Van the Man has done it again. To be accurate, he's done something he's never done before: Keep It Simple debuted in the Billboard Top Ten. None of his CDs has ever done that. Van's always been a solid seller, but he's always been way too mature to crack the top ten, the "who's hot this week" list. I feel it's not been a concern of his throughout his career, that he's been more interested in creating a permanent niche rather than a temporary spot, so, cracking the Top Ten coming along just now is okay, just like not coming along now would be okay, too.

On the very first cut, "How Can A Poor Boy?" I could plainly hear that Van's gone back to his bluesy voice, except this time his music sounds more Mississippi than some Mississippi natives. Ned Edwards's harmonica and John Allair's organ really add to the Delta flavor. "School of Hard Knocks," the second cut, comes more out of Tennessee, with a soft Southern lilt to the melody, which Van sings of a subject that many of us are all too familiar with. "That's Entrainment" moves us west to an amalgam of East Texas and Soul.

The next cut, "Don't Go to Nightclubs Anymore," may sound like a lament to some, but to me it reeks of contentedness. A man whose needs are a lot simpler, a lot more basic, and whose lifestyle is a lot less demanding. He has nobody to convince any longer, not even himself. "Lover Come Back" makes me think he's singing more about a lost friend; not simply a lost lover, but a lover who's a good friend as well, a person whose company he enjoys as much as her love.

The press and the critics, as well as the aforementioned fans, have declared this first new release in two years to be an unmitigated hit, writ large. It's "a little o' dis, a little o' dat" album, one with a broad selection of cuts that appeals to listeners of all ilk. It's what I call Celtic Soul, music of a broad general appeal, all written from the soul of a sensitive Celtic poet, where even heartbreak can bring a smile.

"No Thing" makes me think that Van is ready to retire. Not stop singing, not stop making records, certainly. He's already recused himself from the music rat race by making what he wants to make, not what his producers or labels want him to make. Now he plans to make what pleases him. Not what he simply wants, but what he feels he needs. That's the "cake," and the very next cut, "Soul," is the icing. It's his explanation of what he feels, what he's been trying to say, what he's been trying to convince us of, for the previous nine cuts.

In the final cut, "Behind the Ritual," he tells us he remembers the old days, but that's what they are: the old days. And that's exactly where they'll stay. Put all those random observations and views together, and I think Van's telling us it's been a hell of a ride, but he's ready to get off now.

This CD is great, with no equivocation. Eleven cuts totaling not quite 50 minutes of pure, peaceful pleasure.