Van Morrison's Astral Weeks: Classic or Dud

i love this album so much.

It's my favorite and probably most-listened to album.

Followed by Pet Sounds and Corky's Debt to His Father.

Ha, I was just pondering whether to download "Corky's Debt to His Father" or not, and Dan's just persuaded me to do so!

It's fantastic.

Great review:)
Astral Weeks (1968)
- With the chance to make his own record, Morrison came up with this, basically soft rock recorded with jazz musicians (including the Modern Jazz Quartet's Connie Kay on drums). Which might sound not too different from what Simon & Garfunkel were doing at the time, but where Simon's work is carefully composed, arranged and produced, Morrison relies on sponaneity. The liner notes brag that Morrison cut the album in two days, and you know, it sounds like it: the lyrics are stream of consciousness, and usually the tunes seesaw endlessly between two or three chords. The musicians sound like they don't know what he's getting at, and the fact that most of the songs have no clear melody doesn't help. Morrison's fans often cite this as their favorite album, because there aren't a lot of distractions from his distinctive, half-spoken vocals. But if you're just getting into him, you're probably better off with Moondance -- unless you're a fan of New Age music. (DBW)
http://www.warr.org/vanmorrison.html#AstralWeeks

― Jazzbo, Thursday, November 6, 2008 5:01 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

So, 40th anniversary reissue coming soon then?

if by "great review" you mean "terrible review (and also Moondance basically sucks)", then yes, quite!
Yes, I was being sarcastic.

Neat, never thought of Corky's and Astral Weeks in the same context but they both have a sort of wistful, late autumn feel.

Moondance doesn't suck, just a totally different animal than Astral Weeks. That review sucks, though, you're right.

an important album for me, too, as for so many - I had caught a little whiff of the legend of it, bought it from Music Plus (SuperSaver! 4.99!) and got my mind properly blown. Just about equal to its status, I think.

Listening to it now actually. Really is quite majestic and one of my faves.

the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves the love that loves

Tim Buckley's late 60's stuff (Blue Afternoon, Happy Sad) is also nice if you're into this sort of thing, though it doesn't quite reach the same kind of transcendal intensity.

i love this album so much.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, November 6, 2008 11:05 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah, listening to this, homesick as fuck, on a plane, watching the sun rise, was suitably life-changing

I love that Bangs essay, probably my favorite piece of music-writing, period; it shaped my sensibility toward music + a lot of other things in a way that's kinda weird, it being just a piece of pop crit and all

It's my favorite and probably most-listened to album.

Ditto

OK, this is now officially the worst piece about Astral Weeks ever written.

yeah, gosh, one of my favorite record-buying moments involves walking into a store with the specific intention of buying this record, and as i swung through the doors i was half-astonished to hear it blasting over the place's speakers.

'beside you' is so devastating and life-changing, to me, anyhow. i love the way it rambles on with very little in the way of cohesiveness...and the lyrics are like a bildungsroman presented noir style or something

the line 'ecstasy surrounds you...this time it's found you' is presented so wistfully, or at least ambivalently. i think there's a lot, lot, lot going on in that song, and it's somewhat entertaining to muse upon van morrison still not knowing what the fuck he was going on about in it.

you look in you look out you look in you look out you look in you look out aaaaannnnnnnreeeeenennnnuuur HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH

great record.

I bought it based on Dave Marsh' seemingly-over-the-top review in The New Rolling Stone Record Guide when I was in high school. I thought, "No way could it be THAT good... Oh shit. It is."

Van made some good records after this, but its like he's possessed by some higher power here. "laughing music, dancing music, all around the room"
The only other one that comes close is You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River from Veedon Fleece.
There are a lot of later albums where he just mutters some poets names over an uninspiring backing.

such a dope album

'sweet thing' and 'way young lovers do' were def my favorites though - love the incorporation of jazz as urgent rhythm and not just noodling chill vibes or whatever people usually think of as 'jazzy'

like when the rhythm section switches into doing rhythms of two over the 3/4 time signature - so awesome

da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum

Funny I just saw this revive, I was planning on giving this another attempt during a quick road trip tomorrow. Will report results on my return.

Also

Tim Buckley's late 60's stuff (Blue Afternoon, Happy Sad) is also nice if you're into this sort of thing, though it doesn't quite reach the same kind of transcendal intensity.

― ecuador_with_a_c, Thursday, November 6, 2008 8:47 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

HappySad trumps this any day of the week imo but ask me again after this thing rides the road with me.

I always quite liked Astral Weeks, but I'm sorry to see that, Stevie aside, this revival is not about Barton's latest effort.

Did anyone see the live show a few days ago in L.A.?

Bought this when i was about 15, and have never really felt any connection to it, bar the opening chords / lines of the whole thing, and The Way Young Lovers Do. Maybe I should revisit.

Stick to yer Jackson Browne mate.

This is one of those albums I've never really listened to on the grounds that my mum listened to it a lot. And coz of his nasal hair.

the bass on this album =

http://cobbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/whale-breaching.jpg

Lefsetz raved about the live Astral Weeks in LA thing on his website/e-mail thing, and the Washington Post had someone enthusing about it today (that I have not read completely yet).

the live show was so bad

the whole thing just felt like some sick parody

You know I come back to this every six months or so bcz of "The Way Young Lovers Do," which I will listen to on repeat for great whiles, and still not even kind of appreciate the rest. Which has lead me to instead pull out Live at Sin-é and just listen to jeff Buckley (tho him re-peating the title at the end is not so good but I do enjoy the whole album).

I'm part stupid, though.

Ballerina is really underappreciated I think, that creeping melody, he keeps pulling so gently and then on "Ba-a-ller-ina-a" it just unravels

^ Yeah, not his best song but a great performance.

Ballerina is my favorite song on Astral Weeks, and by Van, or probably anybody.

Bimble's never heard Astral Weeks.

^^thought this post was gonna be by bimble

Funny how so many people agree they can't listen to the entire album regularly, but only their favorite parts. Also funny how we can't agree on what the "good parts" are.

good stuff here
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/article/2015/03/24/van-morrison-astral-weeks/
“The untold story of how Van Morrison fled record-industry thugs, hid out in Boston, and wrote one of rock’s greatest albums.”

That's a pretty great story. And I wish the money, time, and energy that went into "Astral Works Live!" a few years ago had instead gone into releasing these tapes:

During one of these Catacombs performances, Morrison’s new friend Peter Wolf set up a tape recorder in the corner, capturing the entire concert on a reel-to-reel. Morrison performed nearly all of Astral Weeks these nights with the Boston trio, and Wolf has the audio to prove it. The existence of the tapes has become, for Morrison fans, a kind of holy grail. When I asked Wolf if anyone has ever heard the recordings he made, Wolf paused for a moment. “Not,” he finally said, “for a very, very, very long time.”

yeah that is crazy. wonder if we'll ever get to hear that?

there was a bit in an old boston phoenix article on wolf's apartment --
"Walls of music and books, art, antiques (he has a 1955 Seeburg jukebox in mint condition, for one). Mementos everywhere, some more obvious than others: zebra shoes from J. Geils's 'Sanctuary' tour; a tape reel sitting on a stack of books with the first recorded version of songs that would end up on Van Morrison's Astral Weeks."
take care of that reel, dude!

little bit more from the author of the boston magazine piece
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CA3ucCMWUAAFKyN.jpg

Instead we get Van's new duets album, which this critic actually liked. Not sure if any Astral Weeks songs are redone on it.

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/take-two-van-morrisons-duets/

Not sure about several things after reading that...but will check it out (glad she mentioned his early solo stuff; Bang Masters is pretty fun).

Going to see if that new edition is in HMV tomorrow.

I see it gets reviewed in the new Uncut, couldn't check the Mojo since it was sealed in a bag around a book about the Dylan bootleg series. Both had just appeared in the local newsagent when i was in town yesterday.

Still wondering how extensive the physical cd releases on the Legacy material are after reading that Record Collector news last month.

xp yeah, that edit is a stroke of genius, like falling off a cliff or something. still kind of happy to hear that last bit w/ van breaking into a hymn, which would've ended the album on a decidedly different note...

I've now heard both cds and they sound pretty great. B&SC sounds less muddy than I've heard it elsewhere.
AW is fantastic, great to have it on a decent sounding cd at last.

AW remaster sounded crisp and overwhelming as I drove across the GG bridge this morning. In parts it almost becomes chaotic with all the instruments so clearly present.