Hymns to the Silence

The album of songs was recorded during sessions at Wool Hall Studios in Beckington, Townhouse, London and Westside Studios, London with Mick Glossop as engineer, except for the song "Take Me Back". It was recorded in 1990 at Pavilion Studios in London with Martin Hayles and Mick Glossop as engineers.Heylin, Can You Feel the Silence?, p. 526

"Why Must I Always Explain?" was set to the same melody as 1970s "Tupelo Honey".Hinton, Celtic Crossroads, p 302 There were two hymns. "Be Thou My Vision" and "Just a Closer Walk With Thee". The song, "Carrying a Torch" was also included on Tom Jones's album by the same name, along with three other Morrison compositions from "Hymns to the Silence".Turner, It's Too Late to Stop Now, p.170

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r13450|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]

|rev2 = Chicago Tribune

|rev2Score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|date=3 October 1991|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-10-03/features/9103300321_1_star-van-morrison-jump-jazz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025063721/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-10-03/features/9103300321_1_star-van-morrison-jump-jazz|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 October 2015|title=Hymns to the Silence|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=4 August 2015}}

|rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev3Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|page=12|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195313739|edition=4th}}

|rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

|rev4score = A[https://ew.com/article/1991/09/27/hymns-silence/ Entertainment Weekly review]

|rev5 = Q

|rev5Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite news|title=New LPs: Van Morrison Hymns to the Silence|last=Sutcliffe|first=Phil|date=October 1991|work=Q|page=98}}

|rev6 = Rolling Stone

|rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}

|rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev7Score = {{Rating|3|5}}

|rev8 = The Village Voice

|rev8Score = B+

}}

In a review for Time, Jay Cocks said "Hymns focuses and redefines Morrison's themes over his long career, rather like a museum retrospective already in progress. It dips deep into autobiography, spiritual speculation and blues mythology for its themes."{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974140-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628235837/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974140-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 June 2011|author=Jay Cocks|title=Listen to the Lion|date=1991-10-28|magazine=Time|access-date=2008-08-18}} Rolling Stone magazine's Elysa Gardner said despite overblown hymns such as "Take Me Back" and "Pagan Streams", Morrison appropriates a variety of musical styles into both joyful and poignant songs on an album that "brims with the consistent passion that continues to make Morrison fascinating".{{cite magazine|last=Gardner|first=Elysa|date=17 October 1993|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/hymns-to-the-silence-19911017|title=Hymns to the Silence|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=4 August 2015}} Alec Foege from Spin argued that its music is more eclectic than the entirety of Morrison's 1980s albums, while the lyrics prove he can reconcile his Christian faith with more worldly themes, allowing for "a refreshingly individualistic soul-searching".{{cite journal|last=Foege|first=Alec|author-link=Alec Foege|page=106|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBDgkXRdUXYC&pg=PT107|title=Hymns to the Silence|journal=Spin|access-date=4 August 2015|date=November 1991}} In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau lamented the amount of filler throughout the two discs in the form of several hymns and love songs, but complimented the secular songs about true love, ordinary life, and "the days before rock and roll", finding the album "more affecting than you'd figure" overall.{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=5 November 1991|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv1091-91.php|title=Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|access-date=4 August 2015}} It was voted the 21st best album of 1991 in The Village Voice{{'}}s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll.{{cite news|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres91.php |title=The 1991 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll |newspaper=The Village Voice |access-date=4 August 2015 |date=3 March 1992 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507034515/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres91.php |archive-date=7 May 2006 }}

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Michael Gallucci felt Hymns to the Silence was Morrison's best album during the 1990s, although he also found it too long and essentially a "spirited rewrite" of his previous record Enlightenment. Rob Sheffield was more critical in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), deeming it a "complex and self-involved" imitation of Avalon Sunset with a few exceptional songs.{{cite book|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-last=Brackett|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-last=Hoard|title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|chapter=Van Morrison|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/559 559–561]}}

All songs written by Van Morrison unless noted.

1. "Professional Jealousy" – 3:42
2. "I'm Not Feeling It Anymore" – 6:34
3. "Ordinary Life" – 3:29
4. "Some Peace of Mind" – 6:24
5. "So Complicated" – 3:18
6. "I Can't Stop Loving You" – (Gibson) – 3:54 (With The Chieftains)
7. "Why Must I Always Explain?" – 3:50
8. "Village Idiot" – 3:13
9. "See Me Through, Pt. 2 (Just a Closer Walk with Thee)" – (Traditional) – 3:10
10. "Take Me Back" – 9:11

1. "By His Grace" – 2:34
2. "All Saints Day" – 2:28
3. "Hymns to the Silence" – 9:42
4. "On Hyndford Street" – 5:17
5. "Be Thou My Vision" – (Traditional) – 3:49 (With The Chieftains)
6. "Carrying a Torch" – 4:26
7. "Green Mansions" – 3:38
8. "Pagan Streams" – 3:38
9. "Quality Street" – (Morrison, Rebennack) – 3:57
10. "It Must Be You" – 4:08
11. "I Need Your Kind of Loving" – 4:31

• Van Morrison - vocal, guitar, harmonica, alto saxophone
• Haji Ahkba - flugelhorn
• Derek Bell - synthesizer
• The Chieftains - instrumentation
• Terry Disley - piano
• Neil Drinkwater - accordion, piano, synthesizer
• Candy Dulfer - alto saxophone
• Dave Early - drums, percussion
• Georgie Fame - piano, Hammond organ, backing vocals
• Eddie Friel - piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer
• Steve Gregory - flute, baritone saxophone
• Carol Kenyon - backing vocals
• Katie Kissoon - backing vocals
• Steve Pearce - bass
• Paul Robinson - drums
• Nicky Scott - bass
• Kate St John - cor anglais

Album - Billboard (North America)

Album - UK Album Chart

{{reflist}}

• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press {{ISBN|1-55652-542-7}}
• Hinton, Brian (1997). Celtic Crossroads: The Art of Van Morrison, Sanctuary, {{ISBN|1-86074-169-X}}
• Turner, Steve (1993). Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now, Viking Penguin, {{ISBN|0-670-85147-7}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110628235837/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974140-1,00.html Time Review] Hymns to the Silence

{{Van Morrison}}

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Category:Van Morrison albums

Category:1991 albums

Category:Mercury Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Van Morrison