The Album Review Club - Week #148 - (page 1953) - Sheer Heart Attack - Queen

As in, I thought you hated this type of music, man on a guitar singing about his hoover and all that.
Musically it's fine. Voice wise it's average but as I said, listening to it, lying on my bed in the afternoon feeling a little sorry for myself the whole album seemed to match my mood. I won't be buying it or even listen to it again but right time right place...

I'll probably hate it tomorrow.
 
I’ve read that this album influenced Bruce Springsteen’s first two albums, and I can hear influences on other artists I admire such as Counting Crows. It’s interesting that @Black&White&BlueMoon Town mentioned The Wild, The Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle because after listening to Astral Weeks, I went back and played "Kitty’s Back” and “Rosalita” from this, one of The Boss’s best albums. The sheer joie de vivre in these early tracks from Bruce is sorely lacking from Van Morrison’s effort. I think Bruce’s debut, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ, actually suffers from some of the same problems as Astral Weeks, and the improvement between albums 1 and 2 in his case was astounding.
The article I referenced noted Astral Weeks more influenced Bruce's first album, and 2 songs ("Incident on 57th Street" and "NYC Serenade") from The Wild, The Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle. I do hear influences in those 2 songs with their structure and storytelling, especially the latter, one of my favorite songs on that album (Hey, vibes man, hey, jazz man.. Listen to you junk man...He's singin'...).

I would never mistake "Rosalita" or "Kitty's Back" for what is on Astral Weeks, as those songs were pointed more towards where Bruce was going (Born To Run) than where he had been.
 
Van's own words on this album: "The songs are poetic stories, so the meaning is the same as always—timeless and unchanging. The songs are works of fiction that will inherently have a different meaning for different people. People take from it whatever their disposition to take from it is."

I think after seeing the reviews here, I can certainly agree on that.

I do think it's clear the poetry in the songs overshadows the music, even as specific as it is to guitar, flute, bass, and violin for the most part.

My earliest memories of this album is simply on its cover alone. For those in the US who remember the 9 albums/cassettes/CDs for a nominal fee from BMG or Columbia House back in the 70s and 80s (think Britannia Music Club in the UK?), this album without fail was always featured prominently in those catalogs.

Every. Single. Month.

What in the world is this 1968 album that has no "Moondance", "Brown Eyed Girl", etc. and how in the world is anyone buying it?, I would think. I don't recognize any one of these songs. I just don't get it how this album is promoted each and every month when there were other albums of his I perceived as better.

Music historian Andrew Ford said the album's commercial performance, much like its musical aesthetic, is similar to classical music: "Neither instant nor evanescent: Astral Weeks will sell as many copies this year as it did in 1968 and has every year in between".

OK, now I know...

It was probably for the best that I never bought this album - that me would have hated it.

That said, after repeated listens, I do believe this album is about the sum of the whole being much greater than its parts.

Strong offerings for me for personal reasons would be "Astral Weeks" (Could you find me?), "Sweet Thing" (And I'll be satisfied not to read in between the lines), "The Way Young Lovers Do" [probably my favorite], but the album really has a flow to it.

"Madame George" has some striking similarities to Bruce's "New York City Serenade" too. I'm just hearing that at the end of the song at 8 minutes in.

So, all that said, this is a 7/10 for me, and likely to increase upon further listens, which are planned.

Now, to solve my next problem... how do I stop getting Little Feat's "Rock and Roll Doctor" from playing in Spotify after "Slim Slow Slider" abruptly concludes? :-)

Thank you @journolud for picking this one, and expanding my enjoyment of an album I was probably not ready for much prior.
 
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Perhaps one’s life on a thread is coming to an end when another poster quotes something I already wrote that I was going to refer back to. Jesus Christ, am I that predictable?

Indeed @Black&White&BlueMoon Town already quoted my comments about Bruce Springsteen that I was going to echo here:

“I can tell you specifically why I’ve never really gotten into Springsteen, nor Dylan, nor Van Morrison, nor countless other artists. It’s because a lot of the work by these artists sublimates the music to the vocalist/lyricist. In other words, it’s poetry of varying quality set to music, not music with a singer accompanying it.”

Astral Weeks is kind of the poster child for this comment.

But I’ve also said something else often: “There are two kinds of music: music you sit and listen to and music you get up and move to.”

I greatly prefer the latter. And on its surface, Astral Weeks is hands down the former.

But . . . . . I wasn’t listening to this while in a hot tub with a spliff, or lying prone on a bed, or while sleepily reading the Sunday papers. I was listening to it while driving through the City, watching pedestrians and cars and birds and scenery pass by.

And to my eternal horror I realiz(s)ed I was actually ENJOYING (bits of) it.

And then I realiz(s)ed I’d missed a category – this is music you LISTEN to while watching OTHER people move.

That led me to thinking what an interesting movie soundtrack Astral Weeks might have made, underscoring some plot to do with star-crossed lovers in an urban wasteland, something like that. And then I remembered – didn’t he have a few songs on that soundtrack we listened to? He did. Ah. It’s all coming together.

Anyhow, in that context, I found pleasure and value in (some of) Astral Weeks, despite the fact that everything about its construction should have inherently annoyed me – the vocals mixed way too high, the lack of melody or song structure, the insipid swelling strings (which by the way VM once said “ruined” the record), and the hippie jazzy improvisational meanderings of some of the instrumentation (especially the flautists).

Even though this is a “sound not songs” record where the breaks between tunes are mere resting places, I found “Sweet Thing” quite appealing. It’s more up-tempo and is the song least down in the dumps. As noted, the strings don’t add, they subtract (or detract) but overall it's a stroke. I also very much liked “Madame George”; the couplets work nicely (and they actually rhyme). I did like the fiddle bits on “Cyprus Avenue” too. Otherwise, not much got through the haze of ambient jazz folk VM has woven – especially “Beside You”, which was a real struggle.

But I can absolutely see how this is a record that would suck you in very gradually over time. I can see how one could hate this at first and eventually grow to love it. I can count the number of times that’s happened to me on exactly zero hands – if I hate something at the outset, the chances that my mind will change is pretty low. I am very keen on and attuned to hooks which grab you right away, and other than “Sweet Thing” and maybe simple harpsichord (?) thing on “Cyprus Avenue”, this record is a hook desert.

Still, the reality is I DIDN’T hate it like I thought I would, and some of it really DID grow on me as I listened through multiple plays. And that’s something.

So in the end while this wouldn’t ever be something I’d cherish, I can see why others might. As for me, VM never has done anything I like more than “Wavelength”, but I’ve newfound respect for his atmospherics and experimentation. 5/10 feels churlish but I’m going to stick with it as other than “Sweet Thing”, I won’t play it again, probably, but chalk this up as a win because I was sharpening my keyboard for a 2 or a 3 before putting it on. This week I learned something new about music – always a good thing.
 
Never heard of it before, and not really a Van fan. I don't care if he's a miserable fucker, it hasn't stopped my liking of some Morrissey songs!

Pleasantly surprised. I was lying in bed, watching the rain caress the windows whilst this was on and my mood seemed to fit the music. Which I like.

This gets a 6 plus 1 for a mood matching surprise. A 7!
Welcome back to the thread, Bob. Hope you are doing OK.
 
There has been some brilliant write ups for this album and even though I didn't particularly like it (or dislike it) I am going to give it another go as it might be one which grows on you. Either way it's been great reading the reviews.

However I think whoever mentioned Michael Bublé needs barring for a week :-)
 
There has been some brilliant write ups for this album and even though I didn't particularly like it (or dislike it) I am going to give it another go as it might be one which grows on you. Either way it's been great reading the reviews.

However I think whoever mentioned Michael Bublé needs barring for a week :-)
Unfortunately, that would mean no summary from me :)
 
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

This was my last CD I ever purchased, I think around the same time as I drafting up how to nominate the greatest albums ever and this one kept being mentioned- yet it was really tough to find, I don’t think YouTube allowed it which added to the intrigue.

Anyway, I remember only hearing it a few times before the switch over from CD player to Spotify - so it’s great to have had a week to really listen.

This was always going to hit the spot considering my love for Dylan and just how close it sounds to one of my earliest nominations (David Gray- A Century Ends) it’s no surprise Astral Weeks was such a inspiration for him

‘’an album that I've spent the most time deconstructing?

would be Astral Weeks by Van Morrison.

It was an acquired taste like olives, or blue cheese. I didn't know what to make of it on first listen, and somehow it hooked me in and I began to become obsessed with it really, and I realised it was like a stream-of-consciousness moment where there weren't any certainties. It was like quantum music-making. Everyone seemed to be on a slightly different page and yet, Van and his voice somehow pulled things together. So, there's this kind of rambling poetic thing, but it's an unresolved record if you like
I don't think there are any records I've listened to more, and it still fascinates me. It's one of the most sustained moments of inspiration within the history of popular music
. ‘’

Definitely it takes a few repeated listens and I wish I could have really listened to this in my early Dylan obsessed days as I’m sure I would have appreciated so much more - that said, I still find it wonderful. Aside from the lyrics and poetry which throw up so much imagery there is some lovely melody and sounds, the bass, flute, strings all work so well and so many songs pick up pace to end on a crescendo.

There’s a few tracks that didn’t do much but ‘Astral Weeks’, ‘Sweet Thing’, ‘Cyprus Avenue’ and ‘Madame George’ are all rather beautiful.

Great pick. Van the Man!

8/10
 
I really am glad to see, and read, positive reviews of this album. And I can see their merit and points too. Helps split it down to purely a taste thing. And maybe timing, which is always a bit of a risk with albums of such a strong mood.
 
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