Moondance is the brighter, more accessible counterpart to Astral Weeks: Van Morrison's first major commercial success that keeps the earlier album's spiritual depth while shifting from bleak intensity to themes of renewal and redemption. Light, soulful, and jazz-inflected, it celebrates nature and possibility-from the nostalgic "And It Stoned Me" to the nocturnal title track and the optimism of "Brand New Day." Highlights include the incantatory "Caravan" and the transcendent "Into the Mystic," often seen as the defining moment of Morrison's artistry. Lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at Sterling Sound from the best available sources.
