180-gram premium vinyl pressing.
“Morrison - a notoriously private man for whom singing and songwriting have long been a form of emotional armor as well as release - never sounded as warm and ecstatic, more sensual and vulnerable...Astral Weeks is Morrison going deep inside himself, to the far corners of his life and art, without a net or fear. He was never this open, and naked, again.” - Rolling Stone, citing ASTRAL WEEKS as #19 of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Mercurial Irish soul man and poet-balladeer Van Morrison originally rose out of the Belfast scene with Them, a group he formed in the early '60s that delivered the seminal rock hit “Gloria.” In his subsequent solo career, Morrison went on to become one of the most celebrated music artists on the planet, and his 1968 Warner Bros. debut ASTRAL WEEKS is widely lauded as one of greatest albums in contemporary music. Morrison - playing acoustic guitar - is backed by a stellar outfit of jazz musicians on classic songs including “Sweet Thing,” “Cyprus Avenue,” “The Way Young Lovers Do” and the title track.
Calling it an “utterly gorgeous song cycle,” Time.com and Time Magazine included ASTRAL WEEKS on their list of “The All-TIME 100 Albums,” noting, “Morrison sings of lost love, death, and nostalgia for childhood in the Celtic soul that would become his signature...its mystic poetry, spacious grooves, and romantic incantations still resonate in ways no other music can.” On 180 gram virgin vinyl from Rhino, the mystery and warm open beauty of Morrison's masterpiece comes alive the way it was meant to be heard.
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