Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece (1974)

Well, welcome back and after a day's worth of rest i am ready to post some new stuff again. Since it is St. Patrick's Day today, and everyone is feeling a little Irish, i figured why not post something along those lines.
The album today is Van Morrison's Veedon Fleece. Now this is a record from Van's return to his Celtic roots so it is utterly appropriate for the occasion. This is the eighth studio album, and the final album in his very innovative 1968 to 1974 period. This period was followed by about three years of absolute nothing. This album followed his sudden divorce from his wife, Janet Planet, and his leave of absence from the U.S. In this album you can hear the emotional distraught from the situation that he has found himself in and the absolute sincerity and heart in his voice. Most of these songs were wrote in Ireland, the place where he took refuge after the divorce, and the land of Ireland and its sounds is very evident in this album's songs.
His voice is definite Van, but like i stated before you can hear the sadness and hurt in his voice which is what makes this album so amazing. This record is filled with a lot of great piano backing, which just adds to the real heart-felt sound that he is seemingly going for with this entire record. This album still has the Van Morrison voice that you are used to but in such a different light because his voice is now a product of hurt and let-down. Veedon Fleece is definitely not a bring-me-up album, it is an album you listen to when you are really down in the shit, but still it is really Van at his absolute best. Granted it is not as tortured and cathartic as Astral Weeks, but the entire thing is so deeply felt that you can't but feel for the guy because he is just laying his heart out on this album.
This entire album is nothing but one great song after the other that you can't help but to download it, get depressed, and just sit and sulk while you listen to Van Morrison just pour it out as if only to show you that you will never have it as bad as this. I know that it really isn't the music you would listen to on St. Patrick's Day, but when is there a better time to post an album like this?

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