About.com Rating

Bottom Line:

I've often said that "Americana" was music that was "too much" its own genre to be played in that genre - too country, too rock, too blues. This disc falls into that category because it's streamlined, rootsy, Detroit blues, backed by the power of Morrison's rustic voice, and therefore, I suppose, Americana. I don't know if any blues or rock station would play it largely because I don't listen to mainstream stations anymore, but with the exception of a track or two, it's not really country.

But it sure is good.

A couple of years ago (March 2006), Van Morrison released a country music album, Pay the Devil. In the grand scheme of things, I am now assuming that people think he's a country music singer, hence they gave me this album to review. Now, I have no trouble at all with artists jumping genres. A good artist can perform any darned thing they like, and most of those who choose to do so are really freakin' good at whatever they choose to put their minds and talents to. But that's not to say everything they do is going to fall into the genre of the last album, or even the one before that, nor will it reflect the next. So it is with Van Morrison's newest release, Keep it Simple. Like the blues? Then this one's for you. But there is a little "country" sound there, so that keeps it legal, I suppose. Morrison's comfortable voice still knows how to caress a song, just like he always has, and from the laid-back gritty blues sound of "How Can A Poor Boy" to the more down-home country feel of "Song of Home," there's a strong feel of consistency, a wholeness to the complete album.

It's a straightforward collection of good songs and little else, and doesn't ask for more. It's just a relaxing listen.

Keep It Simple is Morrison's 35th album. He's played around with just about every roots genre in his career, drawing on his lifetime of listening to classic blues and jazz, folk and country; he instills all of his influences in his music with an artist's deft hand, bringing forth music that is intensely enjoyable, bringing together all manner of sounds and layering all his influences into multi-faceted tunes that simply beg multiple listens, all infused with Morrison's own unmistakable style. The lyrics have that richness that just seems to come to songwriters with age and maturity - the sound of someone who has lived and learned and come to an understanding with life, as in "I Don't Go To Nightclubs Anymore" and "Behind the Ritual." Morrison is joined by a crew of talents as large as himself, such as Mick Green on guitar, John allair on organ, Sara Jory on steel, Neal Wilkinson on drums, and a wide range of others. The craft is astounding. The end product is terrific.

Release Date: April 1, 2008 - Label: Lost Highway

Track List:

1. How Can a Poor Boy?
2. School of Hard Knocks
3. That's Entrainment
4. Don't Go To Nightclubs Anymore
5. Lover Come Back
6. Keep It Simple
7. End of the Land
8. Song of Home
9. No Thing
10. Soul
11. Behind the Ritual