Van Morrison - "No Guru, No Method, No Teacher" (1986)

Rating: 7/10

Best Song: "Tir Na Nog"

Confession: My knowledge of Van Morrison before listening to this album consists solely of "Brown-Eyed Girl." I've never listened to Astral Weeks, or any other Van Morrison albums. So of course I start with an obscure 1986 release, his sixteenth studio album. This wasn't an entirely arbitrary choice actually - this just happens to be one of the Van Morrison vinyls that I acquired a few years ago when I purchased a large collection of records from a co-worker.

Anyways, my basic impression of No Guru, No Method, No Teacher is this: we have here a powerful singer who roars with conviction throughout and does a fair job creating an immersive, emotional experience solely on the strength of his voice. The instrumentation is a pleasant surprise for 1986 - no synthesizers or drum machines to be found, instead we have acoustic guitars, horns, and strings all united to create a warm, pleasant background for Van's ramblings.

All of these things make the album basically a success, and I can see where someone could LOVE this album. The downside for me is the almost total lack of what I would consider 'hooks' - Van's vocal melodies tend to ramble almost to the point of being spoken word, and while the instrumentation is pleasant and tasteful, it's somewhat lacking in captivating musical ideas either. In other words, how much you like this album depends on how compelling you find Van's singing and words - and while I find them compelling enough to enjoy the album, I don't quite find them compelling enough that the album can avoid feeling a bit tedious at times.

On that note, it seems somewhat arbitrary as to which songs are the stand-outs, but the 7+ minute "Tir Na Nog" seems a pretty clear highlight to me - with its swirling, almost psychedelic strings and Van really delivering vocally. "In the Garden" is another track that stood out to me on first listen - part of me finds it a little boring, but it's hard to deny the power of lyrics that clearly aim for a simultaneous romantic and spiritual transcendence ("Listen, no guru, no method, no teacher/Just you and I and nature/And the Father and the Son/And the Holy Ghost in the garden wet with rain"). 

All said, this album is pretty clearly a grower and not a shower, and I've enjoyed it more with each successive listen, so who knows, perhaps there's room for further growth here?