Still on Top: The Greatest Hits [Limited Edition Box Set] [Digipak] [Limited]

Performer: Van Morrison
Engineer: Enda Walsh; Jim Stern; Alastair McMillan; Mick Glossop; Richard Manwaring; Stuart Bruce; Walter Samuel; Brian Masterson; Brooks Arthur
Producer: Dick Rowe; Robbie Robertson; Ted Templeman; Van Morrison; Bert Berns
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Audio Mixers: Jim Stern; Alastair McMillan; Mick Glossop; Walter Samuel; Brian Masterson. Liner Note Author: Barry McIheney. STILL ON TOP: THE GREATEST HITS is a career-spanning anthology of hits by mercurial Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Starting with two key tracks by his Rolling Stones-like 1960s band, Them--"Gloria" and "Here Comes the Night"--the set passes over Morrison's legendary 1968 album, ASTRAL WEEKS, a jazzy mood piece that works best as a whole, but otherwise cherry-picks a ton of FM radio classics. "Wild Nights," "Domino," "Moondance," and "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" are among the many highlights, presented in remastered sound. There are 21 cuts on this Hip-O collection of Van Morrison's Greatest Hits. The interesting thing is that of these 21 cuts, only about half of them will be recognizable to the casual Van Morrison fan, as they come from his Bang sides and the far more popular Warner Brothers singles of the early '70s. As it should be, although there is one glaring omission: "Tupelo Honey" is absent from the song list. The rest may not have been greatest hits in America, but they do represent a fine -- if arguable -- selection of the material from the late '70s, '80s, and '90s. "Dweller on the Threshold" is here (though it sounds like an alternate take!) There is a bona fide alternate take of "The Healing Game" that sounds more like a well-executed demo and has plenty of Celtic soul. "Someone Like You" is here, as is "Wavelength," and some tunes that deserved far better than they got: "Tore Down � la Rimbaud," "Real Real Gone," "Bright Side of the Road," "Days Like This," and "Stranded." The early tunes are immediately recognizable, from "Brown Eyed Girl," "Gloria," "Here Comes the Night," "Domino," "Moondance," "Wild Night," and "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven)." In sum, as far as the many repackaged greatest hits, this is one of the better ones as it is cross-licensed and contains a true evolutionary portrait of the artist on a journey that certainly winds and turns back on itself even as it moves forward. This is a good one with fine sound. ~ Thom Jurek There are 21 cuts on this Hip-O collection of Van Morrison's Greatest Hits. The interesting thing is that of these 21 cuts, only about half of them will be recognizable to the casual Van Morrison fan, as they come from his Bang sides and the far more popular Warner Brothers singles of the early '70s. As it should be, although there is one glaring omission: "Tupelo Honey" is absent from the song list. The rest may not have been greatest hits in America, but they do represent a fine -- if arguable -- selection of the material from the late '70s, '80s, and '90s. "Dweller on the Threshold" is here (though it sounds like an alternate take!) There is a bona fide alternate take of "The Healing Game" that sounds more like a well-executed demo and has plenty of Celtic soul. "Someone Like You" is here, as is "Wavelength," and some tunes that deserved far better than they got: "Tore Down � la Rimbaud," "Real Real Gone," "Bright Side of the Road," "Days Like This," and "Stranded." The early tunes are immediately recognizable, from "Brown Eyed Girl," "Gloria," "Here Comes the Night," "Domino," "Moondance," "Wild Night," and "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven)." In sum, as far as the many repackaged greatest hits, this is one of the better ones as it is cross-licensed and contains a true evolutionary portrait of the artist on a journey that certainly winds and turns back on itself even as it moves forward. This is a good one with fine sound. [Polydor's 2008 Limited Edition box set included 20 bonus tracks across a three-CD package.] ~ Thom Jurek

Dirty Linen (p.82) - "Tracing the Celtic soul rocker from his beginnings as top dog among the Jagger/Davies shouters of the time with the seminal group Them to his place as top headman to bong smokers and onto becoming the best blue-eyed soul singer to ever come out of Ireland is quite a journey in and of itself."

Van Morrison first came to notice as the powerful vocalist of the mid-1960s group Them ("Baby Please Don't Go," "Gloria"), and then with the solo hit "Brown-Eyed Girl." Morrison followed this success with two landmark albums, ASTRAL WEEKS and MOONDANCE, which masterfully combined folk, gospel, rock, and jazz. As complex a performer as any that rock & roll has produced, the soulful Irishman has produced numerous outstanding recordings in his long career, mixing his pensive and passionate R&B-inflected rock with a decidedly mystical bent.

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