Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Ain't Nothin' You Can Do
2. Warm Love
3. Into The Mystic
4. These Dreams Of You
5. I Believe To My Soul
6. I've Been Working
7. Help Me
8. Wild Children
9. Domino - The Caledonia Soul Orchestra, Van Morrison
10. I Just Want To Make Love To You

Disc 2:

1. Bring It On Home To Me
2. Saint Dominic's Preview
3. Take Your Hand Out Of My Pocket
4. Listen To The Lion - The Caledonia Soul Orchestra, Van Morrison
5. Here Comes The Night - The Caledonia Soul Orchestra, Van Morrison
6. Gloria
7. Caravan
8. Cyprus Avenue - Van Morrison
9. Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1918 in Music
• Released on: 2008-01-28
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Live, Original recording reissued
• Running time: 188 minutes

Customer Reviews

A masterpiece of performance art
This is an album which captures a performer at the absolute zenith of his achievement. Morrsion is in complete control of a large and highly competent band and milks his power to the nth degree, changing pace at will and spontaneously with a flick of his hand behind his back as he growls his invocation to soul in a way he has never bettered.
There are great cover versions given the celtic soul treatment, such as "Bring It All On Home" and "I Just Wanna Make Love To You". Alongside sit magnificent, innovatory treatments of Morrison classics such as "Into The Mystic", "St. Dominic's Preview" and a simply stunning version of "Caravan", embellished by sumptuous saxophone from Jack Schroer and vibrant, beautiful violin from Nathan Ribble. Then, at the end, Van shouts "Turn It Up !!!" at the band do just that, responding to his every command, working on pure instinct.

This is an artist in complete control. Van knows it. Live albums really don't get much better than this. Furthermore, this album is over thirty years old. Astonishing.

Live masterpiece
This album is so great because all of Morrison's familiar gems gain something by these live performances. The band is tight, the audience appreciative and Van is firing on all cylinders. Old favourites like Into The Mystic and These Dreams Of You take on new rhythmic and vocal dimensions whilst I Believe To My Soul is a breathtaking R&B workout.

I honestly prefer this magnificent live version of Here Comes The Night with its flowing violins, although the original remains a classic too. Another stunning performance is Gloria, which I first heard in Patti Smith's version, but this one is amazingly gripping and powerful, as demonstrated by the enthusiastic reaction of the audience.

I have very few live albums and as a rule I prefer studio sounds, but this majestic album is infused with such spirit, warmth and exuberance that it ranks amongst my favourite Van Morrison albums. It is also an ideal greatest hits album of his early career.

Before the Curmudgeonry...
I think the reviewer who describes this as "immature" and compares it unfavourably to "San Francisco" demonstrates the divide in the Van Morrison camp. Some people got on board around Have I Told You Lately and only know him as the gruff curmudgeon we see today. Some of us remember him as a young, lithe firebrand, however, someone not permanently hiding behind shades and grumbling about copycats, and this is an excellent document of that artist.

I have to say that the bluesy covers drag a little for me, but the rest really does justify this album's reputation as possibly the greatest live album ever (though my personal favourite is Tim Buckley's Dream Letter). From the quadruple whammy opening salvo of Ain't Nothin' You Can Do/Warm Love/Into The Mystic/These Dreams Of You to the triumphant finale of Cypress Avenue (and, in the case of this version, Brown Eyed Girl), the adrenalin only flags occasionally (in my opinion anyway) during the likes of I Just Want To Make Love To You.

Cypress Avenue itself is an absolute triumph - Morrison has surely never sung better in his life and the band and he are in total accord. There cannot be a more exciting moment in recorded music than when Morrison shouts the album's title at the song's climax and the band come crashing back in.

The additon of a good version of Brown Eyed Girl provides a nice chill-out moment, and then it's over.

Springsteen has spent an entire career trying to be this joyous, this intense, but there can only be one master.