Avalon Sunset: Van Morrison: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Whenever God Shines His Light

2. Contacting My Angel

3. I'd Love To Write Another Song

4. Have I Told You Lately

5. Coney Island

6. I'm Tired Joey Boy

7. When Will I Ever Learn To Live In God

8. Orangefield

9. Daring Night

10. These Are The Days

Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

When REM's Michael Stipe wrote "That's me in the spotlight / Losing my religion", he could have been singing about Van Morrison, the man who lost his three times within a decade. In the end though, Van returned to God and found himself rewarded with his first Top 20 hit. With its sparse piano hook and Cliff Richard vocals, "Whenever God Shines His Light" is a misleading advert for an album awash in the kind of sentimental orchestration that might hurt one's teeth were it not for their perpetrator's almost childlike wonder. Cynics, then, needn't concern themselves with love songs like "Have I Told You Lately" and "Orangefield"--both of which suggest that, despite the renewal of faith, this artist's muse isn't purely metaphysical. Even better is the spoken word reverie of "Coney Island" in which a grown man can be heard extolling the virtues of potted herrings. Naturally, it's the best thing on here. --Peter Paphides

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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Polished, Jun 14 2004

By

J. McAndrew "Jeffrey C. McAndrew" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Avalon Sunset (Audio CD)

This album is very polished. It includes "Whenever GOD Shines A Light on Me." and "Have I Told You Lately." The latter is one of the best love songs I have ever heard. My wife Debbie and I love to dance to that song. Van Morrison is more brilliant than he gets credit for.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Not nearly as good as earlier work, May 29 2004

By

Scott E. Porter "docndebt" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Avalon Sunset (Audio CD)

This album has received tremendous praise from many of the Amazon customers but I have to disagree. The lyrics are not nearly as deep and personal as those found on Moondance and Astral Weeks. His voice has obviously aged as well. When examined critically, Van Morrison's voice is not why we enjoy his music (at least for me anyway). It is the spirit and the feelings that his music engenders. His voice is just good enough to not take away from these things. He is in the same league as a Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin in that regard. These guys would probably not sell many acapella albums but would win poetry contests or instrumental competitions for days. When Van Morrison's aged voice is coupled with lyrics written to say "I am a Christian" and not "I am Van Morrison (who happens to be a Christian)" you get only 2 - 2.5 stars.

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4.0 out of 5 stars these are the days, Feb 3 2003

By

ray b. (worcester, mass) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Avalon Sunset (Audio CD)

van gets better with age it's too bad people know rod stewart's version of have i told you van wrote the damn song people give him his due these are the days when people wake up and listen to the most soulful man there ever was

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Van is definitely not "Tired Joey Boy!"
His second of three straight masterpieces (Poetic Champions Compose" before and "Enlightenment" after), "Avalon Sunset" brought Van back into many... Read more

Published on Jan 5 2003 by D. Hawkins

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Beautiful.
Van Morrison makes you sigh on this album, from classics such as Have I Told You Lately to These Are The Days. Truly Inspired work.

Published on Oct 15 2002 by P. Hall