This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
You can accuse Van Morrison of many things — but painting himself into a corner is not one of them.
Over the past few years, the blue-eyed soul man has surprised his fans and confounded his critics by generally doing whatever he damn well pleases whenever he damn well pleases. If he wants to make a skiffle album with Lonnie Donegan, he does. If wants to record old country songs with Jerry Lee Lewis’s sister, well, ditto. And if you don’t like it, tough.
Thankfully, few Van the Man fans will find much to complain about with What’s Wrong With This Picture?, his followup to last year’s bluesy Down The Road. On this 13-cut beaut, Morrison takes another left turn, but it’s a soft one, with the eclectic troubadour venturing into a kinder, gentler world of mellow, jazzy soul and blues.
Backed by a horn-heavy band with a burbling organ and plenty of sweet strings, Morrison loosens up and gets into the groove on these 13 cuts, offering up a little jumpin’ jazz (Whinin Boy Moan), some white-wine white-boy blues (Too Many Myths), the odd bit of Latin-flavoured love songs (Once in A Blue Moon), a touch of timeless New Orleans (St. James Infirmary) and plenty of smoky jazz-pop (Evening In June, Somerset). For those who want something a little more upbeat, Stop Drinking picks up the pace with a dash of twangy rockabilly.
What’s Wrong With This Picture? Not a damn thing.
