No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
| Van Morrison
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher is the sixteenth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1986 on Mercury. Upon release in 1986, it was well received by critics and charted at number twenty-seven in the UK and number seventy on the Billboard 200.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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All Music
There are some longer selections here as well, in the Celtic R&B of "Tir Na Nog"; the glorious "In the Garden" (a concert staple); and the righteous frustration in "Thanks for the Information," detailing the pitfalls of the spiritual path. Combined, these tunes make for a deeply satisfying album in the least and a major -- if provocative for casual fans -- Morrison work that hones a fine point on the songwriter's search for transformation and transcendence as part and parcel of the spiritual process, while making music in real time.
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Rolling Stone
1986. In the end, though, No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (a line from the sweet “Madame George”-like reverie “In the Garden”) is Morrison’s impatient declaration that his music is not to be confused with religious doctrine, a call to any particular altar.
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Something Else Reviews
2014. No Guru, No Method, No Teacher contains a misty mystery and permeating sense of regret throughout, but also an encompassing sense of redemption by the album’s conclusion. With a gracefulness that only he can conjure, Morrison doesn’t shock with vocal gymnastics, but soothes with gritty replies and whispered inquiries.
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Sound of Summer
2014. . . . this album is one of Morrison’s finest. The songs pour out, flowing and rolling musical water, rushing and blending into one another and sweeping you along on a spiritual journey. It sits comfortably in the finest of company as one of the best albums ever released.
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Independent
2008. The four great Van albums are ‘Astral Weeks’, ‘Moondance’, ‘Veedon Fleece’ and … this one. It is a little-regarded thing from the height of Morrison’s rapturous period in the Eighties and it is utterly beautiful.
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Sunshine Coast Van Fans
2009. It was recorded at the height of his 'spiritual quest' period where he pursed inner happiness and pondered what contribution music could make to the quest.
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Storia Della Musica
The songs are superb, naturally flow from the instruments and vocal cords, an emotional current that knows how to merge into a single whole: the melody, poetry, soul, rock, ancient music of Celtic tradition and jazz.
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Glide Magazine
2018. Recorded at the height of his spiritual period, it focuses on spiritual innocence as it struggles with notions of God and liberation from earthly constraints. The instrumentation includes oboe, acoustic guitar, organ, and vibraphone setting it apart from others in his catalog and forming a sound that is the epitome of Celtic soul, . . . .
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Robert Christgau
No soap radio, no particular place to go, no man is an island. No spring chicken, No-Doz, no can do
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Stereogum
2014. His preoccupations became steadily more spiritual in nature, although the bile of his industry-related frustrations never abated. It all came together on the stunning 1986 release No Guru, No Method, No Teacher, an astoundingly underappreciated album . . . .
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Alphoristic Album Reviews
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher is adult contemporary, but it’s often gorgeous – most of the instrumental textures come from piano, acoustic guitars and orchestral instruments. There’s little of the drum programming and synthesizers you’d expect on a 1986 pop record, and it’s altogether organic, warm and lovely.
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The New York Times
1986. Mr. Morrison's latest album, ''No Guru, No Method, No Teacher,'' is a prolonged reverie whose most vivid image is of a luminous garden wet with rain. Its songs pointedly compare erotic love with paradise, the holy trinity and divine salvation.
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All About Jazz
2008. It's a testament to how intense is the persona created by Morrison in his early years, through both concert performances and recordings, that No Guru No Method No Teacher remains an object of interest. Any such lengthy discography as his is bound to contain peaks and valleys, and this constitutes one of the latter; . . . .
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Penny Black Music
2017. 'No Guru, No Method, No Teacher' released in 1985 (one of the great records of our time) revealed ten tracks that could easily be the ten tracks that would satisfy this article. A sense of longing and searching echo through the whole album . . . .
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Hot Press
2001. No disco, no party, no foolin’ around – here we find Van Morrison by turns enraptured and embittered, on an album that is never less than engrossing and which is occasionally sublime.
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Elsewhere
2013. The magic came back again for this one, the album which redeemed him for patient fans. Unfortunately many had given up on him by this time. Pity. This is very good.
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