Van Morrison
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For those who think late-period Van is
all the same, consider if you will "Golden Autumn Day," wherein the bard imagines
taking a pair of would-be muggers out
into "Blake's green and pleasant hills"
and flogging
the shit out of them as an example to all the other "bleeders
of
the system." Elsewhere he castigates loose-lipped friends
who narc on him to the
press, records the passing of seasons
and mourns lost love, repeatedly. With so much on
his mind, you'd
think the music would kick a little harder. Instead, it keeps
a too-respectful distance from the lyrics, chilling when it should
rock, shuffling when it
should roll. Not that this doesn't have
its moments ("Golden Autumn Day" really
is pretty good),
but I'll still play '93's Too Long in Exile when I want to hear
late-period Van.
Rating: 7
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