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Three Chords & the Truth (Van Morrison album)

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Three Chords & the Truth
Studio album by
Van Morrison
Released25 October 2019 (2019-10-25)
GenreAmericana, blues rock
Length67:30
Label
ProducerVan Morrison
Van Morrison chronology
The Prophet Speaks
(2018) 		Three Chords & the Truth
(2019) 		Latest Record Project, Volume 1
(2021)

Three Chords & the Truth is the 41st studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on 25 October 2019 by Exile Productions and Caroline Records.[1] His sixth record in four years, it reached the Top 20 in seven countries.[2] Morrison's first album to feature all-new original songs since 2012’s Born to Sing: No Plan B, it includes "If We Wait for Mountains", a co-write with Don Black, and "Fame Will Eat the Soul", a duet with Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers.[3][4]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
American Songwriter[7]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[8]
Pitchfork7.3/10[9]

On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Three Chords & the Truth received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 from 7 critics.[5] It was chosen as a 'Favorite Blues Album' by AllMusic.[10] Pitchfork concluded that it demonstrates that "Van Morrison remains one of rock’s most enduring studies in contrast, never changing and forever restless."[2] "Songwriter Harlan Howard coined the phrase “Three chords and the truth” to describe the necessary ingredients for country and western music", it notes, but finds that "this isn’t a country record. Van’s talking about his desire to take simple rhymes and traditional song structures and imbue them with Caledonia soul heaviness." American Songwriter writes that "the vibrant, often vivacious Three Chords and the Truth" finds the 74-year-old "dashing along in an extraordinary creative and fertile clip".[11]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Van Morrison, except "If We Wait for Mountains", co-written with Don Black.

No.TitleLength
1."March Winds in February"4:37
2."Fame Will Eat the Soul"4:51
3."Dark Night of the Soul"5:56
4."In Search of Grace"3:41
5."Nobody in Charge"4:12
6."You Don't Understand"6:17
7."Read Between the Lines"3:41
8."Does Love Conquer All?"4:42
9."Early Days"3:40
10."If We Wait for Mountains"2:42
11."Up on Broadway"6:23
12."Three Chords and the Truth"5:00
13."Bags Under My Eyes"4:05
14."Days Gone By"7:43
Total length:67:30

Personnel

[edit]
  • Van Morrison - acoustic rhythm guitar, electric guitar, electric piano, saxophone, vocals
  • Dave Keary - electric guitar, bazouki
  • Jay Berliner - acoustic guitar
  • David Hayes, Pete Hurley, Jeremy Brown - bass
  • John Allair, Richard Dunn - Hammond organ
  • Paul Moran - organ
  • Teena Lyle - piano, percussion, vibes
  • Stuart McIlroy - piano
  • Bobby Ruggiero, Colin Griffin - drums
  • Bill Medley - vocals on "Fame Will Eat the Soul"

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[12] 11
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 57
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[16] 74
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 18
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 170
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 11
Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] 15
Italian Albums (FIMI)[21] 38
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[22] 127
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 20
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[24] 23
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[25] 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 34
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 13
US Billboard 200[29] 57
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[30] 6

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Three Chords and the Truth by Van Morrison". Apple Music. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b Woodbury, Jason P. (31 October 2019). "Three Chords and the Truth: Van Morrison". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  3. ^ Blistein, Jon (18 September 2019). "Van Morrison Previews New Album With Graceful 'Dark Night of the Soul'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  4. ^ "New Release: Three Chords And The Truth". vanmorrison.com. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Three Chords and the Truth by Van Morrison Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  6. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Three Chords and the Truth – Van Morrison". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  7. ^ Horowitz, Hal (24 October 2019). "Van Morrison: Three Chords and the Truth". American Songwriter. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  8. ^ DeLuca, Dan (31 October 2019). "Album reviews: Miranda Lambert, Van Morrison, and that dog". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  9. ^ Woodbury, Jason P. (31 October 2019). "Van Morrison: Three Chords and the Truth Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Favorite Blues Albums | AllMusic 2019 in Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  11. ^ Horowitz, Hal (2019). "Van Morrison: Three Chords And The Truth". American Songwriter. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 44.Týden 2019 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Lescharts.com – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Van Morrison". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  21. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Three Chords And The Truth | ヴァン・モリソン". Oricon. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  23. ^ "Charts.nz – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  24. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  25. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  26. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  27. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Van Morrison – Three Chords & the Truth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  28. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  29. ^ "Van Morrison Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  30. ^ "Van Morrison Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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