Born to Sing: No Plan B
by Van Morrison
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
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  1. The A.V. Club
    Dec 14, 2012
    58
    The remainder of Born To Sing is salvaged by solid, serviceable, latter-day Morrison material.
  2. The Telegraph (UK)
    Dec 14, 2012
    40
    These soft shoe shuffles sway up and down the same few notes, with the affectionate embrace of mother of the groom dances.
  3. American Songwriter
    Dec 14, 2012
    50
    Van feels fed up and disgusted, intense and focused, on Born To Sing: No Plan B, but unfortunately, the songs, more often than not, end the conversation there, leaving just a few hard knock lessons and some pretty jazz.
  5. Consequence
    Dec 14, 2012
    40
    While there are a few gems on Born to Sing, he's riding his name through the album instead of having something to say.

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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Mab_987
    Feb 8, 2013
    6
    There are a lot of ups and downs to this album. On the positive side the instrumentation for the most part is very smooth, organic creates aThere are a lot of ups and downs to this album. On the positive side the instrumentation for the most part is very smooth, organic creates a nice atmosphere, further shown in Morrison's very distinct voice vocal delivery we've all grown to love. The melodies for some tracks can really hook you in the lyrics remain inspired for the most part, especially on tracks centered around social commentary like End of the Rainbow, If In Money We Trust Educating Archie. But there's also straightforward classic pop songs like Open the Door to Your Heart Retreat and View that work just as well. But unfortunately there's two BIG problems with Born to Sing: No Plan B, and that's the song structures lengths. A lot of songs here are very predictable, repetitive and do much more than their fair share of meandering just for the sake of throwing in another verse that doesn't add much or a 3-minute instrumental break that could've been a couple minutes shorter. This especially gets problematic with the 8-minute songs Going Town to Monte Carlo If In Money We Trust, which both start out great but I end up bored after 4-5 minutes have passed, if not sooner. The latter is affected the hardest, with a haunting atmosphere great basslines wearing off in appeal by the heavily drawn out length, which isn't helped by the repetitive lyrics. Basically, if you cut out every time a verse was repeated here, the song would be 5 minutes shorter. Unfortunately what could've been a great song is reduced to a repetitive mess. Similar problems happen in the title track Born to Sing. And moving on to more specific gripes, Close Enough for Jazz was shaping up to great little instrumental in the first half but is unfortunately interrupted in the second half by completely unnecessary verses that only bog down the song. Other songs like Mystic of the East Pagan Heart just don't go anywhere, and the place they're at can't hold my attention for their entire 5+ minute durations. Morrison just seems too content with an idea to want to develop it any further, and I think those decisions are what ultimately lead to Born to Sing's main flaws. No song here should've been over 5 minutes. Still, his all-around songwriting skills, whether instrumentally, melodically or lyrically, still shine through. Tracks like Open the Door to Your Heart, Retreat and View, End of the Rainbow, If In Money We Trust Educating Archie are probably gonna go down as Morrison discography staples for me. Score: 64/100… Full Review »