I have for many years been a fan of Van Morrison. For me, his music epitomizes the rawness of the sixties, and although he has made many albums since this one, I still believe this to be one of the best that Van Morrison ever created. This album, although something of an experimental one at the time, was the foundation of a career that would span decades, and as I listen to newer works by Van Morrison, the roots that he created with Astral Weeks still come out in the harmonies and mood of his present work, although of course, like with all good artists, his work has evolved into newness. One of the most impressive images that this album produces in my mind is how new and experimental the sixties were, and how artists were encouraged to be inventive, and not merely copiers of earlier styles.

The sheer professionalism of this album doesn't date. Sumptuous strings, guitar and bass create a backdrop to a voice which at that time was new and gave a thick Irish brogue that took the listener into other worlds, other places, oblique thought patterns, seasons, times past, times present, and the dreamlike quality of the images that this music conjures up will never change, or thoughts become stale. The album has passed the test of time and upon each listening, I hear something new and refreshing. Being a classical music fan for many years, I was trained in the art of closing my eyes and using imagination to add image and depth to the music that I listened to, and having done so in this case, the astounding images that the album gave me of places and times, leaves on trees, and the amazing patchwork of colours that make up a human beings life were in vast supply.

Each song on the album is a classically stand alone song, with no theme being created by the Artist.

Track 1 Astral Weeks. (run time 7 minutes).

The words and the challenging way in which the instrumentals compliment them in this track is up-tempo and innovative. The song fills me with an optimism that many newer artists fail to bring out in me, and I believe that the poetic perfection and rhythms of music and heart and soul are what draw me into the song. It is almost like a poets wildest thoughts being put in motion, and you feel lulled along with the music. This is one track that is decidedly a "concentration" track, i.e. one that you need to stop everything to listen to. Yes, sixties music was the beginning of something new and something that would last, and artists such as Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and even Leonard Cohen were putting their poetry into music that would pass the test of time.

Track 2 Beside you (run time 5.10)

Mood and time come into play in this track. It is an evening song, with the hauntingly beautiful words, and melody that takes the mind into thought and reflection. If you close your eyes, you can almost see the shadows of evening and the way in which the time of day alters the reactions of the human mind. Rambling, almost melancholy and sad, what keeps this song together is the harmony and almost spontaneous flow.

Track 3 Sweet Thing (run time 4.10)

Having gone from melancholic sadness in the last track, Van Morrison takes you into the world of conviction in this next song, as you listen to the words that spell belief in what he saying, reinforced by crescendos of background and reinforcement of words. The rhythm of this song is amazing and always fills me with optimism and belief in life, belief in good, belief in the joy of music and words. There is almost a gospel quality to this song, though through the sincerity of his voice rather than any religious connotations.

Track 4 Cyprus Avenue (run time 6.50)

This is where the album changes, not so much in tempo, but in braveness of the artist to express more explicit pictures of places, and experiences of love. The song is typical of many newer Van Morrison songs, but what is so special about this is his leap into the experimental at the time in which the record was made was a risk, and one that paid off. This is Van Morrison at his most outspoken and raw, a new artist that was brave enough to tread where others feared, and the harmonies are amazing. It is almost like you are seeing an artist coming out of the shell of newness into braving voicing feelings in such a memorable way. The tempo of this song compliments so well the song before and after it, and the harmonies created make this piece one of the most memorable on the album.

Track 5 Way Young Lover Do. (run time 3.10)

Of all the tracks on this album, this has to be one of my favourites. It gives you visions of lovers and young love, loss of innocence, though all those emotions that a young person growing up feels, again in a raw and refreshing way that it still refreshing upon each listen. The background music here is sometimes harsh, although with reason, accentuating the way that people feel at that time in their lives when they are discovering life for the first time. It puts me in mind of virginal days, and the realization of adulthood, moody and bluesy but with sufficient tempo to keep the listener absorbed. One of the shortest tracks on the album though for me, one of the most memorable.

Track 6 Madame George (9.25)

One of the longest tracks on the album and one that takes you through a poetic and bluesy dreamlike 9 minutes of thoughts and brings the listener back into reflective, though melancholic mood. A slower pace than the former track, this is one for people who like to be drawn into word play, and the instrumental backing on this track makes it a 9-minute drift in and out of pain, pleasure, and reflection.

Track 7 Ballerina (7.00) and Track 8 Slim Slow Slider (3.20)

This and the final track, Slim Slow Slider, are a melodic and realistic look into emotions that at the age the artist was at the time would have been very real. Do you remember the importance of all the question marks of how important you are in the order of things, how much you love, how much it hurts to be rejected? The one song Ballerina, slides into the final mood of Slim Slow Slider making the voyage of the whole album complete, as if the listener has been taken to the heights, and then back down to the depths as a wonderful finale to a superb album.

Released originally by Warner Brothers, the CD was released in 1990 and is available for as little as £8.00

For those beginning their experimentation with music, this is one of the best collections of songs produced in an era that took music in many directions, all valid in their own ways, though comparable in quality and substance as works by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. To me, this will always be amongst my collection of what modern music is about.

Musicians:
Van Morrison: Guitar/Keyboards/Saxophone/Vocal
Richard Davis: Bass
John Payne: Flute
Jay Berliner: Guitar
Connie Kay: Drums
Lewis Merenstein: Producer
Warren Smith: Percussion

A superb classic and one that will widen the listener's perspective on music, as well as pleasing the ear.

Rachel