Hymns to the Silence
Every loyal Van Morrison fan knows his best albums are those where he’s given the room to expand. Though Morrison’s best-known work is short, precise and transcendent (“Brown Eyed Girl,” “Into the Mystic”), his most experimental work (*Astral Weeks*, *Veedon Fleece*, *Common One*) is long, rambling and idiosyncratic. 1991’s *Hymns to the Silence* was a two-disc, 21 song collection that touched on every aspect of Morrison’s professional vision. There’s the short-fused crank (“Professional Jealousy,” “Why Must I Always Explain”), the spiritual advisor (“By His Grace,” “See Me Through Part II”), the nostalgia merchant (“On Hyndford Street”) and the restless, vocalizing lion (“Hymns to the Silence,” “Take Me Back”). Many of his previous decade’s recordings were suffused with an eerie New Age mellowness that suggested Morrison had given up on the harder-edged R&B of his youth, but *Hymns* works from the naturalist footing of Hammond organ and acoustic instruments. The synths and orchestration are judiciously applied and the latent hostility and dissatisfaction in Morrison’s delivery would sustain him throughout the decade.