Customer Reviews

Too Long in Exile

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got into this album during my post college depression and while dealing with breaking up with my girlfriend. It made me laugh (Van does some crazy stuff with his voice in "In the Forest" that made me laugh so hard i had to keep replaying it, cry (his duet with John Lee Hooker on "Wasted Years" will make anyone contemplate their life, and get inspired (if "Till We Get the Healing Done" doesn't make you want to make a change nothing will. Don't buy this album if you can't turn it up loud, you need to allow the soul to enter you body and get the healing started. Might as well buy "The Healing Game" also.

Recently, I began listening to Van Morrison's Too Long in Exile after a long period of time away from Van the Man. The songs had new meaning and seemed to speak in a different way from what I remembered when the disc was first released. The timeless blues rifts seemed to have more meaning and the quality of the recording have made this release stand the test of time. Van's later works should be as fine as this one. The highlight of the CD is an excellent interp. of Lonely Ave., the Doc Pomus classic from the late 50's.

You cannot help but like this album. The title track is like the Peter Gunn Theme: you could do it a million different ways, but somehow the original is the best. "Ball and Chain" is superb. "Till we get the Healing Done" should be on anybody's meditation list. So many other songs on this album are good, it is hard to describe their appeal -- they span so many styles. This album is also one of the best deals in music today -- 15 good tunes on one CD.

In some of my other reviews of Van Morrison recordings, Too Long In Exile has served as a point of comparison, but for some reason I never got around to reviewing the CD itself.
I bought this on cassette way back when it was issued but hadn't listened to it for years until I recently bought it on CD. When I shoved it in the CD player, it brought forth a flood of memories.
When originally released, the big selling point was a couple of duets Van did with his long time idol John Lee Hooker. I am going to go against the general positive commentary on the results of their collaboration. I think both songs they did together pollute and dilute the CD both musically and in spirit. Gloria was lame and commercial in the original and the insertion of Hooker into the remake made it worse. Wasted Years is in fact a waste of vinyl.
It is the strength of most of the other material which makes Too Long In Exile one of Van's best despite the aforementioned duets. Highlights are Big-Time Operators, his rant against those who tried to cheat him in the music business; a heartfelt version of the 50s classic Lonely Avenue; Van's surrender to love on Ball and Chain; an excellent bluesy rendition of Good Morning Little Schoolgirl; the jazzy vocal expression on Lonesome Road and Moody's Mood For Love; and the soulful I'll Take Care of You which segues with a dreamy instrumental interlude into the finale.
There are not enough superlatives in the lexicon to describe how good this CD is when you disregard the Morrison/Hooker duets. Too Long In Exile sets the bar high and indeed Morrison will not issue another CD of this quality for 10 years until the issue of Down the Road.
If you are an old fan of Van Morrison who has somehow missed this, don't miss it for another day. If you are new to Morrison's music and are reading this out of curiosity, why not start with this? Neither of you will be disappointed!

This 1993 album from Van Morrison is a great mix of Blues, Jazz and R&B influences. The man himself is in great vocal form throughout the album.

There are a few weak tracks, noteably the duet with John Lee Hooker on Gloria which just doesn't work. I love JLH but his singing on this just seems completely out of place. So it would have been better with 2 or 3 songs less. However that aside its a fine collection of songs with Van Morrison demonstrating his musicianship (Guitar, Alto Sax and Harmonica), song-writing, and his ability to put his own stamp on other peoples songs as well.

The supporting band includes Georgie Fame on Hammond Organ and backing vocals. Hopefully this will get another release in due course, but in the meantime if you like Van the Man this is well worth hunting out.

I heartily agree with all the other reviewers who believe this is one of Van Morrison's best efforts. This seems to be a result of several different factors coming together, including the duet with John Lee Hooker on the old 'Them' hit, 'Gloria'; his rendition of Sonny Boy Williamson's 'Good Morning Little Schoolgirl', and the early cuts such as 'Too Long in Exile' and 'Big Time Operators', which seem highly autobiographical. Van's vocal stylings are not distinctly better than on other albums, but there may just be a tad more soulfulness on these songs reflecting his own life. There are very few 'pop' figures for which I have any interest in reading their biographies, but the Morrisons, Jim and Van, seem to have more than typically interesting lives. This is better than the later 'The Healing Game' and clearly better than 'Wavelength', both of which I have recently reviewed.

How does one filter through a catalog like Van's. Hopefully based on reviews by Van's fans. This album has so many exceptional moments that I actually find myself playing it more than ANY other of Morrison's recordings. It is a record for the fans though. If you have a few extra bucks , snatch it up at these insanely low prices...you won't regret it.

This is one of my favorite Van albums. This one is really good and terribly underrated. Most of Van's 90's work is unjustly ignored, but he's been very consistent throughout his career and has put out an amazing amount of quality work. This album has a very cool, mellow, jazz feel to it, even though it's more than that. The title track is one of Van's best songs, with a great vocal and really uplifting. The next song, Big Time Operators, has a killer blues riff (played by Van himself), but some may not like the lyrics, as it's one of Van's "I hate the music business songs". It's still very good, and it's the only song on the album that complains about the music business. His cover of Lonely Avenue is wonderful. I like Til We Get the Healing Done, but it's too closely reminiscent of ...And the Healing Has Begun, a far superior song from the Into the Music album. I like the new version of Gloria (even though some don't), and I love the ending of the album with 3 songs intertwining (I'll Take Care of You/Instrumental/Tell Me What you Want). This is one of my favorite Van albums, and one I revisit quite a lot.

an excellent work with several great cuts.also a fantastic duet called "wasted years" with john lee hooker that will blow you away.

Great, great bluesy tunes. A mellow album that you can play all day.