Astral Weeks [Import]

Track Listings

1. Astral Weeks

2. Beside You

3. Sweet Thing

4. Cyprus Avenue

5. Way Young Lovers Do

6. Madame George

7. Ballerina

8. Slim Slow Slider

Tracks:

Astral Weeks
Beside You
Sweet Thing
Cyprus Avenue
The Way Young Lovers Do
Madame George
Ballerina
Slim Slow Slider

Amazon.com essential recording

Never mind that Van Morrison is one of the most indelible songwriters of the 20th century--take each album on its own terms. On 1968's seminal Astral Weeks, a twentysomething Van Morrison can be found belting his gospelly, bluesy vocals in just as fine a form as he would be 20 years hence. In the sociopolitical context of the times, the album cried out about such ubiquitous '60s themes as cultural oppression and social upheaval. But it is Morrison's vocal dexterity and passion that maintains such timeless appeal. Take tracks like "Madame George" or "Cyprus Avenue" and you'll find such beautiful mourning, it'll be clear why modern songwriter Sinéad O'Connor once publicly exclaimed: "Van Morrison should be friggin' canonized." --Nick Heil

Customer Reviews:

Ridiculous Good.......2007-07-03

Half the songs on here give me goosebumps. Astral Weeks is probably my favorite Van Morrison album, granted Tupelo Honey and Moondance are a lot more fun, Astral weeks is transcendental. In this album Van seems very in love, nostalgic, or sentimental. Key tracks (really all of them) include:
Astral Weeks- Strong and solid,
Sweet Thing- The strings in this are awesome
Cyprus Avenue- More like familiar Van Morrison
Madame George- It's long, and good. Again and as usual, an awesome arrangement. (for David Gray fans, this is where part of "Say Hello, Wave goodbye comes from)

The other tracks on here are all good, no real dancing numbers, but all the songs are beautiful, the kind you put on a mix CD for a new (or not so new) love. Anyone who considers themselves a Van fan had better own this.

IT STILL MAKES ME CRY.......2007-06-21

I think it came out in '68 when I was a sophomore in high school...shy, insecure, just moved to a new school. These songs became part of my very being, and they will always be a part of who I am. There was just something about Van: the words, the stylings, the chord progressions. His music made my soul scream, and it felt so good.

The Second Best Album of All Time.......2007-06-13

FREE FORM VOCAL STYLINGS

This album rates very highly on many critics list of the all time best. It routinely comes up in the top ten. About 10 years ago, Rolling Stone magazine voted it the second best album of all time, behind the Beatle's Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Released in 1968, this is Van Morrison's second solo album. It is 46 minutes long and the sound quality is good, although the music is mixed a little thin.

The Way The Young Lovers Do is the only thing on this album that is anything close to pop song along the lines of Brown Eyed Girl. I am not a big pop music fan, but I like this song. The rest of the album is something completely different.

The rest of the album is some nice music with some interesting playing, mixed really low. It is a mixture of jazz and folk with a little blues thrwon in. There are some interesting bits on flute, vibes and keyboards. But, the music remains just a back drop and is mixed in at a very low volume. The CD comes with a fold out cover that tries to give a historical perspective of the album. Intrestingly, it is pretty subdued and does not rave about the album like the critics do.

Morrison's wild and unstructured vocals are mixed loudly on top of the music. He seems to be always riffing and jamming. He'll be singing along and then he'll jump into a repeated riff, such as "you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out".

I know people are going to get mad at me, insult me and call me names, but I have to admit that I just don't get it. I don't think this is a personal, emotional album, and I don't think it has interesting stories. It comes off to me as an experimental album that didn't quite work.

Music is a very personal thing. People can get really mad when you don't agree with them on music that they really love. They take a low review on thier favorite album as a personal attack. They say nasty things about the reviewer.

To get even, people will mark a review as "hot helpful", like that evens things up. But, a review like this is helpful to buying public that might not know much about this ablum and are thinkging about buying it because of all the rave reviews (that is why I bought it).

Just because certain people love it doesn't mean everyone will. In fact, many people did not like this album. It is the only Van Morrison album not to chart. And you might wonder why Morrison did not do anything like this again. He certainly still had the artistic freedom to do what he wanted, because he had a pretty lose contract from Warner Brothers. What he came up with next, is Moondance, which was completely different. In later albums, Morrison did incorporate some of the Astral Weeks vocal stylings on some songs, but it was much more controlled.

Van Morrison started out in a group called Them. Them had a minor hit with Baby Please Don't Go, and bigger hit with Gloria, written by Morrison. Them was going through changes, so Morrison retired from music for a few years, before coming up with Brown Eyed Girl, and his first ablum, Blowin' Your Mind. He did not approve of the album and withdrew. His manager died, freeing him from his contract, so he was able to sign with Warner Brothers, have much more artistic freedom and came up with this.

yes siree... a MASTERPIECE to say the least!.......2007-05-23

Years and years from now, if the world is still in one piece and the human race hasn't made itself extinct, people and history books will hopefully have long forgotten these vapid, celluloid dolts of today (i.e. see Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake, et al...) and remember and revere such artists as Van Morrison. Well... I guess one can always dream, right? Damn, I am one naive, lost soul! I still believe that it is 1982 and I am asleep, dreaming this all, waiting patiently to wake up. This really has to be some kind of joke right? Anyway, back to the reasons why this CD deserves five stars (actually I would put this one in that rare six-star category if I could).

This saintly, little genius from Belfast has produced some of the most beautiful music ever, in the history of beautiful music. Like Bob Dylan, Van wasn't blessed with a voice a la Sinatra or Tony Bennett. He was a very good guitar player, but he's not even in the same league as say a Jimi Hendrix or a Wes Montgomery or a Al DiMeola, et al... And lastly, his lyrics can't compare with that of Dylan's or even Simon and Garfunkel for that matter. All that being said (and I know that these are some bold words I'm about to pen), I can't think of any one musician that has had as long and as productive of a career as Van Morrison (besides Louis Armstrong of course, but it isn't fair to compare anyone to Pops when it comes to contributions to American music). This cat is something else for sure! I love Miles, and Duke, and Sinatra, and the Glimmer Twins, and I highly respect and enjoy quite a bit of Dylan, Paul Simon, McCartney, et al... But this guy is still doing it and hasn't missed a beat in over forty years now! All I have to say is un-friggin-believable! He hasn't really slowed down since he first started in the early 60's belting out such enjoyable songs as "Baby Please Don't Go", "Gloria", and "Here Comes the Night" to name a few. However, in 1967 after leaving the band "Them" he started getting really serious and his second solo album in 1968 'Astral Weeks' is, to put it mildly, sublime, and magical, and totally unique, unlike anything you have ever heard before or since. A true genius is almost always an artist who is way ahead of their time, and Van was (and still is) a true genius. This album is his crowning achievement, his greatest work which is saying a lot when you consider just how many great albums he has produced for going on five decades now - AMAZING!

I know, I know, this is only one man's opinion, and you may even consider the author of this review a bit... as my Italian relatives would say... PAZZO! However, any lover of good music (no matter what your favorite genre is) should really enjoy this. Van merges jazz, blues, rock, r&b, folk, and a little bit of Celtic music into this one and the results are outstanding. He sings and plays his guitar beautifully. Every song contains placid, poetic lyrics that will melt your heart, especially with the solitary way in which Van belts them out with such ardent fervor and emotion. The other great thing is the band behind the man, the men who helped Van create such magnificent music on this masterpiece are the following jazz greats - Jay Berliner (guitar), Richard Davis (bass), Connie Kay (drums), John Payne (flute, soprano sax), and Warren Smith, Jr. (percussion and vibraphone). They all sound inspired, and it's very difficult to pick out one performance over the others because each one is top-notch. I usually don't like writing no-brainer reviews, but this album has a real special place in my heart. Enjoy!

Should be a 10 --.......2007-05-13

This album doesn't suck.

Buy it. Put it on. Shut up. Listen to it. Don't be afraid to lose yourself (you'll find yourself again).

I'm going to put it on right now.

Moondance/Astral Weeks/His Band & The Street Choir

Average customer rating:

DEfinitely three of his best albums!!!

Moondance/Astral Weeks/His Band & The Street Choir
Van Morrison
Manufacturer: Msi Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Caravan
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Astral Weeks
Beside You
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Street Choir

Album Description

Three of the greatest early albums by arguably the finest singer/ songwriter to hail from the Emerald Isle, all boxed up at a fantastic low price! Contains Van The Man's first thre e albums for Warner Brothers (his second, third & fourth overall), 1968's 'Astral Weeks', 1970's top 30 'Moondance' (featuring the hit title song and classics like 'Into The Mystic ', 'And It Stoned Me' and 'Crazy Love) and his other 1970 op us, 'His Band & Street Choir' (featuring the hit 'Domino'), which eventually broke the top 40 in 1971. These three albu ms frequent 'top 100 albums of all-time' lists in music publications on both sides of the Atlantic. All three discs feature their original artwork & come packaged in individual jewel cases which come housed together in a 5 x 6 x 1.5 inch slipcase.

Album Details

Packaged in a Beautifully Presented Card Slipcase, this Box Set Features: 'moondance', 'astral Weeks' and 'his Band and the Street Choir'.

Customer Reviews:

DEfinitely three of his best albums!!!.......2005-07-11

With Astral weeks and Moondance Van Morrison defined much of the music we hear today, and Street Choir is a great cd. This is a steal and the way to start listening to Van Morrison. Don't miss this offer, but beware, Morrison is addicting, you'll want all his cd's after buying this set. So prepare the money... Enjoy the music.

Average customer rating:

Astral Weeks
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Manufacturer: Wea/Warner
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Music Review:

Music Review

Music Review

1. Astral Weeks
2. Beside You
3. Sweet Thing
4. Cyprus Avenue
5. Way Young Lovers Do
6. Madame George
7. Ballerina
8. Slim Slow Slider