Van’s been an important artist throughout my life, but I’d stopped keeping up after he started going “jazz” (because I just don’t like swing, be-bop, etc.–it’s not my thing). I recently heard his 2025 release “Remembering Now” and it got me to go back and look at all of it, across his career.

And what’s the point of listening if you don’t rank, right?

The Bottom Half…

Van Morrison’s catalog is massive, and there’s a whole bunch of albums in it that I personally don’t care for–or which I will always pass on in favor of listening to something better.  These include many of his later-period albums, his jazz/swing records, and his collaboration with The Chieftans.  They also include some of his medium-quality albums that feel like weaker versions of better works.

None of these are truly bad albums, they’re just not what I personally find moving.  I’ve grouped them all together here:

• Irish Heartbeat (with The Chieftains) (1988)
• How Long Has This Been Going On (feat Georgie Fame) (1995)
• Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison (1996)
• The Skiffle Sessions (live) (2000)
• You Win Again (2000)
• What’s Wrong with This Picture? (2003)
• Keep It Simple (2008)
• Duets: Re-working the Catalogue (2015)
• Versatile (2017)
• Roll with the Punches (2017)
• The Prophet Speaks (2018)
• You’re Driving Me Crazy (2018)
• Latest Record Project, Volume 1 (2021)
• What’s It Gonna Take? (2022)
• Moving On Skiffle (2023)
• Beyond Words: Instrumental (2023)
• Accentuate the Positive (2023)
• New Arrangements and Duets (2024)

36. Philosopher’s Stone (2008).  A collection of outtakes and alternate versions, as well as the song “Wonderful Remark” that had been produced for the King of Comedy soundtrack and also appeared on a “Best Of” collection.  It’s the highlight of this collection of songs that are easy to listen to but also mostly forgettable.

35. Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast (1984)

Normally, a live Van album is a cause for celebration but honestly he sounds tired on this one.

34. Pay the Devil (2006)

This album of country covers has no shortage of admirers but I’ll admit I’m not one of them.  Morrison does a solid job on mostly country standards, but you can hear these same songs done better by many others.  Again, it’s a perfectly fine record but it’s not what I’m looking for from this artist–even if I admire the stretch.

33. Magic Time (2005)

The big surprise here was how strong Van Morrison’s voice was on this album.  His 2000s period often finds him sounding tired–but he’s great here.  I don’t love all the song choices and styles, but as usual there’s enough quality and variety to keep the listener going all the way through.

32. A Sense of Wonder (1985).  Decent album.  Horrible album cover.  I mean, many of Van’s album covers suck but this one … Wow.

Key tracks: Tore Down a la Rimbaud, Ancient of Days

31. A Night in San Francisco (1994)

Some interesting versions here, but far too many mediocre featured vocalists (including Van Morrison’s daughter) detract from the overall listenability of this concert.  And I should know, I was actually there.

30. Back on Top (1999)

The late ’90s/early ’00s are not my favorite period for Van Morrison, but as far as this period goes, Back on Top is one of the better releases.

29. Down the Road (2002)

Easily Van Morrison’s best album of the double-aughts, it mixes “old-timey” rock with jazz and soul to great effect.

28. Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983)

Some truly great songs interspersed with some truly forgettable ones.

Key tracks: Irish Heartbeat, the title track, and Higher Than the World.

27. Three Chords & the Truth (2019)

Very nice album.  I had actually not bought a Van Mo album in years and then happened upon this one.

It inspired me to go back and find the ones I’d missed.  Unfortunately, it was followed by several albums that, once again, caused me to lose interest.

26. The Healing Game (1997)

After two jazz records in a row, Morrison makes a solid album of rock and blues.

25. Blowin’ Your Mind! (1967)

The first Van Morrison album I every bought (on vinyl before vinyl was a fetish) was, of course, Moondance.  The second was called “TB Sheets,” which was in the cut-out bin.  It quickly became my “go to” sex record–despite the fact that the title track is about a horrifying, disease-ridden death.  Other than his breakout hit, “Brown Eyed Girl,” the album was just a collection of grinding, long form blues.  That album was basically Blowin’ Your Mind, Van Mo’s official debut, only BYM also has a cover of Midnight Special and doesn’t have the blues version of Madame George.  VM hates this record.  Fans ignore it.  But it’s truly fantastic, especially when supplemented by the unofficial Bang Recordings reissue of other songs from the same sessions.

Key tracks: Brown Eyed Girl, TB Sheets.

24. Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl (2009)

A fine live album and the first time he’d performed this album live in its entirety.  He stays true to the recorded versions of most of these songs, but also tags medleys in for several of them.  Very nice show.

23. A Period of Transition (1977)

Perhaps the most appropriately named of all of his albums, A Period of Transition is … Odd.  Following a 2+ year self-imposed sabbatical from making records, we find Van Morrison moving away from the early ’70s folk/rock sound he helped pioneer on his earlier albums.  It’s got highly produced and out-of-character songs like, “The Eternal Kansas City,” alongside what would become the typical sound of Van in the ’80s on cuts like “Heavy Connection,” all followed by the lead blues track, “It Fills You Up.”  I find this a really enjoyable album, but I also understand why most other rankings put it much lower than I do.

21/22. Born to Sing: No Plan B (2012)/Keep Me Singing (2016)

Van Morrison spent several years without recording and returned in 2012 with an album that was certainly good but not great.  It sold well, though, and was followed by a sequel after another long hiatus of original material.  Both are about the same in terms of level of quality and writing.  I personally favor “Keep Me Singing” as the better of the two.

20. Days Like This (1995)

In my head, I get this Mercury-award-nominated album mixed up with Hymns to the Silence.  Both have some very similar hits, but Hymns was far more interesting as an album, while Days Like This had very strong cuts that were ready-made singles, like Russian Roulette, the title track, and Perfect Fit.  A very good record overall.

19. Common One (1980)

After having moved solidly to the mainstream with Wavelength in 1978 and side one of 1979’s Into the Music, Van puts out an album that feels like it could have come out in his early 1970s period–only replace the folk elements of those early albums with jazz.  Key track: “Summertime in England.”

18. His Band and the Street Choir (1970).  Unlike so many of his early albums, HB&SC sounds more like a collection of songs than a thematic album.  Those songs, though, are great.  Like his big hit “Domino,” for example.

Key tracks:  Domino; I’ve Been Working; Give Me a Kiss; I’ll Be Your Lover, Too.

17. Beautiful Vision (1982)

It is baffling to me that people don’t rate this album higher.  It’s genius.  Every song is wonderful, and many of them continue to be included in his live sets to this day.

Key tracks: Dweller on the Threshold, She Gives Me Religion, Cleaning Windows (featuring Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits).

16. Enlightenment (1990)

Not much to say about this one.  The songs are all really good and well crafted, Van’s voice is as strong as ever.  By the time this came out, Van had released a string of good-to-great albums, and that streak would continue on past Enlightenment.

Key tracks: Real Real Gone, title track, So Quiet in Here.

15. Hard Nose the Highway (1973)

On his seventh album, Van Morrison starts doing covers for the first time since his recordings for Bang! studios.  And who does he cover?  Kermit the Frog!

Hard Nose is an obtuse album with moments of brilliance and greatness layered between denser songs that take effort on the part of the listener, which also is true of so many of his greatest albums like Astral Weeks and The Common One.

Key tracks: Bein’ Green, Warm Love, Wild Children.

14. No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986)

After some mediocre albums and forays into pop, Van Morrison gets back to stream-of-consciousness spirituality with an album that can be heard straight through with no skips.  People don’t talk about this release that much, but they should.  Key tracks: Oh the Warm Feeling, In the Garden, One Irish Rover.

13. Wavelength (1978)

Wavelength is one of Van’s most accessible albums, but that doesn’t mean it’s not musically complex.  The title track,  Checkin’ It Out, Natalia and other cuts are radio friendly but also high quality.  Kingdom Hall recalls Van Morrison’s childhood as a Jehovah’s Witness. And there are still several long-form songs clocking in at over 6 minutes where Van Morrison can expand and improvise.

Most hardcore fans dismiss this album as pop trash but my tastes skew towards pop music and for me it hits a sweet spot between “serious music” and catchy tunes that stay with you for years.

12. Remembering Now (2025)

I love this album!  The single, Down to Joy, got an Oscar nomination.  After an internet conspiracy album and Van Morrison publicly losing his mind during COVID, I never expected him to return with a collection of touching, spiritually informed songs–many of which are as strong as anything he’s ever done.

11. Veedon Fleece (1974)

Many (most) Van Mo fans will rank this album much higher, but in my opinion it’s overall too similar to Astral Weeks to crack my top 20.  It’s got the same meditative, wide-open qualities but has more of an “Irish feel.”  It’s still a wonderful album with some standout, stellar songs–I just don’t rank it higher.

Key tracks: Fair Play, Comfort You.  The latter was covered, wonderfully, by Scout Niblett.

10. Too Long in Exile (1993)

A duet with John Lee Hooker on Van’s 1960s megahit Gloria, one of Morrison’s best “I hate the music business” songs, and covers of classics by Doc Pomus, Doc Watson and Sonny Boy Williamson are just a few highlights on this album, which leaned much bluesier than the dozen-or-so albums that preceded it.

Honestly, at this point in the rankings it’s a bit of a toss-up.  These are most definitely my top ten but beyond that, the list can shift on any given day.

9. Tupelo Honey (1971)

This album proved that Moondance wasn’t just a fluke–with clear, standout hits like “Wild Night” (later covered by John Mellencamp–but also offered some of his most person songwriting so far, like “You’re My Woman,” his ode to his wife Janet Planet and their child.

Key tracks: Starting a New Life, Wild Night, I Wanna Roo You.

8. Avalon Sunset (1989)

The most commercially successful album from his modern period and the one that spawned the Rod Stewart megahit, “Have I Told You Lately?”  Tom Petty also dug into this one, covering “I’m Tired, Joey Boy.”  Great pop album with gentle spiritual themes.

7. Hymns to the Silence (1991)

It hardly seems possible that up to now Van Morrison had not released a double album, but it’s true.  How many artists do such a thing decades deep into their career?  And how many of them can say it is one of the best albums they’ve ever put out?

I can’t think of a single one.

On Hymns, Van Morrison includes all of the types of music that he’d experimented with across his long and varied discography: Jazz, folk, spoken word, rock, oldies, modern arrangements of traditional songs, gospel … It’s all here and done to near-perfection.

6. Poetic Champions Compose (1987)

The right answer to a rainy, meditative Sunday afternoon.  Most people don’t rate this album anywhere near as high as I do but…This is my list and I have to be honest: I’ve listened to this one more than any other album on this list.

Key Tracks: Alan Watts Blues, Did Ye Get Healed?, Someone Like You.

5. Too Late to Stop Now (Live) (1974)

Van live with a full orchestra, culled from three shows in 1973.  You’ll find the expected hits like Into the Mystic alongside some great covers–like the standout “Ain’t Nothin’ You Can Do,” originally by Bobby “Blue” Bland.  Get the 2016 re-release, with volumes II, III and IV and a DVD and you’ll have all three shows.

This may very well be the best live album ever made.

4. Saint Dominic’s Preview (1972)

Already having produced several of the greatest albums of all time, Van Morrison put out…Yet another one of the greatest albums of all time.  “Redwood Tree” and “Almost Independence Day” recalled the extended “jamminess” of Astral Weeks, only with a harder edge.   “Jackie Wilson Said” (later covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners)paid tribute to one of his favorite rock-and-roll (old school, ’50s-style singers).  Every single song is a winner here.

 

3. Moondance (1970)

Van Morrison’s most enduring album, with almost every song eventually becoming a rock-radio staple.  Make sure you get the reissued “Alternative Moondance,” which has other takes of songs from the album–some of which are just as good (if not better!).  Key Tracks: All of them.  It’s wall-to-wall hits.

2. Into the Music (1979)

Coming off the heels of his most “pop” album of all time (Wavelength), Van Morrison drops this gem.  Side one is six perfectly crafted rock songs–each capable of being a hit song but which are also each moving in their own way–including Full Force Gale (with Ry Cooder).  Then there’s side two, which will take your breath away–especially the final medley of the classic “It’s All In the Game” going seamlessly into an original song, “You Know What They’re Writing About.”

On any given day, this can easily be #1 on this list.

1. Astral Weeks (1968)

Of COURSE this is his #1 album.

This album is about as close to perfection as a recording can get.  All tracks are “key” tracks.  Van Morrison’s second studio album has everything he was at the time and would later become: Jazz, folk, blues, rock, spiritual themes, contemplation, and a love of life.

For Van himself, Astral Weeks was his first album–with 1967’s “Blowin’ Your Mind” (slash “TB Sheets” slash “The Bang Recordings”) being an unauthorized release pushed out by the record company.

The cover of “Slim Slow Slider,” above, may not be great quality but it’s very cool.  So is this:

 

Van’s been an important artist throughout my life, but I’d stopped keeping up after he started going “jazz” (because I just don’t like swing, be-bop, etc.–it’s not my thing). I recently heard his 2025 release “Remembering Now” and it got …