For as good of a blues rock/blue-eyed soul artist Van Morrison was in his early days, making the transition to full-on adult contemporary didn't seem too hard for him, not to mention that the quality of said material is still pretty high. Avalon Sunset is considered the first these forays, and though there might be too high a dose of J.C. for some, it ultimately remains as one of his most underrated records. Morrison sings in a bevy of wonderful tones that include apprehensive, loving, nostalgic, and melancholy, which helps buoy the already solid instrumentation and arrangements into something far more personal and intimate than it would have been were it not for him, and that's forgetting to mention the legitimate catchiness of several of the songs here. What it really shows, though, is that Morrison was a musician that could shift and adapt with the times, which is part made him a staple of multiple decades.
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