It's hard to think of Van as an introverted mystic, but this is where it all started. Yea, he had a first life as a Belfast bluesman and some time on Bang records when he produced one of the great pop singles of all timee, but this documents Van's summer of guitar. If you don't study this album, you're not a Van fan. As a matter of fact, find it on vinyl and digest it in twenty minute doses of mysticism.

Essential.

A friend recommended this to me, knowing I was Irish, a Dylan fan, and contemptuous of contemporary popular music. So I bought it, half expecting the radio Van Morrison of "Brown Eyed Girl", "Moondance", "And It Stoned Me", "Crazy Love", "Domino", "Wild Night".

And at first I hated it.

I hated jazz and I hated hippies too. I was much more in tune with Shane McGowan's punk rock sensibilities than Van's bittersweet reveries. There were moments of the title track I could get and I thought "Sweet Thing" was a nice song. But that was it. The repititions were driving me crazy. After the eighth or ninth "dry your eye for Madame George" I said, "to hell with you, Van" and took the CD out of the player.

The CD gathered dust on my shelf for a while. I don't remember why or when I started listening again. I just know that I was listening at a dark period in my life. I was homesick, there was a failed romance that had me heartbroken, there was the death of a friend at a young age by his own hand. There was too much of the drink and the drink was actually making me feel worse instead of the way it used to make me feel. In short, I wasn't ready for adulthood but adulthood was at the door, whether I was ready or not.

There's a part in the song "Astral Weeks"
"Could you find me,
would you kiss my eyes
and lay me down
in silence easy
to be born again"
that reminded me of the way I'd been with the girl I was still pining over, my first real love. And that part of the song to this day still gets me near to weeping. Well, misty eyed at least. In black and white it doesn't quite get it all, Van's voice, that lovely bass playing, the vibes, the strings, the quiet, gentle guitar. At the time I thought I was torturing myself with it, listening to it over and over again and when he'd say those words I'd think of lying with her and holding and kissing her and remembering that that was over now. I thought I was torturing myself with the song, but in a way I was healing myself as well. I needed to feel that pain. I needed somebody to put that into words and music and Van had done that.

I started "really listening" to the rest of the album as well. Van's voice of course, and as a guitarist myself I'm always interested in good guitar playing. But I think it was when I finally began to listen for the bass lines that I really began to appreciate just how beautiful the music on this CD is. I almost never listen to the bass in bands . The only other bassist I can think of who is that important to a band's sound is John Entwhistle of the Who, and this bass player is the exact opposite of Entwhistle. Entwhistle sounds like a jet engine roaring past your ear. Richard Davis on the other hand is playing accoustic the entire CD. But there is just something so delicate, fluid and expressive about his bass lines. Richard Davis is the unsung hero of this album. People forget him because Van is up there front and center with his voice, guitar and words, but without Richard Davis, "Astral Weeks" isn't "Astral Weeks."

Somewhere along the line I began to "get" Madame George as well. I finally figured out that the song was about a lonely old drag queen, who likes to play dominoes, get high, and listen to music with a bunch of young boys, and they're willing to hang out with him as long as he sends them to the shops for cigarettes with a little of his money and lets them listen to his records and get high on whatever the hell it is he drops out the window. I'm not sure if the cops really are coming through the door for him or if it's just paranoia, but the cops are mentioned. One can imagine what Lou Reed or Nick Cave might have done with the setup. But Van's song is about a glance. When the narrator, another school kid, glances into the eyes of "Madame George" and suddenly realizes that this is a person, a human being not a monster, not a freak. And he has to leave and never come back. In black print on a white page, it sounds sordid and depressing, I realize, but on the CD you have Van's haunting voice and the music and it's beautiful somehow. Transcendant somehow. Transcendant enough to make an avowed hippy-hater use the word transcendant and mean it. I can't really explain it, you'll have to feel it yourself to understand.

I think what this CD is about is leaving home, and leaving childhood.

And looking back at it ALL --- the beauty, the love, the pain, the joy, the sadness, the ugliness, the horror. And loving it all. And missing it all. And saying goodbye to it all and not getting trapped there, but still remembering, even though it hurts so much sometimes.

Then again, maybe the CD isn't about any of that at all, but that's what it's about to me.

Highly recommended to those of you out there who "ain't nothing but a stranger in this world."

Peace be with you.

First the LP then the CD, now the upload. The music remains relevant and compelling.
When Amazon put this album download on sale for under$2, I could not resist.

It was 1977. My brother bought me this album (on vinyl) for Christmas. Just sort of...of the cuff.
It changed my world. This was not nostalgia. I didn't even think about the release date. I dropped the needle and there it was. Perfection. Whatever that is.
This record will change your life.

I almost don't want to explore any of Van's other work because of the one-two knockout of this and Moondance. They perfectly compliment each other and show a musician and songwriter moving from one style to another and remaining distinctive. Most of the songs are pondering, winding, elegant, and slow. The only song that isn't is "the way young lovers do." It's a short tracklist with a number of long songs, but if you have the patience to actually listen to the music and live with it, you'll see that it's all beautiful with great songs, no filler, no fair, or even decent songs, just great ones. They also aren't songs (largely) of the radio variety so it may take some time to appreciate if you aren't into stuff this speed (uhum uhum, new york dolls?) This album isn't full of pop songs, so for that you can go somewhere else, but for those who can see the obvious value in it, will an album that's much more rewarding than many pop masterpieces.

Astral Weeks-Van Morrison *****

To lengthly go into discrition of Astral Weeks, Van Morrison's 1970's debut full length album, and not to mention his career best would be more or less pointless. While there will never be enough praise given to an album of this callebur it does not however need the praise.

Astral Weeks is an album that since the enitial release and will well into the future stand on it's own. As said before this stood out like an adult in a daycare center of rock albums when released, well it still does. Such sophistication on Astral weeks is nearly impossible to disect. The poetry of the lyrics rivals some of the best of that era, including the great Allen Ginsberg. The subject matter of love and social commentary are sometimes breathtaking and at other times earth shattering.

But the true amazment of this album is that of the vocal ability the Morrison displays. His soulful R&B style mixed with gosphel tones make for one sweet ride.

The band was told nothing of what to play, "Just to follow as I go," is what Morrison ordered in the studio. They nailed it. It's no wonder Lester Bangs, the worst all time best music critic hailed this as the only thing he would want if he was trapped on a desert island. Pure bliss.

I have been listening to this CD for over twenty years now, and I can't say I have every regretted putting it on. It is pure and beautiful. I can remember listening to it one evening and having the distinct feeling it was divinely inspired.

This entire work swirls and pulses; love, joy, regret and sad longing presented in a blurring, timeless expression of one man's faded memories. My throat tightens and my eyes well up before I've made it 2 minutes into "Astral Weeks". This album and two beers and I think I could propose to a stranger.

Nowadays the thing that occurs to me when I listen to this off-the-charts album in my cubicle at work is that the diminutive but not unchunky Belfast Cowboy came over to New York City to record it. Sat in a soundproof booth so he did, somewhere in late sixties Manhattan where the session men were very obviously smoking guns for hire, some of them I'd like to believe maybe even holdouts from the era of McClintic Sphere. A number of truly essential things have taken their course in Gotham--this is readily accessible reading material. Or at any rate this is what I am more than happy to accept as the urban death maze's public face and history. Funny old thing, the green and the sere blooming like crazy all in one place. Sigh. It's hard not to have strong feelings about New York--I think Levon Helm had it right when he called the burg an adult dose. I myself lived and worked in that city--not Manhattan though, fork no, Queens and the Bronx, respectively--for twelve years before unapologetically retiring to the suburbs. To live only I might add, probably pointlessly--I am still very much as I type struggling up the footpath to work in the Bronx. It seems to me in any case you don't have to love a city forever, once is enough and the rest is gravy. I read today in the Post that there currently reside in this great metropolis two powerful female real-estate brokers by the names of Hope Faith Consolo and Louise Sunshine. Alarming? I had no time to wonder because on the previous page I had already come upon the word "bumbershoot"--journalistic slang apparently for umbrella--a word I had never heard before and one that, frankly, unsocked me altogether. No wonder Mister Morrison showed up here. Remember when he sang those words, "For instance me, babe" in Ballerina? For some reason I've never forgotten that line and Ballerina isn't even the best song on the album, an honour that goes I suppose to Madame George which I once actually mowed the lawn drunk in the morning to back in 1985--inexplicably less pleasurable than it sounds but still a moment I am loathe to put behind me. Astral Weeks is full of these moments. It seems stupidly obvious to claim that Van the Man can pen and sing with ease the perfect popular song--play And It Stoned Me off of Moondance in a speeding car and at fairly high volume and tell me you're not on the loose in Leitrim--but Madame George is a different lump of spuds entirely. "She jumps up and says Hey love, you forgot your glove." As the dude from Spain sez further on down in these reviews, It won't be never dated. A big diez quatro to you Senor Marquina, I feel more or less exactly el mismo about this record.

So much raw emotion and incomparable singing here.
Apparently Van sat in a glass booth alone and played acoustic while singing, and the one-off band just followed along. If so, it's even more impressive, but then again Richard Davis' unbelievable bass performance is so free and pure that it almost has to be improvised.
This is a song cycle that begs to be played over and over. Even the Vegas schmaltzy strings on Young Lovers somehow fit into the transcendant folk vibe. When Van gets down to it and sings his ass off (Beside You and Ballerina), I get the shivers, and have for decades now.
Whatever x-factor is, Astral Weeks is soaked in it and dripping forever.
One gets the feeling that Van was in the midst of some experiments here ("Slim Slow Slider, the horse you ride, is white as snow"; Madame George in general; the album as hymn to astral weeks in the mind? Many lyrics suggest it, and his wailing, unencumbered delivery indicates total release on various levels).
However he got there, he got there, and listening to this album all the way through will get you there too. Every time.
AW and Moondance are his peaks, but whereas Moondance is a perfect pop record, this is a brand of soul that is uniquely Van's own, neither perfect nor needing to be. No one has ever recorded an album quite like Astral Weeks.
Van made it to the top of the mountain a number of times, but this is as high as Van, or most any singer, ever got.

PERFECTION!.... I used to sit back in a rocking chair and meditate to this album. It is still the best, but I love almost all of his music. Moondance hooked me but this album made me collect every van cd I could find. I love his music, even albums I did not like at first I listen to again and hear new things. Seeing him in The Last Waltz is the ultimate! Van is the Man, the Belfast Cowboy, his voice is an instrument unto itself. Moondance is stll my all time favorite song but this album is the best.

This album is so beautiful i literally wept the first time i ever heard it and it never fails to touch me every single time i listen to it. It is in my opinion, the greatest album made by anyone at any time, ever. It makes you long to be newly in love, to feel those first butterflies in your stomach.
Album favorites are Astral Weeks, Sweet Thing and Madam George but every song is beautiful and the album flows effortlessly. I can't say enough about this one. Seriously, if you are a fan of Van or of music in general, you won't be disappointed.

Moondance has always been one of my favorite CDs. Why it took me so long to buy Astral Weeks I'll never know. I can't stop listening to this album (and I've had it for almost a year now). I think it's one of the most honest albums I've ever heard. Van puts his all into every single line. Later on in his career it's almost like he stopped caring and just "talks" through the lines live. Here there is actual emotion and it's so precisely captured that every song takes you to a place that you feel like you've been before. The liner notes mention that there are no noticeable "singles" here, but I think every song works great in the context of the work as a whole and also stands on it's own admirably. This is in my top ten.

Half the songs on here give me goosebumps. Astral Weeks is probably my favorite Van Morrison album, granted Tupelo Honey and Moondance are a lot more fun, Astral weeks is transcendental. In this album Van seems very in love, nostalgic, or sentimental. Key tracks (really all of them) include:
Astral Weeks- Strong and solid,
Sweet Thing- The strings in this are awesome
Cyprus Avenue- More like familiar Van Morrison
Madame George- It's long, and good. Again and as usual, an awesome arrangement. (for David Gray fans, this is where part of "Say Hello, Wave goodbye comes from)

The other tracks on here are all good, no real dancing numbers, but all the songs are beautiful, the kind you put on a mix CD for a new (or not so new) love. Anyone who considers themselves a Van fan had better own this.

I think it came out in '68 when I was a sophomore in high school...shy, insecure, just moved to a new school. These songs became part of my very being, and they will always be a part of who I am. There was just something about Van: the words, the stylings, the chord progressions. His music made my soul scream, and it felt so good.

FREE FORM VOCAL STYLINGS

This album rates very highly on many critics list of the all time best. It routinely comes up in the top ten. About 10 years ago, Rolling Stone magazine voted it the second best album of all time, behind the Beatle's Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Released in 1968, this is Van Morrison's second solo album. It is 46 minutes long and the sound quality is good, although the music is mixed a little thin.

The Way The Young Lovers Do is the only thing on this album that is anything close to pop song along the lines of Brown Eyed Girl. I am not a big pop music fan, but I like this song. The rest of the album is something completely different.

The rest of the album is some nice music with some interesting playing, mixed really low. It is a mixture of jazz and folk with a little blues thrwon in. There are some interesting bits on flute, vibes and keyboards. But, the music remains just a back drop and is mixed in at a very low volume. The CD comes with a fold out cover that tries to give a historical perspective of the album. Intrestingly, it is pretty subdued and does not rave about the album like the critics do.

Morrison's wild and unstructured vocals are mixed loudly on top of the music. He seems to be always riffing and jamming. He'll be singing along and then he'll jump into a repeated riff, such as "you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out, you breath in, you breath out".

I know people are going to get mad at me, insult me and call me names, but I have to admit that I just don't get it. I don't think this is a personal, emotional album, and I don't think it has interesting stories. It comes off to me as an experimental album that didn't quite work.

Music is a very personal thing. People can get really mad when you don't agree with them on music that they really love. They take a low review on thier favorite album as a personal attack. They say nasty things about the reviewer.

To get even, people will mark a review as "hot helpful", like that evens things up. But, a review like this is helpful to buying public that might not know much about this ablum and are thinkging about buying it because of all the rave reviews (that is why I bought it).

Just because certain people love it doesn't mean everyone will. In fact, many people did not like this album. It is the only Van Morrison album not to chart. And you might wonder why Morrison did not do anything like this again. He certainly still had the artistic freedom to do what he wanted, because he had a pretty lose contract from Warner Brothers. What he came up with next, is Moondance, which was completely different. In later albums, Morrison did incorporate some of the Astral Weeks vocal stylings on some songs, but it was much more controlled.

Van Morrison started out in a group called Them. Them had a minor hit with Baby Please Don't Go, and bigger hit with Gloria, written by Morrison. Them was going through changes, so Morrison retired from music for a few years, before coming up with Brown Eyed Girl, and his first ablum, Blowin' Your Mind. He did not approve of the album and withdrew. His manager died, freeing him from his contract, so he was able to sign with Warner Brothers, have much more artistic freedom and came up with this.

Years and years from now, if the world is still in one piece and the human race hasn't made itself extinct, people and history books will hopefully have long forgotten these vapid, celluloid dolts of today (i.e. see Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake, et al...) and remember and revere such artists as Van Morrison. Well... I guess one can always dream, right? Damn, I am one naive, lost soul! I still believe that it is 1982 and I am asleep, dreaming this all, waiting patiently to wake up. This really has to be some kind of joke right? Anyway, back to the reasons why this CD deserves five stars (actually I would put this one in that rare six-star category if I could).

This saintly, little genius from Belfast has produced some of the most beautiful music ever, in the history of beautiful music. Like Bob Dylan, Van wasn't blessed with a voice a la Sinatra or Tony Bennett. He was a very good guitar player, but he's not even in the same league as say a Jimi Hendrix or a Wes Montgomery or a Al DiMeola, et al... And lastly, his lyrics can't compare with that of Dylan's or even Simon and Garfunkel for that matter. All that being said (and I know that these are some bold words I'm about to pen), I can't think of any one musician that has had as long and as productive of a career as Van Morrison (besides Louis Armstrong of course, but it isn't fair to compare anyone to Pops when it comes to contributions to American music). This cat is something else for sure! I love Miles, and Duke, and Sinatra, and the Glimmer Twins, and I highly respect and enjoy quite a bit of Dylan, Paul Simon, McCartney, et al... But this guy is still doing it and hasn't missed a beat in over forty years now! All I have to say is un-friggin-believable! He hasn't really slowed down since he first started in the early 60's belting out such enjoyable songs as "Baby Please Don't Go", "Gloria", and "Here Comes the Night" to name a few. However, in 1967 after leaving the band "Them" he started getting really serious and his second solo album in 1968 'Astral Weeks' is, to put it mildly, sublime, and magical, and totally unique, unlike anything you have ever heard before or since. A true genius is almost always an artist who is way ahead of their time, and Van was (and still is) a true genius. This album is his crowning achievement, his greatest work which is saying a lot when you consider just how many great albums he has produced for going on five decades now - AMAZING!

I know, I know, this is only one man's opinion, and you may even consider the author of this review a bit... as my Italian relatives would say... PAZZO! However, any lover of good music (no matter what your favorite genre is) should really enjoy this. Van merges jazz, blues, rock, r&b, folk, and a little bit of Celtic music into this one and the results are outstanding. He sings and plays his guitar beautifully. Every song contains placid, poetic lyrics that will melt your heart, especially with the solitary way in which Van belts them out with such ardent fervor and emotion. The other great thing is the band behind the man, the men who helped Van create such magnificent music on this masterpiece are the following jazz greats - Jay Berliner (guitar), Richard Davis (bass), Connie Kay (drums), John Payne (flute, soprano sax), and Warren Smith, Jr. (percussion and vibraphone). They all sound inspired, and it's very difficult to pick out one performance over the others because each one is top-notch. I usually don't like writing no-brainer reviews, but this album has a real special place in my heart. Enjoy!

This album doesn't suck.

Buy it. Put it on. Shut up. Listen to it. Don't be afraid to lose yourself (you'll find yourself again).

I'm going to put it on right now.

If there is a single record album that has been most important in my life, this is it. If there has been an album that never grows stale, no matter how many times I play it, Astral Weeks is the one. If there are songs that have always been important to me over 39 years and counting, it is the songs on Astral Weeks.

I'm not sure I can even tell you why. Partly, it's the jazz-rock fusion. Partly, it's Richard Davis's strong bass leads in many of the songs. Partly, it's Van's voice. In some of the songs, it's the lyrics ("I shall never grow so old again..."). In others, it's Van's phrasing that make otherwise mundane lyrics meaningful. The lyrics are elliptic, but never obscure.

Certainly some of the pleasure comes from the sense of attending a jam session, and just listening in. The imperfections give it a live quality, and sense of intimacy. Others criticize the mistakes, but for me they are an important part of the emotion the album conveys. And maybe that's the heart of it: this is a cycle of songs about emotion. It never slips into cheapness or insincerity. It never condescends. It's never shallow. Whether it is the simple joyousness of "Sweet Thing," the guilty anguish of "Cypress Avenue," or the gender-bending of "Madame George," the emotions are pure and genuine, and expressed uncommonly well.

I have delighted in this album for years. It is in many ways a great artist's greatest work. My very highest recommendation.

What I can say about Astral Weeks, is that, to me, if you asked Van Morrison to go back in time and scrap all but one of his albums.. this is the one that he would keep. I just figure that it would be that way. This may be the one album of Vans where he isn't just a vocalist perfoming some songs... this is the one that has his heart and soul in it.
Van Morrison left his band THEM in 1967, when a record industry big wig took him to New York to break into a solo career. Brown Eyed Girl was the single that broke his name out in the states. It seems that the wigs wanted to make Van into some sort of Neil Diamond type of character at that point.. but Van had different ideas all together.
Astral Weeks is a labor of love, and Van had to work some magic just to get this off the ground (the #1 single with Brown Eyed Girl helped..) this record had no radio hits, yet was crucial in establishing Van Morrisons style from there on in.
What makes this record a cut above any of his other work, is the fact that it has a raw feeling to it, yet is extremely proffesional. Van took the bar way beyond rock and roll here, dipping into folk sounds from the old country... something NO ONE was doing at the time.
Now Van experiments with everything, but his earthly taste in music is where he gets his cred... that all began here (and its at its most fresh sounding...true these songs may not have been as pop-worthy as future go-rounds with the same style... but when a performer is really feeling it himself, you can tell the difference... at least you can on this record)
Another thing that should be noted is that the song Madame George was being performed by Van back in his days with THEM. Older versions try it as a rock song, but here it is completely transformed into what it becomes here... and I often wonder if his constant noodling with this song is what became the basis of this record in the first place? Anyway,my point is that, if you consider yourself a fan of Van morrison and have never heard this album before, you've got some homework to do.

I bought this album when it was first released in 1968.I still have it.I do not play it anymore.I play the cd.I had been a hard core jazzman up to that point.It amazed me.I could not stop playing it.Over and over I played it,finding something new with every listen.The lyrics,the music,unbelievable the mixing of the instruments.How someone so young could have so much confidence in his ability as a poet and a musician.To me,this is hands down the best album to ever come out of the 6o`s. I believed that then and I still do today.I still listen to it reguarly and it still amazes me.The original album goes with me when I head for the other side.

There is a preview rough review about the lyrics and the oooos and aaaaayyyyyaaaaas that makes Van here. It's all right ma, but there is a wonderful way to listen to this, easier for me than others because I'm born not an english talker... I can hardly understand what Mr. Morrison sings all about, so I let the music flow all over my room, my ears and then my full body, and all I get is a big emotional-thrill. For there is only one low point, Beside You, and it's because of the uninspired arrangements.
You don't have to be a fan of this irish to buy it because it's a must to listen to this disc before you die.

After 218 reviews and a solid 4+ average rating not much more can be said about this disc, it is just that good. It is really quite incredible that nearly forty years have passed since this seminal Van Morrison work was released; he's still around offering his Celtic soul to whoever will listen. Hopefully you will listen. Start here to understand the Celtic poet-soul-man. It doesn't get much better than this. Begin by listening to "Madame George," from here you will know if this is for you. What appears at first listen to be ramblings of esoteric themes will eventually unveil itself as the offerings of the beauty in a world gone mad. Van Morrison delivers his spiritual sermon in everyday terms that require attention to detail; the details are in your life. No matter the mood your in if you put this disc on your soul will feel cleansed; it's like Irish Spring for the soul. I'm a musical junkie who has countless stacks of music in various formats, from different eras, from different artists but if I had to pick ten discs to take with me to never have access to the others , this one would make the trip with me. I have some 8,800 tunes and counting(must be selective) on my I-Pod and probably only five Van Morrison discs but this is the beginning and the end; he will probably never achieve what he did with this disc. "Hymms to the Silence" is another disc in this vein and a close second. This disc, "Astral Weeks" is a tapestry without seams, an endless stream of conciousness, exhibiting secrets from within the depths of your inner soul and emotions. Van Morrison has a key that unlocks your innerself, leaving you with a smile on your face in satisfaction for the fact that you are a living and breathing being who grasps life and all it's trials and tribulations. Rejoice in this masterwork, it only comes around every forty years or so by special artists.

I've never read it, but Proust's "Rememberence of Things Past" probably has that same tragically bitter-sweet feeling, and, if not, it should wish it does. Anyway, Astral Weeks is the most romantic, poignant, gorgeous set of psychedelic soul. These don't sound so much as full songs, but more so overheard confessions, interrupted testimonials, random diary readings, all set to sumptuous rhythms. One tune flows into the next, the tempo changes are delicate and nuanced, but somehow jarring. Its self referrential, other wordly, and just so awfully, painfully, wonderfully beautiful. I found this album by chance and, like Miles Davis' Kinda Blue, it just happened to change my life. Its a sad, silly ode to being alive.

I have Lester Bangs to thank for turning me on to this album and making me realize its genius. Actually, I should probably thank Cameron Crowe and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as well, because Crowe's movie "Almost Famous" (and Hoffman's excellent performance as Bangs) made me want to read something written by the legendary rock critic, so I looked him up online and immediately found his review of "Astral Weeks" (which, incidentally is a great read).

Though prior to this I had no interest whatever in Van Morrison (whom I knew nothing about, not even realizing that I had already heard a couple of his songs, like "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Domino"), Bangs aroused my curiosity and made me want to hear the album so I could see what he saw in it. So I opened my Rhapsody player, found the album and put it on. I was immediately struck by the uniqueness of the sound, not to mention the poetry of the lyrics. And slowly, with a quiet insistence, Morrison pulled me into his world, like an impressionist painter who leaves most of the details up to the imagination of the viewer, painting just enough to evoke an impression of having experienced this dreamlike procession of scenes that seem to hover on the edge of reality.

"Astral Weeks" is to me a sublime culmination of everything that was good about classic rock, folk, and the blues. But this is not the kind of album that you should sample by picking out just one or two songs to listen to. It is my firm belief that in order to truly be appreciated, this album has to be listened to in its entirety from beginning to end. Furthermore, I believe that Morrison is trying to communicate something indefinable with this work... something mystical if you will, but not in the overt -- I'm tempted to say gimmicky -- way that most 60s and 70s artists peppered their songs with quasi-mystical references. Rather, this is an inspired invocation of the mystical as something ineffable that arises from the totality of human experience, and the real genius of Astral Weeks is that it communicates this sense of the mystical not only without ignoring everything that is sorrowful, shabby, painful, or pathetic about life; it often does so by focusing on those very aspects of human existence.

Since first discovering "Astral Weeks" I have listened to everything by this artist that I could find, but so far I have found nothing equalling the deep, honest soulfulness and haunting beauty of this album. I have to concur with Lester Bangs when he says that though Morrison was only "twenty-two - or twenty-three - years old when he made this record, there are lifetimes behind it."

The customary juxtaposition of the existential with the metaphysical may lead one to believe there is more going on here than the VanMan improvising for 45m on a few of his favorite themes. Yaaahuuuhmmm, alright. But its only wordjams, uhhuh. Laaaymedowowowown, jammin with words yaaahuh, yeah. Astral weeks is however a very pretty title. Woyeahuh. How much weed do you have to smoke to 'get' this album? Aaaaaon, on the radio, rayray rayray, raaaaaodio. Alright.

If you're wondering why Astral Weeks is widely considered one of the greatest albums ever, chances are you've never heard it. Astral Weeks sounds even less like anything like it than those other "sounds-nothing-like-anything-like-it" records. It's not even a thing like a traditional soul or folk album - in fact, more often than not it sounds like a Medieval record. But Van gets a LOT of mileage out of the harpsichord/strings/flute/acoustic guitar arrangements, as well as his Bellfast reminiscening.
The meat of Astral Weeks lies in tracks three through six. First off is the brilliant love song Sweet Thing. Van's lyrics are excellent, and the swooping strings and flute add another layer. Next off is the harpsichord-happy Cypress Avenue, a coming-of-age story about a boy from the wrong side of the tracks in love with a rich girl. Third, The Way Young Lovers Do starts off sounding like a Celtic folk song, until the soul-influenced horn part enters. And, of course, we have the ten-minute character sketch Madame George, which may or may not be about a transvestite. But that doesn't matter, because it's pure poetry.
But that's not all that's good about the album - the title track, in spite of meandering slightly, is an excellent meditation on death. Beside You is an underrated song, and Slim Slow Slider has a great soprano sax part near the end. Even the semi-filler Ballerina, which wanders for seven minutes without saying much, has a great arrangement.
This was Van before he polished his sound. Even its follow-up, Moondance, is much more of a pop effort than Astral Weeks. Don't get me wrong, I like Moondance, but it's missing something. Astral Weeks, on the other hand, has that something: a layer of mystique that nearly forty years have not diminished.

I've listened to this CD at least 10 times, and it really is like looking at a Andy Warhol or even Picasso painting and 'just not getting it'. I bought the disk thinking it must be the ultimate Van Morrison (#19 on Rolling Stone Magazine's Best Albums list), but it is so rough and dated that you would really need to look beyond the recording to appreciate the art. I have read that Morrison didn't even know the backing musicians, and that there was very little, in any, interaction prior to recording. I find 'Moondance' and 'His Band and Street Choir' much more enjoyable from Van's early 70's work. His strongest release is the live album from 1974, 'It's Too Late To Stop Now'. Interesting, in that concert he only had one song from Astral Weeks...which was a vastly superior version of Cypress Avenue.

Hard-core Van Morrison fans should own Astral Weeks, but IMHO it really is a rather unexceptional period piece, and not a 'timeless classic".

For later period Van Morrison, I would recommend Hymns to the Silence, Down the Road, or Live at the Grand Old Opera House Belfast.

This isn't the CD I'd take to a desert island with me...this is the one I want to either be buried with or go to the Arterlife with. A work of true genius unlike any in the annals of pop music and as thoroughly original as, yes, Sgt. Pepper, this album is THAT good. There was never any music like this before Astral Weeks and there hasn't been anything like it since. Everything about it is perfect, everything about it is unique. Even Van the Man never came close to repeating this...it's as if the angels granted him this one moment of the sublime. Though there are songs on St Dominick's Preview that come close. But enough! Words do not suffice. Astral Weeks speaks, groans, purrs, bellows, growls and soars for itself.

Love it, Love it, Love it. Being the fan of Van that I am, it would be hard for me to critique anything unfavorably that the man has done. I have a dozen or so of Van's CD's, but this is one of my all-time favorites. Every song on the CD is masterful.

When the mood strikes me, I like to put on this CD, pour a glass of wine and sit by myself for some pleasurable listening.

Well first, I think this album is absolutely brilliant.. Why?!? Well, for many of the reasons that some listeners reviewing it didn't like it.. What appears to be loose structure, thick mixes of swirling instruments and all around experimental composition in all senses of instrumentation and Lyricism. Being a musician and writer, I use it as an example of being able to produce a piece of work that is absolutely honest and true to its time.

Once when I was dating a girl, her brother knew that I was a "Van Fan" and asked me which CD he should get and obviously I stated "Astral Weeks". He bought and two weeks later told me he would NEVER trust my opinion again.. He stated "Why would you recommend an Van album that didn't have Brown Eyed Girl on it"..

The Music.. As far as I can tell, their is not an Electric instrument on the album.. All acoustic guitars, Upright bass, trap drum kit, Flutes, horns, Vibraphone as well as other acoustic instruments but truthfully, I have never been able to pinpoint an electric instrument on any of the songs.. PURE musical tone.. It is fused with Elements of Jazz, blues, folk and always with Van's twist of Traditional Irish influence.

I have seen many state that they find "Beside You" To be more of the "Annoying" Songs but truthfully, It is really my favorite..

I would also say if you are a fan of Counting Crows, you should purchase this album.. I saw them a few years back and midst one of their songs, Adam Duritz sang "And I will walk and talk in gardens all misty wet with rain". I looked around to see a few jump up and down with ecstatic approval of what appears to be Adam's approval and admiration of this recording..

I highly recommend this album. Van Morrison appeals to me personally because his music can be very versatile. Like most everyone, before buying this CD I had known Brown Eyed Girl, Domino, and a few of Van's more widely-released songs. I was surprised to listen to Astral Weeks, though, because it is so much more intimate and personal.

Van Morrison's music reflects an interesting mix of rock and jazz, which accounts for much of the versatility of his released work. This early album especially has clear jazz influences and an improvisatory nature. As a music lover, I think it has a very unique and pleasant sound. The album's instrumentation includes flute, strings, guitar, acoustic bass, and drums, and combines with Van's unique vocal style to produce a variety of moods and emotions on the CD's eight tracks. I enjoy the whole set, especially the first five songs; in fact, "Sweet Thing" is probably one of my favorite songs ever.

Overall, this CD comes highly recommended. With downloading so integrated into our society, sometimes it is nice to buy and have a complete album in hand--Astral Weeks should be that album. Each song is great, and combines with the others to create an even better album. Van Morrison aficionados or amateurs can all appreciate this unique collection.

This album remains an enigma because it's Van Morrison's most critically acclaimed album, yet it doesn't contain any "hits". Most people are familiar with Van Morrison, may have heard this is the best one from reading Rolling Stone or something, but are unfamiliar with all the tracks. So, here are some things you need to know...

1. This album is NOT for everybody. Normal people who take huge amounts of interest in mainstream tripe such as reality shows, tabloid magazines, American Idol, Nickelback, the Bush Adminstration, as well as those who do things like drive too slow in the fast lane, think ALL kids are cute, or annoy others in restaurants and theatres with senseless yapping about meaningless topics, should steer clear of this album. The lyrics of the first track, also entitled Astral Weeks, declares "I am nothing but a stranger in this world." This album is intended for those with similar beliefs and experience what society considers "abnormal" thought process. In fact, we kinda hate you people.

2. This is an EXPERIMENTAL PUNK album. Astral Weeks is in the same category as The Velvet Underground, Wire, Sonic Youth, The Jesus & Mary Chain, etc. The publications that rate this album the highest are also the same publications that rate albums like Daydream Nation and Marquee Moon so high. Visit fastnbulbous.com to see Astral Weeks at #3 right behind The Stooges & Talking Heads.

It belongs in this category because it does not conform to any uniform standard of music, is free of structure, choruses, and the same bland tunings that every other band uses. Furthermore, as mentioned before, its targeted audience is unique people with different thinking patterns, strangers in this world. It's a mixture of tones (instruments & vocals) harmoniously combined to create the perfect sound.

3. Contrary to some people's opinions who do not like the album, this is NOT hippy music, nor a product of 1968. There is no resemblance whatsoever to Donovan, The Youngbloods or anything psychadelic. While it may be good listening for drug-induced euphoric late-nights, there should be no comparisons to Uriah Heep.

It breaks down like this...if you're definition of brilliant is being unique and unconventional, you are considered a bit unique and brilliant yourself, buy the album right away and prepare to become seriously addicted within a few weeks.

If you have interest in Van Morrison b/c you heard Brown Eyed Girl at a wedding reception, or playing over the intercom at the grocery store while you were getting the latest on Brittney's new baby, I encourage you to check Van Morrison's greatest hits and skip this one.

If the other CD you own is a Shania Twain, if you're puzzled why Lindsey Lohan hasn't been nominated for any awards, or bummed because Joan of Arcadia is a re-run this week, not only skip the album, but also avoid dating any person who claims to be an all-time fave.

If you consider Blink-182 to be a legitimate punk band, shop at Hot Topic, and are eagerly anticipating going to The Warped Tour, you may dig this album, but not yet. Wait a few years for that all to pass. While this is very popular with the punk/alternative crowd, there's not one crunching guitar on the whole album. This is pretty advanced listening also. Next you'll hit Radiohead, then venture into more obscure territories, then this. Be patient.

Die-hard heavy metal fans who judge ALL music by the sheer heaviness of its guitar riffs should steer clear too.

You'd have to be an absolute idiot to enjoy this. It doesn't even have Brown Eyed Girl which is the only half decent thing Mr Morrison ever did. And what sort of name is Van? Stick to Ronan Keating for that bit of Irish soul.

If you are considering this album, by all means get it. It has some excellent music. Sure, it's a bit uneven, but you get a sense of the true power and imagination of the young Van Morrison in this incredible work. Great lyrics, interesting instrumentation, and of course, the powerful voice of Van.

I'm especially fond of the songs Astral Weeks and Sweet Thing. They have such wonderful passion and exuberance! They are tunes that are truly timeless. The rest of the album is fine, but have the flavor of the time. For anyone who wants to experience Van Morrison, this album is indispensable.

i first heard this in 1978. at first i didn't get what all the fuss was about. one year later, maybe five listens later & i realized that i was stupid & that this really is a timeless classic. 26 years later it is one of my ten most listened to albums. you can't live without this. take my word for it. you really can't. if you don't have this & you think you're living, you're wrong. oh so wrong.