Mr Van Morrison

[Prince of Darkness]

while wasting the royalties buying garden gnomes as gifts for Jools Holland! (true story)

Well, at least he didn't throw it away on something useless.

[Filterlab]

...Moondance is by far the most accesible of the great The Van albums. Another album that could be a good introduction (without recommending the greatest hits) is the live album It's Too Late To Stop Now from the early 70's....

I think I'll plump for Moondance or the Greatest Hits; I'm not much for live albums.

[Phil Bishop]

Filterlab,

I am shocked - never hear anything by Van Morrison - you really must do something about that! There is a relatively recent compilation that is a good intro (2 CD or 3 CD set), but compilations never do such an artist justice as some of his best work is his less well known.

My first Van album was Astral Weeks and I found it hard to get into. But in 1989 or thereabouts I bought "Avalon Sunset" and that sent me on my way to basically buying all his stuff. There are some turkeys, but not that many. Essentials, in my opinion, are Astral Weeks, Moondance, Into the Music (underrated), Too Late to Stop Now (possibly the best live album ever and a great recording) and Avalon Sunset. A moody bu**er (apparently), but a genius!

[Iain Sinclair]

Filterlab,

I am shocked - never hear anything by Van Morrison - you really must do something about that! There is a relatively recent compilation that is a good intro (2 CD or 3 CD set), but compilations never do such an artist justice as some of his best work is his less well known.

My first Van album was Astral Weeks and I found it hard to get into. But in 1989 or thereabouts I bought "Avalon Sunset" and that sent me on my way to basically buying all his stuff. There are some turkeys, but not that many. Essentials, in my opinion, are Astral Weeks, Moondance, Into the Music (underrated), Too Late to Stop Now (possibly the best live album ever and a great recording) and Avalon Sunset. A moody bu**er (apparently), but a genius!

Saint Dominic's Preview is another must-have, IMO.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Am I the only person on this planet who thinks VM is reclining rather too heavily on the comfy upholstery provided by his earlier successes? (An Irish Mcartney perhaps?). 4 or 5 relatively entertaining albums & a couple of undeniable classics (in the true sense of that word) do not excuse the crap that has come dribbling out of him since.....Someone really should have a quiet word.

Still I've learnt something now. It's not been all in vain - as long as you like it, that's fine by me. It's earnt it's place in the album racks.

[Phil Bishop]

Grand Wazoo, I agree to an extent, but considering his long career he has produced many fine albums - I agree about Saint Dominics Preview and his collaboration with Chieftans also worth of merit. Later albums - Healing Game, etc, still fine. Hard to think of anyone else who has such a long relatively consistent record - maybe Neil Young, Paul Simon. Unfortunately, McCartney has done nothing decent as far as I can tell since Band on the Run, Dylan is erratic, etc. To me, Van is class. He does not appear to seek publicity, is still experimental and still blends that Irish spiritual mystique into his music - amazing how he can use the same themes, words through several albums and still sound fresh IMHO.....and the voice is still unique!

[Filterlab]

Filterlab,

I am shocked - never hear anything by Van Morrison...

Believe me, there's too much music and too little time!

[Alex D]

Believe me, there's too much music and too little time!

I was watching the other day a documentary on youtube about record collectors and (I'm sorry if anyone here is (like) one of them!), guys (no women, duh) who had enormous collections, in the tens or hundreds of thousands, and what struck me were three things: first, that no one considered themselves 'collectors', they were all there 'for the music' (even though they had lots of records they had never heard or heard once but maybe not in its entirety); second, that they realized that it was impossible to get your hands on everything that was ever printed, even within one area of music; and thirdly, that even though they realized it, they did their best! I guess collecting something (and record collecting in particular) must be one of the most melancholic activities as it's a never-ending quest... yes, I know, it can be fun along the way, and you can set yourself certain goals, but unless you say STOP at some point there will always be that next goalpoast. Could it be that the reason why it's so important to share your collecting obsession with someone else, so it doesn't turn into something solipsistic and depressing? Could it be that that makes us so passionate about showing other people WHY the music that we hear is so important, valuable and possibly life-changing?
So, Filterlab, I agree completely with you, there's too much music and too little time... but everybody SHOULD hear Van Morrison's Moondance! He he

[Filterlab]

Good post matey.

To be honest I stopped worrying a long time ago whether or not I'd hear all the music I wanted to hear. Nowadays I play my favourites a lot of the time as I know I'm going to enjoy them. Occasionally I dip into the stuff that I don't play often just to see if the music now sounds better or worse than I remember - sometimes it's a case of "why did I never listen to this more?" and sometimes it's a case of "what on earth was I thinking buying this toss?!".

Even in the relatively short time of being into hi-fi (21 years) my musical tastes have changed wildly - I suppose one could say 'grown up', some stuff I listen to now I'd have never even considered ten or maybe even five years ago. Occasionally I do listen to the 'clubby' tunes I was into in my late teens, but not for long! Whilst it sounded good banging out at 120dB across a room full of scantily clad girls through a mist of nightclub cannabis based smoke whilst under the influence of several behaviour modifying substances, it has little musical merit these days.

As a consequence of getting older and wiser to music, I have a lot of ground to cover in terms of listening to a variety of musical styles that I'd never considered previously. But is that a problem or a worry? No, that's the whole damn point, and fun it will be!

[Phil Bishop]

OK, Rob, not much time....so let's compromise....just listen to "Into the Mystic" off Moondance (3-4 minutes long) and if it does not blow you away then ....well, I don't know what! Amazing voice, great production, marvellous song....an all time classic. Go on....give it a go!

On a related subject, regarding listening, don't you find you go through phases ... for a long while now, nothing apart from Bob Marley has really satisfied. Perhaps that is why my bass units are playing up? Phil.