Van Morrison ‎– A Sense Of Wonder (1984/2020)

1 	Tore Down A La Rimbaud 	4:13
2 	Ancient Of Days 	3:41
3 	Evening Meditation 	4:15
4 	The Master's Eyes 	4:04
5 	What Would I Do	5:13
6 	A Sense Of Wonder 	7:11
7 	Boffyflow And Spike 	3:09
8 	If You Only Knew	2:58
9 	Let The Slave (Incorporating The Price Of Experience)	5:30
10 	A New Kind Of Man 	3:30
11 	Crazy Jane On God (Alternative Take)	3:51
12 	A Sense Of Wonder (Alternative Take) 	6:08

Arranged By [Horns], Tenor Saxophone – Pee Wee Ellis
Backing Vocals – Bianca Thornton, Pauline Lazano
Bass – David Hayes
Drums – Tom Donlinger
Guitar – Chris Michie
Guitar, Lead Vocals, Piano, Producer, Directed By – Van Morrison
Musician – Moving Hearts (tracks: 6, 7)
Organ – John Allair
Trumpet – Bob Doll 

A Sense of Wonder is a grab bag of different Van Morrison styles from his earlier 1980s albums – it wouldn’t be surprising if some of these tracks were outtakes from previous records. Thematically, several of the tracks touch on Van Morrison’s interest in poetry – opener ‘Torn Down a la Rimbaud’ references 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud, while ‘Let The Slave Incorporating The Price of Experience’ is based on a poem by William Blake. ‘Crazy Jane on God’, based on a poem by Yeats, was withdrawn from the album at the last minute, and eventually surfaced on The Philosopher’s Stone outtake collection. It’s certainly to the album’s detriment – it’s one of the most memorable, adventurous pieces from the era, with the “all things remain in God” hook.

‘A Sense of Wonder’ strikes a nice balance between his more exploratory works and a commercial pop sound, and the two opening songs bring enough energy to work; the opening track ‘Torn Down A La Rimbaud’ is the most notable song on the record. The song was started during Van Morrison’s period of writer’s block in the mid 1970s, an interesting parallel for Morrison to draw on, given that Rimbaud quit poetry writing in his twenties after running out of inspiration. ‘Evening Meditation’ sounds like it could have come from Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, but doesn’t sound as daring in this context. There are covers of Ray Charles and Mose Allison. Elsewhere, it’s very smooth and safe sounding; coupled with the Christian themes, like ‘Ancient of Days’ and ‘The Master’s Eyes’, A Sense of Wonder wouldn’t be out of place in a Christian bookstore.

It’s worth hearing highlights like ‘Torn Down a la Rimbaud’, but Van Morrison has recorded a lot of albums and A Sense Of Wonder isn’t one of his more notable ones. ---albumreviews.blog

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