Customer Reviews

Into the Music

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This is the 3rd or even 4th re-issue on CD of "Into The Music" (released originally in August 1979) and I'll happily admit it - I'm blown away! I played this album to death at the time, and rehearing today in this extraordinary sound quality is a rediscovery well worth making. It's by far the best version of the album to date.

Here's how it's laid out: Tracks 1 to 10 make up the original album with Tracks 11 and 12 being previously unreleased alternate takes of "Steppin' Out Queen" and "Troubadours". At seven minutes "Steppin' Out Queen" is extended over the 5:20 minutes of the final album cut - and it's an absolute peach. The alternate take of "Troubadours" clocks in at 5:32 minutes as opposed to the 4:41 of the album final - and again, a superb version. I'm always wary of outtakes and alternate versions as bonus material on re-issue CDs when they're not any better nor an equal to the original and act as a cheap way of suckering fans to purchase more of the same. But these two choices are inspired - and an absolute must-have for Van lovers.

The upgraded booklet contains all the lyrics in the same script style as the original vinyl album and a detailed list of who sessioned on what, but disappointingly there's no history of where the album fits in, no new liner notes, nor any photographs. However, a nice touch is the lyrics to the alternate takes - the record company could have lazily reproduced the lyrics twice at the end of the booklet, but closer examination shows they haven't - the lyrics actually reflect the free-forming of the different expanded versions - a nice touch.

But the best bit is definitely the SOUND. The original analogue master tapes have been 96K/24 Bit digitally remastered by Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering in London for this 28 January 2008 release - and the sound is BEAUTIFULLY CLEAR and WARM - making you reassess every song and the superb musicianship on each. RY COODER lends his Slide Guitar to "Full Force Gale", MARK ISHAM his trumpet playing to almost every track, while ROBIN WILLIAMSON of THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND puts a penny whistle into "Troubadours" and "Rolling Hills" (for me one of the weakest tunes on here). KATIE KISSOON adds complimentary backing vocals to "Bright Side Of The Road" and the lovely "You Make Me Feel So Real". TONY MARCUS' violin is also heavily featured on almost every track. The remaster also brings out the rhythm section of PETER VAN HOOKE on Drums and DAVID HAYES on Bass.

His lovely cover of the Tommy Edwards 1950s hit "It's All In The Game" runs seamlessly into "You Know What I'm Writing About" and ends the album. Speaking of which, at 2:18 minutes into "It's All In The Game", Mark Isham's trumpet sails in like a soothing dollop of honey - and it's a truly beautiful flourish - puts a tear in my eye - sheer genius - and I realise again why I adored this album so much all those years ago! And the issue is mid-price too - I picked up my copy for £6 in Central London.

All in all, a FANTASTIC REMASTER and one I urge fans and the uninitiated to get stuck into soonest.

PS:
Like "Into The Music", 30 Van Morrison albums are to be re-issued in remastered form throughout 2008 and into early 2009. Each will contain upgraded booklets, previously unreleased material and all will be at mid-price. They'll be released in 4 batches as follows (29 in total):

January 2008 (7 titles)
Tupelo Honey (1971), It's Too Late To Stop Now (2 CD Live Set) (1974),
Wavelenght (1978), Into The Music (1979), A Sense Of Wonder (1985),
Avalon Sunset (1989) and Back On Top (1999)

June 2008 (8 titles)
Veedon Fleece (1974), Common One (1980), Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart (1983), Live At The Grand Opera House, Belfast (1984), No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986), Enlightenment (1990), A Night In San Francisco (2CD Live Set) (1994) and The Healing Game (1997)

November 2008 (7 titles)
Saint Dominic's Preview (1972), A Period Of Transition (1977), Beautiful Vision (1982), Poetic Champions Compose (1987), Hymns To The Silence (2CD Studio Set) (1991), How Long Has This Been Going On (Live At Ronnie Scott's) (1995), Tell Me Something - The Songs Of Mose Allison (1996)

January 2009 (8 titles)
Hard Nose The Highway (1973), Irish Heartbeat (with The Chieftains) (1988),
Too Long In Exile (1993), Days Like This (1995), The Story Of Them (2CD Set) (1999), The Skiffle Sessions - Live In Belfast (with Lonnie Donegan & Chris Barber) (2000), Down The Road (2002) and What's Wrong With This Picture? (2003)

PPS:
Those hoping to see desperately needed sonic upgrades of his 1st and 2nd album masterpieces on Warner Bothers "Astral Weeks" (1968) and "Moondance" (1970) or even "His Band & The Street Choir" (late 1970) will be disappointed to hear that they're NOT in this re-issue campaign. Apparently there is still some dispute between the record label and Van that remains unresolved. A damn shame! "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance" in particular have both been languishing around on crappy-sounding non-remastered CDs for over 20 years now and they're glaringly obvious omissions in this supposedly 'extensive' re-issue campaign. These universally recognized masterpieces deserve 2CD DELUXE EDITION treatment and soon. (Some tracks in remastered form are available across the 3 volumes of "Best Of"). Let's hope they sort their differences and soon!

Also, Van's new studio album "Keep It Simple" is due on 17 March 2008 in the UK and 1 April 2008 in the USA

For those interested in this re-issue series, see also separate reviews for almost all of Batch 1 and 2 above

This uplifting album kicks off with the snappy Bright Side Of The Road and continues in the same powerful vein with the stirring Full Force Gale, a full throttled celebration of spiritual ecstacy. The beautiful violin is the hero on both Stepping Out Queen and the bucolic Troubadours, whilst Rolling Hills is a hypnotic Celtic ballad with a sing-along chorus.

You Make Me Feel So Free is a soulful love song with appealing sax infusions and Angelou, a passionate love song embellished with lovely snatches of violin and piano, demonstrates Van's vocal prowess. With its soaring melody, whoops, hollers and shimmering violin, And The Healing Has Begun is my personal favourite on this exquisite album. But the subdued It's All In The Game and the lengthy You Know What They're Writing About are brilliant too.

The two added tracks are alternate versions of Troubadours and Steppin' Out Queen, both longer than the originals. On this celebratory album the music is infused with happiness and a joyous spiritual quality. Into The Music is right up there with Van's acclaimed masterpieces like Tupelo Honey, Moondance and Hymns To The Silence.

The first thing I checked when I picked up this album was the credits. Its immediate predecessor, 1978's "Wavelength", was marred by the addition of ugly 70s synthesizers, but they're mercifully completely absent from this 1979 chestnut.

"Into the Music" is vintage Van Morrison, a relaxed, swinging collection of songs, folk, rock, blues, R&B, jazz, and country all mixed together in the inimitable style of Mr Morrison.
But it is a bit harder, a bit edgier, a bit more focused than the two albums that preceded it, and the songs themselves have more substance. They may not jump off the laser beam and grab you the way Morrison's most lauded records do, but "Into the Music" is nevertheless as Van Morrison-like a Van Morrison-album as you could ever imagine!

And it is delightfully varied as well, and flawlessly arranged. The opener, "Bright Side of the Road", with its gritty harmonica riffing and clanging boogie piano, is one of the highlights of the album, one of Morrison's best R&B-songs in fact. "And the Healing has Begun" and "Troubadours" are elegant folk ballads, grand but never opulent. The masterfully arranged "Full Force Gale" is one of the most charming good-time-pop songs you'll ever hear. "It's all in the Game" is slow soul, "Steppin' Out Queen" is up-tempo soul. And "Rolling Hills" is pure, delightful Irish folk, a two-step, a pennywhistle and a violin.

"Into the Music" is a truly enjoyable collection of tasteful, rootsy music from one of the greatest-ever composer of popular music, perhaps the only songwriter besides Bob Dylan to constantly deliver the goods for over forty years. In a way, it is Morrison's first "latter-day" album, having more in common with recent albums like "Down the Road", "Back on Top", and "Keep it Simple" than with his mid-70s output.

Fans of George Ivan Morrison should not be disappointed by this; it may not be one of his most talked-about albums, but it is by far the best from this period in his career.

...Really without words! really a wonderful japanese reissue! In this time in SHM-CD, a new format, better than any other US reissue! buy this instead the US 2008 version!
The Price is Y2.800 japanese yene, aprox. USD30.00. all on HMV, or CD-JAPAN, amazon the price is a absurd!

The album speaks for itself. It's certainly one of Van's best. This review is more about the 2008/09 remaster. I previously had one of the pre 1998 editions. The sound was typical of Van's releases a tiny compressed stereo image that sounded very muddy. I have a very average non audiophile system, and the differences between the 2008/09 remaster and the old editions is unbelievable. On this remaster, the soundstage has great depth and spacing. The vocals, Van's and Katie Kisoon on backups, are crystal clear. You get all of Van's emotion - grunts, shouts, scats, and more so clearly. The piano has a lovely rag timey timbre. The horns are sharp. The acoustic guitars and mandolin are crisp. The drums and bass have definite presence and fill out the mix very nicely. This is such a satisfying listen. One of my favorite Van albums (along with Moondance, Wavelength, Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart, No Guru No Method No Teacher, Poetic Chamions Compose) just got way better!

Will we ever hear a remastered Moondance? Jump in here anytime Rhino...

I have almost all of Vans records, and love most of them; Poetic Champions Compose, No Guru.., Moondance, they're all great. But "Into the Music" and "Too Late to Stop Now" are the ones I will always listen to.
Superb music created by superb musicians.

Into the Music is my personal favorite Van Morrison album. After a pair of troubled recordings and a disastrous tour, Morrison seemed to piece together the best of all his influences and mix them up with a good dose of spiritual faith. From the positive 1-2 of Bright Side of the Road and Full Force Gale to the R&B/Celtic folk mix of the next 4 songs, then into side 2 where the spiritual and erotic live happily together in Angelou and And the Healing Has Begun as then the 'pull out all the vocal stops' climax of It's All in the Game/You Know What They're Writing About (love that whispered "Want you to meet me" at the end), only on Astral Weeks has Morrison truly been this focussed and consistent.
The new re-mastering by Polydor is only available as an import in the US due to a longstanding contract dispute between Polydor and Warner Brothers over Into the Music plus also Common One, Beautiful Vision and Inarticulate Speech of the Heart. The extra you will pay for the import is well worth it. The 96khz/24 bit sound is a massive improvement over any previous versions of this album. All instruments are crystal clear and instrumental fills step out in ways never heard before, plus Van's vocals on the fadeouts are better heard as well. The disc comes with two bonus tracks - alternate versions of Steppin' Out Queen and Troubadours - that are superfluous though not bad. I won't listen to those much; it's the main album I want. Ultimately this is a true example of great sonic improvement through re-mastering.