Underrated Albums & Hidden Gems

[Ruby]

Alrighty – let’s give this a whirl. Ideally looking for posts of deep cuts and largely unheard or non-charting songs/tracks/albums that really should be heard (in the poster’s opinion!). It’s going to be a subjective exercise, I realise – what with widely differing tastes, but that’s ok, and you just never know what might strike a chord.

If you’d asked me yesterday about Veedon Fleece, I would have been absolutely clueless as to the artist – not even wild conjecture would have provided the answer. As to what a veedon fleece might be – that still eludes me!! Not the fleece part, obviously, but where or what is Veedon? Zero to do with the album cover which really does belie its content. It remains a mystery upon which I would be most grateful for any light shed!



I have now listened to this purportedly lesser known Van Morrison album and am surprised it’s been buried so deep from my view! It’s just never surfaced for me before, and there are some magical moments. This is Van’s divorce album (1st – divorce, that is) which it is believed may explain the emotional intensity of the songs. No idea why it isn’t better known but it might have something to do with being his fifth album in the four-year span after 1970's Moondance. Prolificacy has its drawbacks.

I don’t like all of it, there are some shouty bits I can live without, and I was rather disconcerted by a falsetto that I don’t think one hears from him all that much, but for a great deal of it, the sounds are sweet – melodic - and the production is nice and clean while still retaining a slightly shambolic feel, LOL, contradictions abound! I like being able to hear all the separate instruments. Besides that, there’s a whole lot of heart which is always helpful! 

The one that stood out on first listen …