It's one thing to believe dumbfuck things if you're a notorious old crank. It's another thing to sully your discography with it.
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart is incredibly underrated. I'm sure I've listened before when I was younger and doing my first Van deep dive, but idk if I have since then. Moody, weird, beautiful. Why is this one so maligned?
To be more hyperbolic, there are some moments on the new album that might be his best music since...Hymns to the Silence? Avalon Sunset? Obviously not a super hard mark to reach, but this is the dude who made Why Are You on Facebook a few years ago.
Need to give it a listen. Several of the prerelease tracks were the first time I’d even slightly connected with something new from him in… well about as long off as those albums you mentioned there haha. edit: when the rains came is the one
On a deep 80s Van kick. Love Common One. Does he have a bad album from 67-the 90s? I dislike Period of Transition but I'd go to bat for just about any other release during that time.