Back on Top (Van Morrison album)

Recorded at the Wool Hall Studios, south of Bath, England, except strings, which were recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland. The musicians on the album are understated with Ian Jennings playing double bass, Geraint Watkins playing Hammond organ and Pee Wee Ellis on saxophones.

The opening track, "Goin' Down Geneva", has a very bluesy feel. Morrison's harmonica is prominent on "Philosopher's Stone", which features "one of the most limber vocal performances he's put on record in years, even tentatively jumping into the high squawk he seemed to have lost."Hage, The Words and Music of Van Morrison, p.128. Harmonica also features on "High Summer", which includes references to "Lucifer" and "God", and also alludes to Morrison's 1960s songs by way of "red sport cars" and "mansions on the hill". "In the Midnight" is "bedroom music, pure and simple", while "Back on Top" is an optimistic statement of the singer's outlook. The ballad, "When the Leaves Come Falling Down", features a string section, while "Golden Autumn Day" is about being mugged.{{cite web|url=http://georgegraham.com/reviews/morrison.html|author=Graham, George|date=1999-03-18|title=Van Morrison: Back on Top by George Graham|publisher=georgegraham.com|accessdate=2009-09-03}}

"Reminds Me of You" dates back to a 1996 break-up of his engagement to Michelle Rocca; they had reunited by the time of the song's release.Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p.460 "New Biography" was prompted by Brian Hinton's Celtic Crossroads, written in 1996.{{cite web|url=http://www.thewordtravels.com/brianhinton.html|title=Dr. Brian Hinton|publisher=thewordtravels.com|accessdate=2009-11-12|archive-date=30 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930065505/http://www.thewordtravels.com/brianhinton.html|url-status=dead}} Morrison complains about celebrity and "'so-called friends' who chose to spill inside information and memories to biographers."{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r398837|pure_url=yes}}|title=Allmusic review: Back on Top|publisher=allmusic.com|accessdate=2010-01-12}}Hage, The Words and Music of Van Morrison, p.127. Morrison has often performed "Precious Time" live, which includes the lyrics, "It doesn’t matter to which God you pray/Precious time is slipping away."

The video for the title track received significant airplay on the Canadian music station, "MuchMoreMusic". Performances of "Back on Top" and "When the Leaves Come Falling Down", along with "Gloria", featured on Later... with Jools Holland on 16 April 1999.{{cite web|url=http://ivan.vanomatic.de/|title=concerts|publisher=van.vanomatic.de|accessdate=2008-08-29| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080914163152/http://ivan.vanomatic.de/| archivedate= 14 September 2008 | url-status= live}}

The photograph of Morrison on the inside of the album cover was originally used for the front cover of Peter Handke's book, My Year in the No-Man's-Bay (1994).Handke, My Year in the No-Man's-Bay The album was remastered and reissued on 29 January 2008 with two bonus tracks; an alternative take of "Philosopher's Stone", and a new arrangement of Fats Domino's song, "Valley of Tears".[http://www.vanmorrison.co.uk/?m=Content&Content(record_id)=9e7f77a8944fa52fb858a13add2752e0 Van Morrison Official Website] "Golden Autumn Day" was also used as the credits song for the 2001 and 2004 World Series.

{{Music ratings

| title =

| subtitle =

| state =

| rev1 = Allmusic

| rev1Score= {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2Score = A−{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1999/03/12/back-top/|title=Back on Top review|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|accessdate=2023-01-27|date=1999-03-12}}

| rev3 = George Graham

| rev3Score = (unrated)

| rev4 = Rolling Stone

| rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|author=Hunter, James|date=1999-04-01|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/vanmorrison/albums/album/209052/review/5941077|title=Rolling Stone review: Back on Top|publisher=rollingstone.com|accessdate=2008-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090723013500/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/vanmorrison/albums/album/209052/review/5941077|archive-date=23 July 2009|url-status=dead}}

}}

The album received mixed reviews from critics, but performed well commercially and was his highest charting album in the US since Wavelength. It went gold in both the US{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=van%20morrison&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25|title=RIAA Gold and Platinum|publisher=riaa.com|accessdate=2010-01-12|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723045104/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=van%20morrison&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25|archivedate=23 July 2013}} and UK.{{cite web|url=http://tsort.info/music/cy84r9.htm|title=Album artist 58-Van Morrison|publisher=tsort.info|accessdate=2012-12-30}} Allmusic welcomed Morrison's "return to the music that suits him so well... blues and R&B", and found that the album finds him "celebrating life and its pleasures to the limit." Rolling Stone summed it up as being "solid, brilliant, silly in sad ways. But it's still one Monet and nine Norman Rockwells." The Irish Independent was critical, suggesting that "[somewhere] in the mid-Eighties the poet/philosopher accolades seem to have seeped into his skull, and he began churning out same-sounding albums on an almost annual basis."Rogan, No Surrender, p.453. Critic George Graham lauded it as "one of his best, most tasteful albums in recent years, and Van Morrison has had some very good albums in this period."

All songs by Van Morrison, unless otherwise noted.

1. "Goin' Down Geneva" – 4:24
2. "Philosopher's Stone" – 6:05
3. "In the Midnight" – 5:07
4. "Back on Top" – 4:23
5. "When the Leaves Come Falling Down" – 5:39
6. "High Summer" – 5:12
7. "Reminds Me of You" – 5:39
8. "New Biography" – 5:23
9. "Precious Time" – 3:45
10. "Golden Autumn Day" – 6:31

;Bonus tracks (2008 CD reissue)

11. "Philosopher's Stone" – 4:52 (alternate take)
12. "Valley of Tears" – 5:02 (Fats Domino, arranged Morrison)

• Van Morrison – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, producer
• Mick Green – acoustic and electric guitars
• Pee Wee Ellis – soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones, background vocals
• Matt Holland – trumpet
• Geraint Watkins – piano, Hammond organ
• Fiachra Trench – piano
• Ian Jennings – double bass
• Liam Bradley – drums, percussion, background vocals
• Bobby Irwin – drums
• Brian Kennedy – background vocals
• Irish Film Orchestra – strings
• Leo Green – tenor saxophone (2008 reissue)
• Jools Holland – piano (2008 reissue)
• Mike Sanchez – piano, guitar (2008 reissue)

;Production

• Walter Samuel – recording, mixing
• Brian Masterson – recording
• Sean Doherty – assistant engineer
• Sam Miller – assistant engineer
• Ciaran Cahill – assistant engineer
• Ian Cooper – mastering
• Brad Wilson – photography
• Paul Cox – photography
• John Mintoft – photography
• Matt Curtis – photography, art direction, design

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

UK Singles Chart

{{certification Table Top}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Canada|artist=Van Morrison|title=Back on Top|award=Gold|certyear=1999|relyear=1999|accessdate=3 June 2019}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=New Zealand|artist=Van Morrison|title=Back on Top|award=Platinum|id=1999-04-02|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|relyear=1999}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Norway|artist=Van Morrison|title=Back on Top|award=Gold|certyear=1999|relyear=1999|accessdate=3 June 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|relyear=1999|certyear=1999|title=Back on Top|artist=Van Morrison|type=album|award=Gold|certref={{cite book |last=Salaverri|first=Fernando|title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002|edition=1st|date=September 2005|publisher=Fundación Autor-SGAE|location=Spain|isbn=8480486392|page=948}}}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Van Morrison|title=Back on Top|award=Gold|certyear=1999|relyear=1999|accessdate=3 June 2019|id=659-3052-2}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Van Morrison|title=Back on Top|award=Gold|certyear=1999|relyear=1999|accessdate=3 June 2019}}

{{Certification Table Bottom}}

• Hage, Erik (2009). The Words and Music of Van Morrison, Praeger Publishers, {{ISBN|978-0-313-35862-3}}
• Handke, Peter (1994). My Year in the No-Man's-Bay, Farrar Straus and Giroux {{ISBN|0-374-21755-6}}
• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press {{ISBN|1-55652-542-7}}
• [http://georgegraham.com/reviews/morrison.html Van Morrison Back on Top by George Graham]

{{Reflist}}

{{Van Morrison}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Back On Top}}

Category:Van Morrison albums

Category:1999 albums

Category:Albums produced by Van Morrison