Cover

The cover of the album showed Morrison and his girlfriend Michelle Rocca walking a pair of greyhounds. It was his first album in 24 years to feature a female companion on the cover.
The last had been the cover of Tupelo Honey with his then-wife "Janet Planet"

Songs

His daughter, singer-songwriter Shana Morrison performed duets with her father on two tracks, "You Don't Know Me" and "I'll Never Be Free".
"Ancient Highway" was nine minutes long and contained the words "praying to my higher self/Don't let me down".
It is said to be the one song on the album where he comes closest to following his muse. The title track has continued to be a popular song in concert to the present day.
Most of the songs are reflective and seem to come during a time of self-examination. "No Religion" came about Morrison explained when he was thinking: "Wouldn't it be great just to be born and nobody told you there was such a thing as religion? Say it didn't exist and you were just told that all you've got is this life and that's it...and there's no heaven, no hell." The song, "Songwriter" spoke of his songwriting techniques as a practical application instead of inspired as in the past.[2] "Meloncholia" and "Underlying Depression" continue the theme of soul searching.

Critical acclaim

Days Like This was Morrison's best selling non-compilation album and was nominated for the Mercury Music Award.
David Sinclair in Q describes the album as a "glorious return to form".
Tom Moon's Rolling Stone review states: "There are moments of genius followed by lavish displays of questionable taste, sometimes within the same song.

Tracklist:

1. "Perfect Fit" – 4:33
2. "Russian Roulette" – 3:56
3. "Raincheck" – 5:53
4. "You Don't Know Me" - (Arnold, Walker) – 4:32
5. "No Religion" – 5:14
6. "Underlying Depression" – 4:35
7. "Songwriter" – 2:50
8. "Days Like This" – 3:13
9. "I'll Never Be Free" - (Benjamin, Weiss) – 3:37
10. "Melancholia" – 3:56
11. "Ancient Highway" – 8:53
12. "In the Afternoon" – 6:21

Personnel

* Van Morrison - vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, alto saxophone, hammond organ
* Liam Bradley - drums
* Phil Coulter - piano
* Geoff Dunn - drums, tambourine
* Noel Eccles - drums
* Pee Wee Ellis - tenor and alto saxophones
* Leo Green - tenor saxophone
* Matthew Holland - trumpet, flugelhorn
* James Hunter - electric guitar, background vocals
* Ronnie Johnson - electric guitar
* Brian Kennedy - background vocals
* Teena Lyle - recorder, piano, vibraphone, congas, background vocals
* Foggy Lyttle - electric guitar
* Arty McGlynn - acoustic guitar
* James McMillan - trumpet, flugelhorn
* Shana Morrison - vocal, background vocals
* Jonn Savannah - hammond organ
* Nicky Scott - bass guitar
* Kate St. John - alto saxophone, oboe