Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| George Graham | (unrated) |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Zboneman" | |
The album had mixed reviews from critics but charted higher in the US than any of his albums since Wavelength. It went gold in both the US and UK. Allmusic rated it four stars with reviewer James Crispell noting: "After so many songs ranging through so many styles, it is a pleasure to have Van Morrison return to the music that suits him so well. Steeped in blues and R&B, Back on Top finds Morrison celebrating life and its pleasures to the limit." It was rated 3 stars by Rolling Stone with James Hunter ending his review commenting: "Back on Top is solid, brilliant, silly in sad ways. But it's still one Monet and nine Norman Rockwells." Irish critic George Byrne wrote a negative review in the Irish Independent: "Somewhere in the mid-Eighties the poet/philosopher accolades seem to have seeped into his skull and he began churning out same-sounding albums on an almost annual basis." An opposing viewpoint was expressed by George Graham who commented in his review that "It's one of his best, most tasteful albums in recent years, and Van Morrison has had some very good albums in this period."
Read more about this topic: Back On Top (Van Morrison Album)
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