Folks, I’ve been a Van Morrison fan for years but I’ve become a much bigger fan over this past year.... Van’s GH Album was one of the first 5-10 albums I ever bought....I loved it, got tired of it and eventually traded it away. That isn’t to say I disliked Van, I had grabbed a few Them comps over the years, grabbed Astral Weeks (at Amoeba by the Haight in 99), Moondance, Bang comps, and generally liked Van just wasn’t a super fan. Well when the release was made of Its Too Late To Stop Now II, III & IV l, I saw it on iTunes for like 14.99 (I hadn’t then heard the original or known it to be a classic)...I grabbed that, was blown away, and now the past I dunno 18 mos I’ve been becoming a very big fan.... That said for all the Vanners out there... What are your 5 favorite Van releases (Them, Live and Greatest Hits are all fair game). The *is there in the thread for a bonus if your 5 favorite is all the classic 60’s-70’s era, do you have any recommendations from his say 1995-present albums (live included)to include as a bonus... Thanks. Any other Van comments welcome too
Basically, his run of albums from '68 to '72... - Astral Weeks - Moondance - His Band & The Street Choir - Tupelo Honey - St. Dominic's Preview
Regarding his more recent albums, I can wholeheartedly recommend Born to Sing: No Plan B, which is actually one of my favorite Van albums ever. Particularly if you appreciate his swinging sort of style, that's its apogee IMO. I also enjoy Down the Road, the recent Versatile, and even the Duets album a great deal. And I understand people who prefer Van melancholy are pretty satisfied with Keep Me Singing. I also think the Astral Weeks concert from 2009 is excellent. Honestly, I think most of his recent albums are as good as stuff from his "classic" period. My top 5? Well, I think it's: * Astral Weeks * Into the Music * Veedon Fleece * Inarticulate Speech of the Heart * Born to Sing: No Plan B One word of caution I would sound is that I am not a big fan of It's Too Late to Stop Now, so my tastes might not accord with yours. If you like Too Late to Stop, you'll probably like his recent Roll with the Punches.
Tough call, but at the moment I'd say: Veedon Fleece Astral Weeks Moondance Into the Music St. Dominic's Preview Probably in that order.
Moondance It's Too Late to Stop Now St. Dominic's Preview His Band and Street Choir Astral Weeks My favorite Van Morrison song is Into the Mystic followed by Caravan.
Years and years ago, Van Morrison's music got a lot of play around my house. went to see him a bunch, really kept up on everything he was doing. In the last 20 years or so, my interest in Morrison and in rock music generally has waned but all these years later, there's a small handful of Morrison albums I find myself returning to with some regularity: Astral Weeks It's Too Late to Stop Now Beautiful Vision Common One The Healing Game
Moondance St. Dominic's Preview Veedon Fleece His Band and Street Choir Tupelo Honey That's a heckuva run of albums.
Moondance Astral Weeks Too Late To Stop Now (3 CD + DVD version) Into the Music Sorry, but it could either be one of the classic run (Tupelo Honey, St Dominic's, or Band + Street Choir), Avalon Sunset, Common One or Veedon Fleece, or with the Chieftains.
- Astral Weeks - Moondance - His Band & The Street Choir - Tupelo Honey - Irish Heartbeat with the Chieftains
Astral Weeks Common One St.Dominic's Preview No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (not one mentioned yet but his second best of the 80s) Veedon Fleece edit: whoops, as I was typing this, Minstrel Boy beat me to No Guru.
For me it's a bit tricky to answer because Van Morrison is a half great album artist, half great song artist. The core great album decade, as perhaps a majority acknowledges, is the miraculous late '60s to late '70s run from Astral Weeks to Into the Music. But if you leave out the Them/Bang period and all the brilliant tracks from 1980 to now you leave out half his greatness. So I'll cheat and say my Desert Island Van is: Astral Weeks Moondance St. Dominic's Preview Veedon Fleece A long playlist of 30+ studio and live songs from all the other (mostly somewhat uneven/problematic) releases
I like scan, but am not familiar with many of his albums, especially the newer stuff, but am surprised that no one has yet mentioned TB Sheets, an album that I really like.
I envy you for all the enjoyable discoveries you're about to make. My opinion is that Van's golden era was approximately 1980-1992. Beautiful Vision Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart Avalon Sunset Enlightenment Hymns To The Silence
Hard to pick just 5 so today it's these , not in any order, with a good 7/8 others just behind them. Common One Into the Music Veedon Fleece St. Dominic's Preview No Guru, no Method no Teacher peace and love✌Dave
The 3 that I play regularly and genuinely love: Veedon Fleece Beautiful Vision Enlightenment Others I dip into only occassionaly.
