Van’s got a hell of a lot on his mind on 1991’s ambitious double album Hymns To The Silence, ranging from the customarily cranky music business critique “Professional Jealousy” which opens the record on an odd note, to the frankly unsuccessful underdog’s ballad “Village Idiot”. Morrison spends much of the album’s capacious running time in a seemingly rotten mood, and while there are sublime melodies and tasteful arrangements enough to go around, ninety minutes is a long time to spend in a room with rock music’s most contemptuous legend. Needless to say, there are exceptions — Van couldn’t put his shoulder into any album this length and not come out with some gems, even if he wanted to. The romantic torch ballad “Take Me Home” conjures an aura of wondrous melancholy, and the puckish “Why Must I Always Explain?” puts his paranoid braggadocio in the best possible light. But the overall effect of Hymns To The Silence is Van unloading a particularly large haul from the backhoe of his brain —- too often exhausting  rather than exhilarating.