Editing Moondance (section)

== Legacy and reappraisal ==
{{Album ratings
| title = Retrospective professional reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{sfn|Ankeny|n.d.}}
| rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
| rev2Score = A+{{sfn|Christgau|1981|p=265}}
| rev3 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{sfn|Larkin|2006|p=12}}
| rev4 = ''[[The Great Rock Discography]]''
| rev4Score = 9/10{{sfn|Strong|2004}}
| rev5 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{sfn|Hilburn|1986}}
| rev6 = [[Music Story]]
| rev6Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{sfn|Anon.|2013a}}
| rev7 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
| rev7Score = 5/5{{sfn|Rucker|1996}}
| rev8 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev8score = 8.4/10{{sfn|Walsh|2018b}}
| rev9 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev9Score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{sfn|Evans|1992|p=488}}
| rev10= Sputnikmusic
| rev10Score = 5/5{{sfn|Thomas|2010}}
}}
In artistic and commercial terms, ''Moondance'' would "practically define [Morrison] in the public consciousness for decades to follow", according to Hage.{{sfn|Hage|2009|p=49}} It made the singer a popular radio presence in the 1970s, as several of its songs became [[FM broadcasting|FM airplay]] staples, including "Caravan", "Into the Mystic", the title track, and "Come Running", which was a [[top 40]] hit in the US.<ref>{{harvnb|Harrington|2003|p=86}}; {{harvnb|Tobler|2005}}.</ref> Some songs from the album became hits for other recording artists, such as [[Johnny Rivers]]' 1970 cover of "Into the Mystic" and the 1971 "Crazy Love" recording by [[Helen Reddy]].{{sfn|Tobler|2005}} ''Moondance'' was also a precursor to the decade's [[Adult contemporary music|adult-oriented rock]] radio format—typified by the music of [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]], [[James Taylor]], and [[Paul McCartney]]—and the first hit album for mixing engineer [[Elliot Scheiner]], who went on to have a prolific career engineering some of the 1970s' most popular recording artists.<ref>{{harvnb|Harrington|2003|p=87}}; {{harvnb|Gibson|2006|p=220}}; {{harvnb|Walsh|2001|p=40}}.</ref> In summarising the album's legacy, Ryan H. Walsh wrote in ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'':

{{cquote|The album would solidify Van Morrison as an FM radio mainstay, act as a midwife for the burgeoning genre of '[[soft rock]],' and help usher in the '70s in America, where the beautiful hippie couples of the late '60s would soundtrack their developing newfound domestic comfort with the sweet sounds of Morrison's mystical love-anthems.{{sfn|Walsh|2018b}}}}

Although the album never topped the record charts, it sold continuously for the next 40 years of its release, particularly after its [[Digital remastering|digitally remastered]] reissue in 1990.{{sfn|Elias|2011}} In 1996, ''Moondance'' was certified [[RIAA certification|triple platinum]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]], having shipped three million copies in the US.{{sfn|Anon. (f)|n.d.}}

In the years following the original release, ''Moondance'' has been frequently ranked as one of the greatest albums ever.{{sfn|Anon.|2013b}} In 1978, it was voted the 22nd best album of all time in [[Paul Gambaccini]]'s poll of 50 prominent American and English rock critics.{{sfn|Gambaccini|1978|pp=83–4}} Christgau, one of the critics polled, named it the 7th best album of the 1970s in ''The Village Voice'' the following year.{{sfn|Christgau|1979}} In a retrospective review, Nick Butler from Sputnikmusic considered ''Moondance'' to be the peak of Morrison's career and "maybe of non-American soul in general", while ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' deemed it "the great white soul album" in an essay accompanying the magazine's 1989 list of the all-time 25 greatest albums, on which ''Moondance'' was ranked 21st.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon. (g)|n.d.}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|1989|p=50}}.</ref> In 1999, the album was inducted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame]], and in 2003, it was placed at number 65 on ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.|2013b}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|2003|p=113}}.</ref>{{refn|group=nb|name=fn|''Rolling Stone'' later re-ranked the album on revised editions of the list, first at number 66 in 2012 and then at 121 in 2020.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.|2012}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|2020}}.</ref>}} The album was also included in the 2000 edition of [[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]'s ''[[All Time Top 1000 Albums]]'' (where it placed at number 79), the music reference book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]'' (2005), and ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's 2006 list of the "All-TIME 100 Albums".<ref>{{harvnb|Larkin|2000|p=68}}; {{harvnb|Tobler|2005}}; {{harvnb|Light|2006}}.</ref> The following year, the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] named ''Moondance'' one of their "Definitive 200" albums, ranking it 72nd.{{sfn|Hinckley|2007}} In 2009, ''[[Hot Press]]'' polled numerous Irish recording artists and bands, who voted it the 11th best Irish album of all time.{{sfn|McGreevy|2009}}