Description

 

Van Morrison - No Guru, No Method, No Teacher



Year 1986



Tracks

 1. Got To Go Back	 4:59	

 2. Oh The Warm Feeling	3:16	

 3. Foreign Window	5:23	

 4. A Town Called Paradise	6:14	

 5. In The Garden	5:45	

 6. Tir Na Nog	7:16	

 7. Here Comes The Knight	3:42	

 8. Thanks For The Information	7:16	

 9. One Irish Rover	3:30	

10. Ivory Tower	3:34



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.