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Avalon Sunset | 
 enlarge | Artist: Van Morrison
Label: Universal Japan
Category: Music
Buy New: $64.99
New (7) Used (1) from $24.00
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 292879
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 5.4 x 0.2
EAN: 4988005507150
ASIN: B0012PYGP2
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Whenever God Shines His Light | | • | Contacting My Angel | | • | I'd Love to Wright Another Song | | • | Havge I Told You Lately? | | • | Coney Island | | • | I'm Tired Joey Boy | | • | When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God? | | • | Orangefield | | • | Daring Night | | • | These Are the Days | | • | Whenever God Shines His Light | | • | When the Saints Go Marching In - Van Morrison, Traditional |
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| Customer Reviews:
 "There is no past, there is only now" October 20, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
For whatever reason, it took me longer to come around to Avalon Sunset than any other Van album, bar Saint Dominic's Preview(which is currently my second-favorite of his career, behind the almighty Astral Weeks). I don't know what about it I didn't like at first. But it's really grown on me, and now I can safely say it's a good album.
And tracks seven through ten are the closest post-classic Van ever came to reclaiming that majesty of those early albums. Oh, sure, he put out several great songs in the '80s. But I think this is the only time he put out that many songs of impossibly high quality in a row since Veedon Fleece. Leading off this stretch of supreme goodness is "When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God," a spiritual with a fantastic organ part and a great melody. "Orangefield" has a really pretty melody that tugs on my heartstrings and a winning orchestration. "Daring Night" has a catchy riff and all kinds of drive - in someone else's hands, I could see this as one hell of a rocker. And the record closes with its best song, "These Are the Days." Like so many of Van's other songs, it starts simply, with a guitar stating the melody. And it builds, and builds, and builds until it reaches a huge, gospel-influenced climax. And the melody's fantastic, too. Van expresses joy and boundless optimism flawlessly. Epic win. The song is crying out to be used in a movie of some kind.
Unfortunately, I'm not too sure about the first six tracks. They're mostly good, but they pale in comparison to the last four. There are some real good songs among them, though. "Have I Told You Lately" was a pretty big hit, reversing Van's commercial fortunes and making this his first gold album in many moons. And while it's a bit sappy, it's also as melodic as all the rest of his best stuff. "Whenever God Shines His Light," a collaboration with Cliff Richard (best known for getting knocked off his place as Britain's #1 Pop Star by the Beatles) is a neateriffic pop-reggae-religion fusion with a rhythm even an agnostic can tap his foot to. The acoustic blues "I'd Love to Write Another Song" doesn't fit in with this album at all, but since it's really hard to screw up acoustic blues, I'll give it a bye. Besides, it's a good song.
But the other three tunes? Ennnh... "Contacting My Angel" and "I'm Tired Joey Boy" do nothing for me. And "Coney Island" is a contender for the worst Van Morrison song. It's down there with the real dregs - "Troubadours," "Venice, U.S.A.," "Virgo Clowns," "September Night," and all the other REAAAAAALLY bad ones. Reciting a poem about growing up in Ireland? I've heard worse ideas. Accompanying that poem with a string part that was clearly written in two seconds? Hm... I've got a bad feeling about this. Reciting that poem in an Irish accent so thick and stereotypical, you sound like you're trying to be for the Irish what Groundskeeper Willie is for the Scottish? Let's never do that again. Okay? Okay. I don't know, maybe that's Van's natural voice, but if it is it sounded a lot better on Astral Weeks than it does here. Oddly enough, it was chosen as a single, has shown up on The Best of Van Morrison, Vol. 2 and Still on Top: The Greatest Hits (That's what she said! Sorry, couldn't resist), and was covered by Liam Neeson, so I think a lot of people like it more than I do. That's fine. It's just that I think it's a fetid piece of crap, that's all.
And a fetid piece of crap on an otherwise good album! That, I think, is what frustrates me most about that damn song.
A Welcomed Return July 4, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Have I Told You Lately That I Loved You?" Van Morrison asked the question before Rod Stewart did, and it's good to hear him asking it again with all the Saints who asked it before him.
 pleased June 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great price on a brand new C.D. Got it in record time. Thank you for the excellent service.
FANTASTIC JAPANESE VERSION April 1, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
...Really without words! really a wonderful japanese reissue! In this time in SHM-CD, a new format, better than any other US reissue! buy this instead the US 2008 version!
The Price is Y2.800 japanese yene, aprox. USD30.00. all on HMV, or CD-JAPAN, amazon the price is a absurd!
FINALLY, A REMASTER March 30, 2008
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
This amazing 1989 album had never received the remastering treatment it so richly deserved until now. By all means, replace your old CD, because the audio is now absolutely glorious.
This re-release is in the first set (Tupelo Honey, It's Too Late To Stop Now, Wavelength, Into The Music, A Sense Of Wonder, Avalon Sunset and Back On Top) of a 2008, four-part re-release of the entire 29-title Van Morrison Polygram catalog. Polygram long ago ceased production of its portion of Van-The-Man's catalog, resulting in two-thirds of Morrison's entire recorded output remaining frustratingly unavailable for the past several years.
HOWEVER: Be aware that 16 of the 29 titles are the same 1998 remasters, albeit each augmented with two bonus tracks. If you own the 1998 discs, you may want to seek other posted opinions on whether the bonus content is worth re-buying those titles. The other 1998-remaster+bonus-tracks titles to be released later this year are: Saint Dominic's Preview, Hard Nose Down The Highway, Veedon Fleece, Period Of Transition, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate Speech, Common One, Live/Belfast, No Guru, Poetic Champions Compose and Irish Heartbeat.
In this first set of re-releases, only Avalon Sunset and Back On Top have been newly-remastered. All of the new editions are available in jewel case or Japan mini-LP-sleeve format.
Polygram utilized a deplorable Enron-like tactic of taking the entire 29 CD series out of production for an extended period of time to create demand, years longer than just the clearing of the older releases in the retail channel via sell-off would have required. The record labels bemoan the loss of CD sales, but it is exactly this kind of manipulative marketing ka-ka that provides impetus to consumer alienation.
So, if like me, you already owned the `98's, the only decision in reinvesting in the `08's are the a.) meager-two-tracks-per-disc "bonus" material, and b.) to-buy-or-not-to-buy the more expensive Japan `sleeve editions. The bonus tracks could have been released as a separate set (A "Philosopher's Stone Volume 2", perhaps?), but then, of course, Polygram wouldn't net the possible re-sale of 16 additional CD's per VanFan.
As for the desirability of the bonus tracks themselves, I'll leave it to others to opine on whether the return on such a substantial reinvestment is either a worthwhile, or foolhardy, expense.
WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?
Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.
Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 13.5MM X 13.5MM cardboard-sleeve, precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, everything else packaged with the original LP is precisely replicated and included, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and die cuts. An English-language lyric sheet is also included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.
Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have Japan-dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2 or K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.
Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "OBI" ("oh-bee"), a Japan-language promotional strip. The OBI often also lists the original album's release date, the Japan street date of that particular disc, the catalog number, and mastering info. Bonus tracks are always only listed on the OBI, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork.
The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake copies of Japan `sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.
Also, there are older Japan mini-sleeve releases that have been supplanted with newer ones, usually with updated audio (such as JVC-Japan replacing older K2-mastered titles with new K2HD mastered releases).
All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common with some of the Japanese companies (but, again, not always). Mini-sleeve collecting can get expensive quickly, so, if you're a novice, it is highly advisable to seek the advice of an experienced `sleeve collector!
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