Search - Van Morrison :: Essential Van Morrison

High quality, low integrity

Clay Stockton | Oakland, CA USA | 07/05/2001

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The single star isn't meant to indicate the quality of the music on this CD, but rather its integrity as a product. This is just another repackaging of music that's been around for many years. These same sessions have also been on shelves as "Blowin' Your Mind", "T.B. Sheets", and "Bang Masters" (of which "Bang Masters" was and is the most complete). A new one comes out about every decade. You know all those songs Van has about crooks in the music industry? Well, he's writing about this record company.My gripe about this particular release is that by naming this the "Essential" Van Morrison and putting Van's most widely known song front and center, the record company has tried to dress it up as some sort of greatest hits album -- which it's not. If someone who didn't already know Van's work --somebody who would recognize, say, "Moondance" or "Crazy Love" if they heard it but have no clue who sang it -- if that kind of person picked this up thinking of it as "essential" Van, then they would likely not move on to his more mature body of work, and so would miss out on "Astral Weeks", "Moondance", "Veedon Fleece", etc. This album represents a three-star beginning to a five-star career; it's unfair to mislead consumers into thinking that this represents the best of Van."

False Marketing

Jamie Jones | 09/06/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is false marketing and not the "Essential Van Morrison" as the title indicates. Aside from "Brown-Eyed Girl", this is NOT a collection of Van Morrison's well known tunes. Buyer beware."