No Guru No Method No Teacher [Original recording remastered]

"No Guru, No Method, No Teacher" is part of the 2nd wave of Van Morrison remastered reissues to hit the shops in 2008 (see full list below). Released Monday 30 June 2008 in the UK and 1 July 2008 in the USA, it boasts truly superlative remastered sound quality, an upgraded booklet and 2 bonus tracks for the first time - one of which is an entirely new song.

Here's the layout (60:26 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 10 make up the original album - it was released in July 1986 on Mercury
Tracks 11 and 12 are previously unreleased bonus tracks - "Oh The Warm Feeling (Alternate Take)" and "Lonely At The Top" (the new song)

96K/24 Bit remastered from the original analogue master tapes; the sound quality on this re-issue is truly beautiful - clear, clean and a joy to the ears. Throw in the really strong song material, superb musicianship and bonuses actually worth owning and you're already reaching for the credit card!

The upgraded booklet has the lyrics to the Alternate Take and New Song after the rest of the album, session notes and beneath the see-through inlay is a photo that matches the original artwork. Disappointingly, there's no new liner notes, no interview, no photos - no extra history of the tracks - where they fit in - shame that.

The bonus tracks are the best of the 4 CDs I've bought so far in this 2nd batch; the alternate version of "Oh The Warm Feeling" is really lovely and sounds like a proper album track with the same production values - not like some outtake or a poorly recorded demo. The new song, "Lonely At The Top" is ok - a bit disappointing to be truthful, and although it doesn't tell us in the liner notes, I'd swear that's BRIAN KENNEDY's vocals in the background.

For my money, this is the best remaster so far - and finally gives this underrated gem the sonic muscle it's long deserved. Highly recommended.

PS:
30 Van Morrison albums are re-issued in remastered form throughout 2008 and into early 2009. Each title contains an upgraded booklet; previously unreleased bonus tracks and all will be at mid-price. The releases are in 4 batches as follows:

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

30 June 2008 UK/1 & 8 July 2008 USA (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)
(see also SEPARATE REVIEWS for "Veedon Fleece", "Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart", "Enlightenment", the live 2CD set "A Night In San Francisco" and "Common One")

September 2008 - delayed until February 2009 (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) and 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 - on either side of the pond. "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 have long deserved 2CD DELUXE EDITION treatment (some tracks in remastered form are available across the 3 volumes of "Best Of"). However, I've recently been informed by a good source that all 3 are NOW AVAILABLE since June 2008 in JAPAN in RHINO REMASTERED form. See the excellent Japanese site CDJAPAN.CO.JP for details (worded in English).

Aside from having one of the best titles in the Van catalog, it's also a great, great album. I don't know if critics (or music watchers) ever dubbed Van's 80's period his "born again" phase, but they might as well have. There was (and still is) an element of God and Christianity in much of Van's work, but in the 80's on albums like this one and the underrated Poetic Champions Compose (another great title), there's a lot of talk of the Lord in both albums. I think this one is better. It's beautifully arranged, written, and performed (like almost all of Van's albums), and it's production is one of Van's best produced albums. Despite the fact the album was recorded in the 80's, it doesn't sound like 80's music (like Dylan's Empire Burlesque did). This album just benefits from better recording technology. The spirituality starts right off with Got to Go Back. It's one of Van's favorite themes (of returning). The song Foreign Window is really moving, along with Tir Na Nog. Nog is one of Van's great epics (even though it's a rather short epic, only running 7 minutes). The masterpiece here is In the Garden. It's one of Van's best songs ever, with a beautiful piano track and precious acoustic guitar alongside. It also has the chorus of "no guru, no method, no teacher", which is beautiful and deeply mysterious at the same time. There's only one "music business ripped me off" song (A Town Called Paradise), but it's only the first verse, then it goes into a beautiful love song. Van has been pretty damn consistent his own career, and this is one of his best albums.

No Guru, No Method, No Teacher is probably Van's best effort of the 1980's and easily his best album since 'Into the Music' in 1979. As far as the bonus tracks go, "Lonely at the Top" is a great song and would have fit on the album nicely. The alternative version of "Oh the Warm Feeling" is nice, though hardly essential. This is a personal favorite of mine and one of Van's greatest triumphs. A must have!!!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars