Morrison's best album of the '90s still casually hangs out in the spiritual world that served as his home for most of his '80s material, but the mystical touches are at least kept in check for a good deal of the time.
Better still is that Morrison sings with a passion that had crawled into laziness during big, and crucial, chunks of his career (most prominently the early to mid-'80s).
The songs, or more accurately (as the title makes very clear) hymns, combine the elements that have guided Morrison's best albums -- R&B, folk, pop, Celtic, rock, even gospel -- for a satisfying journey through the mystic and the real.
Its double-disc length, however, is a bit off-putting; a spirited rewrite of his last album (1990's Enlightenment) really doesn't need this much space to make its point.
But his rambling musings (like the soulfully suave "Why Must I Always Explain") retain a compelling power.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Professional JealousyVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 02:30 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | I'm Not Feeling It AnymoreVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 06:36 | 15 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Ordinary LifeVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Some Peace of MindVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 06:27 | 14 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | So ComplicatedVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | I Can't Stop Loving YouDon Gibson | Van Morrison | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Village IdiotVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Take Me BackVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 09:12 | 21 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | By His GraceVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 02:37 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | All Saints DayVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 02:32 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Hymns to the SilenceVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 09:43 | 22 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | On Hyndford StreetVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 05:21 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | Be Thou My VisionTraditional | Van Morrison | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 14 | Carrying a TorchVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 15 | Green MansionsVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 16 | Pagan StreamsVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 17 | Quality StreetVan Morrison, Mac Rebennack | Van Morrison | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 18 | It Must Be YouVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 19 | I Need Your Kind of LovingVan Morrison | Van Morrison | Play | 04:32 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 20 | Why Must I Always Explain? | Van Morrison | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 21 | See Me Through, Pt. II / Just a Closer Walk with Thee | Van Morrison | Play | 03:13 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 94 mins | 216 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Bell | Synthesizer |
| 2 | Michael Butterworth | Assistant Engineer |
| 3 | The Chieftains | Guest Artist, Piano, Pipe, Violin |
| 4 | Ian Cooper | Mastering |
| 5 | Neil Drinkwater | Accordion, Piano, Synthesizer |
| 6 | Candy Dulfer | Guest Artist, Sax (Alto) |
| 7 | Dave Early | Drums, Percussion |
| 8 | Georgie Fame | Guest Artist, Organ, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Lorraine Francis | Assistant Engineer |
| 10 | Don Gibson | Composer |
| 11 | Mick Glossop | Engineer, Mixing |
| 12 | Steve Gregory | Flute, Sax (Baritone) |
| 13 | Martin Hayles | Engineer |
| 14 | Carol Kenyon | Vocals (Background) |
| 15 | Katie Kissoon | Vocals (Background) |
| 16 | David Martin | Assistant Engineer |
| 17 | Van Morrison | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Harmonica, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 18 | Valerie Phillips | Photography |
| 19 | Mac Rebennack | Composer |
| 20 | Paul Robinson | Drums |
| 21 | Nicky Scott | Bass |
| 22 | Bill Smith | Art Direction, Design |
| 23 | Kate St. John | Cor Anglais, Guest Artist |
| 24 | Traditional | Composer |
| 25 | Fiachra Trench | String Arrangements |
| 26 | Gavyn Wright | Leader |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |