I'm a huge fan of Van Morrison's early works. I love listening to the rawness of the Bang Sessions, and how some of his early studio albums seem to be more like live albums, in that the music starts taking on an spur of the moment feeling. And to be completely honest, this is the first complete album of his later works that I've listened to since Days Like This in 1995. And though Keep It Simple sounds like you're average run of the mill gospel/blues album, if you know Van then you'll still here the spark of ingenuity.
The songs chords and rhythms are kept to a simple groove, and the lyrics are often in predictable rhymes, but this is the goodness of Van Morrison. He can get away with this. During Behind the Ritual, he creates an entire solo out of the words "Blah Blah Blah Blah"
After listening to his live concerts (i haven't seen one yet, tickets start around 160 bucks!) the newer studio albums almost seem to serve the purpose for laying the brickwork down for the song. I would say, that where the songs are really brought to their biggest potential is when Van and the Band are playing them up....
Don't rush out and buy this one, wait for someone to give it to you or it's in the 5 dollar rack....