Saint Dominic's Preview

Saint Dominic's Preview

Conceived in the wake of his bucolic classics, <i>Moondance</i> and <i>Tupelo Honey</i>, 1972's <i>Saint Dominic's Preview</i> 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. <i>--Sam Sutherland</i>