Van Morrison - Best 80s Album Poll!!

interesting period for morrison.

when you look at them all lined up that way, it is certainly a period of growth for morrison, moving away form the single, other than a few here and there.

lots of different things on these record, he was still very unique in his songwriting.

 

Poetic Champions for me.

Best Wishes,
David

 

Totally agree about the ‘spaces’on Common One. The second side of Hard Nose the Highway also has that imo. The only other band that I know who use the absence of sound in that way are the Blue Nile. Someone once said about them that the reason they took so long between records was because of the amount of time they spent taking things out.

 

Pretty solid results from the poll. I'd have have Common One a little lower and BV and PCC a little higher but there you go.

 

Just finished listening to each of these 80's VM favorites again... too hard to pick the best, they ALL have some really fine material on them.
Poetic Champions Compose
Common One
No Guru, no Method, no Teacher

 

My top 5 of the 80's releases in order of preference...



Van Morrison ‎– Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart
Label: Warner Bros. Records ‎– 9 23802-2
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1990



Van Morrison ‎– Beautiful Vision
Label: Mercury ‎– 800 036-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: Germany
Released: 1983



Van Morrison ‎– A Sense Of Wonder
Label: Mercury ‎– 822 895-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1985



Van Morrison ‎– No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
Label: Mercury ‎– 830 077-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1986



Van Morrison ‎– Common One
Label: Warner Bros. Records ‎– 9 26399-2
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: 1989

 

I picked No Guru which I have always liked. Unfortunately I saw Van on that tour and it was one of those "screw it, I'm going to keep my eye on the clock, let some other guy sing the songs you really want to hear and then get the hell offstage as soon as I possibly can, thanks for the money and screw you" shows so I stopped listening to it for quite a while.

 

~"Beautiful Vision"

Lots of great work(s), but, that said, my second place album was a distant second- and, for the record, that closest contender was "No Guru, No Method, No Teacher".

I always dig something in pretty much any of his work, but...
His late 60's ("Astral Weeks"- my #2) & 70's works ("Moondance" #1 & "St. Dominic's Preview" #3 of the holy trinity) are just staggering!! A long run of unique & downright magical albums that can stand tall with the best run of any artist you'd care to name, ever- as great as it gets, or has ever gotten for me.

"Beautiful Vision" feels like his last truly, fully great album to me. There's so much wonderful stuff after- many great tracks appear on lots of albums that are varying degrees of very good to good (some maybe even near great status).
There's just some sameness/predictability in play for me & thus some measure of general diminishing returns over the decades (more the last 30 years than the first 25)...

 

Magnificent, Majestic, Masterful & 'Marvelous'...
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.
Just listened to a fine Canadian vinyl pressing with unique and elegantly designed Polygram labels.

6 epics?
Got To Go Back
Foreign Window
In The Garden
Tir Na Nog
Thanks For The Information
Track 3 title escapes me!? Am losing it...

2 Hymns?
Here Comes The Knight
One Irish Rover

A clever, smart, snappy, soulful single?
Ivory Tower

And Classically Transcendent & Romantic Van?
Oh, The Warm Feeling


A Van Morrison Masterpiece

 

I have read a piece that argued that if the album finished after 7 songs it would be much more highly regarded.

Side one is my favourite side of recorded music. Overall the Van album closest to my heart.

 

Thought this was the most relevant thread. Does anyone know what the story is behind the track Lonely At The Top which appears as an extra track on No Guru? I think it’s one of his loveliest melodies and a great performance but I assume it’s just an outtake from that album. Is that the case? Or did it appear on a soundtrack or something? It feels too good to be just a throwaway and it’s one of those songs I’ve become slightly obsessed by, I know in some ways it’s quite slight but the piano is beautiful.

 

That's an easy one for me. No Guru is one of the greatest albums that most people don't know about. To me. its Van's last great studio recording. A 5 star record all the way.