Full spectrum "country", from the humorous ("Don't You Feel My Leg") to the heart-rending ("Till I Gain Control Again") to parody of country music heartache lists ("Things Have Gone to Pieces") to anger with a backbeat ("This Has Got To Stop") to Hank Williams ("Half as Much") to rockabilly ("My Bucket's Got a Hole in It"). Like a lot of Van's albums, this music gets in your head and grows with time. The voice-as-instrument sounds like blasts from a well-payed horn. And speaking of playing, one of the benefits of being a Van Morrison fan is the perfection he demands of his backing musicians. This excellent band has more of a Bob Wills "roots" country feel, with some killer fiddle. I usually play my CD's on random play in a 200 disk changer, but this one I play front to back frequently since I bought it. Probably too subtle in its musical merits for the average country fan.

Van Morrison has been one of my favorites for nearly forty years as I have followed the highs and lows of his storied career. I can find something to like in almost anything he's done even when he departs far from his usual range of styles.

Several years ago, he took a detour into country and rockabilly with Linda Gail Lewis. In my opinion, that effort came up short. This time is different, it seems as though the second time's the charm. Though Van Morrison will likely never be the toast of Nashville, Pay the Devil rates much higher in listenability than his last country outing. The superb musicianship here more than makes up for any lack of country twang in Morrison's voice.

If you don't like country music, you probably won't like this CD even if you are a confirmed Van fan. On this CD, Van harks back to the country sounds of a half-century ago. No smarmy pop infusions here, the music is as authentic and sometimes as corny as he can possibly make it.

My favorites are Half As Much, My Bucket's Got A Hole In It, Back Street Affair, the title cut, What Am I Living For?, Once A Day, and More and More.

There are also a couple of songs I don't really care for. Things Have Gone To Pieces is beyond corny with its litany of complaints, large and small. Then, although it is amusing, Don't You Make Me High doesn't really fit the country mood. I heard it years ago by Maria Muldaur and I hear it more as a lounge song than a country one.

Is there any song that is quintessentially Van Morrison? Well, yes. Even though it is steeped in country instumentation, This Has Got To Stop has Morrison's stamp all over it.

So, if you are a Van Morrison fan who also happens to like a touch of country, then you will likely enjoy this CD. I like it, and although its not my favorite, there is enough here to give it a solid four star rating. Listen and hear what I mean!

This album is deceptive - on first hearing in a setting with lots of distractions, it actually sounded unremarkeable, as if the songs were done almost casually, one or 2 takes each. But as I listened again, I was stopped when I heared that familiar sharp, plangent, emphatic and superbly modulated voice reaching for real feeling in "What Am I Living For?" - "hey, he cares about this stuff!" I said to myself. At the end of that song someone (Van?) says "hey, that was worth it." Indeed it was! - great country soul singing of a not-normally-country tune. The next tune, a Van original, "This Has Got To Stop," knocked me out - uncompromising deeply felt lyrics, rolling beat, syncopated shouts - a real Van Morrison song, country style. Then the rest of the record came clear to me. There are some great renditions of songs that should sound completely hackneyed, a la Ray Charles' "Modern Sounds," which may well have been the starting place for this record. And - the crucial test - his Hank songs add to the vocabulary. Van doesn't give anything away to any country singer, or even Ray. He channels that feisty, angry, hurt, caring persona into some great country music - this said by a guy (me) who owns 20+ each of Hank Williams and George Jones records, 30+ Ralph Stanley/Stanley Bros. records, and everything Merle Haggard, ever did, etc.

Van Sings Country is the three-word review, but this set has much more going for it than mere novelty. First of all, the country music we are talking about here has nothing to do with the pop-with-a-twang pap on "country" radio: these songs are deep country -- with a few Van originals alongside names like Webb Pierce, Leon Payne, and Hank (if you don't know the last name you should stop reading now) on the songwriting credits you know you're going for a sprited ride. Morrison is mercifully free of the vocal tics that have blemished some recent recordings here and seems genuinely invested in and fond of this music; if his voice shows some signs of age and hard living here, it only serves to add resonance and authority to these hard-knock songs.

Highlights include a fun reading of Blu Lu Barker's "Don't You Make Me High" (better known to many who recall Maria Muldaur's version as "Don't You Feel My Leg") and a gorgeous take on Rodney Crowell's bittersweet ballad "Till I Gain Control Again". And who better than an experienced Irishman to take on the country-blues standard "There Stands the Glass"?

Of course if you are allergic to fiddle and steel guitar, this isn't for you. But for anyone with an open mind to the basic concept, this is a rewarding purchase.

Even for faithful Van fans like me, recent years may have offered us great songs-Magic Time had a few-but not a stunning album. Pay The Devil, unfortunately is no exception to this trend.

This is not to say that this album is worthless, yet its value for you will depend on how much you love his voice, still stirring and soulful, and whether you can forgive a great artist for not churning out masterpiece after masterpiece.

With the exception of three tracks, this is a covers album, and the songs he's chosen hark back to very traditional Country that, by the way, Morrison does absolute justice to. Since I believe there's an innate plaintive quality to Van's voice and spirit, his love for Country and capacity to interpret it do not surprise me, yet I would have wished that these versions were more infused of the" Irish bard" in Morrison and dug deeper into the songs' soul.

The result is an album of great Country songs, none of which versions will necessarily be known as the ultimate rendition of such tune.

Reading this you may wonder why four stars, given my view. Well, I'm not taking one off because I wish he was more adventurous with this material-that's the artist's prerogative, not mine- yet, at the same time, it's not deserving of more than I awarded it. Five stars is Astral Weeks' territory.