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Moondance | 
 enlarge | Artist: Van Morrison
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy New: $8.99
You Save: $2.99 (25%)
New (61) Used (97) Collectible (4) from $1.74
Rating:  161 reviews
Sales Rank: 792
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.5
MPN: 3103
UPC: 075992732628
EAN: 0075992732628
ASIN: B000002KHF
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | And It Stoned Me | | • | Moondance | | • | Crazy Love | | • | Caravan | | • | Into The Mystic | | • | Come Running | | • | These Dreams Of You | | • | Brand New Day | | • | Everyone | | • | Glad Tidings |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential recording
Van Morrison went a long way towards defining his wild Irish heart with his first two classic albums: the brooding, introspective Astral Weeks (1968), and the expansive, swinging Moondance. If the first was the work of a poet, its sequel was the statement of a musician and bandleader. Moondance is that rare rock album where the band has buffed the arrangements to perfection, and where the sax solos instead of the guitar. The band puts out a jazzy shuffle on "Moondance" and plays it soulful on "These Dreams of You." The album includes both Morrison's most romantic ballad ("Crazy Love") and his most haunting ("Into the Mystic"). "And It Stoned Me" rolled off Morrison's tongue like a favorite fable, while "Caravan" told a tale full of emotional intrigue. Moondance stood out in the rock world of 1970 like a grownup in a kiddie matinee. --John Milward
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| Customer Reviews: Read 156 more reviews...
 REMASTER AVAILABLE! But ONLY In Japan! Why, Edgar... WHY? June 27, 2008
The good news?
20+ years after their debut on CD, FINALLY, there are full remasters of "Moondance", "Street Choir" and "Astral Weeks".
The bad news?
They're not available domestically from Warner Music Group USA: All three are Warner Japan only.
And the really bad news?
As of today, Amazon doesn't stock the remasters (there is a 1996 Japan-released Moondance listed, but it is NOT the remaster, so don't waste your money). Hopefully, Amazon will correct this oversight soon. The catalog numbers for the three Japan Warner remasters are WPCR-75419, -20 and -21, which streeted in Japan on 6/25/08.
These classic albums, which we have all waited so long to be brought properly into the digital world, now, unfortunately, join fellow Warner artists such as Little Feat, The Doobie Brothers, Neil Young, Ry Cooder, Tower Of Power, Cold Blood and several others, whose remastered catalogs are only available off-shore.
Pathetic.
The responsibility for this is ultimately Edgar Bronfman, Jr., the CEO of WMG USA. Instead of focusing on WMG's core music catalog, he's busy extolling the virtues of consumer-oppressive DRM, over-paying P-Diddy tens of millions of dollars, and this week, revealed as losing another $30 million of WMG funds in promoter Joe Meli's mad scheme to charge $15,000 per person to attend a swank, exclusive, five-act concert series in the Hamptons. These are only a few of many excesses this guy has perpetrated at WMG, presiding over a spectacular loss of investor equity since the 2005 WMG IPO, while he and his investors have lined their own pockets.
This year, Universal is staging a 28-title Van Morrison catalog re-release, all remastered with bonus tracks. You'd think SOMEBODY at WMG would be smart enough to pilot-fish that momentum with these three seminal titles. At the very least, how hard can it be to obtain the existing, completed remasters from a Japan subsidiary and make them available in the U.S.?
All of this is no surprise to WMG, or ex-WEA, insiders. Internally, Warner policy was always that the majority of consumers were going purchase popular catalog titles anyway, so why waste profits to remaster them? WEA sales employees were told this directly by Warner management as far back as the early 90's, and Bronfman's regime simply status-quo'd that odious philosophy.
This is what happens when bean-counters run record companies.
But, I guess Edgar & Co, too preoccupied with moguling the mess they've made of a once-great record company, can't see the opportunity: As of this writing, no WMG act has any major position on the charts, and artists, alienated by WMG's all-finance-dominated mentality, are departing for pastures where music still has some modicum of corporate consideration.
What a waste.
WMG could borrow a page from Sony, who established a successful business model out of sonically-upgrading their catalog over a decade ago. The only major Columbia Records artist that comes to mind, whose catalog hasn't been remastered, is Springsteen... and you have to believe that's not by Sony's choice.
Bottom line, Edgar? If you don't believe there's no positive revenue to be generated by offering a better product, then you've no business being in that business.
One of Van's best June 2, 2008
If you haven't heard this for a while, listen to it again. This is Van in his real magic time--a period of great songs, great arrangements, and fine voice.
 Weak lyrics April 29, 2008
I like Van, and this is a pretty good CD,I guess. I just find that I'm not that motivated to listen to it very often. Moondance has been played to death and the rest of the songs are just okay to me. Actually, most of Van's stuff is just okay. This CD's best songs are at the beginning, the songs diminish in quality as the CD progresses. As usual, the lyrics are never beyond servicable. Van has a tendency to write rhymes instead of interesting lyrics. "These dreams of you. So real and so true", "Everyone, everyone, everyone ,everyone", "And it stoned me to my soul, stoned me just like going home". Not very inspiring, or interesting. It's a nice Sunday morning CD, I suppose, but not as good as Astral Weeks--another CD with its share of bad lyrics. "As I venture in the slipstream between the viaducts of your dream." Pretentious and sometimes, unintentionally funny. You're better off downloading individual songs form Van's catalog. His CDs are just too spotty.
TURN IT LOOSE!!!!!! April 1, 2008
I wish Warners/Reprise/Elektra/Asylum/Atlantic/Time-Warner/RHINO,Polygram,WHOEVER! would get "Moondance","Astral Weeks" and "Band and Street Choir" remastered and RELEASE THEM!!! For some of us, these were the albums that are truely "Unforgetable".
 Moondance February 18, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Van Morrison-Moondance ****1/2
Moondance is the album that broke Van Morrison in to the mainstream as a major solo artist. While Astral Weeks is clearly his strongest album, as well as his most criticly acclaimed album, and still to this day concidered to be one of the top albums of all time, it is Moondance that really broke him through to the rest of the world. Of course he always had the success of Them, and 'Gloria' which went on to be just a classic, and 'Brown Eyed Girl' may have been his first hit single, many did not relealize that was Morrison on his own.
'And It Stoned Me' the fantastic title track 'Moondance' along side 'Crazy Love' and 'Caravan' were the first four songs to lead off the album and all four went on to be hit singles for Morrison making him a major pop star. His soul-ful vocals and heartfelt lyrics can be heard through out the entire album on songs like the cleaver title track, and 'Brand New Day' but maybe most importantly on the albums strongest track, the chilling 'Into The Mystic' which aside from 'Sweet Thing' off Astral Weeks may be Van Morrisons Best song ever. "We were born before the wind, but so younger then the son," how can you even compare another lyric to that genius?
Moondance solidified Van Morrison as not only a brilliant Irish poet, but a major musical attraction. Along with his first album Astral Weeks, these two albums help so growth in Van Morrison as well as depth, in that there was much more to him then garage rock, even though he may have written the greatest garage rock song of all time in 'Gloria.' Moondance is a special album that you can play during any mood, and one that is reccomended to all along side Astral Weeks.
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