Moondance (1970)

Moondance (1970)

Van’s most explicitly commercial record could superficially be interpreted as a response to Astral Weeks, the experimental record that proceeded it, set minds aflame, but lacked mass appeal. Here we have Morrison retreating into a series of three to four minute pop confections, eschewing the more bewildering aspects of his previous release, but leaving none of the Celtic soul behind. There is something eerie about the way Van segues so easily back into the pop craft that yielded his early hits, but it doesn’t make the material any less potent. “Caravan” and the title track would go on to become standards. The stunning, plainspoken spirituality of “Into The Mystic” is perhaps his greatest composition to date, and a crucial window into the places this Irish Rover would take us next. Rarely has a determined course correction towards the mainstream yielded such unforgettably wonderful results.