Also on the album were two lengthy tracks, "Listen to the Lion" and the closing "Almost Independence Day" which were given primal, cathartic and intense vocal performances from Morrison.

He had perfect pitch, which allowed him to easily write down the music over the phone with instruction from Morrison: "[I] think he was relieved to have someone like me take over the chart preparation and arrangements of the songs he still needed to record for his next album.

"[20] When asked in late May, less than two months before the eventual release of Saint Dominic's Preview, how the recording for album was going, Morrison said: "I've still got two more songs I've got to put together and right now I don't know where they're gonna come from.

"[6] Peter Wrench notes that Morrison had already recorded all the songs that were to feature on the album, which suggests "that ‘Listen To The Lion’ and ‘Almost Independence Day’ were not yet confirmed for inclusion on this release.

[22][23][24] According to Rolling Stone reviewer Stephen Holden on "Gypsy": "Van states where he's at artistically; the rhythms, alternating between double and triple time, are driving and excited, the harmonies faintly Middle Eastern, and the multiple guitar textures exotic.

"[25] "I Will Be There" evokes Ray Charles,[5] composed of heavily realistic lyrics that speak of the singer grabbing an overcoat, his toothbrush and underwear.

"[27] Brian Hinton described the song: "We are back in Astral Weeks territory, a bass led shuffle and Van lost in his own poetic universe, but here his voice takes wilder risks; growling, a near death rattle, feral grunts and roars.

Lyrics in the song refer to different stages of Morrison's life: "chamois cleaning all the windows" (teenage years) and "The record company has paid out for the wine" (his contemporary status as a pop music star).

"[27] "Redwood Tree" is reminiscent of "And It Stoned Me" on the Moondance album, with a soulful celebration of nature, water and a boy's childhood experiences.

[29] "Almost Independence Day" is a two-chord cycle that uses a Moog synthesizer and various musical and vocal techniques to translate to the listener the feelings the singer had while staring across the San Francisco harbour.

Erik Hage describes the song as "a mood piece, and a precursor to his 1980s work (particularly Common One), where his whole raison d'être became trying to inspire meditative states in the listener.

[36] Erik Hage wrote that "it is one of the strongest albums in the Van Morrison canon because it seems to adapt and incorporate all of the lessons and discoveries of the rich period of evolution that came before it while still opening up new windows.

"[12] In Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden wrote that "The coexistence of two styles on the same record turns out to be very refreshing; they complement each other by underscoring the remarkable versatility of Van's musical imagination.

"[32] The Allmusic review with a rating of 4.5 stars comments that the album, "hangs together on the strength of its songs, an intriguingly diverse collection which draws together the disparate threads of the singer's recent work into one sterling package.

A Rolling Stone profile of Morrison in June 1972 quoted him as saying that the song had evolved from a dream about a St. Dominic's church gathering where a mass for peace in Northern Ireland was being held.

Rolling Stone then commented that later while Morrison was in Nevada he read in a newspaper article that a mass was being held the next day for peace at a St. Dominic's church in San Francisco.

The cover shows Morrison sitting on church steps playing guitar with ripped trousers and scruffy boots looking like a gypsy troubadour out on the street.