Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Professional Jealousy
2. I'm Not Feeling It Anymore
3. Ordinary Life
4. Some Peace of Mind
5. So Complicated
6. I Can't Stop Loving You
7. Why Must I Always Explain
8. Village Idiot
9. See Me Through, Pt. 2 (Just a Closer Walk With Thee)
10. Take Me Back

Disc 2:

1. By His Grace
2. All Saints Day
3. Hymns to the Silence
4. On Hyndford Street
5. Be Thou My Vision
6. Carrying a Torch
7. Green Mansions
8. Pagan Streams
9. Quality Street
10. It Must Be You
11. I Need You Kind of Loving

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31250 in Music
• Released on: 1991-09-24
• Number of discs: 2

Album Description
Japanese only double SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing of this rock album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008.

Amazon.com
Described aptly in the liner notes as a "panoramic view of where he's been and where he's going," this weighty double-disc captures Van in all of the guises he adopted in the 1980s and early '90s. There are several devotional pieces, a couple of splendid rants ("Professional Jealousy" and "Why Must I Always Explain"), two collaborations with the Chieftains, and jazzy swingers driven by Georgie Fame's organ. The real heart of the album is Van's evocation of his childhood in lyrics and arrangements that capture the joys of discovering rock & roll while growing up in Belfast amid that city's conflicting passions. There are several high points for connoisseurs of his stream-of-consciousness lyrical rambles, notably "On Hyndford Street" and "Take Me Back." As an album, the mood swings too dramatically to be coherent, but in its individual parts there is evidence of true genius. --Rob Stewart

Customer Reviews

Hymns From the Master
What a wonderful album to have. All of Morrison's eclectic tastes can be found here, delivered with a sparkling production clarity befitting this grand tenor.

"Take me back", "Need your kind of loving" and "Ordinary Life" are solid rock standards of guitar and barrel house piano. "Be Thou My Vision" and "See me Through" are beautifully rendered gospel hymns with an Irish twist. "I'm carrying a torch" is an aching love ballad. "Hyndford Street" and "Pagan Streams" are autobiographic spoken verse sonnets delivered in Morrison's delightful Ulster brougue. "Quality Street" and "All Saints Day" are such charming pop hooks that they seem to be derived from a by-gone era of Gershwin. All throughout, the set is accompanied ably on Hammond organ by the fluid Georgie Fame and the sensuous saxophone of Candy Dulpher.

Van Morrison has a wealth of recorded material to choose from, with varying degrees of consistency, but this album spans the radiance of his talents of songwriting and arrangement in such a concise manner that his elusive muse could ever allow. His voice has grown fuller with age. This is a mature work that I would endorse to anyone seeking a primer on this great man's career.

INSPIRATIONAL MASTERPIECE
Hymns To The Silence is an opus magnum where Morrison's talent reaches awesome new heights. The album impresses on many levels: the lyrical ingenuity, melodic beauty, intelligent arrangements and above all the expert mastery of many different musical styles, including country, folk, soul, rock and gospel.

Although every track is memorable and tuneful, my favourites include I'm Not Feeling It Anymore with its galloping rhythms and flowing melody, the rocking Ordinary Life, a wry observation on life, the jaunty, jazzy So Complicated and the beautiful authentic country song I Can't Stop Loving You.

Very personal observations like Professional Jealousy and Why Must I Always Explain have more of the folky feel about them, especially the second one with its hypnotic melody line. Perhaps the greatest moment is Be Thou My Vision, an extraordinarily powerful hymn that is one of this artist's best descriptions of spiritual ecstasy.

In this regard, the title track is gripping too, but more subdued and restrained, creating a feeling of awe. See Me Through (Just A Closer Walk With Thee) is also very moving but a more traditional slice of gospel and it reminds me of Astral Weeks. The soulful song Take Me Back with its wistful harmonica likewise has a touch of that great album.

Hymns To The Silence is an uplifting work of genius on a par with Astral Weeks, Moondance and Tupelo Honey but provides greater variety than any of them. Every track here has some special quality and the alternating musical styles make it a wonderful and inspiring listening experience.

An amazing, moving album
If you are a Christian who can't stand the smarmy elevator sounds that pass for Christian music today, and you want to hear a few songs that will really move you, listen to Van's See Me Through, By His Grace, and Be Thou My Vision on this album. Other good (non-religious) songs include I'm Not Feeling it Anymore, Why Must I Always Explain, and Ordinary Life. Most of the remaining songs, which I have not mentioned, reveal a quieter Van and are good for background music, but they are not really worthy of repeated playing.