release date: Feb. 16, 1982
format: vinyl / cd (1998 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Van Morrison
label: Mercury / Polydor - nationality: Northern Ireland, UK
Track highlights: A) 1. "Celtic Ray" - 2. "Northern Muse (Solid Ground)" - 3. "Dweller on the Threshold" (live) - 4. "Beautiful Vision" - 5. "She Gives Me Religion" - - B) 1. "Cleaning Windows" (live) - 2. "Vanlose Stairway" (live) - 4. "Across the Bridge Where Angels Dwell" (live)
13th studio album by Van Morrison following 1½ years after Common One (Aug. 1980) is originally released on Mercury and is as usual produced by Van himself. It's almost the exception to the rule that Van never releases an album in the same style as his previous album. Beautiful Vision takes off and continues his journey into a country-side of new age-inspired surroundings where Common One had left many critics and fans somewhat pondering as to what he was up to, perhaps thinking he had given up on his rhythm & blues foundation.
Critics seems to have been more positive about this one than its predecessor - many suggesting that this appears as more coherent and melodic.
I actually recall the time of its release - I wasn't yet a fan but I remember DJ Al Jones on national radio kept circling around the notion that Morrison had a Danish girlfriend and that the album as a whole had a strong Danish theme and a Scandinavian touch running through it. Of course, tracks such as "Northern Muse (Solid Ground)", "Vanlose Stairway" and "Scandinavia" underline this presumption, though it also transpires via "Across the Bridge Where Angels Dwell", which is considered one of his boldest love songs. I didn't listen to the album in its entirety until the late 80s thinking of it as one of his lesser releases, but that impression has changed since then. I have always returned to this album, and every time I revisted the album it revealed something new. And that's the obvious strength about it 'cause it has the same universal greatness about it as its predecessor. It's not so much the single tracks that make you listen as the stories and the sensations they stir. Earlier, I always felt that "Cleaning Windows" was the only true hit on the album. Nowadays, I still enjoy that, although, I find it a bit out of tune with the other songs, as it has a simpler construct, as a song that would have fitted better on Into the Music (1979). The other songs here are deeper, soothing of either mysticism or a search of something... love or beliefs, and then they also point to an obvious timeless rhythm & blues and soul combo that could've been released at any point during the 70s regardless new stylistic influences and contemporary production techniques. Undoubtedly, the album is produced during a time when Morrison found himself in search of spiritual faith. Whether he was a strong believer or not, the music and lyrics he delivers here don't link him to any specific belief and the overall theme of love may be interpreted in many ways, which I think is a fine strength of the album. There's also a fine element of jazz stirring a tone of new age and / or celtic folk, which essentially makes it all much more digestible.
It's not an album filled to the brim with obvious hit songs and then it's far from weak or a low point in Van's long career. I basically consider it essential to the Van Morrison collection.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
