Hard Nose the Highway

This 1973 release features all the magic combinations that made Van’s ’70s studio albums commercial and artistic successes. “Snow in San Anselmo\" gloriously celebrates the wonders of weather. “Warm Love” measures up as the soulful cousin to Van\'s earlier “Crazy Love.” And “The Great Deception” addresses countercultural hypocrisies. But it\'s side two—featuring the *Sesame Street* hit “Bein’ Green” and the traditional folk ballad “Wild Mountain Thyme” reborn as “Purple Heather”—that demonstrates the extended artistic vision that only Van provides.

Although it marks a decline from the astonishing run of five great albums Van Morrison had made from 1968 through 1972, Hard Nose the Highway is still a respectable, if uneven, effort, notably containing "Snow in San Anselmo" (which features the Oakland Symphony Chamber Chorus) and "Warm Love."