When Van Morrison set out to record his new studio soon entitled Astral Weels, I doubt he would have thought he would end up with the extraodinary masterpiece. The album express so many beautiful, and various emotions. Each song is amazing good and interesting to hear. To those not as not familar with Morrison, perhaps you can relate it to Beck's
Sea Change. Instrumentally the album is fantastic. each song completely different from the next. and just impossible to completely describe.
The Begining
1. Astral Weeks: Here is a fantastic acoustic song, with nice rythm. It also has amazing lyrics as most Van Morrison songs do. And some great back up playing by a flute, an upright bass, and a violin. It is not as emotional as some of the other tracks, but the lyrics seem to have a great amount of meaning, which is emotional in its own way. It's a perfect opener to the album. and Van's voice could not be better. Just a fabulous song. 5/5
2. Beside You: This passionate, yet hopeful song has some great classical styled guitar playing. Showing off that Van's talent is definitley underrated, and possibly almost unnoticed. There is just some kind of odd, yet beautiful fealing to this song, that I can never stop noticing. The overall vibe is fantastic, and a lot more strong compared to pther tracks on the album. Once again, a flawless, amazing track. 5/5
3. Sweet Thing: "Sweet Thing" may be the catchiest song on this album. With it's acoutic guitar playing, and great orchestratic playing. The song, aswell as the album will probably not be loved at the first time listen. This song especially took me some time to get use to and love. It is just a song you can't forget, and have probably been aware of for awhile. Without a doubt one of my favorite song from Morrison. His vocals are just beautiful and so original sounding. 5/5
4. Cyprus Avenue: When I first took a listen to this album, this was the first song that really stood out to me. It has some great emotional vocals, as usual. Which are surely very emotional. The song includes small bits of whistling and some violin playing also. Which is done in a more Bluegrass fashion. It's hard to say what exactly appeals to me on this number, more so than the other. but none the less it something does. All that I just mentioned just simply adds more to this spectacular song. 5/5
Afterwards
5. The Way Young Lovers Do: This recording switches the album up a bit. It resembles songs you would hear on Van Morrison's Moon Dance. Being as that it includes a soprano saxophone, and some vibraphone playing. It is a more up tempo number, that is also a bit heavy and less emotional than the other tracks on this album. 3/5
6. Madame George: "Madame George" runs at an uncommon 9:25, and is worth listening to every second. Other than the vocals, the bass basically runs the song. It includes some other instruments which fill in nicely. Those would be a flute, violins, and a limited amount of roles on percussion. The dual violin playing is a bit different and odd, because one violin is playing in a more fiddel technique. While the other is playing more classical. Overall, it is a great song, and has no weak points at all. 4.9/5
7. Ballerina: Instrumentally, this song is extremely catchy. Vocally it is just slightly catchy. Either way, it is done wonderfully, and posesses great factors that Van Morrison is known for. Which is being highly emotional and being a fantastic song writer of course. Luckily, he shows off both of those high points on this track, and combines them to make a great, and maybe epic song. 5/5
8. Slim Slow Slider: This is not a highlight compared to "Sweet Thing", but as far as closing songs go. It fantastic. It includes some great acoustic guitar playing, and some nice saxophone playing. There is a point in the song where Van starts slapping the strings, which is weird, but interesting. Most importantly, it leaves you on a good note. Which is always great. Great track to end a perfect album. 5/5
I give this album a 5/5, because of how different the album is from his other albums, and many other albums from his former band Them.
EDIT: I'll put more time into reduing it, as soon as possible.
