Back On Top: Van Morrison: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Goin' Down Geneva

2. Philosophers Stone

3. In The Midnight

4. Back On Top

5. When The Leaves Come Falling Down

6. High Summer

7. Reminds Me Of You

8. New Biography

9. Precious Time

10. Golden Autumn Day

Product Description

From Amazon.com

Back on Top kicks off on an unpromising note with a generic blues shuffle, "Goin' Down Geneva," that belies the album's cocky title. Van Morrison quickly redeems himself, however, with a set otherwise closer in its balance of rave-up and reverie to his beloved early-'70s classics than much of his '90s output. "Philosophers Stone" is yet another position paper on the Belfast bard's art ("My job is turning lead into gold"), but it's welcome for its relative absence of complaint. Elsewhere, he revisits familiar themes of survival ("Back on Top"), celebrity's price ("New Biography"), and mortality ("Precious Time") in midtempo anthems laudable for deceptively buoyant tempos and crisp ensemble work. Vocally, his signature mix of rasp and croon proves as ripe as ever. --Sam Sutherland

Entertainment Weekly

An eloquent balance of earthy musicality and spiritual restlessness.

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Customer Reviews

115 Reviews

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (115 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars One of Morrison's best and most accesible latter-day efforts, May 30 2003

By

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Back On Top (Audio CD)

That's it, right there in the title. That's my review.
Enjoy!

Well, okay. This album is a mixed bag of jazz, blues and traditional R&B, beautifully arranged, masterfully played and sung, and if you are relatively new to the music of Van Morrison, "Back On Top" is a great starting point.
Morrison's husky, soulful vocals are still strong, and his songwriting is superb. Just listen to the bluesy title track, or the lovely, swinging "Precious Time".

Not as ground-breaking or idiosyncratic as "Moondance" or "Astral Weeks", perhaps, but "Back On Top" is still a worthy and very welcome addition to Van Morrison's catalogue.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Work from Van, May 13 2004

By

James Carragher (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Back On Top (Audio CD)

If by Back On Top, Van the Man means the Everest years of Astral Weeks and Moondance, well, neither he nor anyone else is likely to be going back there any time soon. But On Top ranks well with, say, Avalon Sunset and Enlightenment from the late 80's, early 90's. As on those two works, much of the mood here is contemplative, of the past, of personal relationships and of nature, sometimes all three at once (When the Leaves Come Falling Down). Jazzier or R&B numbers moments include Going Down Geneva, Back on Top, Precious Time and the horns on High Summer. The latter two, plus New Biography, hit Van's standard themes of the perils of fame and perfidy of music industry bosses, but thankfully only New Biography wallows excessively in self-pity. Reminds Me of You is a flat-out beautiful love song and, with the spirit-renewing Golden Autumn Day, is the best of a strong late career work.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars No middle ground..., Mar 4 2003

By

Angela Spenny Huber (Peoria, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back On Top (Audio CD)

I think you either "get" Van Morrison or you don't. If you are a fan, you will appreciate this album and love it for what it is - Classic Van. If not, then Back on Top won't win you over. Goin' Down Geneva is a fun opener, a little more straight-up blues than your average Van Morrison song. It's catchy, but a tad too "clean" sounding - I prefer my blues a little muddier. Philosopher's Stone is too bland for my taste and some find the lyrics condescending, but once past this song the rest of the album is great. High Summer has one of the most haunting harmonica riffs I've heard - it sticks in your head for days, but not in an unpleasant way. Reminds Me of You is so full of regret and sadness that you can't help but be a little moved by it. Precious Time and New Biography are a little more upbeat, but a listen to the lyrics will jolt you a bit - Not the happiest I've ever heard. All in all, it's a very enjoyable listen and more than worthwhile, especially for long-time fans.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
I love this CD! All of the songs are great and I even wake up with them playing in my head...

Published 16 months ago by Deb

5.0 out of 5 stars I didn't know he wasn't on top.
I bought this when it first came out. I have a friend who loves Van's music as much as I do. I didn't bother to tell him how good it was, I just went ahead and bought him a copy... Read more

Published on Mar 4 2003 by Bryan Dodd