28 February 2013

28th Feb - Van Morrison's Moondance

Artist – Album: Van Morrison - Moondance
Released:  28th February 1970
Sounds Like: That feeling you get when you impress everyone by knowing what year Neneh Cherry’s ‘Buffalo Stance’ was released. 

Apologies, dear reader (note the use of the singular there), for only just getting this blog out before midnight. Beginning a blog with only an hour of the day left is not on and I really must do better. I had planned on having an evening of blogging, maybe making a start on the next couple of days (God knows when I’m going to do them now) but just as I was leaving work a colleague called and said that someone had dropped out of their networking quiz team and they really needed me to step in. How could I say no to that desperate plea? I just couldn’t. Plus I like to be a smart ass. We did pretty well, finishing third out of what must’ve been about a million teams (slight exaggeration) and it may (not) surprise you that we bossed the music round, but it does mean I’ve been a bit lax when it comes to today’s blog.

Fortunately, Van Morrison’s Moondance is not an album that needs a lot to be said about it. His second solo album, it’s arguably his best (or at least makes the top two) and is lit up by Van the Man’s soulful songwriting and exceptional vocal talents. It’s littered with some of his greatest tunes: the opening ‘And It Stoned Me’ which almost sounds like a Tom Sawyer slice of Americana; the jazzy ‘Moondance’; the partying centrepiece ‘Caravan’; the lush, brilliant ‘Into the Mystic’; the giddy salutation ‘Glad Tidings’.

This is a great album; one with enough class and that has earned enough praise over the years to be able to deal with being shunned by me for some charity pub quiz at Stockport County’s football ground. Hopefully.

Albumaday... rating: 9/10



1.       And It Stoned Me – 4:30
2.       Moondance – 4:35
3.       Crazy Love – 2:34
4.       Caravan – 4:57
5.       Into the Mystic – 3:25
6.       Come Running – 2:30
7.       These Dreams of You – 3:50
8.       Brand New Day – 5:09
9.       Everyone – 3:31
10.   Glad Tidings – 3:42


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