Down The Road (2002)

Down The Road (2002)

Down The Road doesn’t vary the blues/folk/country formula overly much, but it has the advantage of finding the singer in a more engaging, less dyspeptic spirit than had been the case on recent releases. Rather than raging endlessly at the perceived demons of the music industry, Van seems to be genuinely enjoying himself on the engaging workingman’s blues of “Chopping Wood” and sounds positively giddy on the amorous come-on of “Won’t You Meet Me In The Indian Summer?” For a man of Morrison’s gifts it is practically metabolically impossible for him to render an hour of music that doesn’t contain at least some greatness. But Down The Road is an apt demonstration of the ways in which Van in a celebratory mood is far more ingratiating than Van yelling at cloud.