Album of the Week #40: "Astral Weeks" by Van Morrison

John

Despite all the songs being butchered on every open mic night this is still a classic album by the blackest white man in Ireland.

fits

I concur... Amazing album.
Have to get my hands on a copy, I havent listened to it in years.

stovelid

I've been listening to it for 16 years and I'm still surprised about how much play I still get out of it and how good it sounds.

I was only told recently that he played all the songs solo and left the studio, leaving the session musicians to interpret the backings themselves.

Probably apocryphal but I hope it's true because the thing I always loved about the album was that slightly off-kilter, ebb-and-flow, loose feeling about it.

fits

I remember once sitting in a bar with a view of the sea on a sunny weekday afternoon with a friend.
Astral Weeks was on the player... It was perfect music for a perfect afternoon.

Andy-Pandy

Ah yes, the best album from any Irish man, ever. Van is the man alright.

Mangum

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Ah yes, the best album from any Irish man, ever. Van is the man alright.

It's not as good as My Bloody Valentines - Loveless.

But still definitly in the top 5 alltime Irish albums.