tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174317464573785513.post1905101220523969017..comments2024-02-16T13:34:07.009-08:00Comments on Sunshine Coast Van Fans: Vanlose Stairway (1982)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7174317464573785513.post-47741441923580973262019-07-05T08:21:45.005-07:002019-07-05T08:21:45.005-07:00I think Beautiful Vision is up there as one of his...I think Beautiful Vision is up there as one of his very best. Greil Marcus is such an elitist. <br /><br />Beautiful Vision appealed to me because I first encountered it fully while living in Italy, driving through the Mountains with a friend. It's appeal was not immediate, it required repeated listens. The last 3 songs of the album suggest almost an entirely different direction musically thanks to a Moog synthesizer - and listening to outtakes from the period reinforces this.<br /><br />Celtic Ray pulls you into the Caledonian muse and is immensely listenable as it runs into Northern Muse and into Bailey territory with Dweller. <br /><br />Exploration of what it means to be of Caledonia (the northern regions of the West - the north of Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia [Denmark, Sweden, Norway]) and how this whole area of earth seems to represent something deeply connected and spiritual to him. This infused with the lyrical ideas from Alice Bailey's Glamour, and Religion, provides the connective tissue for Van to explore love, memory and being, which really is what the album is about.<br /><br />She Gives Me Religion is a masterpiece, as is Vanlose Stairway and Dweller on the Threshold. The other songs are far form weak and they all form one of Van's most listenable albums.<br /><br />I feel no need to compare it with Veedon Fleece, Astral Weeks or any of the others.<br /><br />Fuck Greil Marcus. <br /><br />trevgibbonfilmandmusichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17514531928047281475noreply@blogger.com