Best of Van Morrison, Volume 3Manhattan/EMI Disc 1:
Disc 2:
From a press release (April 17, 2007): It's now been more than four decades since Van Morrison left his native Belfast to embark on a career as a professional musician. And while there will be a number of people buying this third volume of highlights from that career who remember the days of Them, and others who picked up the story with legendary late 1960s/early 1970s albums like Astral Weeks and Moondance, there is yet another generation that tuned in during the 1980s. The first Best of Van Morrison made the UK Top 5, proof that his fan base was still expanding after a quarter of a century at the cutting edge of music. And the reason is clear. Live shows are no 'greatest hits' parades but have always incorporated healthy amounts of new music, and the public has responded by buying tickets and albums in ever-increasing numbers. The 1990s would prove to be a fruitful and prolific period in Morrison's history, with a release round about every year taking his original recordings total past the 30 mark by the middle of the following decade. All of which means the people who purchase this double album will differ widely in their knowledge of the man's back catalogue. Some of the songs here will be familiar -- even if not in these exact versions -- while others will have escaped all but the most ardent Van-ologist. What's certain is that it's a hand-picked selection with something for everyone whose life has been touched by Morrison's music.
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