I don't get Astral Weeks

Just point out the economic/political/religious contradictions that go hand-in-hand with a double-blind listening of the record on systems using different interconnects.

That'll kill it, fer sure.

Jeff

 

Alrighty then.

Does a good Van Morrison "best-of" CD exist? Decent mastering, and songs that a Drew Carey like me will have heard on the wireless ("Brown-Eyed Girl," "Blue Money", "Domino", "Into The Mystic", "Tupelo Honey" and the like?)

 

This place is extremely active and nuts sometimes... welcome.

 

This is pretty much exactly how I see it. For me Astral Weeks is a unique masterpiece. It defies attempts at classification. The songwriting and performance are ethereal. I adore it. I love Moondance too but honestly it sounds a bit bland after a monumental achievement like AW.

 

That's been my experience with music, too. My focus these days, is acquiring music that is long-lasting and timeless.

So, I must give Astral Weeks another chance, I think. Maybe I'll "get it", after all this time.

 

There's something to be said for the remarks in this thread that it's best heard on vinyl. I got into it via a US Warner LP, which sounded great. The Warner CD sounds flatter, a bit lifeless.

 

Not to worry - I have a Naim CD5X w. Flatcap 2! If there's life on that CD, the 5X will find it.

Erm, I don't have a record player anyway.

 

Indeed, various digital source upgrades have helped to dig some life out of many old CD's I'd previously written off as flat, muddy, etc. I haven't listened to the AW CD for a while - I wonder what my new Havana DAC will make of it...

 

Astral Weeks takes some getting used to. I got it before Moondance but I never really liked it until after I became a fan of Moondance.

 

Can I borrow your lottery numbers?

 

Interesting

Astral Weeks was my belated (75) introduction to VM, caught my attention straight away as I hadn't heard anything like this before.

It was some months before I got round to Moondance, for a long time disapointment. This was just a normal 'pop' record none of the deep emotion on AW.

To an exstent this is still my view BUT what an amazing 'pop' record.

By the way some time ago I heard a 1st edition UK release and I swear my memeory says red/orange label not green. Am I just getting old?

I seem to recall a much more medative experience that I get from my mid 70's Burbank press

 

I am moist......

 

I've read that is a common reaction to Astral Weeks.

 

As a result of this thread, I bought Astral Weeks today. Thanks Dave D. However, I generally agree, this album, like Pet Sounds, doesn't live up to its critical acclaim, but it has one outstanding track which is worth the price alone (£3.99 in my case) and that is Madame George, which unfortunately isn't included on his latest Best Of album because I would have bought it instead.

 

Astral Weeks will repay repeated listeinings. Don't give up too soon.

 

If I might add, too, at least for me, that I find it's a great late-night listen, during twilight, or in the bewitching hours. I don't know if i've listened to it too often in the morning or in the middle of the day, if that helps any, or not. Cheers.

 

This is definitely in my top 5 of the best albums of all time. For one thing, it has the greatest bass playing ever on a rock record. Richard Davis is so in tune to VMs vibe that it really goes beyond mere accompaniment. In a feature I wrote for noripcord.com on great moments in rock I commented on this:

"Transcendence in jazz usually results from a combination of instrumental prowess and synergistic playing, so it's no surprise that one of the most transcendent albums in rock relies on the contributions and leadership of a jazz musician. Richard Davis and his upright bass were the focal point and first mate to Van Morrison's captain during the recording sessions for the classic Astral Weeks. It's nigh on impossible to pick out a single moment on this record that can represent the simply astonishing bass work on virtually every song, with Davis playing so sympathetically with Morrison that they seem to be sharing a brain. Personally, I have to vote for either the refrain of Sweet Thing, where Davis squeezes out the high notes like he's wringing a mop or performing an exorcism, or midway through the title song, where he leaps the octaves likes he's climbing a mountain."

But there is a mystical, hypnotic quality to this album too that sets it apart from almost everything else. Lester Bangs wrote lovingly and well on this album (http://personal.cis.strath.ac.uk/~murray/astral.html), and that's a piece worth seeking out to understand why it's so great.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing it again, it's been a while. I didn't dislike it I just thought it fell short of the reviews I read.

 

Thank you for posting that link! Speechless after reading the paragraphs by LB about AW , .