Van Morrison - BEAUTIFUL VISION Vinyl

Personnel: Van Morrison (vocals, piano); Herbie Armstrong (acoustic guitar); Chris Hayes, Chris Michie (guitar); Sean Fulsom (pipes); John Allair (organ); David Hayes (bass); Tom Dollinger, Gary Malabar, Peter Van Hooke (drums); Michele Segan (percussion); Bianca Thornton, Pauline Lozano, Annie Stocking (background vocals).
Recorded at The Record Plant, Sausalito, California.
Morrison kicked off the '80s with a new musical direction, and BEAUTIFUL VISION marks that turning point. Though Van was a lifelong devotee of American roots music, he put his R&B influences on the backburner for a while, instead pursuing the more spiritual side of his muse, which had always been present, but never given this much room to roam since his very first release, ASTRAL WEEKS. An important element here is the synthesizer and trumpet work of Mark Isham, which provide spacious, ambient musical textures, upon which Van's spiritual insights float.
Detractors claim that this period in Morrison's artistic development (a process that continued unabated throughout his entire career), was too mellow, too new-agey. What they fail to grasp is the fact that Morrison was probably the only artist capable of utilizing the very elements they bemoan and not turning it into a goopy, pseudo-mystical mess. The man has a genuine gift for articulating the spiritual. A notable exception to this direction is the funky "Cleaning Windows," a light-hearted look back at one of Morrison's youthful occupations.

• Format: Vinyl