Haunts of ancient peace (Van Morrison) (LP 3269 - 3275)

Van Morrison  Common One (Vinyl and CD, Mercury Records, 1980) *****  

Van Morrison  Beautiful Vision (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1982) ****

Van Morrison  Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1983) *****

Van Morrison  Live at The Grand Opera House Belfast (CD, Mercury Records, 1984) ***

Van Morrison  Poetic Champions Compose (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1987) ****

Van Morrison & The Chieftains  Irish Heartbeat (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1988) ***

Van Morrison  Avalon Sunset (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1989) ****

Genre: Folk rock, Celtic soul

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, JB Hi Fi, The Warehouse, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Haunts Of Ancient Peace (Common One)

Gear costume: Someone Like You (Poetic Champions Compose)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Van started the eighties on an artistic/ creative high with Common One. Haunts Of Ancient Peace is a superb song. He's deeply into his creative muse on this song and I for one love listening to it. The rest of the album is very jazzy in its approach - some distance away from his late seventies albums, and all the better for it. 

Common One is like Veedon Fleece and Saint Dominic's Preview for me - an inspired set of songs performed brilliantly. 

Beautiful Vision builds on the peace achieved by Common One (no coming, no going) and Van produces an excellent set of songs.

He concentrates on the Celtic folk and song/poem stylings that poked through from time to time prior to Common One, but really thrust forward on Haunts Of Ancient Peace. The leisurely pace is very welcome. There is no strident hectoring present throughout these early eighties' albums.

Try side two of Beautiful Vision for instance. He extols the virtues of a simple activity (cleaning windows), then he presents four beautiful songs - Vanlose Stairway, Aryan Mist, Across The Bridge Where Angels Dwell, finishing off with the soothing calm instrumental Scandinavia.

Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart (a title that harks back to Listen To The Lion) carries on the feel of Beautiful Vision to great effect. I can even live with the synths. 

I especially love the continued use of instrumentals: Connswater, Celtic Swing come on side 1 to provide texture, and the title track on side 2 has a beautiful melody. Van's sax playing is really distinctive - very breathy/earthy. All that plus Rave On John Donne. What a great album - the culmination of the early eighties 'spiritual Celtic soul' period from the soul in wonder.

Like It's Too Late To Stop Now before it, the live album recorded in Belfast is a good punctuation mark to a stage of his career. I used to have the vinyl version but I sold it because it had too many of the mid paced ruminations on it and the version of Rave On John Donne sounds perfunctory compared to the inspired studio version. For me, the set needed some more pep - like Full Force Gale which really stands out.

I missed a few albums around this time, but picked up the scent again with Poetic Champions Compose, mainly for Someone Like You. What a song that is! Only Van can do this kind of heartfelt thing with sincerity and aplomb.

Critics have described the album's mood as calm and optimistic, and I think that's accurate. Van believes he writes his best stuff when he's in those moods. There is a lovely warmth to this album and the mid-tempo songs glide by effortlessly.

Irish Heartbeat was a collaboration with The Chieftains. It's pretty earthy and raw, which is as it should be for this material (basically it sounds eminently suited to beer drinking activities so grab a six pack of stout won't you). Highlights: Star Of The County Down; I'll Tell Me Ma.

Avalon Sunset was next after the Irish reset. It ends the decade on a high. There are many career highlights on this album: Whenever God Shines His Light (with a terrific co-vocal from Cliff Richard); Have I Told You Lately?; and Coney Island.

Where do they all belong? The nineties to just lately is next. He's been tough to follow in the last few years - so many albums, and so many different styles.