Conceived in the wake of his bucolic classics, Moondance and Tupelo Honey, 1972's Saint Dominic's Preview sustains their mix of crisp R&B ("Jackie Wilson Said") and anthemic folk-rock ("Almost Independence Day") while insinuating a darker, warier spirit to Morrison's music. In what would amount to the first major installment in an ongoing cycle of digs at the music business, the title song pits the singer's authentic art against the false idols of the predators and sycophants surrounding him--a familiar Morrison theme decades on but given a soulful urgency here that makes it tough to dismiss as the ravings of a career curmudgeon. --Sam Sutherland
Review by Jason Ankeny
While less thematically and sonically cohesive than Van Morrison's prior albums, Saint Dominic's Preview nonetheless hangs together on the strength of its songs, an intriguingly diverse collection which draws together the disparate threads of the singer's recent work into one sterling package. The opener, "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)," is pure R&B jubilation, while the title cut, although essentially a rewrite of "Tupelo Honey," is stunning gospel-pop; both "Listen to the Lion" and "Almost Independence Day," meanwhile, mark a return to the epic mystical explorations of Morrison's earlier work and offer a pair of his most primal performances.
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