp