Van Morrison - The Movie Hits

iTunes Review

Van Morrison’s music has always served as the perfect moody accompaniment to everyday life, so it’s no surprise that it has found a welcome home underscoring cinematic moments. This 19-track collection of tunes featured either prominently or subliminally in film (from The Pope of Greenwich Village to Martin Scorsese’s recently-scored The Departed), is a generous, if oddly constructed, overview of Morrison’s talents. Hits are represented: “Gloria” (from his days with the Irish group Them), “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Moondance,” “Wild Night,” and “Have I Told You Lately” all found their way here — though “Moondance” is a previously unreleased live version. And for the record, “Domino,” “Into the Mystic” and his cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” are all live recordings as well. Though no one collection can hope to capture the breadth of Morrison’s approach, the inclusion of “Hungry For Your Love,” “Queen of the Slipstream,” “Days Like This” and the re-recording of “Wonderful Remark” for Scorsese’s The King of Comedy are good indicators of the man’s many talents and hopefully will send the curious off into further research into his many rewarding studio albums.