release date: Aug. 1979
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,16]
producer: Van Morrison, Mick Glossop (ass. producer)
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Bright Side of the Road" (4 / 5) - 2. "Full Force Gale" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 3. "Stepping Out Queen" (4 / 5) - 4. "Troubadours" - 6. "You Make Me Feel So Free" (4 / 5) - 7. "Angeliou" - 8. "And the Healing Has Begun" - 9. "It's All in the Game"
11th studio album by Van Morrison originally released on Mercury Records is almost as the Morrison tradition prescribes: something else as he has hardly ever released two consecutive albums in the same genre and style. It's always build on a singer / songwriter formula, and quite often, as is the case here, he incorporates rhythm & blues and soul. Compared to his previous and rather successful album Wavelength from '78 he has sort of summed up things on this one. Although, he had just produced his so far most mainstream pop / rock album ever, and to much success, he has abandoned that style with Into the Music, which is a way of saying: "that wasn't me - now, let's dig into the music."
At this point of his musical journey Morrison had left America and returned to the UK, settling in a London-neighbourhood. The songs are both filled with religious / mystic content, which has been central motifs throughout his long career and then celtic folk also plays a strong part on an album that seems to contain both ends of his musical strengths: the strong self-reflections on emotional grounds and the uptempo soulful compositions that recall Ray Charles and Fats Domino as inspirational sources.
The album is rightfully considered one of Morrison's very best and it contains several compositions that have found their way to best of albums, which I initially wrongly thought the album was - all because of the strong songs it contains. Just the first three tracks: "Bright Side of the Road", "Full Force Gale" and "Stepping Out Queen" are top-notch compositions, and the quality of the remaining songs is so high that it's no wonder it received critical acclaim and is regarded a musical cornerstone. Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau argued that the album was his best since 1970's Moondance. Van Morrison has never been a singles hit artist, and the best fairing single from the album was "Bright Side of the Road" reaching number #63 in the UK and number #110 in the US, which seems almost ridiculous. That song also featured as the B-side on "Full Force Gale", which didn't make noteworthy sales, which again proves how singles weren't Morrison's nor the label's concern, but both tracks are natural ingredients on any compilation album encompassing his long career.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]
