Astral Weeks - Live At The Hollywood Bowl [CD]

So, you record an album in a couple of days when you're nothing more than a wet-behind-the-ears scallywag from Belfast. Paraphrasing Dylan, channeling Robert Johnson, Van had stuff bustin' from his head. It didn't match up with what he did with Them, there were no pop songs there, it was all a bit over the place and no one quite knew what to do with it. From the early 70s on, however, "Astral Weeks" began to appear on best of lists from here to there. Never a big seller, it has nonetheless become one of the touchstone albums of the past few decades. Morrison never revisited that type of sound in the studio, though he obviously still had a great love for the album. For whatever reason, because he found the sound in his head from 1968, because he doesn't own "Astral Weeks" (notice that it isn't included in the recent remastered album series), he took it out, gave it a shake, dusted it down, assembled a great band and took the whole thing to Hollywood. Though his voice doesn't have the range it did all those years ago it works a treat. This could have been a polished, clean and sharp performance; instead there's a real sense that Morrison is pushing the songs and the performers and, whisper it, enjoying the arse off himself. This could have been a disaster (the cover certainly is!) but it isn't; it's a powerful, moving, hugely enjoyable performance. The songs skip and skittle from Van and the band and there's a real sense of performance - this isn't an exhibition of a work of art from the past, it's a vital, dynamic revisiting of a weird, odd, moving and beguiling collection of songs. Van lobs in a couple of bonus tracks too - the fabulous Listen To The Lion and the much underrated Common One (which is essentially a vocal sparring match between him and Richie Buckley). A treat. Now, Van what the hell is going on with those teeth?

I listened to the album on my back way home from work, latish and as the sun was going down over the hills and fields. At first I was a bit sad as I couldn't hear the beautiful words as clearly as on the original and his voice was different, gravelley, slurred, but I began to like the orchestration and slowly I got into it. Well, the sun was setting and it was a warm night and I got to the quite fabulous version of Slim Slow Slider and I was there, on the night, in the audience mesmerised, hypnotised by the whole voice, viloin, guitar sliding magical mysterious thing. In a world of my own with the master and his music. And I couldn't stop driving I just went right past my door and on and on as it got dark the sun set and I drove til the music came to an end...and then I went home. That was quite an experience.

As the saying goes "back in a former life" I was a huge Van Morrison fan. It was fair to say that Van's music was my religion and that "I was healed on a daily basis". To "practice" the religion I had seen Van in concert, way over 50 times, and had bought or swapped as many bootleg albums. I had everything the man ever released commercially.

The religion stopped for me about a decade ago; I stopped being a major fan--I thought I would never see the day but it happened. Why? Well, painful as it was, I had to accept that the albums that Van was releasing were so beneath the great man's talents that it was sad to see and hear.

I could no longer support the man on his journey; a journey that had taken the shape of releasing an album a year for the sake of it. Each album was identical to the last - the music never changed, either did the voice .Even when he experimented with Skiffle and Country, well the end result was even sadder. So I stopped buying the albums and stopped going to concerts. I still practiced the religion but it was on a diet of previous albums ,former glories.

Today I was in my local record store and I saw this album. Considering that I believe that "Astral Weeks "is the greatest album ever released and "Sweet Thing" the greatest song I had to see if the religion could be re-ignited. Well the answer is a definitive yes. I have just finished listening to the CD and I have goose bumps on my skin and hairs are standing on the back on my neck. Van is back.

Musically, Van has reached heights here I did not believe were ever possible again. Sure his voice is no longer the same but he has got it to levels he hasn't got it to in twenty years. He has put together a band that are as good as the Caledonia Soul Orchestra were thirty odd years ago. Ritchie Buckley, Paul Moran, the string section, everyone, reach levels of musical brilliance to match the genius of Van.

This is the reworking of a masterpiece, different to the original but every bit as good . Is it better - that is impossible but I repeat it is as good . I can't pick highlights - the whole album is so superb. As you can read I am running out of superlatives.

As for the cover , I can only remember one other album cover that Van smiled and that was where a photographer tricked him and the record company released it much to Van's displeasure . In this case I would bet that the image was caught live during the performance and that Van gave his blessing to the photo to be used as an indication that he too was totally surprised to revisit, to be transcended back into the garden, all misty wet with rain, to be healed again. Or best perhaps to leave it to Van's words reproduced on the back insert " Get on the train....I believe I've transcended ....I do believe ....I've transcended...to be born again - I have transcended ....I've transcended .......I've transcended TIME."

Welcome back Van. I thought I would not live to see the day I got my religion back. I had hoped, never expected. A grateful fan.