Van Morrison: your views please

A hip genial Van is alas only a dream

Let's discuss his album closers.

Man, I absolutely love "Purple Heather."

Feeling like Almost Independence Day as we wait

Starting to think ‘ No Guru No Method...’ is amongst his best albums...the 80’s new agey production has aged beautifully

There's a good mix of heavy statements and lighter envois here. Lewis Merenstein made a good choice clipping the "Amen" coda off of Slim Slow Slider; if they had kept it, it would have been one of the worst endings to a great album ever. I would definitely have Street Choir and Midnight Special flip places on this list.

I don't know if your exploration of Van has come to an end at 1995, but 97's The Healing Game is definitely worth your time, even Greil Marcus thinks so.

I love how "Glad Tidings" starts off almost like a Krautrock song.

ICYMI this long series of posts from One Band One Week was a good read about Van, Belfast and a bit of Irish history.

https://oneweekoneband.tumblr.com/tagged/van+morrison/chrono

He's got a new album out in May. It's called "Latest Record Project Volume 1." A double-CD album of all-new material.

And here's the tracklist.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81adIR0IprL._SL1500_.jpg

And here's where I get off. Adios Van.

Jesus, that thing's two hours long.

When you get to "Stop Bitching, Do Something," "They Own the Media" and "Why Are You on Facebook?," I'm sure those previous 100 minutes will seem worth it.

Should pair nicely with the 80-minute Sun Kil Moon album that quietly dropped last week

Well I'm caught
One more time
Up on Facebook Avenue

they own the media

...

Slippery slope is supposed to be a logical fallacy, yet it ends up going there almost every single fucking time.

Are sure the Onion aren't behind this?

Anyway, you could have powered all of Texas during the winter storm with the pure, unadulterated boomer energy on display here.

goddamnit

Are sure the Onion isn't behind this?

This SHOULD be a prank...but it isn't. It's already appearing in retail stock inventories everywhere. Distributed by BMG (Van already had a contract with Sony, which now owns BMG). UPC code 4050538666250, release date set for May 7. If it's a prank, it's one of the great pranks in rock history, on par with David Bowie's great "Nat Tate" hoax.

And as mentioned, this has been designated Volume ONE.

I'm seeing music posters on twitter babbling almost excitedly about this shite, can't tell if they are trying to be ironic or not.

I actually thought some of his recent music was great before he got onto the Covidiot stuff. Getting harder and harder to defend him now though. Those song titles are shocking.

his view are repugnant but even if they were right on the last fucking thing i want van morrison to be is engaged with current events and the modern world

also this is the only thread on ILX that shows up as times new roman for me

I was long since strung-out on 70s Van (except still haven't heard Hard Nose The Highway or Veedon Fleece) when I got the 2-CD The Story of Then Featuring Van Morrison, which made alll the other stuff I'd stanned for go away from my headbox for a while---now it's back, but damn get that twofer if you can, also liked The Bang Masters, early solo stuff unfucked-with by suits at last. Some good stuff on The Common One and Beautiful Vision, but that's where I stopped keeping up. Would like to check the set of Mose Allison covers.

Is this what happens when you run everyone out of your life that is willing to tell you, "no, Van, that's a terrible idea"?

I think those people left Van Morrison's life by the end of 1970.

When you get to "Stop Bitching, Do Something"

Thought this was Bobby McFerrin?

also this is the only thread on ILX that shows up as times new roman for me

Same here. Did something happen on October 15, 2001, that re-formatted this thread?

Should pair nicely with the 80-minute Sun Kil Moon album that quietly dropped last week

Where, in a toilet?

I wonder if he's had his jab yet? Peter Hitchens caught a bit a of flack from the various idiot constituencies of his after reluctantly surrendering his freedom to big pharma

I actually thought some of his recent music was great before he got onto the Covidiot stuff.

Except for the Astral Weeks tour, I pretty much gave up on anything worthwhile after he sabotaged and diluted the Choppin' Wood album, but Greil Marcus raved about Roll with the Punches and to my surprise it was really good - a casual, hour-plus program of Van and some friends doing his longtime favorites and some worthy originals of like mind. It seemed like an anomaly because pre-Covidiocy I didn't think his other new albums were that good, but I went to see him a few years ago and he put on an awesome show. He even had Jay Berliner on guitar, and the Astral Weeks material came off better than they did in 2008. He's always been a moody jackass, so for all I know this could pass and he'll come to his senses. But it could be a long wait.

He should have called this abortion The Long Con. 6.59 for that atrocity, Christ.

Keep Me Singing from a few years ago was good

I love all of Beautiful Vision but it’s probably because my mom played it all the time when I was a kid

Keep Me Singing from a few years ago was good

I heard a lot of fans claim that was the beginning of his comeback, but it sounded kind of tired to me. I'm sure it's an improvement over what came before it, there wasn't exactly a high bar established in the '00s.

Did Ye Get Redpilled

...and the name is...M...O...D...E.R.N.A!

I kinda like "Why Are You on Facebook?" tbh

I kinda like "Why Are You on Facebook?" tbh

I doubt Van's going to take that in a sensible direction. It's more likely to echo someone I know who quit FB for "choosing" what he could believe when they blocked the Covid conspiracy videos he was trying to upload. (Posted by the same guy last spring: "Fauci is a criminal and he should be in jail!")

oh, didn't mean i thought Van's song would be good; I just like the title...

This would be a good pre-covers one.

lol I was thinking the same thing

Hmmmmmmm.

I wonder if we could get enough participants, though.

Why Are You on Facebook?
Jealousy

kinda true

Buddy in the dorm used to play "St. Dominic's Preview" nearly every day right after he woke up. This was probably school year 89-90. Every time I hear that vocal part that open's "Jackie Wilson..." I think of that.

"Why Are you on Facebook?" made me think of a book title that came up in one of the ILB polls a while back, Why Did You Spoil My Life Making Me Do My MA?

This would be a good pre-covers one.

I immediately thought the same thing, I'm bagging "Psychoanalysts' Ball"

most ominous title on disc 1 has got to be: "Blue Funk"

That one leaked:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CsksRWp-60