Hymns to the Silence (Remastered) Van Morrison

• 1 Professional Jealousy 03:47
• 2 I'm Not Feeling It Anymore 06:36
• 3 Ordinary Life 03:34
• 4 Some Peace of Mind 06:27
• 5 So Complicated 03:22
• 6 I Can't Stop Loving You 03:58
• 7 Why Must I Always Explain? 03:53
• 8 Village Idiot 03:16
• 9 See Me Through, Pt. II / Just a Closer Walk with Thee 03:12
• 10 Take Me Back 09:11
• 11 By His Grace 02:37
• 12 All Saints Day 02:32
• 13 Hymns to the Silence 09:43
• 14 On Hyndford Street 05:21
• 15 Be Thou My Vision 03:51
• 16 Carrying a Torch 04:28
• 17 Green Mansions 03:42
• 18 Pagan Streams 03:40
• 19 Quality Street 03:59
• 20 It Must Be You 04:11
• 21 I Need Your Kind of Loving 04:32
• Total Runtime 01:35:52

Info for Hymns to the Silence (Remastered)

"Nicht nur, daß Van Morrison fast ein Jahr nach "Englightenment" ein neues Album vorlegt, er war auch so produktiv, daß es gleich zwei Platten (LP wie CD) wurden. Stilistisch bewegen sich die Songs in dem Terrain, das man seit "Avalon Sunset" kennt. Mit Kompetenz und Überzeugungskraft interpretiert Morrison seine trotz eines gewissen "Déjà vu"-Effekts melodisch immer wieder ansprechenden Kompositionen zumeist in einem mit Folk- und Pop-Elementen durchsetzten Rhythm & Blues- oder Jazz-Idiom, er scheut aber auch nicht vor amerikanischer Country- ("I Can't Stop Loving You") und Gospel-Music ("See Me Through Part II") oder einem irischen Kirchenlied ("Be Thou My Vision") zurück. Und mehr als einmal beweist er auf diesem Album, daß der größte weiße Soul-Sänger Van Morrison heißt. Liebhaber der meditativen, introspektiven Seite Morrisons werden die langen Balladen "Hymns To The Silence" und "Take Me Back" mögen. Popfans dürften mehr Gefallen an "Professional Jealousy" oder "Quality Street" (Text von "Dr. John" Mac Rebennack) finden - und ganz sicher an "Why Must I Always Explain" mit einer hinreißenden Melodie und bemerkenswerten Textzeilen. Faszinierend in ihrer atmosphärischen Dichte gerieten auch zwei Songs mit nur gesprochenem Text, von denen "Hyndford Street" (der Name der Straße in Belfast, in der Morrisons Geburtshaus steht) ein weiteres Kapitel aus den Kindheitserinnerungen des Künstlers aufschlägt: grandios." (stereoplay)

"Selbst den konventionellen R & B-Titelsong Ordinary Life hebt der dick- schädlige Ire noch über das Niveau gängiger Dutzendware. Auch sonst wu- chert er mit seinen Pfunden. Mal knödelt er, unverkennbar, Some Peace Of Mind, umgarnt von einem Mädels-Chor, dann swingt er locker im Big-Band- Arrangement (So Complicated), schmalzt sodann als Country-Cowboy I Can't Stop Loving You, um wenig später voll Inbrunst zu gospeln (See Me Through) oder fast zehn Minuten Hymns To The Silence zu zelebrieren. Das hat Stil!" (Audio)

Van Morrison

Digitally remastered

Van Morrison
One of music’s true originals Van Morrison’s unique and inspirational musical legacy is rooted in postwar Belfast.

Born in 1945 Van heard his Shipyard worker father’s collection of blues, country and gospel early in life.

Feeding off musical greats such as Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Muddy Waters, Mahalia Jackson and Leadbelly he was a travelling musician at 13 and singing, playing guitar and sax, in several bands, before forming Them in 1964.

Making their name at Belfast’s Maritime Club Them soon established Van as a major force in the British R&B scene. Morrison’s matchless vocal and songwriting talents produced instant classics such as the much covered ‘Gloria’ and ‘Here Comes The Night’.

Those talents found full astonishing range in Van’s solo career.

After working with Them’s New York producer Bert Berns on beautiful Top 40 pop hit ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ (1967), Morrison moved to another realm.

Recorded over 3 days with legendary jazz musicians Astral Weeks (1968) is a still singular album combining street poetry, jazz improvisation, Celtic invocation and Afro Celtic Blues wailing.

Morrison would weave these and myriad other influences into the albums that followed in quick succession.

Reflecting on new life in America on the joyous Sinatra soul of Moondance (1970) and the country inflected Tupelo Honey (1971) he summoned old spiritual and ancestral life in the epic St Dominic’s Preview (1972) closer track Listen To The Lion.

Double live album Too Late To Stop Now (1973) highlighted Morrison’s superlative performing and bandleader skills. Mapping out a richly varied musical course throughout the 70s he shone among an all-star cast including Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters on The Band’s Last Waltz.

Indeed, borne of his Irish Showband instincts, the magic of the live performance has been a consistent feature of Morrison’s career.

Settling back into life in the UK in 1980 he released Common One an album centring on Summertime In England an extraordinary invocation of literary, sensual and spiritual pleasure the song would often become a thrilling improvised centrepiece to his live shows.

Steering his own course throughout the 80s on albums such as No Guru, No Method, No Teacher he claimed Celtic roots with The Chieftains on Irish Heartbeat. Teaming with Georgie Fame brought new impetus to his live show while Avalon Sunset saw him back in the album and single charts by the decades end.

Van Morrison continued to advance on his status as a game- changing artist through the 90s and into the 21st century.

Awards and accolades - a Brit, an OBE, an Ivor Novello, 6 Grammys, honourary doctorates from Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster, entry into The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and the French Ordres Des Artes Et Des Lettres - attested to the international reach of Van’s musical art.

Yet there was never any suggestion that Morrison, one of the most prolific recording artists and hardest working live performers of his era, would ever rest on his laurels.

Collaborations with, among others, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, Lonnie Donegan, Mose Allison and Tom Jones confirmed the breadth of his musical reach.

Morrison’s visionary songwriting and mastery of many genres continued to shine on albums celebrating and re-exploring his blues, jazz, skiffle and country roots.

The influence of the musical journey that began back in Post War Belfast stretches across the generations, and Morrison’s questing hunger insures that the journey itself continues.

Constantly reshaping his musical history in live performance, Morrison reclaimed Astral Weeks on 2009’s album Live At The Hollywood Bowl.

The subtitle of Van Morrison's latest album, Born to Sing: No Plan B, indicates the power that music still holds for this living legend. "No Plan B means this is not a rehearsal," says Morrison. "That’s the main thing—it’s not a hobby, it’s real, happening now, in real time."

With one of the most revered catalogues in music history and his unparalleled talents as composer, singer and performer Morrison’s past achievements loom large. But, as throughout his extraordinary career, how that past informs his future achievements and still stirs excitement and keen anticipation.

This album contains no booklet.