Back on Top
| Van Morrison
Back on Top
Back on Top is the twenty-seventh studio album by Northern Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in 1999 by Point Blank. This album marks a slight return to the forms of music he is most known for: blues and R&B. Upon the album's release, Rolling Stone reviewed it as "one Monet and nine Norman Rockwells", the "Monet" being "When the Leaves Come Falling Down" which it called a masterpiece.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
1999. Back on Top is solid, brilliant, silly in sad ways. But it’s still one Monet and nine Norman Rockwells.
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https://www.allmusic.com/album/back-on-top-mw0000048348
After so many songs ranging through so many styles, it is a pleasure to have Van Morrison return to the music that suits him so well. Steeped in blues and R&B, Back on Top finds Morrison celebrating life and its pleasures to the limit.
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The Graham Weekly Album Review
1999. After a series of worthwhile studio and live albums in recent years, his new studio album is a standout. It features what the veteran performer does best, his blend of soul and blues from a British Isles standpoint. The songs are particularly good ones this time, as is the backing band with their very tasteful musicianship down to the string arrangements.
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All About Jazz
2008. Morrison deliberately invoked his personal muse with Back On Top by forging sparse arrangements of tunes such as "Golden Autumn Day" and "High Summer" that matched the recurring imagery . . . of the Belfast Cowboy's personal lexicon.
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Record Collector
The late, great guitar ace Mick Green shines on an album of dualities – the character on top in the title cut is surrounded by deadbeats, there›s Precious Time (“is slipping away”), Satan appears in High Summer and the late great Ziggy-inspiring Vince Taylor is recalled in Goin’ Down Geneva.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
Have this one. A rather optimistic title for a new studio album that's gotten mixed reviews. (JA)
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