release date: Jun. 20, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
produced: Van Morrison
label: Exile / Polydor - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Perfect Fit" - 2. "Russian Roulette" (4 / 5) - 3. "Raincheck" (4 / 5) (live) - 4. "You Don't Know Me" - 5. "No Religion" - 6. "Underlying Depression" - 8. "Days Like This" - 10. "Melancholia" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 12. "In the Afternoon" (4 / 5) (live)
23rd studio album by Van Morrison released on Exile / Polydor produced by Van himself. His daughter Shana Morrison features as duet singer and on backing vocals on tracks #3, 4, 9, and 10 (the latter being the album's best track). Van may dwell on his back catalogue, and he may tend to be repetitious, but gosh doesn't he just know how to write good songs. The album was a bland experience at the time of the release. It is one of his most mainstream pop / rock crafted albums and it has a bit of the same polished sound as you'll find on Enlightenment (1990) and Avalon Sunset (1989), however, it also contains great songs that I wouldn't be without. "Russian Roulette", "Raincheck", "Underlying Depression", "Days Like This", "Melancholia", and "In the Afternoon" are all songs way above average. And that's really just Van in a nutshell: even when he just seems to cruise on auto-pilot, he always has an extra gear and something more to offer.
