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- Artist: Van Morrison
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1987
- Total Time: 47:45
- Genre: Rock
Review
If the title didn't tip you off, the opening five-minute jazz instrumental "Spanish Steps" certainly reveals that Poetic Champions Compose is an art record. Of course, Van Morrison has been making art records since at least Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, perhaps Common One, so that shouldn't come as a surprise. What is a bit of a shock is that Morrison begins to shake off his self-conscious straitjacket here, letting a little more grit into the music, even if the record still is firmly ensconced in mid-tempos and ballads, with only Van's voice (soulful, yet not histrionic) to pull you in. Much of this tends to float by, with only the occasional song ("I Forgot That Love Existed," "Did Ye Get Healed?") distinguishing itself. The overly mellow atmosphere and Van's arch artiness may not make it universally appealing, yet this record is warmer, stronger than many of its predecessors, one of his highlights from the '80s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Spanish Steps | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (5:20) |
| The Mystery | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (5:16) |
| Queen of the Slipstream | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (4:55) |
| I Forgot That Love Existed | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (4:17) |
| Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child | Traditional | Van Morrison | (4:27) |
| Celtic Excavation | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (3:17) |
| Someone Like You | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (4:06) |
| Alan Watts Blues | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (4:24) |
| Give Me My Rapture | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (3:44) |
| Did Ye Get Healed? | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (4:06) |
| Allow Me | Van Morrison | Van Morrison | (3:53) |
