Amazon.co.uk Review
If Hollywood's marriage with pop music is too often a marketing-driven shotgun affair, there remain musicians whose artistry can't help but elevate whatever film project they're associated with. This 19-track compendium underscores that notion, gathering a career-spanning collection of the Irish rock-R&B legend's contributions to an eclectic body of films that stretches from
Pope of Greenwich Village's effusive early solo hit "Jackie Wilson Said" to the unlikely live collaboration with Roger Waters on "Comfortably Numb" that seasons Martin Scorsese's Oscar-nominated
The Departed. The collection serves as a concise primer to the high points of Van Morrison's mercurial career, from the gritty career-breakout hits ("Gloria," "Baby Please Don't Go") of his British Invasion band Them through such early solo touchstones as "Wild Night," "Brown Eyed Girl," "Domino," and the collection's fine, previously unreleased live version of "Moondance" from
An American Werewolf in London. But, as tracks like "Wonderful Remark," "Bright Side of the Road," "Someone Like You," and his Chieftains collaboration "Irish Heartbeat" ably argue, it's also an invitation to explore less heralded, if equally seductive, corners of the singer's rich oeuvre.
--Jerry McCulley
Record Collector March 2007
One of the great cinematic pleasures of 2006 was watching The Departed and thinking, 'Hold on even by Martin Scorcese's standards this is a pretty obscure selection: Van Morrison singing Comfortably Numb with Roger Waters and The Band from The Wall: Live in Berlin.' But as always, it hit the spot. For those who couldn't bear wading through the original double album, it's here as an incentive to buy this new collection. Occasionally you have to sit back and tap your cap to a brilliant marketing idea: realise what a cinematic artist Van Morrison is and make an alternative greatest hits from his songs used in soundtracks. Make no mistake; this is classic high period Van and a great way to reaquaint. Of course, the work with Scorcese stands out. Wonderful Remark (Kind Of Comedy) and the frankly stupid way that Van says 'radddio'in Caravan (The Last Waltz) reaffirms absolutely everything you loved but had to leave because a) you weren't yet 68; and b) he became repetitious. Van Morrison At The Movies does the job. We're right back in our Haunts Of Ancient Peace. You will be too. *****
See all Product Description