van morrison's best sounding album?

I would start first with "Moondance" and "Astral Weeks."

"Astral Weeks" will be in my coffin, in the hopes that I will be granted access to www.Audio-Gone.com in the afterlife.
That is one album that I cannot do without. Hope you enjoy it!

Van has gone thru many phases. The early works showed his distain of the music business and sometimes his love life. They were at times a bit dark one might say.
Then the mystic or somewhat "religious " period.
I would start with his latest offerings. They seem to be based on just plain great music. The live recording of his San Fran.concert is very good.
The newer recordings have much better sound of course. An added bonus.
"Whats wrong with this picture",a recent piece, will show his incredable versatility.
Whatever you try you may become a fan.

I hate to differ, but I think some of his earlier issues are a bit roughly mixed (e.g., Moondance).

Personally, I think Poetic Champions Compose is very well done, and is a great album (or CD) from a songwriting standpoint as well. Enlightenment is also very good. I can get lost is the tune "In the Days before Rock and Roll" WOW. Try these two out at your local CD store, and whatever you do - enjoy!!!

Barton

Well, it is a tough choice. My personal favorite is "Tupelo Honey" but my wife votes for "Too Long in Exile" But your friend is right - listen to Van!