Van Morrison : Moondance

* ( By Request )

Moondance

 is the 1970 

third studio album

 by Northern

 Irish 

singer-songwriter 

Van Morrison

 After the 

commercial failure

 of his 1968 

Astral Weeks album,

 Morrison moved 

with his wife

 to an artistic hamlet 

in upstate New York 

and began

 writing songs for

 Moondance. 

There,

 he met the musicians

 he would record

 the album with

 at New York City's

 A & R Studios in 1969.

Morrison abandoned 

the abstract 

folk jazz compositions

 of Astral Weeks 

in favor of more formally 

composed songs on 

Moondance, 

which he wrote

 and produced 

entirely himself. 

Its lively rhythm

 and blues/rock music 

was the style

 he would become 

most known for

 in his career. 

The music incorporated

 soul, 

jazz,

 pop, 

and Irish

 folk sounds 

into songs 

about finding

 spiritual renewal 

and redemption

 in worldly matters 

such as nature, 

music, 

romantic love,

 and 

self-affirmation.

Moondance

 was first released by

 Warner Bros. Records on

 January 27 1970

 to critical and 

commercial success. 

It helped establish 

Morrison as a 

major artist

 in popular music, 

while several of its

 songs became staples 

on FM radio

 in the early 1970s.

 Moondance

 has since been cited

 by critics as 

one of the 

greatest albums 

of all time.

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