Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

One of those very few LP's that reconcile boring mainstream rock purists and obscure music nerds, as it is indistinctly praised by both. A near perfect record, in my humble opinion.

Astral Weeks marks the furthest point I ever ventured to in classic rock territories, with Nick Drake's Bryter Later and possibly The Velvet Underground. Though it's likely somewhere high up on Rolling Stones's 500 greatest albums of all-time list,  I only got into it relatively recently - just like with Nick Drake's music.

When I was a teen and started borrowing 20th century classic recordings at my local library - that's how I would educate myself prior to having an internet connection - , I would feel more attracted to slickly produced prog-rock stuff - Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons or Mike Oldfield - than anything that was too folky or too raw. It's quite the contrary now, I Don't really listen to "Shine On You Crazy Diamonds" much these days...

Astral Weeks is a synthesis of a lot of things that were in the air in the late-1960's NYC: the influence of folk music - Celtic folk, in the case of Van Morrison - on pop musicians, the critical popularization of R&B amongst white audiences and, of course, psychedelism and new age. All these influences are perfectly channeled by Van Morrison, whose music balances between a strong, powerful singing and a constant restrain in his arrangements. Astral Weeks, is a soflty heart-rending accomplishment - one of the most accomplished canonical rock album, I know. (VG+/VG+).

Tracklist

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