Customer Reviews

What's Wrong With This Picture?

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another 18 monthes, another very solid effort from the old jelly roll.

It's easy sometimes to take Van Morrison's impeccable professionalism for granted. Yet year in and year out, he continues to produce endearing records with style, grace and occasional verve. But its his inimitable baritone that embraces the listener with the warmth of a hug from an old friend, which is what it is.

I note that most people grow tired of his dour outlook on the music business, but I've always found his observational material quite forthright and often witty. Imagine still being dogged after all these years with the constant demand to assume his media-created role as Irish mystic or oracle, just because he recalled Yeats or Beckett with his poetic adventures on Astral Weeks. Its got to get tedious for him after awhile, and he has always steadfastly refused to play the games of others. Thus his perspective of such issues is as wry as Roger Waters or David Byrne, among others. The title track, "Fame", "Goldfish Bowl" and "Too Many Mythes" should be taken in this vein. In fact, on "Goldfish Bowl" he seems to reject the TV lifestyle of Ozzy Osbourne more than himself.

The jump blues of "Whining Boy Moan" and "Stop Drinking" are infectious, whether it be the fat brass or the rockabilly guitar. But its Van's enthusiasm that carries these numbers.

His vocal phrasing proves once again why his voice is a musical instrument, particularly towards the end on the "Meaning of Loneliness", and to great effect with the melody of "Get On With the Show".

My favorite moment occurs on "Little Village", which is one of those numbers that Van often comes up with that separates himself from his contemporaries. When he sings "Way up on the mountain, with you by my side" it recalls those intimate moments that he conjures up on songs like "Ancient Highway", where the "beams from the cars on the overpass shine, just like diamonds in the night"; or on "Take Me Back" when he wistfully describes the "big boats go sailing by, by, by..."

We all buy Van Morrison records to hear our guy have Van Morrison moments. This record has its share, which is why his fans should own it.

The Man has a Golden Voice. Is there another singer over 55 who sounds this ebullient? If compared with other singer/songwriters I admire, like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, Van shows hardly any wear from his Inarticulate days. And that was 20-some years ago.

But let's not dwell on the past. Some reviewers argue he complains too much in his lyrics about fame. Well, I don't necessarily see him talking about himself. The whole music industry, by peddling PERSONA instead of music, is the culprit. That fact that Van isn't as big as other "celebrities" just proves the point. Why are all those other shells on the cover of Rolling Stone? What's wrong with this picture?

Hearing this album through headphones-- a new-found joy for me-- I don't care if Van sings the alphabet, his voice is spine-tingling. And that chuckle in the title song, a slip of some kind, just shows that others take Van more seriously than he ever would.

Rave On!

First, let's get the negative outta the way: not even Van Morrison can live up to his reputation as one of music's most justly celebrated artists. I, for one, don't hold his past triumphs against him when measuring his current artistry.

That said, this is a great return to form for His Vanness. Yes, he has achieved almost diety status amongst the faithful. And they should be more than pleased with this CD. It far surpasses Mr. Morrison's past several releases in multiple ways -- performance, songwriting, inspiration, production.

Three tracks specifically, "Meaning Of Loneliness," "Once In A Blue Moon," and "Little Village" are genuine Van Morrison classics-to-be. The rest of the CD is consistently very, very good. I wish I could have awarded it 4-1/2 stars here.

There are only a few artists I continue to really care about, and Mr. Morrison ranks at the top. When a CD like this arrives, I remember why I continue to have faith and love for the music.

Van Morrison is prolific. He keeps turning out gems, sometimes blues, rock, folk, spiritual, worldly, joyful, sad, disgusted, elated, in love, out of love, sane & crazy; and now we have jazz! The title track opens with a string arrangement that harkens back to Etta James and builds with Keith Donald's clarinet as Van sets a soft soothing groove, "I'm not that person anymore... I left it all behind." My favorite track is the bubbly "Whinin Boy Moan" with a 50s boogie woogie beat as Van takes off on vocals improvising with a vocal freedom that is gloriously fluid, punctuated by Van's & Martin Winning's saxes blazing full tilt. This is classic Van. "Evening in June" boasts a gorgeous melody with a breezy feel taking us to a "sleepy lagoon." "You can even be lonely standing in your own backyard," Van sings on the slow slinky "Meaning of Loneliness," another blockbuster track. Van sets our toe to tapping with Lightnin' Hopkins' "Stop Drinking." "Goldfish Bowl" smokes a slow groove on a music biz song about the fallacies of fame. Another Morrison classic is "Once In A Blue Moon" celebrating the joys of falling in love, complete with a tango-flavored beat. Van smokes a slow smoldering groove on the traditional "Saint James Infirmary." (Jeremy Wallace did an excellent version of this on his little-known, but excellent, CD "My Lucky Day.") The CD concludes with another sterling track, "Get On With the Show," where Richard Dunn's organ gives a soulful groove. Van's set is amazingly strong, best of the year quality. He obviously had great fun; and so do we! Enjoy!

When Down the Road was issued, I opined that it was Van Morrison's best recording since Too Long In Exile. Then along comes What's Wrong With This Picture and I have to go way back beyond "Exile", perhaps to Poetic Champions Compose, to find its equal. When I popped this CD in for the first time, I was extremely pleased, when I heard it several times again, I was floored by the continuing high level expression of Van's muse.
Yes, the CD does contain several self-referential songs on which Morrison appears to complain about the inconvenient aspects of fame, but they are excellent songs and are not musically redundant. But it also contains some of the most restrained, beautiful and soulful music of Van Morrison's career.
Sadly, Van Morrison gets almost no airplay on corporate franchise radio but fortunately has developed a huge fan base that will continue to buy his music for as long as he chooses to record. If you are hesitating as to whether or not you will add this CD to your collection, I strongly urge you to get it today.
There is not a weak song on the disc and you will find as I did that there is nothing wrong at all with THIS picture.

I have been a Van Morrison fan for over 25 years. I have seen him in concert several times and I own virtually every recording he has ever made. Among these are numerous amazing albums as well as some mediocre efforts.

I find this album to be his best in many years. Most Van albums in the past 20 years have had some great tunes, some good tunes and a few songs that I am always skipping past. With What's Wrong With This Picture, it is one solid song after another - no filler on this album!

The album is nicely diverse. He includes blues tunes, beautiful ballads and a few typically Van pop tunes. The arrangements range from 40s sounding strings, to Chicago blues to jazzy horns.

Lyrically, this album is typical Van. He fills his songs with Clichés that would sound, well, cliché if performed by anyone else. For example, in Get On With The Show, he sings, "Nero fell while Rome was burnt, Napoleon met his Waterloo..." But for Van, it works. I have always felt like Van uses words as much for their sound as for their meaning. These sounds create a feel that is really what his songs are about. Perhaps this is why Van hates when interviewers ask what he means with his lyrics.

If you are a hard-core Van fan like me, this album is a must. If you are just beginning to assemble a Van Morrison collection you should first get his great early albums like Moondance, Astral Weeks, and Saint Dominic's Preview. But this album should also be high on your list.

First, I'm coming around to the opinion that no one should review a Van Morrison CD until they have listened to it at least 5 times. One or two exposures is simply not enough to assimilate what he is trying to do.
Second, Van changes elements of his music from CD to CD. He evolves musically and as a person. The challenge for the listener is to get to where he is at rather than stay stuck in what he did in the past - be that two years or twenty years.
Third, even with the changes (evolution/maturation of the artist) the same fundamental styles of Van Morrison music are always there. And he said it best: jazz, blues, funk, and a little bit of folk.
So other than the criticism of his harping about the music industry (justified, but the songs are still great) What's Wrong With This Picture is Van's submission of where he's at musically, done is his own inimitable style. May it always be such.
Who could ask for more?

I never "got" Van Morrison. For years reviewers (Lester Bangs for instance) have gone ga-ga over Astral Weeks placing it 2nd only to the Beach Boys Pet Sounds in their all-time hit parades. When I was a kid I bought TB Sheets & thought "What's all the hub bub over this guy? This LP is gawd awful!" Sure I heard the hits on the radio. Good stuff, but I never bought another Van record. Plus I thought Them rocked & Morrison would never be as good as that again.
Then came the Martin Scorcese films on the blues on PBS, the one on the British blues scene in particular. While Jeff Beck & Tom Jones (Tom Jones?) are stumbling around listening to & trying to emulate a great old blues song, in walks Van Morrison, picks up an acoustic guitar & starts wailing the blues like falling off a bike. At that moment, my opinion of the Man changed. I went out (to Amazon) & immediately purchased "What's Wrong With This Picture" his, at the time, latest album. Slowly but surely I am now on a quest to buy every Van Morrison CD & book. Even went to Atlantic City to see him last month on a rare concert date & paid the most ever for a show. Color me converted. Hell, I'm even trying to "get" Astral Weeks...maybe Lester was right...

Yeah, maybe I'd chop off a half star for Van's obsession with his career, but...I've been a fan forever, and this CD, building on his return to form with "Down The Road", is the first Van disc in a long time that I just can't stop playing. His voice, although inevitably pitched down from his youth, is strong and limber; he shouts, moans, blip-blops, swings, goes into under and around the melody, phrases like an ace jazz singer, and blows alto with verve.

The production is top-notch, the horn charts are sweet, gritty, and rousing, the bass lines echo doo-wop and funky R&B. The songs are Van to the hilt; how many other writers could work "existential dread" into a soul/blues piece and get away with it? And the two covers - "St. James Infirmary Blues", done as a drag/blues/moan, and the impossible-to-sit-still "Stop Drinking" - are great.

If you're a fan, you'll love this one. If you're not, pick up this and "Down The Road" to hear Van at his contemporary best, then go back to "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance", and work your way forward.

I can only hope that this first Blue Note disc is a sign of music to come.

This is a superbly arranged, played and sung release by the Man. He knocks the lights out of St.James Infirmary....Little Village is primo Van chording....(the faithful know what I'm talking about).And as Van is grounded in the blues form....he comes across as real as any lowdown 1940'sharecropper singing his heart out ... and his vocal delivery has improved with every album since Days Like This.Why not 5 stars?? Well, one, I've gotten real tired of his lyrics expounding on his fame trappngs....of which about 4-5 songs do.And, two... my favorite Van form is his slower extended stuff where he takes us on contemplative journeys into the mystic... this is the musical form that is HIS musical template and legend.Yeah,I KNOW this is a blues album...and Van belts the blues with the elite of the genre.... but in terms of his many 9 minute type songs that transcend and transport your heart to tears and spirit to the heavens...he is the ONLY one in the genre...