Van Morrison's first solo LP from anno 1968 - hard to believe that this was a debut! This album is a milestone in the history of music, it sounds like a unified whole (highly gratifying that not a few well-intentioned "Bonus Tracks" on the CD counteract this impression!), Simply perfect (you can increase the word "perfect"?), Without smooth or even experienced to act. Not even Van Morrison himself was able to offer ever! "Astral Weeks" can not verschubladen easy; Morrisons combined here Soul, Blues, Jazz, and Folk Fandango (I've forgotten what?) To his own style, which has since made him unmistakable: Every song sounds like just now improvised; only with time you realize how ausgefuchst are the compositions, such as virtuosity here Blues is combined with completely new instrumentation (guitar, flute, vibraphone, discreet strings, sax, especially) and inimitable rhythms and rhythm changes - highly complicated actually, but everything sounds effortless and easy. Morrison songs present themselves on an epic scale, often start behaving in order to then almost orgiastic coming to an end to - well, what? to morrisonisieren? Since the language fails again. Recommendation: listen: The entire CD.
