Common One

Customer Reviews:

• "Oh, Hand Me Down My Grey Coat": "I think I'll Go Walking In The Woods." ... A true feeling of grace.
  From Haunts of Ancient Peace to the last refrain of When Heart Is Open.
  Common One delivers perfection. The mountain top, the struggles, the long journey, complete redemption.
  
  "Oh, My high in the art of suffering one"
  
  Common One hits a chord that only the Common One can.
  A true underrated gem.
  The path that leads to a Beautiful Vision
  
  
• Wonderful : I'm a massive Van Morrison fan and for me this is one of his greatest albums. For me When Heart is Open is an incredibly sublime and beautiful piece of music. It's far away from pop or rock music, which is why some people find it difficult, but it's a stunning and deeply moving piece. I've listened to it countless times and have always been inspired by it every time. There are other sublime moments of this album too, such as Summertime in England (which is overlong though, and would have been more effective in a shorter version) and Haunts of Ancient Peace. The whole album comes from a deeply spiritual place, and its serenity spreads to the listener. It's perhaps Van's most experimental album, which is probably why it was his least successful (both critically and commercially). But I'm incredibly grateful that this music has enriched my life so much over the last 15 years or so.
• One of his best: You might be thinking that because this album is only 6 songs long and is a bit boring to look at that it's not worth peeking inside. You would be very wrong. This is one of Morrison's best albums, and two songs in particular are about as good as it gets if you are a true fan of Van the man. Summertime In England (epic and poetic) and Satisfied (uplifting with an incredible minute-long sax solo). You can definitely feel that this is one of Van's more improvisational albums, and caught somewhere between his 70s Moondance days and his 80s Beautiful Vision era, but it all works. If you enjoy this period of Van's musical history, you really should check this out.
• One of Van's Absolute Best: If you've ever seen Van live, you know that some nights are time spent in heaven. On his worst night, you're in the audience of Van's private hell. Some of his albums are the same. I don't care what Vanistas say, some of bland. This is not one of those; it is one of the reasons why Van Fans keep coming back.
  
  I originally bought this cd back in the late 80's before I had a cd player. I just wanted to know that someday I'd be able to hear the set in its purest forms. It still holds up. Discovering Van? Good place to start. If you don't get greedy, you can cherry pick his best work and avoid the dross. This is a perfect cd.
• (2.5 stars) Ironic title: I got this off a recommendation from a friend of mine here on amazon, and basically I don't know what to think of it. First off, I REALLY respect Van the Man for following up the relentlessly commercial (and often quite dull) Into the Music with a work as bizarre and inaccessible as this one. My theory about Van is that he just doesn't give a crap, that he is the ultimate artist - not that he is the best artist, that is, but that he only does what his muse tells him, regardless of whether or not it makes him money. If his muse points him in a commercial direction (Band and Street Choir; Into the Music), that's where he goes. But hey, think of it like this: Moondance and Tupelo Honey were both artistically and commercially successful. This is artistically successful from the standpoint that it's a very creative work, mixing jazz, soul, and Celtic folk. And when this one's on, it's ON. Summertime in England is an absolute Morrison masterpiece, with long, captivating lyrics; numerous tempo shifts, and enough interesting sax and keyboard solos to sustain it for its fifteen minute length. A song like this and its similarly lengthy companion When Heart is Open invite no middle ground: you either worship and adore or despise them. And I'm not big on When Heart is Open. I guess I can hang with its In a Silent Way atmospere (In a Silent Way being one of my twenty favorite albums ever), but it's just formless, shapeless, and dull. It's ambient music, and ambient's one of the few genres of music I don't listen to much, because I don't really get it. It just goes over my head. So does When Heart is Open. For the record, I feel the same way about the two epics on Saint Dominic's Preview: Listen to the Lion is one of Van's greatest achievements, but Almost Independence Day makes no sense to me.
  Really, if you take that one out, and replace it with a few standard-length tunes, this wouldn't be bad all. I mean, Wild Honey's not really worthwhile either, but Van's done far worse - take When Heart is Open, for instance. Anyway, an album can have a couple weak spots to still earn a recommendation. Satisfied is middling, redeemed only by some memorable sax solos. It's also the only comemrcial song on this album, which is anything but common, no matter what its title suggests.
  Now for the two standard-length pieces I do like. Even though Summertime In England is my favorite of the pack, if I had to choose one song to represent this album for the upcoming Still on Top compilation (which I believes ignores this one entirely), it would be Haunts of Ancient Peace. As the title hints, it's haunting, stately, and reverant. Sure, it's just pure mood, and it gets by on mood alone, but the mood is wonderful. The hymnal Spirit is the same way.
  Common One is pretty far from an inviting album, and it's hard for me to say if I like it or not. The cover art is my favorite of all Van's albums; Haunts of Ancient Peace and Summertime in England strike me as Van classics. But this is not one to begin your Van journey with, and I must say I greatly prefer his work from Astral Weeks to Veedon Fleece (well, I'm still missing Hard Nose the Highway and It's Too Late to Stop Now, but you get my drift). As an artistic statement, it's hard to argue with, but I'm pretty sure this was made for Van's enjoyment and not ours. Which I again really respect. I just don't "get" about half this album.