Down the Road Music

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by: Van Morrison

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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Back On Top - For Real The last time Van Morrison cut an album of original material, "Back on Top" (1999), he appeared to be letting the production overwhelm the songs. Moving (once again) away from the soulful R&B inspired music that he'd rediscovered on 1997's "The Healing Game", it appeared that Van was drifting back into soft (and soft-headed) overly-lush musical arrangements more appropriate for lite-jazz stations or retirement parties. This new compilation shows Van back in stride - "Down the Road" is perhaps his best return to form since "Hymns to the Silence" (1991). As on that great double album, Van taps into and invokes the musical hertiage that has powered his finest efforts over the past 30 years - the title track, a mid-tempo re-write of "Real Real Gone", "Hey Mr. DJ" which evokes the best of Sam Cooke, "PJ Proby", "The Beauty of the Days Gone By" and the final track "Fast Train" all reflect his continuing fascination with the soulful side of R&B and demonstrate his ability to construct tight compelling arrangements that add depth to traditional bluesy melodic structures. His rendition of Carmichel's "Georgia on My Mind" recalls his "Just a Close Walk with Thee" on "Silence" - Van wraps his growling voice around this standard and brings out all the yearning he can muster. It's an amazing performance. The high points on "Down the Road" probably aren't as high as those on "The Healing Game": three tracks off that album - "Rough God Goes Riding", "Piper At the Gates of Dawn", and the title track stand as three of the finest songs he's ever done. However, "Down the Road" avoids the lows of that album too - there's no misfires here, nothing you want to skip over. At first, Van appears to be simply retreading many of the old sounds and riffs he's done before - "Choppin' Wood" and "All Work and No Play" sound like bar-band standards - but the album has a cumulative power that resolves even the more derivative tracks into a cohesive whole. The beauty of some of the final tracks - "Only a Dream", "Man Has to Struggle", and "Fast Train" especially - demonstrate Van's unwillingness to allow his style to become formulaic. All in all, a lively and lovely album - a revealing meditation on the unrecoverable past and the uncertainities of the future but without the moodiness that has characterized his earlier statements on this theme. Definitely recommended - especially for those long cross-country road trips you'll be taking this summer. Rating: - Back on top for real...... Ya'll know how there are people called Deadheads? Well, I am a Van Man. I'm just about as obsessive about Van Morrison as those Deadheads are about whatever the name of that group is.So I hold Van Morrison's recorded output to a higher standard than the casual fan would or should. They're probably not many casual Van fans anyway so I'll cut to the quick here and just say that it's Mr. Morrison's best offering since "Hymns For The Silence".I played it the first time and dug the obvious Van fan stuff like "Hey Mr. DJ",and "Choppin' Wood" (a lovely tribute to his hard working dad), but as usual with Van ,it's the oddball,slightly skewed stuff that sticks. On this CD the standout cuts all share the same iconaclastic terrain that Van has been mining throughout his career, whenever, seemingly , he feels like it. "Whatever Happened To P.J. Proby", "Fast Train","Down The Road", and a stone knockout version of "Georgia On My Mind" are just a sampling of some of the best stuff this reluctant master has released in a decade. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm A Van Man ya'll!Oh and P.S all you other Van trainspotters out there. This one has the great, 70's, Marin County, Van Morrison Band alumni David Hayes on bass, and John Allair on Hammond B-3 on half the tracks. Ruff! Go fetch it! Rating: - Van Morrison - Down the Road It's not all Van's fault. Critics have been telling Van and Bob that their recent work is as good as their early classics, if not better. This is a sad case of misinformation, plain and simple. Bob just doesn't have the voice left to record a great album again even if he wanted to, but Van, well, he should have something left. Down the Road is ably produced by Morrison; horns crisp, snare snappy, but where is the swing in the tunes? "Hey Mr. DJ," the album's first single, has neither the swagger, nor the swing of similar Morrison rave-ups like "Domino." With the threesome of "Talk is Cheap," "Choppin' Wood," and "What Makes the Irish Heart Beat" Morrison takes a stab at two Stax-style blues tunes, and one Nashville country cut. All three feel more like songs written to fit a style, rather than a piece of music that happens to fall into one style or another. "Steal My Heart," fares better, standing out as a great Morrison love song with its delicate organ and subtle melody. Likewise, "The Beauty of Days Gone By" and "Fast Train," separate themselves from the pack. In truth, only one song, "All Work and No Play," is downright bad, but, baring a few standouts, the album in a serviceable album, but nothing more. Van does have another great one in him, this just isn't it.

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