Van Morrison
Beautiful Vision

Rage. Disgust. Indignation. Yes, these are the feelings I experienced (and in all modesty I think I'm not the only one) in front of one of the latest, sensational atrocities published in the infamous magazine "Rolling Stone", for which I've never had much sympathy and, in light of what I had the (mis)fortune to read, I had good reason to. An article published in May 2007, featuring a list titled: "15 Worst Albums By Great Bands"; that is, the fifteen worst albums ever recorded by glorious bands, yet when you read the list (first contradiction) you find not only bands, but also solo artists such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, David Bowie, Morrissey, and so on... And even before questioning the purpose of such an operation, one can't help but cry scandal when spotting "Presence" by Led Zeppelin and especially "Beautiful Vision" by Van Morrison, moreover associated with albums (those indeed, truly embarrassing) like "Old Ways", "Down In The Groove", and "Cut The Crap", which were still penalized by the fact of being produced under particular circumstances (not the place to discuss it here, but enthusiasts will have no trouble understanding).

Well then, to the point: "Beautiful Vision" among the worst fifteen albums ever? And that is, not only the lowest point of Van Morrison's entire production, but even worthy of inclusion among the worst Rock would have produced in over fifty years? Even assuming that such a judgment was expressed based on a serious critical analysis (and frankly yours truly does not believe it), I find it shameful the treatment given to an album of immeasurable depth, significant not only for the quality of the content proposed, but also for the noteworthy position it historically occupies in the abundant discography of the Northern Irish genius: it is an ideal watershed, a milestone, a metaphorical borderline between the Morrison "of before" and what, with revived spirit and creativity, he would shape in the Eighties into masterpieces of the level of "Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart" and "No Guru No Method No Teacher".

It was not a commercial success, quite the opposite: it was released almost quietly in February 1982, and in Great Britain, it reached a modest thirty-first position; worse still in the United States, given the forty-fourth spot on the Billboard chart. Far from the glory of "Moondance" or "Into The Music", but also very different in philosophy from those albums that were highly successful in terms of sales. A carefree, light vein animated the two remembered albums; mostly calm, meditative, often nostalgic-melancholic atmospheres for "Beautiful Vision", the listening of which certainly cannot be defined as "easy".

And the difficulty for the listener increases when reading the lyrics, never so cryptic and difficult (in comparison, the writing of "Astral Weeks" seems even more accessible, and the comparison fully conveys the idea) even behind the apparent, illusory linearity of some moments. We are in the presence of one of the most lyrically complex albums in the history of Western singer-songwriting, a product of a "cerebral" and "spiritual" approach at the same time and in equal measure, dense with cultured references and comprising endless extra-musical implications: the ideal continuation of a discourse initiated by Morrison (but very few had noticed this) with the previous "Common One", an album mainly remembered for the epic fifteen minutes of the majestic "Summertime In England", for many years a fixed closing piece in the concerts of the Belfast musician. It was the step preceding the definitive turn: with "Beautiful Vision" one truly enters the new dimension.

A dimension in which singer-songwriter craft and literature go on to coexist even more closely than in the past, and in which various cues and suggestions from the Celtic popular imaginary play a central role: collective tradition and personal memory intertwine, mix, and blur with admirable, moving, enchanting results. References to Irish culture also extend to the more strictly musical level in the choice of certain - peculiar - timbral solutions and the preference for a suggestive form of "atypical" Rhythm & Blues, contaminated but not distorted, not deprived of its distinctive traits (primarily, the use of instrumentation: see the regular use of the brass) and capable of accompanying, of best accommodating the intricate themes the author plans to develop: as evident from the liner notes, much of the lyrics are reworkings of theosophical and occult concepts illustrated by astrologer Alice Bailey in the epochal "Glamour: A World Problem", a treatise that Morrison claims to have read four or five times, always catching new and unforeseen implications; the track most influenced by Bailey's work is undoubtedly "Dweller On The Threshold": literally, "the dweller on the threshold", but the phrase - a conventional expression - hides a much deeper meaning than its literal appearance; coined by the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the expression designates an indefinite supersensible (and malevolent) entity imagined to be associated with the spirit of each human being. Theosophists like Bailey maintain that this entity is in reality a residue of a previous incarnation, unable to succumb even when the spirit hosting it is received into a new body; in the song, Morrison addresses the audience in the first person and assumes the guise of this astral creature, which has no intention of leaving the "threshold", the doorstep it has chosen to inhabit.

The rest of the album maintains high levels, piece by piece: starting with the opening of "Celtic Ray" where, based on a kind of natural "pantheism", Ireland is imagined as a living creature watching its "children" from above and sending them messages through the celestial vault; similar Celtic imagery lives on in "Northern Muse", about the adventures of a mysterious lady wandering the fields of County Down (present-day Ulster), occasionally manifesting with fleeting appearances. "Beautiful Vision" and "Vanlose Stairway" are heartfelt dedications to Danish Ulla Munch, Morrison's girlfriend at the time of the album's recording, while the splendid "Cleaning Windows" (embellished, as is "Aryan Mist", by the luminous and precise guitar interventions of Mark Knopfler) is an amusing slice of life in which the singer talks about his first job held in his youth, that of a window cleaner. The peak of interpretative intensity capable of permeating the entire album is reached in "She Gives Me Religion", centered on the theme of "spiritual" love, and in "Across The Bridge Where Angels Dwell", where again visionary glimpses of mysticism open, before the closure reserved for the extraordinary instrumental "Scandinavia", introduced by the soft notes of the synthesizer. The musicians are those usually involved in "Morrisonian" productions of the time, from bassist David Hayes to trumpeter Mark Isham to saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis, along with drummers Tom Donlinger and Peter Van Hooke.

The discussion about the abundant themes addressed in "Beautiful Vision" certainly does not end here, the purpose of the current review is only to pique your interest in an album that (despite "Rolling Stone") certainly deserves five stars: comparisons with "Astral Weeks" and the great works of the Eighties are useless, for all the reasons I have explained, this album is in its own way a masterpiece, without getting lost in rankings. Enjoy listening.