release date: Mar. 1983
format: cd (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,06]
producer: Van Morrison
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Higher Than the World" - 5. "Rave on John Donne" - 7. "The Street Only Knew Your Name" - 10. "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 2"
14th studio album by Van Morrison originally released on Mercury Records follows one year after Beautiful Vision, and it takes him further down the road in search of spirituality. Where the predecessor had many songs focusing on narratives this one comes with four instrumentals, and the album seems like an outlet for his belief that music have healing powers regardless the lyrical matter. Stylistically, he makes strong use of synths, keyboards and saxophones to create a sensation of new age style on top it all.
In the credit list Morrison explicitly thanks Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, a gesture, which in many ways points to his long-lasting spiritual search but also places this very release on a shelf among few others by Morrison that so openly speaks of his strong religious foundation. From Wavelength (1978) to Beautiful Vision (1982) he often sang about childhood memories with a mother devoted to Jehovas Witnesses, and this theme has continued with a more undefinable presence of spiritual divinity, although, an explicit addressing to the founder of Scientology says something about his viewpoint at this stage of his constant search. There are no evident proclamations to be found here, but the lasting impression sort of lifts the music here to serve as a foundation to a state of meditation. The album is almost without really great songs - just an echoing of other characteristic songs of his and much blow of hot air. The album was met by lukewarm to positive reviews, and peaked at number #24 on the UK albums chart list. The highlighted tracks doesn't really represent the nature of the album as they are... better and all more uptempo compositions than the remainders. Just listen to "Connswater", "Celtic Swing", or "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart No. 1", which help define the nature of the album. To me, it's one of the contenders to his least interesting albums.
The 2008 remaster contains two bonus tracks which are alternate takes of songs #9 and #10.
[ allmusic.com, Rooling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
