'Days Like This' reviewed: Van Morrison walks a familiar road
Colin Lacey found Van Morrison's 1995 album pleasant but familiar. Its title track went on to become the soundtrack of a peace process.
As printed in the Celtic Mirror, July 1995
Like fellow 1960s icon Bob Dylan, Van Morrison has been quietly working away through the 1980s and into the 1990s, creating music that exists far outside the provinces of Billboard charts and MTV-driven music trends.
Also like Dylan, Morrison has a fan base that believes he can do no wrong, and even the weakest of his albums are received with an enthusiasm bordering on the obsessive.
Hailed by some as a return to his mid-70s style, Morrison's latest recording, "Days Like This," recently released by Polydor Records, is bound to please hardcore fans, but casual Morrison listeners are likely to be more critical; they'll play it a couple of times for curiosity's sake, and then return to his meatier, more assured work.
It's not that the album is weak. If it were a debut or sophomoric effort from an up-and-coming name, critics would salute it as a significant release. It's just that Van has done this before. And he's done it better.
Returning to the simple pop-soul sound of classics like his 1971 "Tupelo Honey" is essentially a good idea for Morrison, whose newer studio recordings seem stuck in a pleasant, though unchallenging, groove. But the quicksilver sound of a long-ago period proves difficult to recapture for Morrison, and the 12 songs here seem derivative rather than innovative.
Lyrically, "Days Like This" covers roads he has traveled before: statements of artistic integrity, "Songwriter;" diatribes against critics, "Raincheck;" Van-by-numbers mysticism, "Ancient Highway;" and romantic idealism, "Perfect Fit."
Fans who can't get enough of Morrison will lap it up. Less devoted listeners will experience deja vu.
But there's a lot of good here too. As one of rock's elder statesmen, Morrison has access to the best musicians in the business, and "Days Like This" benefits from the presence of Phil Coulter, Pee Wee Ellis, and on guitar, Ronnie Johnson.
Morrison's daughter, Shana, appears on the album too, and sings up a storm on the country-blues "You Don't Know Me."
Claiming "Days Like This" is on a par with his best work would be a mistake. There's no way the album will become an essential purchase. But it does prove Morrison is still a great singer with a remarkable ear for melody.
There's no instant classic like "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Wild Night," but the title track here approaches his most hummable tunes, and even the familiar-sounding songs like "No Religion" and "Russian Roulette" remain long after the album has finished.
The song that outran the album
Colin Lacey's verdict was cooler than the market's. Days Like This, released by Polydor on 5 June 1995 and produced by Morrison with Phil Coulter, reached number 5 on the UK albums chart and number 33 on the Billboard 200. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and became his best-selling album of new material up to that point. Critics split much as Lacey predicted: Q magazine heard a glorious return to form, AllMusic a competent but uninspired workout.
The title track, which Lacey picked as the most hummable thing on the record, then left the album behind. The Northern Ireland Office used it, with Brown Eyed Girl, as theme music for a television campaign promoting the ceasefire, and it became the anthem of the peace movement. On 30 November 1995, when Bill Clinton visited Belfast, Morrison sang it to a crowd put at 60,000 to 80,000. Clinton, a saxophonist, wanted to join in. His security people advised against it.
As a single it peaked at only number 65 in the UK. It turned up on the soundtrack of As Good as It Gets in 1997, and Dermot Kennedy covered it in 2020.
Morrison himself kept working at the pace his fans expect. He was knighted in 2016 for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland. In September 2020 he released three songs attacking the UK's lockdown rules. Latest Record Project, Volume 1, released in 2021, is counted as his 42nd studio album, and New Arrangements and Duets followed in 2024. Shana Morrison, whose turn on You Don't Know Me Lacey singled out, also duets with her father on I'll Never Be Free on this album.
Questions readers ask
When did Van Morrison release Days Like This?
Days Like This, Van Morrison's 23rd studio album, came out on Polydor on 5 June 1995. He produced it with Phil Coulter. It reached number 5 on the UK Albums Chart and number 33 on the US Billboard 200, earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination and was his best-selling non-compilation album at the time.
Why is Days Like This linked to the Northern Ireland peace process?
The Northern Ireland Office used the song, alongside Brown Eyed Girl, as theme music for a television advertisement promoting the ceasefire, and it became known as the anthem of the peace movement. When President Bill Clinton visited Belfast on 30 November 1995, Morrison performed it for a crowd estimated at between 60,000 and 80,000 people.
Who sings with Van Morrison on You Don't Know Me?
His daughter, Shana Morrison, sings the duet on You Don't Know Me on the 1995 album Days Like This. She also sings with him on I'll Never Be Free from the same record. Colin Lacey's review in this magazine said she "sings up a storm" on the country-blues track, one of the bright spots on an album he otherwise found too familiar.
When was Van Morrison knighted?
Van Morrison was knighted in 2016 for services to the music industry and to tourism in Northern Ireland. Born in Belfast on 31 August 1945, he released Days Like This, his 23rd studio album, in 1995, and by 2021 had reached Latest Record Project, Volume 1, listed as his 42nd. New Arrangements and Duets followed in 2024.
