Moondance (1970)

This is what comes of return to home and recovery from trauma: Joy, and the lessons of faith. This is not only the best Van Morrison album, it's one of the best ever. Ev-AR. And I say that as someone principally concerned only with the first five songs (or the first vinyl side... the second side is good too). Every second of them is utterly and completely lived and inhabited and felt and communicated. You know the water let it run all over me. You know it's a marvelous night. You know she give him love love love. You know turn it up. Radio. Turn it up. Little bit higher. He turns his top 40 tricks spectacularly on the title song. The radio stations overplayed it, but I never got tired of it. "Crazy Love" – kinda corny, but if this is the weak song we should all have such weaknesses. Words completely fail "Caravan" and "Into the Mystic," but you keep time with them in the center of your soul. I insist that this is the tail end of a trilogy that turned out amazingly well.