Linden Arden POLL the Highlights--ILM Van Morrison Poll Results

lol yeah the verse chords are the same in wind cries mary and st. dominic.

I can't be the only person who thinks of Wish You Were Here when listening to Almost Independence Day (of course in this case, van's version came first)

In the '71 Pacific High Studio version of "Just Like A Woman" (which, after a slow first 3 minutes, really gets intense) on the second time the "please don't..." line comes up he says "I was weird... and you were weird, too." Van must have liked that spin.

― that's not my post, Monday, August 14, 2017 11:35 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha that's funny, it seemed so off the cuff

there's really a great amount of well shot full Van concerts on YouTube

yeah, it's nice -- for a while there his people were super vigilant about scrubbing any/all vids ...

via Midnight Bootlegs, a 1990 set in FLAC: https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/bf6mkTXx4Oyx2bb4rfBro1As2R9yHsF9l7f88drsUcY?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0&mgh=1

Man, just listened to Into the Music properly for the first ever, probably. Dexys entire career for a start, but more.
I saw Van maybe 20 times, work related, between 1988-2000ish. I know most of those 80s records from seeing him live, must pick up No Guru, Poetic Champs etc.

born to sing: no plan b is just the loveliest record. the horns are so wonderful

but does no plan b refer to born, sing, or both

who knows, at least a third of the record is a critique of capitalism so

because of this poll back on top and the healing game are now two of my absolute favorite van records

you check out magic time?
that was one that grew on me when I was listening to them all on Spotify

yeah magic time is great, especially "just like greta" which is overwhelming

less a definitive ranking than maybe a potentially useful order for people trying to get into van's '90s records:

the healing game
enlightenment
back on top
hymns to the silence
days like this
too long in exile

the first five are basically all variously great, days like this ends with two of van's best songs ever. too long in exile is a real mess though, maybe my least favorite van record ever, and yet the title track is still so awesome

i always feel like i underrate keep me singing when i'm listening to it bc the first five tracks are all so gorgeous

Let me step in for some fair play...to you.

Excellent. But I will always remember this poll for introducing me to No Guru...my god what an album.

you inspire me to check the wavelength album more closely (i am sold on the song).

Not a great album, but with Morrison it's especially hard to distinguish mediocre from good or good from great

wavelength has a great title track

oh which has been covered, lol

alfred have you heard all of common one

shhh I'm about to exercise while listening to "Got to Go Back."

Yes! Good work with ranking Saint Dominic number one. That's my favorite.

I need to hear Veedon Fleece. I like the rest of the top 4. Probably would have ranked Tupelo higher.

Maybe you've addressed this elsewhere but no Moondance?

I thought, stupidly, he released it in 1969, but it worked out because I prefer every album on my list.

preferring wavelength to moondance is absolute nonsense

Alfred preferring synthy outlier to canonized classic shocker

:P

Veedon Fleece is so good, one of my faves by Van.

^agree about Veedon Fleece. Anyway, here's a great version of Bulbs from a German TV show in the mid 70s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFc7uVEYAsw

Jesus, I just got cut nearly in half by Tir Na Nog. I've been reading Peter Matthiesen's The Snow Leopard, which is partly a travelogue of a trek in the Himalaya to study bharal, partly a discourse on the origins of Buddhism, and partly a gentle prayer of devotion for his wife who had died the year before, and it's an incredibly moving book, full of the white light of understanding and humility. The song dovetails so neatly with those themes of finding solace in eternity (albeit from a different mythological viewpoint) and the possibilities inherent in the idea of reincarnation - let alone Van's open, enveloping deliver - it reduced me to tears. Ach.

Regard as one, this life, the next life, and the life between - Milarepa.

^Beautiful post. I read The Snow Leopard many years ago - this is making me want to revisit it. One of the great things about ILM.

I would like to thank this poll for turning me on to Veedon Fleece, what an album

^^^ what sleeve said, this thread made me discover veedon fleece which by now i prefer to astral weeks.

^^^ what sleeve said, this thread made me discover veedon fleece which by now i prefer to astral weeks.

^^^Though I would say a lot of it may be that Veedon Fleece is fresher, whereas I’ve had 20+ years with Astral Weeks.

You came into my life
And you filled me and you filled me
Oh, so joyous by the clear cool crystal streams
Where the roads were quiet and still
And we walked all the way to Tir Na Nog

http://i.imgur.com/5gHutpK.jpg

51. Coney Island
2 votes, 48 points
One #1 vote

One voter otm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn2CeHlKrTw

After all the Covid nonsense, I couldn't really stand to listen to Van any more, but then a few days ago this came up on my YouTube feed and I was conquered one more time. There's actually lots of awesome live Van footage on YT, from loads of different eras, and I've begun to see certain similarities between Van and Miles Davis, especially their brilliance at putting together and leading bands (and of course their wary, guarded, unsmiling public personas). Anyway what a group he's got here - and doesn't this version completely SMOKE the studio recording - and I've never seen a clearer view of his osmotic tongue pressure in full effect, especially on the 'Voice of America' line - he's a master at making the deliberate seem spontaneous. Love the moment when he catches a cameraman moving around behind him and gives him a brief but deadly stare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6oZK004AWM

I don't know this chap Glen Hansard's music (might be for the best) but this is an incredible story, worth sticking to the end to hear Van's final kiss-off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29abxJgCyOI