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Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece
| Rollingstones |
| By 1974, Van Morrison was probably exhausted. During the past ten years, the Irish troubadour had morphed from a garage rock king (as the leader of Them) to a pop hit machine to the craftsman of such landmark albums as Astral Weeks and Tupelo Honey. His eighth album, Veedon Fleece, hit stores in late 1974, shortly after the release of those instantly accessible masterpieces — and it was greeted by a collective shrug by the rock critical establishment. Time has proven them wrong. The album is the grand culmination of Morrison's work over the past decade, combining R&B with celtic music, country and traditional rock and roll. At the center of it lies "You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push The River" — a wildly ambitious, nearly nine-minute song filled with piano, soprano saxophone and flute, where Morrison sings about the quest for the mysterious "veedon fleece" — an elusive treasure that's never quite defined. Repeated references to "William Blake and the Sisters of Mercy" may leave you scratching your head, but it's clear this album finds Morrison at the absolute top of his game. "Streets of Arklow," a tribute to the historic Ireland town, is another stunning beauty featuring Morrison singing in top form, complimented by a string section. A this reissue includes a scant two bonus tracks and no liner notes, but it's still worth the price for the improved sound. After Veedon Fleece, a drained Morrison took the longest break of his career, not emerging until 1977. He's released many wonderful albums since, but he's never again hit the majestic heights of this one....full text |
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| Stylusmagazine |
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Though Veedon Fleece has become a critical success over the years, somehow the album still gets overlooked by most fans, or rarely mentioned as one of his best. Never, for example, have I discussed Van Morrison with friends or Stylus compatriots, always coming back to that barfront question (top-three, now gimme), and been told Veedon Fleece made the count. I think much of this is the almost monolithic presence of its closest cousin in Van’s catalogue, the masterpiece of smoky Celtic folk, brickwall jazz, and R&B, Astral Weeks. If you’re looking for that aural cushioning, and you have to choose one come fireside, it’s likely it’ll be Astral Weeks. Which is too bad. In many ways, in both sound and temperament, Veedon Fleece is not only every bit the record of its slightly daunting elder, but a companion piece that bookended his classic 1968-1974 period. Coming on the heels of a long tour with his Caledonia Soul Orchestra, a live set from which made up his 1974 release It’s Too Late to Stop Now, and a divorce from his wife, Janet Planet, Morrison returned to Belfast and began working on what would become Veedon Fleece. Veedon was an anachronism of sorts for Van at the time, at least viewed in light of the rumbling, bottom-fed R&B for which he’d become known on his albums from the early ‘70s like Moondance, His Band and the Street Choir, and Tupelo Honey. The first signs of a reversion to the rustic spirituality of his earliest solo material could be heard on 1972’s Saint Dominic’s Preview, with its loose, extended song structures, contemplative lyricism (“Listen to the Lion,” “Redwood Tree,” “Almost Independence Day”), and almost complete lack of radio-friendly material (barring perhaps “Jackie Wilson Said [I’m In Heaven When You Smile]”). But it was with Veedon Fleece, and perhaps with his move from California back to Ireland, that Van finally nailed again the hypnotic, meditative quality of Astral Weeks....full text |
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| Allmusic |
| The final album of Van Morrison's remarkably prolific and innovative 1968-1974 period (followed by three years of silence), Veedon Fleece brings the singer full circle, returning him to the introspection and poignancy of Astral Weeks. Composed following his sudden divorce from wife Janet Planet and subsequent retreat from the U.S., the songs are subtle and Spartan, the performances deeply felt; though less tortured and cathartic than Astral Weeks, it's a record fraught with emotional upheaval, as evidenced by such superior moments as "Linden Arden Stole the Highlights," "Who Was That Masked Man," and "You Don't Pull No Punches, But You Don't Push the River." That said, this is one of those -- and there are several -- forgotten classics in the Morrison catalog. Because it followed hot on the heels of his universally acclaimed double live album It's Too Late to Stop Now..., released only a month previous, this effort, like its likewise unheralded -- but equally wonderful -- studio effort Hard Nose the Highway, which was issued only six months before, the album suffered from a lack of exposure because of saturation in the marketplace rather than any lack in quality. Veedon Fleece is every bit the creative equal of its more famous predecessors. With its elegiac tone and deeply autobiographical lyrics, this was a Morrison who didn't so readily associate himself with the feel-good, peace, love, and rhythm & blues sound American audiences were used to. If any album reflects a real period of transition for an artist, it's this one. It's brilliant....full text |
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