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Music : Astral Weeks
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Rating: 
- I'll take two please
Perfect. An album to go to sleep to and wake up to. And for all those moments in between when you want to chill - and be moved.
Rating:
- Cluttered, Doesn't Swing
This album gets a lot of lip service from critics and fans alike.
Yet, to these ears this album is not one of Morrison's best.
While it is true that for 1968 this album represented unchartered territory for a "Rock" musician, the mere presence of jazz musicians playing acoustic instruments does not a classic make.
The rhythm section, instead of providing a solid foundation for Van's jazzy vocal embellishments, wanders all over the place, with bass runs, piano, guitar chords & Morrison's vocal all competing for the spotlight.
Morrison's scatting sounds as good as ever, it's just that there's no rhythmic glue to hold all the pieces together. The result is a cluttered mess that trips all over itself.
Then there's the lyrics:
Morrison's vision here is a cloudy one, and while the dreamy atmosphere sounds inviting at first, it quickly becomes tiresome and repetitious, as it is impossible to decipher what the heck he's talking about.
In the days of vinyl, the 2 sides of the LP were sub-titled "Before" and "Afterwards". I am at a loss to even guess what these refer to, and it seems I'm not the only one: Van Morrison himself said in later years that the record company mixed up the two, and the song cycle labelled "Before" was really "Afterwards", and vice-versa.
Van Morrison was to go on to utilize extended jazz forms much more effectively in future years. And I'm not talking about "Moondance".
Check out "When Heart Is Open" and "Wild Honey" from 1980's "Common One"; or "Listen To The Lion" from 1972's "St. Dominic's Preview".
I hate to knock idols off their pedestals, but...clink.
Rating: - the best album ever
i love this album tremendously...ive been listening to it for two or three months and i can already tell that its going to be one of my all time favorites....its just so unbelievably beautiful.....every song is pefectly played and the singing is so strong....
i dare everyone to try astral weeks.....it may change you
Rating: - I have listened to this album for 32 years......
I first bought this record album when it was originally released way back in the mists of history (1968 in fact) when I was a Beatlemaniac! It changed my musical life. I next bought the cassette so that I could take the music with me wherever I went. I now have it in CD form and STILL listen to it while driving in my car. I have been listening to it for 32 years and have never once got tired of it. How many albums can you say that about? When you first listen to it, the music is not completely accessible, because the words are mysterious and the music deep and complex. However, keep listening because the layers of the music, the sounds, the feelings, the poetry all develop over time until you are totally wrapped up in them. If you like intricate base guitar playing or soulful saxaphone you'll love this CD. You must listen to this album all the way through as each track is a devlopment on the last. Take it only on LONG drives. I have been searching ever since for an album of comparable quality and interest, by Van Morrisson or others. The only one that comes even a little bit close is "White Ladder" by David Gray, but it is still nothing like Astral Weeks.
Rating: - Childlike Visions Leaping Into View
This is probably my favorite album of all time. I've listened to it countless times, and it never gets old. Those other reviewers who don't "get it" make a few valid points:
1) It isn't perfectly played.
2) The songs aren't polished.
3) It isn't Van's strongest collection of songs.
First of all, it isn't necessary for great music to be note-perfect. ASTRAL WEEKS is about the magic of improvisation-- the suspended thrill of playing (and listening) on the cusp of discovery. In that way, the album is a perfect marriage of music and lyrics, as Van bends and twists the language in an effort to TRANSCEND the earthly significance of his words, to conjure a piece of heaven out of the frustration and pain that wracks his existence. Like Ray Charles did 15 years prior, Van fuses gospel and blues, the sacred and the profane.
For those of you hear only hippy-dippy (...), you're obviously missing the unbearable heartache that haunts these songs. Cypress Avenue deals with unrequited, perhaps forbidden love. Madame George captures the mixture of joy and sadness that comes with lost innocence, getting on "the train" that takes one away from a place of safety and comfort. Ballerina is a burst of effusive passion, but the object of the singer's affection is separate from him, a spectral fantasy that he can only gaze on with paralyzed amazement. Thank god these rough gems weren't polished for radio consumption-- their unique, spontaneous quality would have been ruined.
I concede that this isn't Van's strongest collection of songs, but it's hard to think of these tracks as "songs" in the conventional sense-- impressionistic sketches, maybe, but they hardly lose any artistic merit because of that. ASTRAL WEEKS is not a jazz album, but it certainly brandishes a jazz mentality-- the triumph of feel over form, emotional release over craftsmanship. If that's not your cup of tea, then proceed directly to MOONDANCE. But if you're searching for a true musical journey-- in the truest sense of the word-- then ASTRAL WEEKS is the apogee.
- I'll take two pleasePerfect. An album to go to sleep to and wake up to. And for all those moments in between when you want to chill - and be moved.
Rating:
- Cluttered, Doesn't SwingThis album gets a lot of lip service from critics and fans alike.
Yet, to these ears this album is not one of Morrison's best.
While it is true that for 1968 this album represented unchartered territory for a "Rock" musician, the mere presence of jazz musicians playing acoustic instruments does not a classic make.
The rhythm section, instead of providing a solid foundation for Van's jazzy vocal embellishments, wanders all over the place, with bass runs, piano, guitar chords & Morrison's vocal all competing for the spotlight.
Morrison's scatting sounds as good as ever, it's just that there's no rhythmic glue to hold all the pieces together. The result is a cluttered mess that trips all over itself.
Then there's the lyrics:
Morrison's vision here is a cloudy one, and while the dreamy atmosphere sounds inviting at first, it quickly becomes tiresome and repetitious, as it is impossible to decipher what the heck he's talking about.
In the days of vinyl, the 2 sides of the LP were sub-titled "Before" and "Afterwards". I am at a loss to even guess what these refer to, and it seems I'm not the only one: Van Morrison himself said in later years that the record company mixed up the two, and the song cycle labelled "Before" was really "Afterwards", and vice-versa.
Van Morrison was to go on to utilize extended jazz forms much more effectively in future years. And I'm not talking about "Moondance".
Check out "When Heart Is Open" and "Wild Honey" from 1980's "Common One"; or "Listen To The Lion" from 1972's "St. Dominic's Preview".
I hate to knock idols off their pedestals, but...clink.
Rating:
- the best album everi love this album tremendously...ive been listening to it for two or three months and i can already tell that its going to be one of my all time favorites....its just so unbelievably beautiful.....every song is pefectly played and the singing is so strong....
i dare everyone to try astral weeks.....it may change you
Rating:
- I have listened to this album for 32 years......I first bought this record album when it was originally released way back in the mists of history (1968 in fact) when I was a Beatlemaniac! It changed my musical life. I next bought the cassette so that I could take the music with me wherever I went. I now have it in CD form and STILL listen to it while driving in my car. I have been listening to it for 32 years and have never once got tired of it. How many albums can you say that about? When you first listen to it, the music is not completely accessible, because the words are mysterious and the music deep and complex. However, keep listening because the layers of the music, the sounds, the feelings, the poetry all develop over time until you are totally wrapped up in them. If you like intricate base guitar playing or soulful saxaphone you'll love this CD. You must listen to this album all the way through as each track is a devlopment on the last. Take it only on LONG drives. I have been searching ever since for an album of comparable quality and interest, by Van Morrisson or others. The only one that comes even a little bit close is "White Ladder" by David Gray, but it is still nothing like Astral Weeks.
Rating:
- Childlike Visions Leaping Into ViewThis is probably my favorite album of all time. I've listened to it countless times, and it never gets old. Those other reviewers who don't "get it" make a few valid points:
1) It isn't perfectly played.
2) The songs aren't polished.
3) It isn't Van's strongest collection of songs.
First of all, it isn't necessary for great music to be note-perfect. ASTRAL WEEKS is about the magic of improvisation-- the suspended thrill of playing (and listening) on the cusp of discovery. In that way, the album is a perfect marriage of music and lyrics, as Van bends and twists the language in an effort to TRANSCEND the earthly significance of his words, to conjure a piece of heaven out of the frustration and pain that wracks his existence. Like Ray Charles did 15 years prior, Van fuses gospel and blues, the sacred and the profane.
For those of you hear only hippy-dippy (...), you're obviously missing the unbearable heartache that haunts these songs. Cypress Avenue deals with unrequited, perhaps forbidden love. Madame George captures the mixture of joy and sadness that comes with lost innocence, getting on "the train" that takes one away from a place of safety and comfort. Ballerina is a burst of effusive passion, but the object of the singer's affection is separate from him, a spectral fantasy that he can only gaze on with paralyzed amazement. Thank god these rough gems weren't polished for radio consumption-- their unique, spontaneous quality would have been ruined.
I concede that this isn't Van's strongest collection of songs, but it's hard to think of these tracks as "songs" in the conventional sense-- impressionistic sketches, maybe, but they hardly lose any artistic merit because of that. ASTRAL WEEKS is not a jazz album, but it certainly brandishes a jazz mentality-- the triumph of feel over form, emotional release over craftsmanship. If that's not your cup of tea, then proceed directly to MOONDANCE. But if you're searching for a true musical journey-- in the truest sense of the word-- then ASTRAL WEEKS is the apogee.