Musically fantastic - not so sure about the lyrics...
Yes! YES! The best album Van's put out since A Sense of Wonder, and it might even be better than that, which would mean this is his best album since Veedon Fleece, which at this point is thirty-four years old. That's not to say he's been in suck-ville for the past three decades (unlike someone we know - hi, Santana!), because he's made good records in between those two. A Sense of Wonder! Poetic Champions Compose! Enlightenment! Back on Top! Magic Time! Irish Heartbeat's probably good, too! And all of them are better than Avalon Sunset! Ha! But anyway, this isn't any more than Van going over territory he's been down several times before. The difference between this and the similar Down the Road (if you haven't heard it, don't bother - it isn't bad or anything, but that's about all I can say for it) is that Van's actually putting loads of effort into this one. In fact, the first three songs are all pretty much classic Van. "How Can a Poor Boy?" has a great chorus hook and fun horns. "School of Hard Knocks" has a great guitar hook and, most importantly, Van sounding youthful and invigorated on the vox again. "That's Entrainment" has a bit of jazz, a bit of country and a bit of soul. It sounds really good, too! I just wish it had been a bit longer, so Van could do his signature romantic ad-libbing. The next song, "Don't Go to Nightclubs Anymore," sound a bit too nightclubbish for my tastes, but hey! It's not bad at all! In fact, there's only one bad song on this album, which I'll get to in a moment. Anyway, the downbeat "Lover Come Back" is quite enjoyable. So is the acoustic-blues title track. And the guitar solo on "End of the Land." Then you get that aforementioned weak track, "Song of Home." It's country, and I don't like country. Another thing I don't like about this album are the lyrics. Van's mostly whining about how bad the industry has treated him, something he's been doing for quite a while now ("Soul," which still has another great guitar solo, this one electric and rock-oriented, title track, "School of Hard Knocks"), though he's also sometimes spewing clichés ("End of the Land," "Lover Come Back"), or trying and failing to make a reasonable hook out of "Blah, blah, blah" on the otherwise enjoyable "Behind the Ritual." I've never been a huge fan of Van's non-Astral Weeks related lyrics in the first place, but here they're just banal and stupid. Still, lyrics aren't everything, and I like the music here so much that it's a moot point.

Ohhhh that voice of his!
I am such a die hard vanfan. Van Morrison is a musician and a poet. That voice of his just does something to me. The way he sings about sunsets, foghorns, spirit and lost love is just incomparable. Once you start getting lost in his music, you cannot stop.
Van Morrison is the only one whose new releases I will buy unheard.
His only album which does nothing for me is "A period of transition".

new jazzier music from an Irishman
Other than "Moondance" which came out when I was in high school and includes the song "Moondance" as well as a copy of Van Morrison's greatest hits, that was all I owned by him. Thanks to Amazon.com's feature of being able to listen to "snippets" of songs from each CD, I liked what I heard and ordered this CD. Van Morrison still has a good voice and each cut is good and it's not like you want to skip a couple. It's a little more bluesy that I remember his older music to be. I recommended this CD to several of my friends and relatives.

R-O-C-K!
Ivan...I LOVE'ya man, but you gotta ROCK again!! I mean, flat out, shake the walls ROCK & ROLL! You are VERY capable of it, and YOU KNOW IT! We're waiting.....

Typical, incredible Morrison
Typical, incredible Morrison. As always, the more I listen the deeper the meaning . . . 'stretching time stretching time . . .'