The Prophet Speaks
| Van Morrison
The Prophet Speaks
The Northern Irish singer Van Morrison has released 40 studio albums, 6 live albums, 6 compilation albums, 4 video albums, and 71 singles.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
2018. Morrison once again uses his latest collection as an occasion to make a point about genre and influence. If Morrison has wanted to communicate anything, it’s that he’s able to write old-time originals that are mostly indistinguishable from the John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and Solomon Burke covers they are nestled in between his own songs.
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The Guardian The Observer
December 9, 2018. As with his other recent albums, the material is balanced evenly between choice cuts that inspired him as a young man (this time featuring covers of songs by Solomon Burke, John Lee Hooker and Sam Cooke, among others) and his own compositions.
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The Guardian
2018. This is the fourth album Morrison has released in 18 months, all laid-back, all centred on standards from the canon of black American music. He’s found something that has fired him up again, and despite the mellowness of the performances from Joey DeFrancesco’s band . . . , Morrison sounds fresh.
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Paste Magazine
2018. The Prophet Speaks becomes a matter of his own personal preference. The rural backwoods Morrison of Tupelo Honey, Morrison, the celestial traveler of Astral Weeks and Morrison, the Celtic crooner that shared his ancient hymns throughout the ‘80s have clearly succumbed to his new persona as a timeless troubadour of a distinctly vintage variety.
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American Songwriter
2018. On The Prophet Speaks, Morrison sounds as lively, vivacious and committed as any time in his career. He’s positively giddy when slinging out these eight covers and six originals accompanied by the same band from his previous disc.
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Spill Magazine
The Prophet Speaks is not a cutting edge record, nor is it a step forward for Van Morrison. He’s a man who is beyond settled in his ways and there’s certainly no changing that. In the end, that doesn’t really matter. Morrison knows how to deliver a solid piece of work even when he isn’t trying to break new ground.
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Independent
2018. Singer-songwriter sounds like he’s having a blast on this satisfying album. It’s a joy to find Morrison, now 72, at the top of his craft with his 40th release.
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All Music
2018. The Prophet Speaks digs deeper into blues and R&B than its predecessor, but sounds equally loose, joyous, and spontaneous.
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Elmore Magazine
2018. The Prophet Speaks marks his 40th studio album and may even be a tad better because of a couple of strong originals that carry that trademark infectious Morrison style. Van brings his energetic A-game, delivering yet another lively album backed by tremendous players.
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U Discover Music
2018. Once again paying homage to the blues legends that inspired him, ‘The Prophet Speaks’ finds Van Morrison at the top of his game.
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Glide Magazine
2018. Commencing The Prophet Speaks with a lighthearted “Gonna Send You Back To Where I Got You From.” Van, Joey et. al., pick right up where they left off, romping into action with sly singing from the author of “Brown-eyed Girl,” the sure rhythm of drummer Michael Ode and a pithy guitar break by Dan Wilson.
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Riff Magazine
2018. On The Prophet Speaks, Van Morrison uses a combination of his original musical inspirations and new compositions from his own heart. This combination of looking backward and forward at the same time gives his 40th album a unique juxtaposition of nostalgia and artistic expansion.
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Newsday
2018. “The Prophet Speaks” shows that Morrison still has plenty to say and has hit on a stylish, vibrant way of saying it.
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Time
2018. Morrison’s voice is one of pop’s most recognizable instruments, and it still sounds like a siren call. His phrasing and interplay with his band indicate not just a studying of each song’s structure but a deep dive into their feelings as well.
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Spectrum Culture
2018. This is the one with the most originals, which means it’ll get the most attention, and the originals blend seamlessly with the covers, not so much because they’re in the same style . . . but because the record feels like it could be Morrison performing a revue of his own songs and classics he loves.
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Flood Magazine
2018. . . . Prophet Speaks breathes deep the air of old school blues, jazz, and R&B without losing a contemporary cool.
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The Skinny
2018. Van Morrison's 40th studio album, and fifth since 2016, is another collection of jazz and blues; standards and originals, they're all as one now for Van the Man
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Metro
2018. The Prophet Speaks is the sound of a man reconnecting joyfully with his roots, his influences, his muse and his talent. Not that the album revisits the mercurial, improvisational likes of Astral Weeks — this owes more to Van’s earliest days, the elemental blues, jazz and soul that inspired his work with Them.
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Off The Tracks
2019. The material collected though? It’s pretty terrific. A mix of covers and originals – seems to be his thing these days, but he has recovered his writing muse at least. Yes, yes, it’s happy, clap-filled funky jazz/blues workout material.
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Jazz Weekly
2018. This album has Morrison, like all good poker players, continuing with his winning hand, keeping Joey D and jumping like the second coming of Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson on this mix of jumping originals and covers.
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Original Rock
2018. . . . “The Prophet Speaks,” is a back to the roots exercise of the highest quality . This heady blend of earthy blues, jazz and soul divides neatly between freshly minted Morrison ditties such as “Got To Go Where The Love Is” and affectionate revamps of numbers made famous by the likes of Solomon Burke, Sam Cook and John Lee Hooker, the latter the much recorded “Dimples.”
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STACK
2018. The Prophet Speaks includes six new Morrison songs and reinterpretations of classics by John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Sam Cooke and Solomon Burke.
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OOR
2018. To work ethic Van Morrison missing on his 73 th out. Two albums a year is the rule rather than the exception. Invariably they contain some new own songs and a series of classics from jazz and blues.
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Nieuweplaat.nl
2018. Also on this production 'prophet' Morrison lives out in vocal jazz and R & B. The music that has inspired Morrison all his life. On this album Morrison knows how to bring a fine mix of a number of classics by Sam Cooke, John Lee Hooker, Solomon Burke and six new songs.
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Rapid City Journal
2018. The next and most remarkable aspect is the relaxed, easy groove that permeates through "The Prophet Speaks," which finds Morrison relishing his relatively recent incarnation as a jazz singer backed by an expressive, moody band.
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Cheeky Monkey Sarnia
2018. Here, Van takes on a series of classics by the likes of John Lee Hooker, Sam Cooke and Solomon Burke and makes them unmistakably his own, alongside six phenomenal new Van compositions.
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The Irish Times
2018. Yet unsurprisingly, the standards of musicianship are exemplary. There is no shadow of a doubt that we’re in the hands of true masters, and it is a pleasure and a privilege to luxuriate in some of this album’s better moments.
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The Scotsman
2018. The Prophet Speaks likewise celebrates Morrison’s musical roots in jazz and rhythm’n’blues with a number of cap-doffing covers alongside six new Van tracks.
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Lust for Life
2018. A menu that mostly consists of jazz and bluesstandards could just as well have evoked the sloth in Van The Man, but on this more than one hour album he shows the dividing lines between classics by Sam Cooke, Willie Dixon and John Lee Hooker and own breeding based on the same traditions practically blur.
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Classic Rock
2018. Already in the spring, he released a jazz work and now lays down with a jazzy blues album. Others may get calmer as they get older, maybe in the studio every now and then because of habit - Van "The Man" Morrison seems to live there, recording, interpreting and writing daily.
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Bourbon and Vinyl
2018. While this album is jazzy, it’s more like blues or R&B filtered through a jazz lens than straight up jazz. It’s very accessible music. As mentioned, this album swings. It is very apparent that Van, one of rock’s original curmudgeons, is having a blast here.
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Tinnitist
2018. At the tender age of 73 — a time when most artists are wallowing in the past, resting on laurels or just going through the motions — Van the Man is not only working like a demon: He is absolutely, positively, undeniably crushing it. The Prophet Speaks, his magnificent new disc, is the 40th studio album in his illustrious catalogue.
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Amoeba Music
2018. On The Prophet Speaks, his latest collaboration with Joey DeFrancesco and his band, Van Morrison sounds confident, cool and compelling. The legendary singer pays soulful homage to the talents who came before him with covers by Solomon Burke and John Lee Hooker.
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The Press
2018. There are 14 tracks here and not a dull note on a collection that sings, swings and warms the soul. The jazz singing is perfectly phrased on eight jazz and blues classics, with six new songs added to the lively mix.
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Patrick Maginty
2018. Once again, he teams up with Joey De Francesco and his virtuoso band of Troy Roberts, Dan Wilson and Michael Ode. You certainly get your money’s worth on this album which is seventy minutes of cool jazz, soul & blues.
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Bob Mesereau's Top 100
2018. The band swings, and Morrison is clearly inspired, sounding enthused in his vocals. Then throw in great choices such as Muddy Waters' I Love The Life I Live and John Lee Hooker's Dimples, and you have a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
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Jazz and Rock
2019. What may sound like some other barmy music to others, sounds to Van the Man still ravishingly cool. Along with cover versions like Sam Cooke's "Laughin 'And Clownin'", John Lee Hooker's "Dimples" or Solomon Burke's "Gotta Get You Off My Mind", the album also features six new Morrison originals.
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