Top 10 Van Albums: #7, Back On Top

Back On Top, if nothing else, presents irrefutable evidence that Van Morrison has not faded into rock 'n' roll obscurity. He is not a novelty act, nor is he a man to rest on the considerable laurels of his early fame. As a matter of fact, a few of the songs contained within this 1999 album are among the best of his extensive career; the songwriting is as strong as ever, and the performances are rich and rejuvinated from some of his less sturdy efforts of the early nineties. Most of the songs on Back On Top would be standouts on almost any of his earlier albums.

Ironically, this strong album begins with its weakest number, "Goin' Down Geneva." This, a raunchy blues tune, is lyrically shallow and instrumentally jarring. Thankfully, the remainder of the album resembles nothing of its opening track. "Philosopher's Stone" is Van's strongest song in over a decade, and it paints a picture of an older Van, "out on the highways/and the byways all alone/still searching for [his] home." Van is restless as ever, and much of the song emits a very sombre feel. Nonetheless, although he decries that "it's a hard road," there is a bit of silver lining to the road that Van is ever traveling. "Philosopher's Stone" is a soul-searcher's and a gypsy's anthem, and it is among the best of all Van's material.

"In the Midnight" is an overwhelmingly melancholy ballad about a lonely Van haunted by the memory of his lost love. The ache in his voice is readily evident; the emotion seems startlingly sincere. Van, in the past, has sometimes struggled to walk the line between "whiney" and "emotionally devastated." At this point in his career, he has clearly achieved such an ability, and its fruits are evident in this wonderful song.

Following the energetic and radio-friendly title track, we come to another Van classic, "When the Leaves Come Falling Down." The sound is that of a well-constructed ballad; the pace is slow and meandering, and the arrangements are lush and full. The lyrics are quite poetic, and Van creates the atmosphere of a damp autumn afternoon on the streets of Paris. This song is an achievement in musicianship and writing, and is a definite highlight of the album.

"High Summer" is a bouncy, jangling tune, in which Van tells a story. Somehow, the contents and the subject of the story are in question; the listener is left to formulate his own plot from the vague sketches that Van outlines throughout the song. The protagonist of the tale is an escapee of his own prison, and his past and future are unknown, as we merely see a quick snapshot of time, in which "high summer's got him low down."

"Reminds Me of You" is a continuation of "In the Midnight," as Van continues to lament his lost love. Whether his companion has died is not clear; perhaps she is living, but many miles out of reach. As we discovered with "In the Midnight," this is a convincingly bitter longing that Van is suffering from. However, just when the listener is ready to break down and cry in pity for Van, the moment is halted with the abrupt beginning to "New Biography." Here, Van indicts his "so-called friends who claim to have known [him] then." Although he is merely complaining here, it is among Van's finest "whiney" tunes. His discontent with the pop culture has been well documented, and such unhappiness has been perpetuated here into a diatribe against old comrades and acquaintes who claim an interest in Van based on his fame and fortune. The songwriting is mediocre at best, but the music is catchy and fun.

The album finishes strongly with "Precious Time" and "Golden Autumn Day," the former being one of Van's most successful hit singles since "Brown-Eyed Girl," some thirty years prior. He warns that "precious time is slippin' away/you know you're only king for a day;" basically, he's pleading with his listeners to forego the trivialities of life and live fully in what short time is left. "Golden Autumn Day" is a strange tune in all of its bittersweetness. On one hand, the subject in question is being "attacked by two thugs," yet at the same time he's "takin' in the indian summer/and [he's] pretending that it's paradise/on a golden autumn day." These are starkly contrasting images, and the arrangement of the song does even more to confuse the listener with its pleasant, soaring melodies. Van may as well be telling two stories all at once, because the verses and the chorus simply don't match up.

Back On Top was received well by critics at the time of its release, and songs like "Philosopher's Stone," "Precious Time," and "In the Midnight" have become some of Van's strongest concert staples of the past several years. For a man who had been fiddling constantly in the music business for more than three decades at the time of this release, one would expect a tired, unoriginal effort out of Back On Top. Fortunately for his fans, Van continues to reinvent himself with every new album, thus keeping his perspective alive and crisp. This is a monumental album from a music legend.