New Van Morrison Release, "Keep Me Singing" (09/30/2016)*

None of the last Van albums are bad, he never made a bad album, but it would be great with a bit more variation from his usual r n b/blues leanings of late.

 

I'm soooo in.

 

Beautiful cover art. Good to see Van still at it. He's put out a lot the past few years compared to many other artists his age.

 

I hope the cover is reflective of the contents - in so much that it seems autumnal, earthy, maybe a bit mellow, rustic, etc.

 

Looks like that Steve Martin album from a few years back.

 

Astral Weeks, Pt. II. Kidding of course, the cover is very nice and I hope it's a strong set from Van the Man.

 

Nice! Even though IMO his latter-day output has been inconsistent, there are always at least a couple of tunes on each LP that are keepers. Looking forward to this one!

 

If nothing else, I love the cover art and song titles. Very classy!

 

The wborl in the tapestry reminds of an ear and Van is the bird singing and chirping into them . The edge of that branch looks like it has a sharp edge too!

 

.
Keep It Simple remains a favorite 'sleeper' of all the ones of his I like.

 

In a his new world crystal ball?

 

Yes sir.

 

One of the tracks is titled "Going Down To Bangor". Haven't we previously gone 'Down To Geneva' and 'Down to Monte Carlo'?

As stated above Van's recent albums have all been of a high standard if not truly top drawer. If you make a playlist of tracks since 'Days Like This' it is still a very good listen with some stunning tracks. Unlike some some other 'legends' I genuinely can't think of one Van album which I don't revisit regularly. Carry on Van.

 

I'm of the complete opposite view that I don't think Van's made a half decent album since "Magic Time" unless of course you love his seemingly non-stop boring r&b/blues rehashes that all sound the same to me. I will admit every album still has one or two gems but his days of releasing completely classic albums seems to have dried up with "Days Like This" or "The Healing Game" possibly. This new album judging from the lovely artwork (thank god he didn't put himself on the cover again!) and the slightly evocative song titles seem to hark back to those from the 80's/90's so fingers crossed the music lives up to the titles.

 

Hopefully it'll contain at least one or two inspired tracks...

 

No-one who has been going as long as Van is still producing work that ranks with their classics from 30-40 years ago.

 

The new and first album from Sir Van Morrison......

 

But Van is, IMO. Born to Sing is one of my top 6 Van albums, after only Astral Weeks, Into the Music, Veedon Fleece, Inarticulate Speech, and Street Choir...

 

I guess his deal with RCA was only for one album (his last duets project), since this is on Caroline?

 

But but...Moondance....Saint Dominick's Preview....Common One...Beautiful Vision...Avalon Sunset?

 

Well, that's good - I have not heard Born to Sing - but it is worth noting that of your top 6, one is recent and all the other 5 are from the 70s and 80s.

 

True -- however, I also loved the Astral Weeks live release (didn't include it because it's a live album) from 2009, and Down the Road might be in my top 10 as well (I only heard it for the first time recently, so I'm not quite sure where it sits). A stellar album. For what it's worth, I also got a lot of listening value out of Duets.

Those are all fine albums, I agree. It may well be that 3 or 4 of those round out my personal top 10. I own 22 Van albums (counting live releases) and there isn't one that doesn't give me satisfaction. But yes, strange as it may seem, I do consider Born to Sing more consistently thoughtful and expressive than Moondance, St. Dominic's, and several other of Van's more famous albums (e.g., Tupelo Honey is actually one of my least favorite Van albums, and I don't love It's Too Late to Stop Now either).

 

Bull Moose has the vinyl and cd up for a nice pre-order.

 

Glad to hear the new album will be issued on vinyl. I was disappointed Born to Sing - a very solid album - wasn't.

All the eras of Van are different; each has its own charm. Many of us have aged with Van and have enjoyed the journey, and probably tolerate his tendencies and excesses. Personally, the Astral Weeks live release captured a great live performance beautifully and certainly ranks highly for me. As do Back on Top, Healing Game, and Magic Time.

For other fans of Van's live performances - If you can find a copy of the Belfast concert from last summer that was produced by the BBC, you'll be pleased you did.

 

The last couple Van releases left me cold(Born To Sing,Duets),from his newest stuff Keep It Simple and the Austin City Limits live recording are very good in parts.
Archival releases are another story of course!