It is said that you never get
over your first love. Now, while I've spent most of my adult life trying to forget all of the awful experiences I had with regards
to my teenage loves (mostly of my own doing, of course), I would say that this statement is 100% true in the realm of music.
Indeed, the Moody Blues were the first group to put me under the "these
guys are awesome, I need all of their albums" spell (I'm quite sure that
my friends and associates remember quite well my obsession, devotion and
compulsive desire to get other people into the group during my last year
and a half in high school). And even today, when my music collection is so
much more than just Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and A
Question of Balance, I still really love these guys. Of course,
Rolling Stone hates them with a passion, but that's all the more reason
for me to dislike Rolling Stone.
Basically, there are three things
which attracted me to this band from almost the beginning. The first is
the singing voices of all of the guys. With the possible exception of the
Beatles, I can honestly say that no group has ever amazed and enchanted me
harmony-wise than this quintet/quartet. If they wanted to be trippy, they
could do it. Majestic? Yup. Playful? You bet. Simply gorgeous stuff. And
their individual voices weren't any slouch either. In particular, primary
(at least, in the sense that the band's greatest hits were mostly done by
him) vocalist Justin Hayward could make a legitimate claim to being the
greatest male rock singer for about fifteen years. High notes, low notes,
and everything in between, he had force and power that simply could not be
approached by any other. And even when he started to get older and his
range was cut, he never really sounded bad; rather, he reinvented
his voice as a beautiful, lovely, and ultra-syrupy pop sound. I like it!
Anyways, the other four (well, actually, three, since drummer Graeme
Edge didn't really sing a whole bunch) weren't horrid on their own either.
Ray Thomas, with his trembling, childish tenor, was in many ways one of
the primary trademarks of the group, and the amazing thing is that he got
better as he got older. Compare his voices on the original "Legend of a
Mind" and the version from the Red Rocks concert and you will be absolutely astounded at how
deep and lush his voice became in the last years of the band. Next, John Lodge has always had a very
sad, mournful tone to his singing, but this never hurt his songs and often
enhances them. And he also had perhaps the finest falsetto in all of pop
music for about ten years (another band trademark). Yup, Ray might have contributed his own fair share of high falsetto harmonies, but John always sounded better at it. Finally, we had the
heart and soul of the group, the man who put the Moody in Moody Blues, Mr.
Mike Pinder. The deep, bass foundation of all of the group's vocal
togetherness, great tunes such as "I'm Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll
Band" could not sound as classic without his anchor.
The next thing
which attracted me to the group was, obviously, the songs. I will admit
that they had their share of stinkers, yes, but more often than not, they
all demonstrated a total, intuitive comprehension of what a great melody
should sound like. Their 'core seven' are all filled with phenomenally
beautiful songs, and even when the band changed many parts of their
original style as the 80's came along, they were still able to make music
which was, well, terrific in spite of itself. It's not just
the melodies, though. The arrangements were almost always gorgeous and
always very different from what others were doing (more on that in a bit)
and the lyrics were always profound, bombastic (if you prefer,
'overblown') and memorable. Mostly though, it's the fact that everyone in
the band (they all contributed songs) was willing and able to be honest to
the world and bear their heart and soul in the music. Now, keep in mind,
this is one of the main criticisms that Rolling Stone has of them, but if
you have a sensitive bone in your body, this stuff can't help but move
you. Of course, getting away from that is a large part of the reason
that their late 80's work is really bad, but that's for the reviews
themselves.
Finally, we have the general sound of the group;
suffice it to say, this was not a normal rock band, and if you're in the
market for "kick ass rock and roll tunes," look elsewhere. It's not that
Hayward was at all bad on his guitars (he's actually pretty great for what he does, and his tone was one of a kind) or Lodge on his bass (his playing,
btw, is pretty underrated - listen closely to the pulsating licks
in "Story in Your Eyes" and tell me there's not goodness there), and Edge was
very solid on drums.
It's just these were not the primary catalysts of the group's sound.
First, Ray Thomas was one of a VERY select few to make extensive use of
the flute in pop music. Now, he didn't use it in the Ian Anderson
make-the-flute-rock-as-hard-as-the-guitars manner, but rather he used it
for pure melodic beauty and to add to the grandeur of the tunes. Even more
predominant in the sound, however, was the mellotron of Mike Pinder. No,
he was not a keyboard virtuoso on the level of Keith Emerson or Rick
Wakeman, or even Rick Wright. But the very fact that he had such skill in
controlling and taming the mellotron in and of itself qualifies him as one
of the great underrated keyboardists of all time. Indeed, the mellotron has always
been considered one of the greatest, most monstrous enemies of keyboard
players through the ages, and most of today's developments in synth sound
were driven for the sole purpose of putting the mellotron in the past. A
couple of short examples: Robert Fripp, when asked how one tunes a
mellotron; "Tuning a mellotron doesn't." John Paul Jones on his keyboard
setup; "Uhn, the mellotron ... I spent my whole career trying to replace
the mellotron ... I would approach it with this sense of fear and
forboding, not knowing what sound would come out of it when I played it;
could be strings, could be a trumpet, maybe an oboe ... over time moisture
would buildup in it and the tapes would get warped and stretched ..." You
get the idea. If you don't believe me, suffice it to say, in addition to
what has already been said, that the pitch of the sound depends on how
hard you press down on the keys. And yet, Mike Pinder created crystal
clear sound which lifted the band to a whole other level.
Before I go
onto the actual albums, I would like to be fair and say something negative
about the band, perhaps to convince you, the reader, that I am not a
totally blind devotee. The main weakness of the Moody Blues was that their
work was extremely formulaic and most definitely had a set style. A
grandiose intro, maybe a poem, a 'rocker', the main body of the album, and
a closing piece to bring it all together. Now, they usually managed to
throw in just enough wrinkles to keep it mildly fresh, but it nevertheless was
always the 'classic' Moodies sound (note, this primarily refers to the
'core seven'). On the other hand, though, I don't think that's a
completely bad thing. Sure, diversity is nice, but I'm not a stickler about
change for change's sake. They had a formula, and an extremely
successful one at that, and they managed to squeeze every last ounce of
melodic and lyrical beauty that they could out of it, and even when the
group was in its last days (before returning, of course), they still
produced the goods. In any case, I've rambled enough. The albums
await!
PS: If I see one more "The Moodies suck now, BRING BACK MIKE PINDER" post
by anybody on the internet, I'm going to shoot something. I love Mike too,
but he isn't coming back, and that's a fact. Get over it. And please don't
send me any comments along those lines.
PPS: Many years after writing this introduction, I've found that, while I agree with what I originally wrote, there are a couple of extra points I wish to include here (without disturbing my original ramblings). My thoughts mainly pertain to the question of what it is that makes this band so appealing to me and others like me and so repulsive to so many others. I can tell you for sure that this is definitely one of those bands that falls into the "you either get it or you don't" camp, which in turn raises a question in my mind: what the heck is "it?" I've come to understand over the years that, more than anything else, the classic Moodies albums represent a point of view nearly completely devoid of cynicism, jadedness and all of the other attributes that callous over our souls as we age and go through the hard times of life. Capn' Marvel, in his general assault on the band, made the remark that the band responded to the 1967 psychedelic revolution by "(falling) in face-first and (buying) it all hook, line and sinker," and also referred to them as "the ... Mormons of rock music," who were "a bit too far isolated and removed from normal human reality to be truly understood." He mentions that their music led a "chaste, virtuous, some-might-say-castrated existence."
And you know what? He's right. The general attitude of the band had nothing to do with the guts of rock music, which of course is ultimately about getting high, screwing groupies and beating people up. And you know, call me a pansy-ass, but I just can't see the alternate viewpoint presented by the band as a totally bad thing. The viewpoint of the Moodies, in my mind, is the world as seen through, you guessed it, the eyes of a child. You can call it childish; I call it childlike, and yes, that's partially the Mormon in me talking. The world has enough bands describing reality as it is; it needs one band describing reality how it arguably should be, and yes, as embarrassingly naive as their attempts may have come across at times, that's exactly what the band did in its prime. And yes, I love them for it.
That said, while I'm glad the band took the approach and had the ideology that it did, I am a little iffy on the idea of having them as a favorite band (and I feel I can say this with some authority, having once occupied such a position). It is dangerously easy to allow love for the Moodies to act as a substitute for love of rock music, and it's probably not healthy. The world is dangerous and smutty and dark and all of the other things that other bands thrive on; that's why they're able to succeed in the first place. Worshipping the band with religious fervor, as many fans do, is something that kinda creeps me out, and it tends to blind perspective of the history of music and create weirdly distorted ideas that show a total obliviousness to reality (at least, this is my observation from interacting with hardcore fans on the internet). So my advice is: love the band, enjoy the albums, play the songs regularly (a 2-CD compilation I made of my favorite songs of theirs is one of my most-played chunks of music), but make sure you balance it out with some Clash once in a while.
What do you think of the Moody
Blues?
Marylin Johnson (MJohn59958.aol.com)
I adore them. I became a fan when I heard "Go Now" back in high school.
It was a bluesy piece and Justin and John were not part of the band yet.
I enjoy a vriety of musical styles. I loved the over-all sound of the
band and, in general, I enjoy bluesy music. Later, when Days of Future
Passed came out and I heard it played on radio (they played albums
then), I loved it. It was a different style from what the band started
out with, but I loved it (I might add, that I have always enjoyed
classical music as a genre and I had loved rock and roll music from the
days in the mid-50's when my older brother played his Elvis Presley and
Buddy Holly 45's loudly enough for me to hear through his closed door).
The music and the lyrics had a special effect on me, which is impossible
to describe verbally, and I continued to love their music as each album
was released. I enjoy them today, and do not dislike any of their albums.
I enjoy many musical styles, so I love all the different kinds of songs
that are heard on all of albums right up to Strange Times. They
are terrific in concert, too. I think I've said enough.
Josh Fitgerald (breezesf85.email.com)
I'm all siked up, because I got really good tickets to see the Blues in
just two days!!! It will only be my second concert ever (the only other
one being Yes), and I heard they have a good set list. Cool! Great band.
Very few songs by them that I can say that I truly hate. There are some,
but not a substantial amount at all. The first seven albums are truly
legendary, and really can't be compared to any other albums in that era.
Especially Children's Children. The production on most of their
albums are worth mentioning too. They make the mellotron sound like a
70-piece orchestra backing them up. The flute sounds great too. Better
than Jethro Tull for sure. I haven't yet heard every single one of their
albums, but I have managed to hear the majority of their songs. I no
longer have many of their albums that I did have for the fact that I sold
them, but I do have 3 greatest hits compilations and This Is The Moody
Blues. Nice reviews too, and very thorough.
Hope Cattles (Xxzzqq.home.com)
I just read your Moody Blues review of their albums and I loved
it. It is so nice to read reviews from someone who loved the MB and still
can be partial. I was somewhat of a late comer to 'fall in love' with the
MB. Someone had given me the SS album in the summer of 1972. I
played it a couple of times and put it with the rest of my albums. That
was that. In Feb. 1973, we had a rare snowfall here in the Charleston, SC
area. So, on a cold wintery day, with no way to get anywhere, I put on my
stereo, the SS album. Oh, what and album! Ray's song 'For My
Lady' I played over and over. And you know back then, you had to pick the
arm of the stereo up and place back down on the album. Today it is much
easier to push the repeat button on your CD player.
Well, since that day the MB have been my favorite group. I don't have
every album, correction, nowadays it's CDs, but I am collecting them all.
I do have Justin's' The View from the Hill. I love it. I plan to
get all the ones they did individually too, like John's, and John &
Justin.
I have been able to see them twice in concert. Which is not
enough. The first time in March 1994 in Charleston and again last week,
July 11, in Myrtle Beach, SC. I drove 2 hrs. to see them. This was the
closest they got to me on this tour. I took my 18 year old daughter to
see them. She knows how much I love them and this has rubbed off on
her.
The first time I saw them they had the Charleston Sym. Orch. with them.
It was great. Last week they were on their own and they were still great.
They were able to be more spontaneous. They sang several songs of their
new ST CD and I loved them all. John's 'Words You Say' it
wonderful on the CD, but in concert with that spotlight on him, oooohhh,
it's so moving! When they sang 'Haunted' I could hear the finger snaps so
much better than on the CD. It was great. I wish they would have sung
'Sooner or Later'. That is a great upbeat song. My daughter wanted also
'The Swallow'. Of course, the concert ended much too soon. I was still
wanted more. The first time I saw them I was up high, very far away from
them. I said more than once,' I can believe I'm seeing and hearing them
in person." This time the theater was more personal and I was on the 4th
row, dead center. Wow! They were great. I took over two rolls of
pictures. They are being developed as I write. I was so close this time.
And the guys looked trim and healthy on the most part. Ray looked a
little fragile. John and Justin looked great! And sounded great. The
last song 'Question' (I love this song) of the second set, the people on
the front row stood up and took a couple of steps to the stage's edge.
Well, I wasn't going to be left out. I went up there and stood in front
of Justin. John was roaming the stage with his great smile and doing a
great job on his guitar. They left and came back for the encore 'Ride my
Seesaw'. They left us rocking. I could see and hear them every night for
a week and still wouldn't have had enough of them. They are without doubt
the BEST group around. Time hasn't hurt them at all. And yes, I think
your right about John's voice. He is so good in ballads. I think he has
gotten better. And so has Ray. Justin's voice might not hit all the high
notes it once could, but he couldn't be better. The Moody Blues have such
heart and soul in their music. My fantasy would be able to meet each one
and hear and see the heart and soul in them as real individuals.
Do you know how we can get them to do more concerts in the south? They
are just not down here enough.
Thank you again for such a wonderful album review web page. It
was a
delight to write someone who loves the MB as I do.
ScottStrbr.aol.com
I'm gratified to know that I'm not the only fan who thought that SUR LA
MER
was the worst thing the band ever did. Jeez M. Crow, what a
disappointment!
And like some of the other fans who sent comments, I can't see eye to eye
with your take on every other album, but there's a similar curve. In my
house, we knew EGBDF first, and that gives it a real sentimantal
edge. I
was
a love struck teen, full of youthful idealism, and that album bore deep
into
the ore for me. But when I brought QOB home later, and played in in
the
living room, everyone (my brothers and my Moodies loving Mom even)
pronounced
it "not nearly as good as their others" It sure grew on me despite that
early
prejudice. Not so SLM. KOTK striked me as really patchy, but
such an
improvement that,as you said , "all is forgiven". And personally, I love
THE
PRESENT. It came out at a period of great upheavel in my life,
probably
the
darkest time I ever experienced, and it was a real comfort to me. It's the
last traditionally structured Moodies album, (despite the absence of
Pinder)
and I'm puzzled by their own dismissal of it. I wish it had done better.
I
never warmed up to LONG DISTANCE VOYAGER. Don't know why. The
absence of
Pinder? Didn't care for GEMINI DREAM? (Rock songs about being a rock group
never did it for me) Something else? Can't say. It seems a little cold to
me.
That's just me.
For the record, my favorites, DOFP, TOCCC, EGBDF,
TP. After that, SS,
OTTOAD, and in declining order, QOB, ISOTLC,
KOTK, OCTAVE, STRANGE TIMES,
OSOL, LDV, and at the very bottom, SLM
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
I do have to admit, I am more, a fan of their earlier stuff (thru Seventh
Sojourn), than I am of their later stuff (tho, I must admit, their mid-80's
album, "The Present" was quite powerful. I, too, had to have all of their
stuff back when I was in high school. I enjoyed the Moody Blues, because of
the diversity in their sound. Through the songs, you came to know the
member of the band that wrote them. It, really, is a shame that Ray Thomas
has been relegated to a more-or-less secondary role in the later stages of
the Moodies' career...he wrote some achingly beautiful stuff ("And The Tide
Rushes In", being a prime example)...Justin Hayward...a phenomenal guitar
player, and, to me in many ways, the heart and soul of the Moody Blues...he
bared his soul to all of us on "The Actor"...Mike Pinder; I was always
intrigued by the wistful quality he brought to the band ("When You're A
Free Man", being one of his great tunes)...John Lodge; to me the most
underrated member of the Moody Blues (did he really do all the high
falsetto stuff? I always wondered who did that!); he seemed to provide the
rock and roll drive behind the Moody Blues;yet his "House of Four Doors"
has to be one of the most intriguing songs I've ever heard... Graeme Edge,
like Ringo, could be quite surprising...in addition to drumming, he wrote a
lot of good stuff, and "After You Came" is a surprising hard rocker from
him...To me, their albums shall always be timeless....Even "To Our
Childrens Childrens Children", for me one of the "hardest to get to know"
of their earlier albums, is just crammed full of all kinds of great music.
The great thing about the Moody Blues, is that, the "Hits" may not actually
be the greatest music they ever did...What about "Dawning is the Day",
"Melancholy Man", "One More Time To Live", "Dear Diary", "Are You Sitting
Comfortably", and on and on and on. Pound for pound, the Moodies provided
sentiment, ecstasy, longing, dreaming, joy, sadness, happiness, elation,
depression, all in a sophisticated musical framework. Their albums will
always be an important part of my record collection. I just love these
guys. Really!
Shawn & Stacey Dow (dow.fundy.net) (12/12/01)
Hello:
I used to be a big fan of the Moody Blues, but these guys should have quit
while they were ahead. After "Seventh Sojourn" which is very wishy-washy and
all hearts and flowers. At least after "Long Distance Voyager", which had a
few good ones.
But now, listening to The Moody Blues, I realize that this group was more
about imagination with lyrics and effects than actual music. They created
escapist entertainment. For me, that only lasted so long and just like too
much sugar, becomes overpowering.
The real problem I have with The Monodies is that they are content to remain
as the fans want them to. Justin Hayward has never really been a Rock 'n'
Roll musician. He's content to continue writing his very bland and mediocre
middle of the road style. Musically, these guys work in a vacuum and give
the fans what they want: Cosmic Messages. This is above all else, the part
of the Moody Blues that became more and more irritating all the time.
As musicians, they never had any prowess compared to other groups like Yes
or King Crimson. They and their fans just want to live in a dizzy dream
world. I would have had more respect for them if they had just stopped long,
long ago, but they have become what their fans want and they make money from
their fans in the most patronizing way.... have you seen their websites like
John Lodge.com or Justin Hayward.com. These sites continue to present them
as the fans think they really are in real life. The scary part is, I think
they may be right.
One of the things that really killed my enthusiasm for this group is some of
the fans.... OK a lot of the fans. I never seen them live (and that's OK by
me), but the way female fans react to this group is enough to make you lose
your lunch sometimes. They really go overboard. There is a kind of obsessive
love these fans have, where they write about how they met them, how nice
they were as people and all of this stuff. I would respond "Do you think
they're going to tell you off?" Of course they wouldn't because that would
be bad for their image.
Unfortunately, I feel they've dug their own grave. As they get older,
fatter, grayer, etc. I'm sure this whole way of life becomes more demeaning
as time goes on. Imagine being Ray Thomas and standing there banging a
tambourine for 25 years and all of these middle-aged women thinking this is
something to get excited about! I couldn't do it.
But of course, as I've given this more thought over the years, I realize
that if they did quit and go home, what would they do then? After 5 years
they'd probably reunite again... what else would they do. They've decided to
milk this gravy train to the very end. Will Justin, John, Ray and Graeme be
giving performances from the Old Folks home via Satellite? Somehow, with the
obsessive nature of these fans, they'd love to watch Jus and the boys do
"Nights In White Satin" for the 11 billionth time with Jus walking around
with an IV drip in his arm. I can only imagine how painful it must be to
keep playing the same old tired songs, year after year after year. I feel
sorry for them in one sense and in another way, they've dug their own grave.
At one time, my brother and I who were both very avid fans and now both
share the same disenchantment were very big on them. We always hoped they
would separate and work with better musicians than themselves. Musicians who
were known for their technical abilities and hopefully some of that would
rub off on them. They certainly could have bettered themselves in this area.
The straw that broke the camels back was "The Night At Red Rocks", which we
both saw on PBS and we were both totally disappointed by this. With that, we
could see the Moodiest for what they were... 4 guys trying to recall past
glories. The performance was very weak, there were mistakes with entrances
and things and Justin looked like he was trying to believe in it with all
his might, but I know deep down, this guy does not really enjoy doing this
after so many years on the road. John Lodge is the most irritating member of
all I think. He truly believes he's God's gift to mankind. Very smug and
full of himself. It's strange. Someone posted an audio file on the net where
John gave comments on how messed up he felt about being in the business and
how living on an airplane with chicks and a bar didn't seem right... that
something was wrong with his lifestyle. Now, when I see him on TV or the net
or anywhere's, he's perfectly content to be the centre of attention. He has
truly bought into his own success. Now his website is offering a bottle of
wine signed by him if you can make the best John Loge website for a
contest.Absolutely nutty!
As to their good points and I know I've been really harsh in my comments,
they certainly could create good songs from time to time that I can still
hum once in a while. They were easy on the ears. But really more for teens I
think this group. Perhaps they'll finally bite the bullet and quit for their
own sanity. They could produce or do something else in the industry. Their
last record was a real disaster in my opinion. I didn't hear all of it, but
I heard enough to know that it's just more of the same. Very bland and
John's singing cuts through my brain like a knife. My Message: "Go Home
already!"
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. Perhaps you could post it on
the net for me. Edit it if you think it necessary. These Moodies fans need
to learn to deal with their addiction and move on.
Shawn Dow (threerandot2001.hotmail.com) (2/9/02)
Here is a kind of essay on my experiences as a Moody Bles fan:
I myself was a very big fan of The Moody Blues for about 10 years or so.
After they released "Keys Of The Kingdom", my brother and I started to get
very bored with the whole thing. The reasons I got bored are numerous. The
real problem here I think is a combination of things, at least in regard to
the music of The Moody Blues. The truth is that they really aren't great
musicians. Justin Hayward has only played a few guitar solos that really
impressed me in any way. John Lodge has never really done anything as a
bassist but provide the usual standard bass lines. Ray doesn't even play Sax
in concert like he used to. He just stands there shaking that tambourine of
his. Graham even has a second drummer for support. The guys have also used
lots of synthetic sound since "The Other Side Of Life" and doing that can
make you lazy. I've heard some of the new album and the guys sound real
tired. Justin seems to have more trouble singing the high notes in his
songs. If he were smart, he'd write tunes to suit his range a little better.
There is no energy in this record, (Strange Times, a thoroughly mundane and
typical Moodies title) I think, and it seems like its just mostly love
songs, one after the other... same old, same old.
The other problem with The Moody Blues is that they don't provide anything
challenging musically. The lyrics seem to be the main emphasis in their
music, and after looking over some of the fan sites on the internet, that
seems to be the predominant theme in everything. I think many Moodies fans
are like Beatles fans in the past. For some reason they just can't see past
the Moodies. I do understand, that if you were there in 1967, and heard
"Days Of Future Passed", that it must be exciting to relive all of that, and
perhaps fans are more in love with their memories than the music. Getting
to the point, the best period for the Moody Blues was probably up until
"Seventh Sojourn". After the split, they basicaly started a career of
inconsistent records. Good ones: "Long Distance Voyager" & maybe "The
Present". The rest are really not that strong. I don't even wanna talk about
the solo albums.
Moody Blues fans should probably expect a little more from The Moody Blues.
I know I waited for them to evolve and they never did. They have only
changed their live show 5 or 6 times in a 30 year career! The only album
that showed real initiative(and it was a solo album) was "Blue Jays", at
least in the technical aspects.
My brother once suggested how good it would have been for Justin to play in
another band for a while and develop his technical abilities as a guitarist
and songwriter, playing alongside people like Robert Fripp and Steve Howe,
or John McLaughlin, musicains who are into playing their instruments rather
than just writing songs. Somehow, Justin mustn't have had the chance or
inclination. Personally, he's just too polite, like he just doesn't have it
in him. There is a whole other world of music out there to explore.
Classical, Jazz, where musicianship really matters. Of course, if all you're
interested in are cosmic messages, The Moodies are fine.
It was right when we saw them at Red Rocks on TV that killed it, for me and
my brother and my wife. We were pretty devoted fans of the Moodies. But that
was not a good concert. We were emotionally drained by the end of it. I also
think that the novelty factor had worn off. The orchestra didn't help, and
it really felt more like a run through. When I see them in concert on TV
now, the arrangements for songs like "Isn't life strange" are really over
the top, and they can be quite pretentious. (That whole classical connection
they have with the Mellotron and everything was blown out of proportion,
just because they used a Mellotron on most of their early albums, and an
Orchestra on "Days of future passed".) Meanwhile, Justin looks as if He
can't wait for it to be over, and John seems to love the adulation in a way
that is kind of unhealthy. He has bought into his own success. I personally
think it's John who's running the show. It really soured the whole thing. I
also think, from what I've seen of the concerts on PBS, that Justin really
wants to quit. I seen him talk about it one night on Family Channel, (The
"Behind Red Rocks" Special), and I know he said that the record companies
keep conning him into cutting another record. But then, if the Moodies
retired, what would they do then...? ... they would probably just cut
another record!
Also, we would see many more greatest hits packages, which makes up about
half of the records they've done since about 1984. Anyway, I do wonder if
The Moody Blues will ever change, now that they are practically senior
citizens. It would be nice to see them finally retire and "put the baby to
bed", so to speak. I come from a background of music in my family. I
listened to jazz and Classical when I was growing up. Of course I like all
kinds of rock, from the 70's and 80's, but the lion's share of my listening
now is Classical. Listening to the Moodies was also something I did while
growing up, and I still put on a CD once in a while, but they could never
fulfill all my expectations now. I hope that fans of the Moodies do listen
to other music. Don't They?
As far as the present goes, the Moodies should realise that touring and
playing the same old songs again and again just doesn't look very cool... I
mean... 30 years of playing "Ride My See-Saw" every night... I think I'd
hemmorage on stage! What confuses me most of all is their fans.. how can
they be so loyal? Don't they ever get bored? I know I did. Their music over
the past 20 years just hasn't had the spark that it did at the beginnning. I
mean let's face it... these guys are not Beethoven... just like a group of
four Liverpudlian's who took America by storm in 1964. If these pop groups
didn't have so many people falling over backwards with adulation, not too
many of us would bow down to them so readily.
Moody Blues fans, I think are probably the most fanatical, obsessive bunch
of fans ever. Girls who went crazy in the 60's over groups like the Beatles
move on... not so Moodies fans. Somehow, they are still fixated on this
group 24 hours a day it seems. I had an issue of their fan magazine once,
"Higher and Higher" and these girls would have pics of themselves with all
of the albums around them... or would take song titles by the Moodies and
make poetry out of it... this is probably the worst offence of all. The
strangest, most obsessed fans in the world to my experience. If that doesn't
make you wanna get out of the "fan" club, nothing will.
Today, The Moodies should really retire. They need to think about their
digniity. Ray Thomas is still standing up there shakin' that Tambourine,
John still has that "Look At Me, Look At Me, I'm a Rock Star" expression,
Justin still has that lost puppy dog expression and Graeme likes to paint
his grey beard and have someone else do the drumming. To use a Moodies
expression, If they haven't found "The Lost Chord" yet, they probably never
will.
"Weinrich, Brian" (Brian.Weinrich.fmglobal.com) (9/03/02)
Just caught the Royal Hall on PBS. I'm 45 and go back to the early days.
Every time I hear these guys it is a pleasant sound to my ears. They sing
about life and about meaning. Love is a foundation of there message. They
are a classical band. Bach, Beethoven and Mozart would have enjoyed them.
Nickrj.aol.com (8/17/03)
Another one of my favorite bands. They made perhaps the most beautiful music of
the late 60's early 70's First my take on each band member.
Justin Hayward: During their classic 7 period I don't think there was a better
singer than Justin. His guitar playing was very good too and he did most of the
band's major hits.
John Lodge: I don't care too much for his vocals (other than his falsetto) or
his bass playing but he did write some great tunes like Ride My Seesaw and I'm
Just A Singer. He became terrible songwriter in the 80's though.
Ray Thomas: My second favorite member of the band. I love his voice and his
flute playing and most of his songs.
Mike Pinder: His voice I don't care for either however he was one of the few
people to master that Mellotron and for that I like him.
Graeme Edge: Actually a pretty underatted drummer. His writing though sucks.
Days Of Future Passed 9(14)
SSrene123.cs.com (11/09/03)
What do I think of the Moody Blues? You must be kidding; very few groups
even come close. By the way, "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour", comes
from EGBDF: notes from the guitar. They were a group that did not need
an image, only their music. So Rolling Stone does not like them; the
Moody's will be remembered long after that magazine.
Lazer59882.aol.com (11/17/03)
love the moodies, yadayada. DOFP is nice, TOCCC is the best and Sur La
Mer sucks. justin has some good acoustic guitar talents, his voice is
nice, yadayada. we all pretty much have the same opinion about these
boys, so theres no point in rehashing it. my main point here is to jsut
say something to SSrene who said that Every Good Boy Deserves a Favor is
EGBDF which are the notes of a guitar. when have you ever seen a guitar,
man? dont comment on that which you dont know, you make us all look
stupid. i play guitar and its like u were begging for someone with some
knoledge to correct you. its EADGBE. u make us all look bad.
Jewel (jewel6.cox.net) (1/19/04)
I first saw the band in 1965 when I was in boarding school, but didn't
really get into them into Days Of Future Passed came out. I loved their
sound and bought just about everything but once the 80's rolled around I
became disenchanted. I'm a woman, and I can appreciate the attractive
qualities of some of the band members, but the excessive ranting and
ravings of some of their female fans really put me off. That's all fine
and good between the 12 to 17 age group, but these women were over 35 and
very scary. After witnessing a major catastrophic cat-fight between a
bunch of women claiming THEY were Justin's "lover", I decided I had
enough. Get over it people. These guys have lives and the gigs are a job
to them. It's sad to see these under-dressed, overly made up, over the
hill, past their time wanna-have his baby types make fools of themselves.
If I have to see them, I just pop a DVD in and watch them on the big
screen at home. The shows have been the same for the last 35 years
anyway, even the dialouge and banter. While I enjoy their music, I feel
the band has stagnated. They need to change the show, If the insist on
the same material, I suggest dropping the Vegas stage act. I'd much
rather see them perform acousticly without the background singers,
dino-shuffle repetoire, The toned down sound would suit their voices and
bring back the way the band was meant to sound, Mr. Hayward writes
beautiful music, Simplicity brings out the best for the sound. I actually
enjoyed his DVD from Capistrano; very toned down. If the Moody Blues
would only do a show in the same manner.
Donzel1011.aol.com (6/16/04)
First off, I'm just going to say that the Moody Blues are easily my favorite
band. Great band, obviously not "kick-ass rock n' roll" like Led Zeppelin or
AC/DC or the likes of those bands, but I enjoy listening to them more than any
other band. And yes, Moody Blues fans do listen to other bands, in regards to
another statement made on this site.
Now the main thing I've noticed is that people are just finding a reason to
hate the Moody Blues or whatever. Let it go man, honestly. Ok. Sur La Mer isn't
the best album ever made, but I mean, damn. Stop with the "I WANT TO KILL
MYSELF ITS SO BAD" attitude. It's not THAT bad, it had good songs. "I know
you're out there somewhere" Great song.
I just think some people are thinking way too into it. Especially this one
guy on the site that needs to stop the Blues bashing. Look man, I can't really
say much about how the Moody Blues were before the album Sur La Mer came out
because that was the first album to come out in my lifetime, and really I can't
say much because it came out the year I was born. But I will say this, I like a
LOT of Moody Blues songs and they don't get old at all when I listen to them.
Personally, my favorite album is Long Distance Voyager, with my favorite song
being "Veteran Cosmic Rocker". I just thought it was bad ass first time I heard
it. In a Moody Blues way, I mean the Blues don't rock out to the extent of like
Metallica or Van Halen but they still kick ass man.
I mean people my age think the Moody Blues are a good band too. At first they
say, "Never heard of them", then I might give them a little bit of the Legend
of a Band CD or something and they've heard every single song. They also notice
that there is a difference between songs like "Don't Need a Reindeer" and
"Legend of a Mind" and everything inbetween.
I'm not out to say that everyone has to like the Moody Blues, if you don't,
well that's your loss and not mine. I've seen them in concert in Detroit twice
and the rocked, seein them in Toledo this summer, and I'm sure they will rock.
From what I've read and heard from my parents, uncles, aunts, whatever the
Moody Blues rocked back in 1967 and they cetrainly do in 2004.
So just quit the Moody Blues bashing man, it sucks. It just shows you have no
taste in music. Where I can go and listen to the Moody Blues today, Smashing
Pumpkins tomorrow, and Grateful Dead the next day, you people can listen to
your classical music and think about how you wish it was as good as any other
said band.
The Moody Blues rock, that's all there is to it.
Linda Brown (lbrown.weir.net) (6/27/04)
Love your Moody Blues website! I just adore this band and just returned
from Atlantic City to see them. I feel they are one of the most
underrated bands of all time.Really enjoyed your album reviews!
Nickrj.aol.com (9/20/04)
Days Of Future Past 9(15) (Nights In White Satin)
In Search Of The Lost Chord 8(11) (Ride My Seesaw)
On The Threshold Of A Dream 8(13) (Send Me No Wine)
To Our Children's Children's Children 10(14) (Candle Of Life)
A Question Of Balance 8(13) (Question)
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour 7(12) (The Story In Your Eyes)
Seventh Sojourn 10(15) (I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band))
Caught Live + 5 8(12) (King & Queen)
Octave 4(7) (Driftwood)
Long Distance Voyager 8(11) (The Voice)
The Present 8(12) (Blue World)
The Other Side Of Life 7(10) (Your Wildest Dreams)
Sur La Mer 5(8) (Vintage Wine)
Keys Of The Kingdom 6(9) (Hope and Pray)
The Moody Blues Live At Red Rocks 8(12) (The Other Side Of Life)
Strange Times 8(13) (English Sunset)
The Moody Blues Hall Of Fame 7(10) (Tuesday Afternoon)
SolomonsOther.aol.com (03/15/05)
I love this band, silly poems and all. I won't really bother making
any silly comments about them. They never changed their style, but
that's because they got it right the first (ehr, second...) time.
Though I wish someone would explain how they used to tour with the
Cream. I know they both into psychedelia, but the sheer difference in
style would make the shows really uneven. Oh, well...
P.S. I lost my viginity to 'Nights in White Satin.' Either that, or
it was something by Procol Harum. They sound eerily alike at times.
SSrene123.cs.com (07/03/05)
The Moody Blues were the best of the rock-n-rollers. Everybody else
is in second place. Rene.
Jeff Plummer (plummerdesign.comcast.net) (11/02/05)
Tonight, after the studio closed...I put QOB on the TURNTABLE.
During the workday the sounds of Neil Young, Bauhaus, Beatles, Hoppe,
BT and others had been in the air. But this old Moodies record made
me stop and grin.
Where is Ray Thomas? Why was Sur La Mer so bad? Why are the Moodies
coming to my town next month and I don't even care?
.
Your site was a great hour of sitting on my butt and reading about
things my wife would chide me over. I should have gone home by now.
.
You are right, seeing the band on MTV in the 80's was embarrassing.
Octave was a bummer when it came out. And why did I have to explain
just how good this band was in 1972 everytime a buddy poked at 'em.
No, they were not Led Zeppelin.
.
But the music made in the "classic 7" is of lasting value. Only The
Moody Blues made THIS sound THIS way. Consider it a method of
painting. It worked very well until it broke. By the time Octave
arrived, Bowie had done Heroes and the Sex Pistols had split. Pinder
and the mellotron were wise to walk away.
.
Your site is open and honest concerning a band that made a great body
of work. I am glad to have happened upon it. You may have even
coerced me into buying Strange Times...peer pressure.
Ric MacInerney (r1cmac.yahoo.com.au) (01/13/07)
What a bunch of great reviews! Not that I agree with a lot of it,
err.. hardly a lot of it, but this is a reviewer who does not set
himself up on a pedestal professing that 'This is the way it is';
instead, giving his own humble yet informed opinion. The thing with
the Moodies is that most of us have some deep association with either
a song or album that kind of sticks. Their songs, full of melody, had
hooks that managed to get snagged on all aspects of our lives. For
me, the beginning was a single in 1972 belonging to my big brother,
I'm just a singer' backed with 'For My Lady'. Wow! But there
was a song I recorded off the radio on my old cassette player, 'Land
Of Make Believe', which I played over and over again, wondering who
the group was. I searched and searched, how I loved that song, not
realising it to be the same group I had on record. Finally, on one
stoned night 8 years later at a friend of a friend's home, on it
came as part of a wonderful assembly of music known as 'Seventh
Sojourn'. So enamoured was I that I soon had five albums by the
band. For me, I enjoy the melodies, the spacious sound, splendour and
heartfelt lyrics. It is music to be played loud, alone, with nothing
but hills between me and the horizon. So to hell with the fact that I
disagree with a lot of what others think are the Moody~Rs best: I am
happy just to know that there are others out there who love and
appreciate the music YEH MUSIC, this amazing band produced;
despite Rolling Stone's opinion (who, incidentally, voted best song
of 1979 to be Stayin' Alive' - now what does THAT say? ..almost as
bad as M&M getting an Oscar!! = all credibility cast aside for
temporary lift in flagging interest..).
For the record, I LOVE Edge's poetry (~Sred is grey and yellow
white~T..WOW! Night sight has never been the same!), I think ~SLegend
of a mind~T is apocalyptic, and do not need to be sitting in a Kaftan
on the lawn eating raisins to get off on Om, which I just happen
to adore..HeeerVUN!! But I agree about Strange Times. Wonderful
swansong, even if it wasn't. So much beauty. Really enjoyed my time
in this site. Unusual for a reviewer to make me laugh so much at
something that I actually like. But then, if it is a fellow Moodies
comrade, is ok I guess.
David R. Starr (davidrstarr.comcast.net) (7/10/05)
"What Do I think of the moody blues?"
The Best of Intellectual Roxk!
Gerard Nowak (dzynj.wp.pl) (12/02/07)
What a splendid afterthought to the introduction. Yes, one can venture to state that Moody Blues were hardly a rock band. Of course they used the rock and roll stylistics, but their (at least core-7) music seems totally devoid of the rock and roll “spirit”, being actually of hymnal quality, praising the beauty of the Creation, in a childlike way.
Their music, unrealistic as it is as far as the subject matter is concerned, seems very sincere on the emotional level. That is perhaps an answer to a pattern that long puzzled me: why on earth The Moody Blues replaced Pink Floyd (who had replaced The Moody Blues) as the favourite band of mine (I got to know The Moodies first, I can't imagine anybody falling in love with them as an adult). It was never art for art's sake, which is exactly David Gilmour's attitude (and when Waters did prevail in the end, it was hardly my chromatics). As Hayward put it, they were always trying to bring out some kind of truth, though it sounds rather awkward.
Much as I dislike Mike Pinder as a person, I have to agree that it was he who was the heart and soul of the band, not Hayward. I don't dismiss post-Sojourn Moodies on the whole, but the band definitely lost this “it” you wrote about after his departure. With Pinder around, Hayward was able to come up with something as profound as You Can Never Go Home, with no Pinder to object, all of his lyrics deal with love, getting less and less credible. The band became an ordinary pop group (a good one, none the less), and the only person to counterbalance Hayward was Thomas, but he got dramatically less prolific and inspired. That's perhaps the point, the inspiration waned over the years, although some gems can still be found under the lava of synthesizers. Of course that's subjective, but you can hardly discuss the Moody Blues in objective terms: yes, many of their compositions are impeccable, but isn't it the aura that really (and only) makes one love or hate the group?
I'm 31 now so I'm more ready to accept the fact that even the core-7 albums are flawed, some of them badly. I find Children and Boy the most satisfying sonically, so to say. I still regard One More Time To Live's middle eight as the best moment ever in rock (?) music, the whole the sonic spectrum is satiated there, an almost tangible wall of sound still managing to overwhelm me. Yes, at the time when music grows less and less important in my life, The Moody Blues is still the band to provide the most intense impression.
Jen (jendoane.hotmail.com) (04/29/08)
I love them. They represtent the soundtrack to most every happy
childhood memory I have due to the fact that my parents are huge
fans. They have such talent but Im sorry I hated Go Now and all their
new stuff is weak in comparison to their golden age.
SGrizwolds.aol.com (04/29/08)
WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT THE MOODY BLUES-JUST LOVE THEM-LOVE THIER
MUSIC-HAVE EVERY ALBUM-CD THAT THEY HAVE MADE-NOW WITH THE INTERNET I
CAN SIT FOR HOURS WATCHING THIER VIDEOES-I AM 61 YEARS OLD AND I
BOUGHT "GO NOW" - LETS SEE HOW MANY YEARS AGO NOW-LOL--IF I LIVE TO
BE A MILLION I WILL CONTINUE TO LISTEN AND BUY ANYTHING THAT THEY
RECORD-I RAISED MY CHILDREN ON THE MOODYS MUSIC-MY DAUGHTER IS A BIG
FAN -MY SON NOT SO MUCH--I DON'T HAVE A FAVORITE SONG I LOVE THEM
ALL-I SUPPOSE THAT "NERVOUS" AND "IT'S UP TO YOU " WOULD COME CLOSER
THAN ANY OTHER-OF COURSE WHO WOULD'NT LOVE "FOREVER AUTUMN" OR
"DRIFTWOOD" - I COULD GO ON AND ON--AND BY THE WAY-THEY ARE TOO GOOD
TO BE IN RRHOF--THEY DESERVE THIER VERY OWN HALL OF FAME - SIMPLY
BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST-JO
Steve Sharp (slqhracing.yahoo.com) (06/01/08)
If you're the one who wrote that the Moody Blues' music is
"formulaic," you're totally wrong . The Moodies don't follow any
"formula" in order to sell records or consciously write songs that
always follow a prescribed pattern; many of their best songs are
highly structured, with repeating patterns, but this is beautiful
symmetry and artistry, not a "formula" they are reverting to. Though
not every Moodies song work, I do not know of any other group with
such vocal and instrumental prowess. Those who criticize the Moodies
are jealous of their superior artistry (have you heard Justin play
the 12-string chord section in "Question" and the rollicking riffs in
"I'm Just a Singer"?), lyrics (if their songs were poems, TS Eliot
would be impressed, believe me), melodies (transcendent!), and voices
(the best in the business). "Rock'n'roll" is often a synonym for
tasteless drivel, and most of the practioners of this
low-life business do not have as much talent as Justin and John have
in their little pinkies. The Beatles, Doors, and Eagles (along with
many others) are great bands, but I don't think I could come up
with 20-25 of their songs that are almost flawless musically and
vocally. With the Moodies, I can. And their songs do not sound the
same.
Mary Hudson (mezhudson.yahoo.com) (06/30/08)
in years past the moodys were one of many bands that not only
played great music but played music that spoke to me in ways that
were in debth,intellegent and touched both my heart and mind.now
after all of these years have gone by with thousands of bands playing
everything from trash to very meaningful and thoughtful music.i find
that what the good bands have to say in their music i can no longer
relate to.most of the music worth listening to speaks to an younger
audiance or to very specialised individuls.but not the moody
blues.they have stayed true to themselfs and to us their
audiance.they play well crafted music that is as relavent now as way
back then.asking/seeking the questions of most importance to us all.i
am sure that some people might find some their older music not as
relavent as they use to,but the new music keeps traveling the same
road as we are, day by day,year by year.i can play their latest music
and be as touched by it as any music i have ever heard.they have been
there with us from the beginning living the same lifes, asking the
same questions,seeking the same answers.they have grown up with us
and speak the same language of our minds/genaration.what do i think
of them? they are as important an part of my life as my family,the
air i breath,my religion.they are the soundtrack of my life and
generation.
James Adams (jimscorpio.columbus.rr.com) (08/28/08)
Been loving their music since 1967 when I first heard Ohm! Since
then I have been to at least 20 Moody concerts. Yes, I miss Mike
Pinder and now Ray Thomas. However, the band just keeps going on.
We went to see them this summer in Cincinnati and it feels and looks
like a cult following of which I am a part. The Moody Blues music is
such a part of my heart that will stay forever. Jim
"sally dring" (sallyd66.msn.com)
I loved the Moody Blues when they released "Nights of White Satin". I followed them
for a while. Then got sidetracked with Black Sabbath, Bon Jovi and some others.
At&t used "Tuesday Afternoon" in their commercial, just recently. My ears perked up
and I remembered how good they were. So I have rediscovered the Moody Blues and they
better than ever. They are touring the USA this summer and early fall. If they come
to your town they are worth seeing.
"David Sheehan" (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (11/13/09)
The Moody Blues were also my first musical love. My dad had all of the
"core seven" on vinyl (except for ISOTLC, for some reason), and played
them a lot when I was a kid. I remember rediscovering them at age 14
and being absolutely in love with Days of Future Passed. It was my
favorite album of all time for several years. I bought all of their
albums over the next few years and listened to them pretty much to the
exclusion of all else (well, actually my sister was really into Queen,
so it was really equal parts Queen and Moody Blues--no wonder I'm
damaged). Eventually I got into other stuff, and for a long time I
hardly even listened to the Moodies at all (I think I had played them
out), but when I started reading this site, along with Prindle's and
Starostin's, I started listening to the Moody Blues again and since
then I've had a steady rotation of Moody Blues albums in my playlist.
I think I like them more now than I ever have, really. I can
understand why some people kinda write them off, though. I really can.
But to me their sound (at least, their classic sound) is pretty much
unbeatable. I really think their output from 1967-72 is one of the
very best runs in all of rock music, though I know that pegs me as a
weirdo.
A word about their voices: Yes, Hayward had at one time arguably the
best voice in popular music, and I'm not here to put the man down, but
you know what? Ray Thomas has always been a VERY close second to
Hayward as the best singer in the band. He was extremely versatile,
had a great range, and his voice really gave the harmonies the
richness and character that set them apart. He also kept his voice in
great shape as he aged, and while he lost range, he gained power. He
is one of the very few singers whose voice aged gracefully (Peter
Gabriel is another obvious example). Pinder was a solid vocalist, and
had a scary Tom Waits-y whiskey voice live, and Lodge...well, he was
okay. He never really screwed up a song by being off key or anything,
but he never really had much power and his live falsetto singing could
sometimes be very annoying. But really, Hayward and Thomas were the
real anchors of the band vocally and they were great.
I do think that it's disappointing how completely second-rate their
post-1972 output has been (solo albums included). With a couple of
minor exceptions, the later output sounds like the work of a bunch of
uninspired over-the-hill hacks milking the cash cow. Thankfully they
never lost the gift of melody, though that alone was not always enough
to save them. Even still though, for me, all is forgiven with one more
listen to To Our Children's Children's Children.
"Jay Elsaesser" (dejabliss.verizon.net) (08/13/10)
My wife and I just saw them in Danbury Ct. our fifth time been following
them since "73" this was the best. Just awesome!!!!!!! with just three
of them left you would never know it, Justin has done his homework over
the years with this group top notch. I didn't think they could handle
some song selections but these guys were not sixty year old players and
singers(I'm 55) they were to tight together this is what impressed me.
Beatles were my first go to a few years ago but like you explained they
have gradually taking me over then bit me I 'm done now . I find
Hayward right up there with MCartney now,maybe more his lyrics are so
deep you can have five different meanings with five people thats insane
but genius. I believe they can proudly say they are the most unique
sounding rock band ever in the last FOUR decades did you hear that Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame thats pure tragedy they are not there. Anyways
that is what I think of my group if there was no more music left in the
world but Moody Blues" I WOULD BE A HAPPY CAMPER". ;-) NEVER REACHING
THE END.........thats my Moodies!!!!!!!!!
"Tony Jones" (bluemoody339.att.net) (04/13/11)
I've enjoyed the Moody Blues for many years now. I think they are the most
under-rated band of all time. The music is honest and beautiful and their talent
is obvious to me. The songs take me back and somehow seem to take me forward
also. Their music has helped me enjoy life and I thank them for that. I have
seen them in person 4 times and hope to many more. One of the greatest
experiences in my life was seeing them at the playhouse theater in Edinburgh
Scotland. I am a songwriter and musician so I feel I can appreciate their music
even more. Like someone said, "you either get it or you don't". I feel I do and
I am glad for it. The word music comes from the word muse, these guys have the
muse and always have.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
Great. Mostly.
They were already on their 3rd or 4th album before I started to listen, and I was drawn in immediately.
Their sound is unique, and nobody has come close to it. I love the harmonies, the mellotrons, the flute, the poetry.
At the time, I belived in the message, too. Essentially, Love will save the world. A bit naive, but in those days that's what some
of us were feeling. And that feeling is what the Moodies projected in both their lyrics and their sound.
Most Moodies fans enthuse about the Core Seven albums, and it's hard to disagree. Their best line-up, and in my opinion their best
work, came from that period, from Days of Future Passed to Seventh Sojourn
Everyone has their favorite. Mine is Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. I can't put my finger on why, except that the albums takes
me through a variety of moods, and finishes on a note of awe combined with optimism (My Song) after taking me to the brink of
despair (You Can Never Go Home Any More). The Story In Your Eyes is one of my favorite songs. "We're part of the fire that is
burning/And from the ashes we can build another day.". Classic!
The earlier Moodies ... to me they were a different group, and not my cup of tea. Go Now was a good pop song, but I can't be
bothered with the rest of that R&B stuff.
From Octave onwards, the Moodies were a shadow of their former selves, and yet they still made some decent, listenable albums. I
dislike some of the real techno-pop stuff, but there was enough good material on the albums to make them worth an occasional
listen. I missed the poems though, and the "Love and Peace" ethic. Most of their later stuff seemed to be about relationships
(yawn), rather than the state of the world.
Still, one of my all time favorite groups.
vance willard (beatlespeak.gmail.com) (08/13/11)
I always loved this band. Without question THE MOST UNDERRATED band of all time as I feel Justin Hayward is THE MOST OVERLOOKED
songwriter of all time. Its criminal that they are not in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. What the hell are the critics at Rolling
Stone about. I cannot figure them out. They praise absolute shit (at times) and murder excellence. Yet they do get it right
sometimes! Go figure. I have every MB album. Yes they have sucky songs. Who the hell doesnt? This band has composed many memorable
melodies and gorgeous harmonies in a haunting atmospheric soundscape. I think I know what good and whats not. I consider the Moody
Blues to be a great band.
Neil Thomson (54sandgroper.gmail.com) (12/13/11)
Amazing! The melodies, the mood they create, and especially the freakily good vocal harmonies ensured that I never got tired of
listening to them. They're the only band where I bought all their albums as soon as I found them (the core 7, anyway - by the time
Octave came out I wasn't spending much on music). Even though they made up maybe 10% of my collection, they accounted for more than
50% of my listening. Still do. I seldom have the player on anything but random these days, but when I do pick a song or album to
listen to, there's still a better than even chance that it'll be the Moodies.
I FINALLY got to see them live last night (14 Nov 11) and I'm still buzzing. I've had bad luck previously -- they don't come to Oz
much, and Perth even less. They had to cancel one concert that I had tickets to way back when (due to illness); I had exams to
study for on another occasion; overseas another time or two; and I missed them in England in the late 70s (thru being a too-poor
Aussie backpacker) and the US in 1980 (backpacking again and my schedule kept just missing them).
After so much anticipation, I wouldn't have been surprised if there'd been a bit of a let-down from their failing to meet an
impossibly high expectation, but I loved it even more than I'd hoped. I still wish I'd got to see them with Pinder and Thomas, but
last night is the happiest I've been in many, many years.
Steve Sharp (slqhracing.yahoo.com) (01/13/12)
John,
It's great that your site contains so many reviews and comments on the Moodies, with such a wide range of opinions expressed.
However, many of the comments are based on myths, not facts.
1. Myth: Hayward is only an average guitarist who should try to improve his technical skills by playing with other groups. I have a
feeling that this myth is based on the false perception that every rock-n-roll guitarist has to pound the instrument into
submission or play super-fast licks (which is usually not the Moodies' style) with Clapton- or Hendrix-like abandon in order to
merit the honor of being a "superior" guitarist. Nonsense! Rocknroll is rock without soul.
The fact is that Hayward plays brilliantly, demonstrating his prowess on both the acoustic and electric guitar. He plays
with great feeling and soul, both slow and fast, all tempos, rhythm and lead. Anyone who doubts Hayward's ability should listen to
him play the wonderful chords in "Question" on a 12-string guitar, moving up and down the fret effortlessly, or the powerful,
riveting licks in "I'm Just a Singer." Also, check out the Youtube videos with Justin playing "English Sunset" solo and "Broken
Dream" at San Juan Capistrano. Or listen to Justin playing and singing "Tuesday Afternoon" without the band behind him in. The
subtlety of his work in "Are You Sitting Comfortably?"
This is a man who is a GREAT guitarist and instrumental artist, a master of technique and timing. This is a man who plays
with heart and feeling rather than pounding the instrument in mindless drivel that lacks meaning.
Besides, what good is technique if the song sucks anyway? Frankly, I don't go to a concert because I admire someone's
technique; I go because I enjoy the music, which goes far beyond technical performance. And the Moodies take me to places and
produce deep emotions within me that no other group can match.
Dan DeBartolo (ddebartolo.napereye.com) (09/13/12)
Really enjoy the site especially since I am an enormous Moody Blues, Pink Floyd and Genesis fan. I agree with the 10 rating for
Moody Blues TOCCC. My personal lowest MB stinker is The Other Side of Life (even worse than Sur La Mer. I have often said that
HELL must be having to listen non stop to TOSOL (with Wildest Dreams and the title track missing ) over and over again.
Mrhandcar (mrhandcar.gmail.com) (09/13/12)
Hey,
I need to vent. (-:
This is broken into two parts, who I am followed by the reasons for responding to your MB review.
ABOUT ME
1. If 80 is your DOB, John, then I'm 35 years older than you
2. I first "met" the MB when I purchased In Search of... shortly following my return from Vietnam
3. In terms of music, I am probably the most eclectic listener you'll ever meet. My four favorite groups, in no particular order,
are
The MB,
Odd, but there it is
4 I have ALL their albums except for compilations
5. Over the years I have memorized almost all their songs
6. I Have NEVER responded to a blog
MY REASONS for WRITING
1. Curios I just Googled Grahm Edge to find where he ranks as a drummer.
2. I came across an incredibly snobby reviewer who wrote he would personally execute GE for passing himself for passing himself off
as a drummer
3. Decided to write you instead
The following are personal anecdotes I hope you'll enjoy by
1. "It rilles them to believe that you perceive the web they believe and keep on thinking free" describes my being a free thinker
all these years who never allows others to form my opinions.
Once, while working as a server @ Black Angus while in school, I wrote that anonymously on the employee blackboard
Then, standing nearby, I saw the other servers, mostly middle aged women, arrive and read it.
They then scratched their heads, exclaimed "What the hell!!, then erased it.
3. Read the lyrics for One More Time to Live. They are, like the Who's Won't Get Fooled Again, every bit as relevant today as it
was in the mid-70's.
4. While in school I invited a hot babe from school who was about my age (26) over to my apartment. I was obviously looking to get
laid and she was old enoug to realize the reason for the invite. It turns out her sole motivation was to have a captive audience
to listen,was she detailed ad nauesiem her MANY problems and issues
Finally, having my fill, I interrupted her monolog and asked if I could play for her play a portion of a MB song, And the Tide
Rushes In, that reminded me of her. Being so self-absorbed, she promptly agreed.
This is what I played
You keep looking for someone,
Not surprisingly she immediately, and I mean IMMEDIATELY, stood and left without a word.
I then went to bed alone but grateful for the peace and quite! (-:
I'll wrap it here. Thanks for letting me vent
Steve Welte (03/13/13)
An interesting thing about this and other art rock bands is the way the music evolved as the band aged and weathered cultural and
musical developments of the 1980s and beyond. The Moodies escape a lot of notice, as their music doesn't really fit in any
pigeonhole other than "art rock" (sort of); but like Genesis, Yes, and many other art rock/progressive rock bands, the Moodies
elected to not follow the same general approach to making music as they had in the past, and adapted new methods and technologies
as they saw fit.
How well this evolution goes depends on the band itself, and the ambitions (or lack thereof) of its members. Genesis made some
genuinely interesting, fairly oddball pop/rock music in the 80s, taking the approach that a good song is a good song regardless of
the genre it belongs to (which fit in with the early ambitions of Messrs. Banks and Rutherford of being a "songwriters collective"
and a 'band that writes songs in whatever form its members feel is appropriate', so to speak. I agree that they started to lose a
distinctive edge and ambition around the time of Invisible Touch (although I like that album more than you do), but their Duke-
Abacab-Genesis (plus some B sides from Three Sides Live and the Archives box set) had a large number of really interesting musical,
lyrical, and production ideas. Yes, being a much more chaotic group by nature, rose and fell with the focus and ambitions of
whoever felt like trying to take the creative lead(s) of the
band's rotating cast of members, which meant that they were more likely to produce dreck on any given album versus Genesis post
1980, but also meant that they could be pulled in various unexpected directions from album to album, and have various late period
resurgences (The Ladder, Magnification, Fly From Here) which Genesis, tied to the waning ambitions and abilities of B & R (& C),
failed to emulate. Any of the other major art/prog bands from the late 60's and 70's (King Crimson, Pink Floyd, etc.) generally
fell in one of these two camps, to varying extents.
The Moodies tended to fall into the former category, and I feel more disappointment regarding their post Core-7 lineup than
enjoyment. They still produced a large amount of good music, but for whatever reason they seemed to lose their overall sense of
musical thematics to no particular end; to wit, they changed up from being a band who primarily produced
idealistic/philosophical/introspective songs with the odd love song, to the opposite extreme. While Genesis managed to retain a
spirit of experimentation and interest in exploring new themes and ways of writing songs well into the 1980s, the Moodies devolved
primarily into a romantic ballad/pop rock group with the odd lite-philosophical song or two per album. I wouldn't mind them
changing direction if the members of the group wanted to explore new musical areas or adapt a new songwriting/musical creation
philosophy; but I do mind them becoming creatively lazy and spinning off love song after love song to
no particular end. Not that I don't like a lot of their love songs, as quite a few of them from Long Distance Voyager, The
Present, and Strange Times are well-written and performed. But......that's the best they could do? After a couple of albums with an
emphasis on generic romantic themes, what particular point did they see in creating new music with the same general focus as
countless other bands, without their own unique twist to distinguish them from the rest?
The other part of their newer output I find annoying is the production and arrangements (which, of course, you've already
complained about). I like that Justin retained a distinctive electric guitar sound and style, and that he didn't abandon the
acoustic guitar as many of his contemporaries did; but did the rest of the Moodies not have the heart to tell Moraz to back off and
not dominate the sound as thoroughly as he did, or did they just not care (or worse, genuinely liked that approach)? On top of
that, if you have a good drummer like Graeme, why did they largely replace him with drum machines for the TOSOL-Sur la Mer-KotK
stretch? And where the heck did Ray go? I've read that the band was so dysfunctional by the time of the KotK sessions that they
ended up sending a producer to physically find Ray and try to get him to contribute at least one song to the album; and that Justin
and John had started creating much of the final output for the albums
without creative or musical input from Ray or Graeme as early as the sessions for The Present. Did they just not want to work as a
group any more, and only kept going as the Moodies because of the marketability of the group name? If so, it's a pretty pathetic
way for a group which was once very democratic and collaborative to peter out.
I wish them all the best in retirement and touring live, but it's kinda sad that the band took 15 or so years to come up with an
album as good as Strange Times, which was itself still largely dominated by J & J love songs and somewhat short on input from Ray
(although he is present, albeit subtly, on more of the album than you'd think at first glance); and it's also sad that they've not
bothered to try for anything except a Christmas album since (which they put together with heavy creative influence from the record
company - to the guys who were one of the first bands to create their own record label to be independent of such things). Their
choice in the end, and they're far from being the only fish in the sea, but still kinda pathetic.
Best song: Go Now
Still, I can only review what I have, and this does feel like less of a patchwork release than a knockoff I once found in the mall for $7, so I press onward. The truth is, I don't totally get why some people praise this version of the group so vehemently (aside from possibly overreacting in dislike of the "regular" version of the group), but that doesn't mean it's not without strong merits. The band doesn't rock very hard, even by 1965 standards (of course, the later band didn't rock very hard by any standards, not that that was a major problem), but the band isn't sloppy either, and it sounds pretty tight and snappy. The vocal harmonies are different from the classic sound, what with having no Hayward or Lodge and having Denny Laine, but Pinder and Thomas are around, and they sound just as distinct now as they would later. The instrumentation is fairly standard, apart from a few bits of flute here and there, but Pinder presents himself as a solid R&B pianist, and the band shows a decent knack for generating excitement and for showing a flair for the dramatic.
So yeah, the band had a few good things going for it. As far as the songs go, there are only a few major standouts, but most of them are at least decent. The big highlight is "Go Now," which somehow manages to have a huge, anthemic sound despite terrible production. Heck, maybe it's partially because of the terrible production; the song ends up feeling like it's somehow existed forever, and that if it didn't exist the universe would be worse off. Of course, it's not actually that amazing, but it's got great vocal harmonies, a decent enough lead vocal from Laine, and a bunch of soulful piano lines, so it's still a pretty great song.
As easy as it would be to dismiss this just "Go Now" and filler, though (and technically that kinda sorta was how it happened), a few of the other songs definitely stand out as well. The opening James Brown cover, "I'll Go Crazy," has some silly call-and-response action going on in the beginning, but it also has a really fun piano-driven groove and a bunch of great start-and-stop vocal parts, so it can stick around. "Something You Got" might have gone down as unremarkable filler otherwise, but for some reason just adding a flute to the sound gives it a slightly exotic sound, and it kinda works. Another James Brown cover, "I Don't Mind," features a nice Pinder vocal, and as mentioned before, it's tons better than the Who cover of the same song. An original song, "Stop," is one of the first betrayals that the band would eventually move away from standard R&B, thus passing the Rubber Soul test (roughly speaking, if a song was released in 1965 or afterwards, but sounds like it belongs in 1964 or earlier, I say it fails the RS test; otherwise, a song passes), and it's a good one. Ray Thomas gets a great vocal spotlight in a cover of a Gershwin song, "Ain't Necessarily So;" it's a good reminder that Ray, aside from being the flautist and the band's caretaker of childlike whimsy, was a fine tenor in his own right. And finally, "It's Easy Child" would have made a really great 1963 Beatles song, and that's ok by me.
The rest of the tracks are just kinda okayish, but except for a couple of them being really boring, they're at least passable. So overall, this is a decent enough album, and while regular fans of the band would have no reason to bother picking this up, "pop music historians" who happen to like the group would get some value out of this. If that's you, get it.
PS: I have to say, though, that the liner notes to this album have to be one of the obnoxiously pissy things I've ever read. The bulk of it is useful information about the band during this time, but it's largely ruined by whining that the later version of the band ("lite psychadelia" for "aging baby boomers") became popular while this one faded into footnote territory. Uh, not to sound too snarky about an album that I more or less like, but maybe if this version of the band was more interesting and distinctive, it wouldn't be a footnote ...
Andrew Lamoureux (armlamoureux.aol.com) (12/13/11)
It is worth getting the Repertoire Records edition with all the tracks this line-up of the band made. The sound is noticeably
better, and some awkward skips, like in "Steal Your Heart Away" and "Lose Your Money", have been corrected. Plus, I couldn't find a
couple of these tracks anywhere else ("You Don't (All the Time)" and "He Can Win", both b-sides of unsuccessful singles). As for
the songs themselves, there isn't really anything revelatory, but everything is at least decent.
Best song: Nights In White Satin
After
their
worldwide success of "Go Now," the band was completely unable to build upon
it. They received the dreaded "one-hit wonders" tag, and consequently, the
band did not hold up very well. Eventually, sensing the futility of
pressing onward in their current situation, both Warwick and Laine left
the band (Laine would later resurface as a guitarist in Wings, but Warwick
would never again return to the music industry, to my knowledge). But the remaining three
were not so ready to give up. First, they called up a former bandmate of
Thomas and Pinder, John Lodge (from El Riot & The
Rebels) to fill their bass vacancy and to chip in some vocals. Next, they
needed a new lead guitarist. Well, a couple of months eariler, a young
guitarist by the name of Justin Hayward had applied to become a member of
Eric Burdon's New Animals; alas, the vacancy had been filled, but Burdon
was so impressed with the young man that he was happy to recommend him to
whatever group would require his services. A bunch of correspondence
later, Hayward was the guitarist and singer for the Moody Blues.
In any case (note: this story is pretty well known among Moodies fans, but it's worth sharing in full in service of a complete narrative), despite the new blood, the band continued to stick with their old
R&B lineup, wearing blue suits and playing in cabaret clubs for money. One
night after a performance, however, a man came into their dressing room
and basically told them that they were the absolute worst band he'd ever
heard. After some thought, they realized that in many ways, the man was
right, and that something had to be done. They had written some songs
themselves, but to this point they had been hesitant to unveil them in
public; now, however, they realized that they didn't have much to lose,
and their stage performances took on a new look. The first act of their
set more or less remained the same, but the second was primarily
conceptual in nature, and contained the entirety of what would become
Days of Future Passed as well as some other cuts that would show up
on later albums.
Now, the group was obviously highly interested in
getting their new material recorded, but they knew very well that if they
just went to a record executive with such experimental ideas, they would
be laughed out of the building. Fortunately for all, they got their
opportunity, although it did require some measure of deceit. You see,
Decca had recently become fascinated with the new stereo recording system,
and they already realized that for classical music, stereo completely blew
mono out of the water. They wanted to show that rock music could benefit
as well, but they wanted to keep one foot in classical, since they already
had demonstrated success in that realm. In particular, they wanted a
recording of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" in a rock idiom. Well, the Moody
Blues were available and cheap, so they asked them to put it together in a
week. They were to write rock interpretations of the music, with lyrics,
but they were also to use a full orchestra for a pure 'classical' feel.
The Moody Blues pretended to go along with this idea, sure, but they,
along with producer Tony Clarke and conductor Peter Knight, had every
intention of using this opportunity to their own advantage. The Moodies
would record their songs, then they would rush the mastertapes over to
Knight, who would quickly write up an arrangment for orchestra, the
orchestra would rehearse a bit, and then they would do their thing. When
it was all said and done, they took the finished product to the bigshots
at Decca to get their reaction. It was ... mixed. The rock and singles
directors didn't like it at all, mainly because they had no idea who would
want to buy it. The classical department loved it, though, and Decca
decided that since they had spent the money, they may as well release it.
A wise move, for it would peak at #3 in the US and #27 in the UK.
Enough on the history, though; I don't give D's just for historical
importance. As previously stated, this is a concept album, about an
archetypical day. It starts at daybreak, with the sounding of a gong, and
then some orchestration laying out the various themes we will encounter
during the day, along with a dippy poem about night and stars. The songs
pass through dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, evening, twilight, and
finally into night, when the day ends in darkness, just as it begins, and
another poem and another gong close the circle.
However, forget the
poetry, and forget the orchestration - the songs completely rule. Not just
the melodies (which are topnotch throughout), but the moods are
absolutely perfect and fit in seamlessly with the time of day they are
describing. Pinder's "Dawn is a Feeling" is majestic, thanks to Hayward's
soaring vocals, and helps to show the beauty of a sunrise and the sense of
awe one feels when watching it. Thomas' "Another Morning" is playful, with
happy, cheerful lyrics about children flying kites, fishing, playing with
dolls, and just generally goofing off. "Watch children play; they seem so
wise." It's true! Next, we get the hustle-bustle of noon with the
Lodge-penned R&B number "Peak Hour." It's almost perfect, from the rush-rush
feel in the verses to the sudden catch-your-breath chorus to the
blistering Hayward solo. "It makes me want to run out and tell them,
"they've got time." Take a step back out and look in, I've found out I've
got time." No kidding.
Side two kicks off with the radio classic
"Tuesday Afternoon," Hayward's first composition of the album, and it's a
goody. It has fantastic singing as usual, all the while managing to be both
optimistic and mournful at once. The melody is just awesome, both in the main portion and in the piano-driven mid-section. Heading
onward, we reach Lodge's "Evening: A Time to Get Away," the subject of some
controversy among fans. You see, many longtime fans were very unhappy with
the remastering of Days and primarily with this track, since Lodge
is left singing on his own during the verses rather than being held up by
the group's lovely harmonzing. Personally, however, I actually prefer the
new mix of this song; I don't know about you, but when evening comes
around, I'm feeling tired and stressed out. And for me, the strained vox
of Lodge convey this mood perfectly. Next, we have Pinder's
pseudo-primitive Sunset; for me, it summons up visions of Aboriginal
people worshipping the power of the sky as the sun goes down, or something
like that. In any case, it is quite fine (although the version on
Caught Live +5 is somewhat better). As the day draws nearer to its
close, we get Thomas' uplifting "Twilight Time," and it's a wonderful tune.
The melody, once again, is completely fantastic, and his playful lyrics
about firefly brigades and bats are among his most entertaining ever. I
really love this song, especially the way the string parts melt into that
catchy piano line in the beginning.
Finally, we have night, and for our
finale we get what may be considered the quintessential Moody Blues song,
"Nights in White Satin." Everybody is at their best; Edge's drum parts fit
the song perfectly, Lodge's bassline is lovely, Thomas' flute is gorgeous,
Pinder's Mellotron arrangements are perfect, and Hayward's vocals are
simply superb. And, needless to say, the melody is one of the greatest,
beautiful, and romantic ever to be committed to tape. And the closing
orchestration is the perfect triumphant conclusion to the song, and to the
album as a whole. Even the poem is enjoyable in its own, dorky way. I
cannot say more than this; the song has spoken for itself quite well through its life.
This is a masterpiece, one of the greatest debuts
ever (The Magnificent Moodies or not, this album is different enough in general
attitude and feeling to be considered the work of a completely different
band), one of the first full-fledged art rock albums, and the best way to be introduced to
the band, by far. TOCCC is better, but this is much more
accessible, down to earth, and, in a way, real than their later masterpiece.
Please love it.
Richard Savill (dreklind.btinternet.com)
Someone I know dies whenever I play this album. It's eerie! It's one of my
favourites too.
"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha.ig.com.br) (2/26/03)
Oh, well, what a hell of an album. I do feel kind of sorry, with all that
orchestration and stuff, because they, sometimes, take more space than they
should. George Starostin said they sound like MGM soundtracks, and I can't agree
more (for once!). But this is not a thing I get angry about, really. After all,
there's not a single bad, or even "below average" song here. All of
them are excellent, in some way. Another Morning is simply lovely, childish, yet
perfectly enjoyable. And what about Peak Hour? Awesome, awesome, awesome. I'm
also very fond of Time To Get Away and Twilight Time, and The Sunset is quite
neat and original. Well, I guess I don't need to talk about Tuesday Afternoon or
Nights In White Satin. Really. And, oh yeah, Dawn Is A Feeling is beautiful as
well. I dunno, but sometimes when I wonder how *I* would make such an album, I
always think of something more, uh, *athmospheric* and less dark in its place.
Whatever, it's a great song, period.
And I don't mind the poetry, either, silly as it might be. And the concept is
quite original, too. Not something that would make me look at The Wall and laugh
because of its childishness and immaturity. But it's fun to illustrate the
passage of a day, simple and effective. And the orchestration, well...
Trfesok.aol.com (5/12/04)
Hi, John,
Such a marvelous, charming record. Pioneering, too, although the
orchestration probably makes the album seem more substantial than it
really is. After all, there are only eight actual songs! And although Ray
Thomas denies it, I don't see how the orchestral approach of Sgt.
Pepper's.. could NOT have been an influence on the sound. Fortunately,
the chemistry of the classic lineup finally fell into place here. "The
Sunset" is the weakest track -- Pinder and Edge can't quite pull off the
Indian influence. Thomas' vocal could have been mixed more upfront on
"Twilight Time" -- it's fairly hard to hear him over the backing track.
And I am one of the old fogies that dislike Lodge's vocal on the remix of
"Time to Get Away". I'm not a big fan of John as a lead vocalist. Still,
these are minor quibbles -- it's indeed a classic. And although the
Moodies have all written songs that are arguably better, this is probably
their most consistent album from start to finish.
Bob
Amattaway.wmconnect.com (8/24/04)
"Twilight Time" is an awe-inspiring mood piece to be very sure,
definitely one of my favorites. All of this gets an emotional feedback
out of me, except for maybe the classic score of a first track.
I thought I was the only one who didn't mind Graeme's poetry! I don't
actually like the poetry itself, but just hearing a soothing voice talk
in a rhythm in the refrains is enough to add to the experience for me.
Plus, I probably couldn't write anything better. So, the damn drummer
writes poetry and this is a damn good album. Woo.
Elton (eltonthomas.hotmail.com) (10/27/06)
You think that Nights in white satin is a love poem don't you! I
suggest you go back and listen to the words one more time and
discover the true meaning.
Also listen to the dorky poem and see how it ties in with your new
found meaning of the song.
David Sheehan (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (12/13/09)
I agree with the 13, and while at one time this was my favorite album
(when I was 14-17, approximately, and had only heard probably 40
records in their entirety), in recent years I have been known to
underrate it. But it truly is a marvelous album, though it is quite
assuredly NOT their best, despite what Rolling Stone and most other
mainstream record review sources would claim. I don't have anything to
add to what you said, but I want to get in my two cents on the
original mix vs current mix debate. I like both of the mixes, but I
can't help being a little bit partial to the original mix if only
because I think it's closer to what the band intended. I may be wrong,
but I doubt they were happy with having vocals removed, etc. However,
the later mix is has MUCH better clarity and separation, so it wins in
that it really *sounds* better. Besides the missing backing vocals on
'Time To Get Away,' in the current mix, there is also missing
percussion and piano in 'The Sunset,' a longer orchestral intro to
'Peak Hour' (a slight bummer, because I think that's the worst part of
the whole album), and some other slight differences (reverbs, fades,
etc.) that aren't really that major. The older mix is definitely worth
tracking down if you're already a fan of the album.
"Fernie Canto" (cfern.canto.gmail.com) (03/13/11)
I have probably turned into an obnoxious snob. For a long time I have
only owned the digital edition of this album, which uses the infamous
1978 remix of the album. As we all know, the original stereo master
tapes for the album were permanently lost due to deterioration (HOW
THE HELL did Decca store those tapes, anyway? How could an original
master be lost in less than 10 years??), but I somehow decided that I
HAD to hear the original somehow. I found a very amateurish vinyl
transfer on Isohunt, and I was delighted. For one, the difference in
Time to Get Away is absurd, and now I definitely can't stand to hear
the remixed version. You may already know that, but the missing
harmonies are not in the verses, but in the bridges, in which Lodge
awkwardly jumps from a low voice to a shaky falsetto. The other
differences are very subtle, but I decided to keep the vinyl transfer
anyway, especially after a fella from a Mike Oldfield forum cleaned up
and removed most of the defects from the recordings. Yesterday,
however, I found a digital transfer of an actual master tape, copied
straight from the original master, used by a pressing plant for
producing stampers. It's definitely the most perfect and closest
digital transfer you'll EVER have to the original record, and a must
hear for any decent Moody Blues fan. Of course, the sound is murky and
miles away from the squeaky-clean remastered and re-remastered SACD
5.1 Surround mega-restored-and-better-than-Jesus Deluxe editions of
the last few years, but I have to say: I far prefer this murky
recording. It is precious and you'll hardly ever have something like
this.
My opinion of this album has matured a little over these years. The
orchestration dates this album horribly, and it offers no improvement
at all. The story about the band subverting Deram's plans to release a
rock version of Dvorák's 9th Symphony is disputed by a Decca engineer,
and Peter Knight's orchestration is most likely a shtick conceived by
the record label. The orchestration COULD have helped if it weren't
such a huge attempt at keeping "up with the times" -- if they had
aimed it towards a more orthodox pseudo-neo-classical, it would have
worked. But the songs are timeless and they're all strong, and they
far overshadow the orchestral bits. It's a good thing that the band
went on to become a full-fledged unit and work on the own -- imagine
their later albums with cheesy Disney musical orchestrations? Erk. But
this album is a classic and it's still awe inspiring even today.
"karon" (karon.karonadams.com) (04/13/11)
I just purchased the new Days, 2008 version. I think the cleaning and
remastering of the sound have given much clarity, sharpness and precision
that was not there in earlier versions. This only adds to the whole aura of
the scenes being set. My only complaint is that , being a fan of Graeme's
poetry to open and close the whole [piece, the job done to them was, to me,
a bit disrespectful. But, perhaps that is my traditionalism talking. Other
than that, the music was incredible. As a musician, I could hear things I
had not hear in earlier versions. Things were more clean and crisp and sharp
and made for a much better more finished piece of music.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
This was one of the first albums to pull me out of my obsession with the Beatles. 40 years on and I still think it's great. I get
a bit bored with the overture, but once the singing starts I'm right into it.
I'd never heard singing as good as, for example, Dawn is a Feeling, Tuesday Afternoon, etc.. On top of which were harmonies that
were even better than The Beatles. On top of which was a well executed theme of a day in someone's life. Peak Hour is not my
favorite track by a long way, but side 2 of the album is immaculate. Sheer bliss from beginning to end. ,p>
The transitions between tracks were exceptionally well executed, moving seamlessly between group and orchestra and back, resulting
in a seamless experience from Afternoon until Night.
Normally I don't like orchestration in Rock music (some of The Who's albums were ruined by violins), but this is different.
ryan boyce (ryanboyce4.gmail.com) (02/13/13)
It took a LONG time to get into these guys, but well worth the wait...I have to disagree with a lot of the comments regarding this
album. I don't like it nearly as much as the next several albums by the MBs. I am going to be honest, to me the orchestration
ruins the album experience for me. But when coupled with the LONG songs -Tuesday Afternoon IS better as a shorter single-length
version-and the instrumentals, this is a chore to listen to. I do love the concept though, it's brilliant, just poorly executed
Best song: Legend Of A Mind
All of the commercial and critical
success (it was hailed all over the world as one of the most important
milestones in 'serious' rock music) of Days left the group with a
major problem; how could they follow it up? Not only was there the obvious
problem of producing such high quality songs again, but there was also the
issue of their ability to thrive without the support of an orchestra.
There was always the unspoken concern that the main reason that
Days had succeeded was the gimmickry of having the orchestra and
not the quality of the songs. But, they still wanted to have the
diversity of sound that an orchestra could provide, and so they
essentially made themselves into an orchestra. Indeed, the official
count of types of instruments used on this album is 33, and that doesn't
count things like playing drums on cardboard boxes or playing a cello as a
bass guitar. If they didn't know how to play an instrument, they went out,
bought a book on it, and learned! Of course, this doesn't impress me quite as much now that I'm familiar with Gentle Giant, but still, multi-instrumentalism on this level deserves some credit
In any case ... this is another
concept album, but this time the general concept is lamer than
before. The premise is that the Moody Blues are explorers out in search of
the Lost Chord (there was a song in the mid 60's about a man who was
playing on his piano one day when he hit a chord that was so perfect that
he entered a higher plane and had full comprehension of the universe.
Unfortunately, he moved one of his fingers, he lost the chord, and he
couldn't find it again), and that they go searching through the various
eras of music history, before finding that the chord is the fad of the
day, OM. Still, it could be a lot worse. The crux of the concept is found
in six of the 12 tracks; three are great, and three obliterate the rating of what is otherwise a very enjoyable album. The
opening poem "Departure," regardless of the cool sound effects in the
background, is admittedly stupid, as is the later poem "The Word" and the
following "Om." Yeah, there's some nice sitar work and chanting by the guys,
but overall the effect is miserable, especially since "Om" goes for almost
six minutes. I'll be the first person to admit that some aspects of the track are rather lovely, but I'd rather they'd found their way into another context
The other three parts of the concept rule, and are
legitimate MB classics. The multi-part Lodge-written "House of Four Doors," taking up
tracks 4 and 6, is a simply stupendous piece of writing and arrangement.
It sets the plot, that the 'explorers' have come upon a house, symbolic of
music through the ages, and they are passing through it in search of the
Chord. The first door, representing medieval-style music, is followed by a
quiet
folk guitar and flute ditty. Next, they pass through the second door,
representing the baroque and classical era. Here, we get a harpsichord
playing some 16th century style piece, and it's nice. Then, they pass
through the third door, the romantic era, and we get Pinder belting out
Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto 1" with a "House of Four Doors" twist. And,
finally, they pass through the fourth door, rock music, and we get a
modern rock band playing "Legend of a Mind."
First, a note about this
piece. It was written and recorded at the tail-end of the DOFP
sessions, and at the time the guys, as a whole, had no idea about acid or
other drugs or what their effects were. Hence, Thomas didn't really
realize just how absurd his tounge-in-cheek lyrics about Timothy Leary
flying an astral-plane around the bay for fishing trips and the like were.
In any case, the song is stunning, with an almost perfect mellotron
arrangement to go with Thomas' mad flute soloing. Indeed, this song is a
good demonstration of Pinder's total mastery over the mellotron; listen to
the "bend" in the keyboard sound during the verses (Timothy Leary's dead
*bend* No no no no he's outside *bend* looking in *bend* *bend*) and
remember that that sound is created by him adjusting how hard he's
pressing down on the keys. Regardless, this is some of the most
wonderfully trippy music the band ever made (don't forget about the spooky
harmonies at the end), and it is little wonder that remained a
concert mainstay to the latter days of the band (check out the expanded Red Rocks for a wonderful version, although it was even better when I saw
the guys in person back in '98). After this masterpiece ends, we get the
second half of "House of Four Doors," and we close out side one.
So what
about the rest of the album? Well ... "Ride My See-saw" (regardless of the
somewhat dippy title) is a wonderful Moody-flavored pop-rocker, with some
nice guitar work in the middle. "Voices in the Sky," the opener of side two,
has a pretty melody and LUSH Hayward vocals (nice backing harmonies too),
while the following "Best Way To Travel" is a wonderful pseudo-rocker effort
on the part of Pinder. But Dr. Livingston I Presume is an unfortunate
combination of catchiness and annoyingness; I like it a lot more than I used to, but it's definitely one of the Thomas pieces that falls hardest into the acquired taste category. Meanwhile, "The Actor," once again, has FANTASTIC Hayward singing, which is enough to save a song with a nice pair of melodies but with an awkward lack of transition between the two (I really like the song despite this flaw, so you know). Finally, even Hayward's singing can't totally save "Visions of Paradise," which is
just a lot of flutey atmosphere; pretty, but very fillerish (on the other
hand, there's something neat about hearing a pop band using the word
"onyx" in a song).
So there you are. About half of the album rules,
and the other half is between ok and outright lame. Still, it's at least
interesting, and every Moody Blues fan should have this. But it's not
their best by any means, and it's not even anywhere near the best
"psychedelic" album. Plus, it's very much a transitional album, with the
band trying to figure out exactly what it wants to be and using the
hippie culture of the day as a crutch. Get it anyways.
Awake600.aol.com
I agree with your overall rating here, but my preferred/hated songs are a
little different than yours are. In my opinion, the whole first side of
the album is excellent (well except the "Departure" bit), including "Dr.
Livingston I Presume", which I can't really understand why you hate it,
since I don't find anything really that annoying about the melody, and I
think the chorus is terrific. "Legend Of A Mind" is certainly worthy,
what with its' mellotron and flute mastery and mystical atmosphere, but my
favorite on the album would have to be "House Of Four Doors", because it's
the song where the concept is extremely clever and the chorus is amazingly
gorgeous, and "Ride My Seesaw" is a quite catchy hit single with powerful
band harmonies.
Side two, however, doesn't really do much for me with the exception of the
pretty "Voices In The Sky" and the breathtaking multi-faceted "The Actor"
(I can't get enough of that chorus!) - both very good Hayward tunes.
"The Best Way To Travel" and "Visions Of Paradise" aren't bad, but they
seem like pretty much all lifeless atmosphere to me, despite good acoustic
work in the former. The much despised "Om" I don't think is as awful as
it's made out to be, but it drags along without doing too much and knowing
that they came up with the horribly lame idea of having it be the lost
chord ruins the song for me (the concept intrigues me otherwise), despite
the guys chanting it well in harmony. Somewhere between a mid-to-high 7
on this one.
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
It is true that Side One of "In Search" contains some pretty phenomenal
music, that catches the ears; the marriage of sonic variety and melody is
staggering! But I had always thot side two was Lame...like you, I didn't
think "the actor" or "om" really worked. However, after playing it recently
for the first time in years, I think the Moody Blues were waxing more
introspective...where the voyage really turned Inward...first we hear what
is within (Voices In The Sky); "The Best Way To Travel" tells you where to
travel after hearing those "Voices"...then Hayward gets up there and
unabashedly rips his soul apart and bares all in "the actor"...after all
this emotional turmoil, it is peace of mind we wish for...and "OM" points
the way to peaceful self-realization. The musical mood of side two is
quiet...mystical...hushed...Side two is very, very subtle...it doesn't hit
us with doors creaking, it doesn't take us on a voyage thru the Jungle...I
would offer, that side two has its own separate concept, that of
cultivating the spirit INSIDE. Because side 2 is so "hushed" compared to
side one, it takes longer to get into...but, after a few plays, it, too,
begins to reveal itself.
"Anger, Tom" (TAnger.pwe.ci.houston.tx.us)
I came across your reviews of these albums and thought i would share my
memories of soem of these songs:
I was traveling in Mexico ( in a PINTO station wagon) in 1970 on a surfing
trip with my girlfriend at the time and we had several 8 track tapes of
Moodies music. Of course "In Search" of was one of them. I agree with most of
what you wrote- Legend is a true masterpiece- stupid lyrics- wonderful
arrangement. The prettiest middle of any rock song ever written. Visions of
Paradise- when I hear this I remember riding perfect waves at a point break
deep in Mexico. The water was emerald green the air clear and the sun
bright. "Blue onyx of the sea, come see come see"-the Actor who is me...
Children's Children was another tape we had- I probably enjoy this album
more than any other- it is different. I even learned to play guitar after
seeing the Moodies play Gypsy in concert...
"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha.ig.com.br) (2/26/03)
It's clear to me here that they've fallen under the weight of their own
pretentiousness. They have focused too much on the concept (that's not one of
their best), and made a couple of missteps here. I also believe that all the
"psychedelia" here is too fake and silly. They sure should have
dropped it somewhere else. And while I don't *hate* the poetry or even Om (It
has actual lyrics, and I didn't know it!), but... ehh...
Fortunately, Side A is virtually perfect to me. Ride My See Saw and Dr
Livingstone I Presume are both very fun, I like them both. House Of Four Doors
is great, both musically and conceptually. And Legend Of A Mind is a complete
blast inside my mind. Side B is weaker, though. I like Voices In The Sky, and
The Best Way To Travel (even though those organ chords at the middle could be
dropped off for good). Visions Of Paradise does get boring, but it's quite nice,
and The Actor is ok. Like I said, I don't mind Om. It's not offensive, so I let
it pass alright. I agree with the 7. Worthy album, only for side A. Side B is
okay, but weak.
Trfesok.aol.com (5/12/04)
Although, John Lodge disagrees, this has probably dated more than any of
the group's "Core 7" albums. But I find the naivete charming, and I don't
really hate anything on here. "Om" does go overboard, and, in retrospect,
it's a disappointing conclusion to the "plot" -- it might have been
better if the album just ended with them continuing the "search", as we
all do through life. Anyway, I do like the interplay among the musicians
in the track. It IS impressive that they actually played it without
hiring Indian sidemen, as George Harrison had to when he did his Indian
stuff. Hayward's electric guitar skills are growing a bit, but he still
has a ways to go. Still, I can't see why anyone who doesn't like the
other "Core 7" albums wouldn't like this.
Bob
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
My least favorite of the Core Seven. The songs are patchy. Some great, some numb, some hard to listen to.
Strangely, my favorites are not the same as other people's. The Word/Om really works for me. The harmonies are exceptionally rich
and satisfying, even by Moodies standards. The way the song ends, rising higher and higher is a bit of genius, effectively
mimicking the ascent to a higher plane.
Departure ... the perfect introduction to Ride My See-Saw. Why do people hate this? It sounds like numb hippy platitudes, but
it's self-mocking humour, as the reciter finally goes insane before he finishes what he's saying. Clever.
House of 4 Doors, Legend of a Mind and The Best Way to Travel are the other good tracks.
It could have been a decent album, but Visions of Paradise and The Actor are awful (IMO). They prove that a great voice can't
always save a poor song. On the rare occasions that I play this album I have to skip these tracks. That's against my own rules,
but that's how much I dislike them.
As an aside, I love the way The Word and the opening chord of Om are combined with Eyes of a Child on This Is The Moody Blues.
ryan boyce (ryanboyce4.gmail.com) (02/13/13)
This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and certainly one of the best albums of 1968. To me this is Ray Thomas at his peak.
"Legend of a Mind" is staggering and perfectly placed between the "House of Four Doors-parts 1 and 2". I know it's been argued
that it's a psuedo-pyschedelic album, but it sounds pretty convincing to me. "Ride My See-Saw" sounds like an authentic acid-rock
song to me. Regardless, I think it is one of their best, easily
Best song: Never Comes The Day or Dear Diary
After
realizing that the Summer of Love was well over, the guys decided to try
and get away from all the hardcore hippy stuff and return to writing
good, memorable pop songs. Yay! This is another conceptual album, sort
of, but while the songs are almost all good or better, I'm not exactly sure what
the concept actually is. There's another pair of poems ("In the Beginning"
and "The Dream") which are memorable, but dippy as hell, and a closing suite
courtesy of Mike Pinder, and they're basically the crux of the whole
'concept.' Whatever. In any case, though, Pinder's chunk is extremely
well-written (music-wise, I mean, I'm not really sure what the lyrics are
about) and conjures up all sorts of mental imagery of a ship sailing out
of harbor into the deep blue sea (hence the title of the middle
instrumental, "The Voyage," which is in my top 15 or 20 favorite Moody
songs, incidentally). And the bookends to this slow mellotron-soaked instrumental, "Have You
Heard?" "I" and "II," are dark, sobering, but still put together very
thoughtfully and impressively.
"So what about the rest of the album?"
you ask. It's quite good and, amazingly enough, not in the least
pretentious (which both helps and hurts the songs as a whole; I like them all when they're on, but most of them don't stick to my ribs). The closest any of these songs really come to any sort of
concept is the early Hayward-written "Lovely to See You," which has always
struck me as a sort of closure to ISOTLC, in that it seems to
welcome back the 'explorers' from their journey. Meanwhile, both of
Thomas' numbers, "Dear Diary" and "Lazy Day," are absurdly catchy, and VERY
different from anything he had previously contributed or would contribute
to the band. The first seems to deal with the emptiness of a typical day,
with some nice flute lines throughout, and the second continues this
theme, albeit in a different setting. After all, it's a song that talks
about how wonderful it is to relax on Sunday afternoon but how awful it is
that the week will begin again in less than a day, and that the cycle will
eternally repeat itself. As you might imagine, as one perpetually stuck in the working world, I fully
empathize with this plight.
Meanwhile, Lodge throws in a couple of
numbers, but oddly enough, they're R&B! Yup, they're pure early 60's pop, but
with a nice touch of Moody flavor and harmonizing. I used to dislike them,
but as I've grown and my tastes have matured, I've come to realize that
"Send Me No Wine" and "To Share Our Love" are more or less as fine as anything else on
the record (I've heard better examples of the genre, but I've definitely heard worse). Oh, and Pinder throws on this jazzy thingamajig about screwing
(what else could it be about?) called "So Deep Within You." At first, the
overblown nature of the song
might turn one away, but further listenings reveal the ridiculousness of
the piece to be one of its main virtues. I know I like it. Finally,
we have two additional Hayward compositions, the failed single "Never Comes
the Day" and the Thomas co-written "Are You Sitting Comfortably?," the intro
to the ending suite. Are You ... is quite lovely, but I have to admit that
it drags on a bit longer than it should. Plus, the lyrics, apparently
designed to summon you back to Camelot, are somewhat on the banal side.
"Never Comes the Day" is great though, with a nice quiet guitar part throughout, nice volume
contrasts in Hayward's voice, and a VERY memorable chorus (with a neat harmonica stuffed into the background). I love it, and
it's a shame that it only hit #91 on the Brit charts (although the album
itself hit #1 no problem).
All in all, this is a very solid LP. Flawed
in places, yes (for instance, Lovely to See You, despite the nice guitar
line at the very beginning and the explosions of harmony in the chorus, is
a lot duller than I'd like), but there's no reason that a hardcore Moody Blues fan
should be without this album. If you like great flute lines, rich mellotron and glorious vocal harmonies (albeit with slightly inconsistent melodies), you can't go terribly wrong here.
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
I really cannot see how one can find "Lovely to See You" to be dull....I
think it really works as a warm, congenial side opener, and the middle-8,
in that minor-key, I feel, really adds to the song. But...."Are You Sitting
Comfortably" again revisits that hushed "om" far-eastern meditation groove
that dominated side two of "In Search Of The Lost Chord"...again, you have
to listen to it a few times...but it is a highly effective room. I have
always thot, though, that "Have You Heard" parts 1 and 2, would have made
one good long song, had it been more fully developed, with perhaps an
extended solo in the middle...but I have always thot of "The Voyage" as
being somewhat underdeveloped...somehow the recording of it is really muddy
and crude...and I feel it needed more acoustics and a bit more rhythm. I
can see what Pinder was trying to do...but this cut is just a bit "too
subtle" for me. Overall, tho, I love this early-period album...and side
one...not a bad cut. Even "So Deep Within You", which I must admit, took me
a little getting used to. It's a song about screwing? Never thot of it that
way. Come on now...the Moodies aspire higher, don't they?
Trfesok.aol.com (5/12/04)
The first Moodies album where there are any weak songs. The culprit,
IMHO, is Ray Thomas. I find his songs to be quite draggy and silly,
sorry. And he doesn't help "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" move along,
either. The opening poem is kind of fun, but it's as dated as anything on
the last album. Lodge was smart enough to have the group sing harmonies
on "Send Me No Wine" (very nice) and to give the lead to Pinder on "To
Share Your Love". By the way, this is a rather raw song for the Moodies
-- I don't hear much in the way of mellotron or vocal overdubs. Very
catchy songs. Hayward puts in a fine pair of solo tracks, and "The
Voyage" is an amazing simulation of a classical piece. Overall, though,
I'd pick this one as the weakest "Core 7" release.
Bob
ReverendNeely.aol.com (12/31/06)
The moody blues are one of my favorite bands of all time. My
favorite song is dear diary. I love the dream like flute that seems
to take you into another dimension of time.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
I've always liked this album, as an album. It flows very well, has good texture (i.e. lots of variation from song to song without
actually being disjointed), and is a classic example of the Moodies sound and style.
When I first heard it, Lazy Day was a highlight (very catchy), and of course In The Beginning. But the other songs grew on me
very quickly, and I refuse to pick out any highlights or bummers. Not the greatest Moodies album, but solid, consistent and a
classic of its time.
Best song: Gypsy (and Higher and Higher, and Eyes of a
Child, and ...)
Every personal "best albums" list, no matter how closely in line with general consensus, should contain what I would call a "personal" favorite. That is, there should be an album or two or five on the list that could easily be considered good but goofy and moderately underwhelming from one very arguable point of view, and absolutely breathtakingly amazing from another. For many, for instance, this slot is taken up by Forever Changes, an album I've grown to like overall but which still bothers me with its low degree of stylistic variation throughout. For me, that album is this; I can see lots of people shaking their heads confusedly at the idea of me giving an album like this a perfect score, but to me, this album is absolutely AWESOME, with a sound and a vibe and melodies that are close to my idea of perfection. Cosmic artsy lush universal love-pop, that's what this is, and no matter how much additional music I hear this grabs hold of my heart like few things can.
It's another concept album, more or less based around space travel
(appropriate, seeing as this was the year when Man landed on the moon),
the passage of time into the eternities, and those of us who are along for
the ride. Of course, specific details in interpretations may vary, but
that's not what's most important. What is important is that this
album, to my ears, is a collection of some of the most overwhelmingly moving,
beautiful, and powerful songs ever written, and is certainly the best
final product that the group ever comitted to tape.
We kick off with the usual poem, entitled "Higher and Higher," but even if
you aren't a fan of Edge's verse style, there are plenty of other things that can make one enjoy this;
we start with an explosion, some grandiose harmonies in the background,
with the effect of emulating a manned rocket launch, and then this great
electric guitar driven rock song takes over, with Pinder pronouncing Man's
fate with his best voice of God imitation. And that chorus, "Higher and
higher, now we've learned to play with fire, we go higher and higher and
higher," is phenomenal! It simply rules, and easily falls into my list of
Top Ten Moodies songs. As the opening fury dies away, a lovely harp leads
us into the simply gorgeous "Eyes of a Child," with some of Lodge's best
writing ever and beautiful group harmonies. And that clarinet part in the
beginning is simply perfect. And we've only just begun!
Thomas' Floating, an ode to the joys of moonwalking, has perhaps the
catchiest melody he's ever written, and that "come flooooooating" part ...
wow. And as the "you'd liiiike it" fades out, we get "Eyes of a Child II,"
which RULES! It doesn't exactly 'rock,' but it's fast, and Lodge's clever
and memorable lyrical images are cemented in by simply amazing harmonies
and a great melody. Oh, by the way, we're not even a third through the
album. Next, we get a beautiful, majestic acoustic number from Hayward,
with those angelic vocals we've come to expect, entitled "I Never Thought
I'd Live to be a Hundred." It's gorgeous, and begins the 'passage of time'
stretch of the concept. But don't go anywhere, because we get ANOTHER
great song from Edge (two in one album? Amazing!), the 'cosmic'
instrumental "Beyond." Alternating soaring, heavenly Mellotron sounds with a series of
rough, almost really rocking passages, this track certainly carries the
listener into space or time or whatever it is as well as one could expect
from such a piece. And finally, we get Pinder's soothing Mellotron-soaked
mantraesque atmosphere piece, the wonderful "Out and In." Oddly enough, I
once somewhat disliked this number, but now I'm not really sure what was
wrong with me. All I know now is that it sucks you in, mellows you out,
and all of those great things that it so obviously wants to do.
Amazingly, though, side two is even better. I think it would perfectly
reasonable to say that Hayward's "Gypsy," Thomas' "Eternity Road," and Lodge's
"Candle of Life" are the best three song stretch that can be found on any
Moody Blues album. The first is one of the group's signature songs
(although it hasn't been so this decade, it was their regular concert
opener for several years), a fast rocker with a really dark Mellotron
ambience surrounding the fast strumming of the acoustic guitar. The second
is another one of Thomas' great songs, with some lovely Hayward harmonies,
a great melody, and some lovely flute at the end. Finally, "Candle of Life,"
regardless of the ridiculous chorus, is beeeeeyooooooooooootiful, as
Hayward and Lodge each take half of the verse parts and Pinder's piano
part is as gorgeous as can be. Simply phenomenal.
Pinder's next song, "The Sun is Still Shining," isn't any worse than the
masterpieces which preceded it, although it's somewhat odd to be getting
such a cheerful song from Mike (especially when the last three
tracks had all been so dark). It's cool, and you'll be perfectly happy to
hear it when it comes on. Anyways, as we head down the home stretch, we
get the Hayward reprise "I Never Thought I'd Live to be a Million," which
helps bring the concept(s) of the album to a completion. Before we leave,
though, we get one final dose of Justin's voice in the Hayward-Thomas
composition "Watching and Waiting." It's a little weaker than the other
tracks on side two, mainly because it's so obvious that they were trying
very hard to make another "Nights in White Satin" (Justin has said in many
interviews since that the pressure to do so was enormous, and that they
were extremely disappointed when "W&W" failed to be a smash). It's pretty,
though, and it seems to be a cry of loneliness from a planet with no
friends or human inhabitants. Or something pretentious like that. Still
lovely stuff.
In short, if I haven't yet convinced you to have this album, I say only
this; side two is the best side of Moodies music ever, and side one is the
second best. Plus, the overall 'atmosphere' of this work completely and
totally defies description - it is like nothing I have ever heard or
encountered before, nor do I imagine that this will change in the future.
While it doesn't have quite the death grip on me that it once did (I once held this as my second favorite album overall, behind only Revolver), it is still certainly one of my ten favorite albums of all time, and given how much my collection has grown since I first heard this, that says something. This is THE essential
album to own for a Moody Blues fan, especially since you will never hear
any of the songs on the radio, anywhere. A pity, this is.
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
Ok, here I am again. I thot side one was a bit rag-tag. I thot the quiet
beginning of "Eyes of a Child" was a bit too quiet...it sounds weak until
the chorus comes in. Not that it is a bad song; it is great...I just wish
it had been recorded more fully...and I am not sure what "Beyond" tried to
accomplish...it gets a good groove going, and then just kinda wallows in
murky sound, a la "The Voyage"....Still...the songs THEMSELVES are
wonderful; like you, I thot "Candle of Life" was just so gorgeous...I don't
think they were trying for another "Nights in White Satin" on "Watching and
Waiting"...the song...it is heartfelt...desolate...as our hero is trapped
inside himself, hoping that someone, anyone, notices...As rag-tag as side 1
is, side two is extremely solid...(I think perhaps "Beyond" would have
worked better on side 2, with one of side 2's songs brought over to side
1...I think one thing must be addressed: The moody blues were recording an
awful lot of albums in a VERY short time...and the way the record is put
together, there might not have been sufficient TIME to fuss over a song
lineup. This was the hardest Early Moody blues album for me to get
into...not sure why....but a lot of it is very very very good. Like you, I
really dig "Higher and higher". By the way, cool website, dude. Dave
Clarke Sammons (SammonsCJ.c-b.com)
I am completely enjoying reading your reviews on the Bloody Dudes. I can
actually trace being a fan all the way back to, say, 8 or 9 years old (I'm 31
now). The reason I say that is because my Dad listened to this stuff on his old
turntable, which was in a long, rectangular piece of cabinetry and also held a
long row of albums. I distinctly remember staring at the bizarre album covers,
listening to the music coming out of that bass-heavy dinosaur and thinking this
is what music is all about.
TOCCC is what truly sticks out. Especially the ***BLAM!!!!*** beginning of
'Higher and Higher'. Scared the youth out of me.
This album is their standout, no question. It does not have my favorite Moody
songs on it, but the entire atmosphere is what comes off so well. You take off,
you're on the journey, and you slowwwwwwwly come back down at the end of
'Watching and Waiting'.
I agree with you on 'Candle of Life'. Please, Pinder, don't slam me in the face
with "So loooove everybody, and make them your friennnnd'. Bleh. Yuck. Song
would have done fine without that chorus.
Thank you for the site and the chance to respond.
"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha.ig.com.br) (2/26/03)
must have listened to this one album some good 8 times at one week. It was
darned difficult to collect it on Kazaa (I never thought a 33 second track would
take so long to find), but I made it. Unfortunately, the album didn't have any
strong impact at me. I felt it was clumsy, broken and shabby. For some reason.
Of course, the songs were fine. But not 'Godlike' as you seem to think. But
then... something happened, and this album has grown unbelivably in me. This is
probably one of the very few albums (along with Dark Side Of The Moon, that is)
that I could listen to 10 times in a row and don't get tired. The general sound
of the piece has captured my heart, and I learned to love each and every song.
One of my big favourites here is Floating. Man, what a darned catchy and
exciting song, this one. That chorus makes me so excited I feel like jumping
around like a little kid. How can one resist that "o-o-oh you'd like
it"?? The catchiest song I have heard so far, I can say. Another song I'm
very, very fond of is Sun Is Still Shining. THIS is how you make a happy song.
Happy, not cheesey. The sitars and the fun rhythm truly make the song, and the
chorus is the greatest 13 seconds of music these guys can deliver me. Ooh, and
Out And In, too. Very beautiful and athmospheric. Gotta love those Mellotrons.
And that intro? Ooh, I wish it was longer, actually.
These are the big three to me, but of course, we have the rest of the songs.
That "3 song stretch" you mentioned is truly worth mentioning. Gypsy
is damn good. Not my favourite, but great nonetheless. Eternity Road is very
fun. Gotta love that coda. And Candle Of Life? Great, very great. And I don't
have anything about that chorus, anyway. Actually, I get a bit creeped out when
I hear a lonely man telling me to love everybody so I won't end lonely like him.
Sheez, that's some interpretation. Oh, and Watching And Waiting is creepy as
hell, too. Indeed, they tried to make it a smash single like Nights In White
Satin, yeah, but it's still beautiful. What about that final verse?
"Watching and waiting for someone to understand me, I hope it won't be
long." Heartwrenching as hell.
Anyway, this was an album very worth getting. An album I'd buy even already
having it with me. Just because the guys deserve the money. But that's for the
future.
Trfesok.aol.com (5/12/04)
Their most densely produced and sophsitcated release yet. I really have
to hear the remaster, though, because the LP sounds a bit murky, as if
they were biting off a bit more than they could chew with all those
overdubs. That notwithstanding, some great songs. I totally agree about
the "Gypsy"/"Eternity Road"/"Candle of Life" sequence. Edge's competence
at actually writing music is suprisingly impressive -- these are great
mood-setters! Lodge's voice is well suited for both sections of "Eyes of
a Child". The weakest track for me is "Sun is Still Shining" -- the
mellotron is really monotonous. And "Watching and Waiting" is overrated
- -it's nice, but by no means is it even close to the best song that
Hayward or Thomas ever did. In fact, all of their other songs on the
album are better. I wouldn't say that this is their best album, but I can
see why a lot of people think so.
Bob
David Sheehan (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (05/13/09)
This album is incredible. You?ve definitely got the score correct
here, and though I would?ve insisted a few years ago (as I did on
George's page) that a 14 was more like it, I now happily stand
corrected. This is the MB's best by a long shot, and honestly, I?m
not even sure how they pulled it off. Not only is it easily the most
consistently great (i.e. 'even') album they ever made, it also just
happened to be written while every member of the band was at or near
the top of his respective songwriting arcs, and it really shows.
That, and the fact that this time the concept is real enough, broad
enough, spiritual enough, and universal enough to accommodate some
thoughtful philosophizing, helps. And let's not forget the amazing
atmosphere of the album that you mentioned. There are only a few
albums that can rival this in the vibe/atmosphere department: Before
and After Science (mainly side two), Another Green World, Future
Days, Kid A and maybe one or two more. Now for some fan boyish
thoughts on the tracks:
'Higher and Higher' is a spectacular way to start. The emulated
rocket launch has to be their most effective intro piece of all of
their core 7 albums. Hayward's crazy guitar playing at the end comes
off well, and kinda reminds me of that great 'Eight Miles High'-style
'paranoid' lead playing. 'Eyes of a Child I' has my vote for John
Lodge's best song ever, narrowly beating out his second best which is
also on this album. It?s got all of the best elements the Moodies can
offer: great group harmonies, delicate instrumentation (especially
the harp!), and ponderous lyrics (I especially love how he likens
mankind's mastery of science to the waking of a child, or
alternatively, the birth of a new era). Also, I think that's a flute
(maybe a contra flute?), not a clarinet that you mentioned.
'Floating' is probably the catchiest song on here, but it is also
kind of melancholy, if you ask me. Ray seems kind of lonely up there
all alone. The last minute or so of the song is great, with the call
and response (sort of) vocals that segue into 'Eyes of a Child II.'
It's not as spectacular as part I, but as a reprise it holds up very
well and it's different enough to my ears for me to consider it an
independent composition. Great backing vocals. Hayward's 'I Never
Thought I'd Live to Be a Hundred/Million' are short, concise, and
oh-so-beautiful. His vocals honestly send shivers down my spine.
Compare these rich vocals to any number of later Hayward performances
and be depressed. 'Beyond' rocks and thumps, and might come off as
superfluous if not for the genius of Mike Pinder. The sounds he
evokes from his mellotron really defy description. I like it, and it
is just the right length to keep my attention. Speaking of mellotron,
'Out and In' (which has been variously credited to Pinder and
Pinder/Lodge) might have one of the most complicated arrangements on
the whole record. There are some really intricate mellotron bends and
flourishes buried in there. 'Gypsy' is certainly the darkest song
Hayward's written, and also one of his very best. In fact, were it
not for 'Question,' this would be my pick for Hayward's finest song.
'Eternity Road' is in many ways the best song on the whole album. To
my ears it's the most complex track on here. It also has the best
guitar playing on the album with Hayward's wonderful double-tracked
solo and layers upon layers of jazzy noodling guitar lines in the
outro. It also marks the heaviest use of flute on this rather
flute-less MB album. 'Candle of Life,' like you said, is simply
beautiful beyond words, and I?m so glad Lodge gave some of the vocals
to Hayward. The real star on this one though is Mike. His mellotron
really sounds like an orchestra and the piano line in the middle
eight is brilliant. The 'love everybody' lyrics don't bother me a bit
either. 'Sun is Still Shining' is probably the weakest track on the
album, though it's still quite great. It's just a little lacking in
the arrangement department compared to the others (it kinda sticks
out a little), and lyrically I'm not sure it does much that 'Out and
In' didn't already accomplish. I used to consider 'Watching and
Waiting' quite boring, but I'm not sure what was wrong with me. It?s
very melancholy and pensive, and to me makes the perfect ending to a
fantastic album. I really like the way the album goes out on such a
humble, subtle note. It really leaves me wanting more.
I guess since I?ve done nothing but praise the album I
should try to mention a few negatives about it. I wish there was more
flute. I think Edge?s cymbals and high hat sound too noisy on a few
tracks. That?s about it, really. It?s a brutally overlooked
masterpiece. It?s the pinnacle of 1960s art-rock for me and I am not
embarrassed to list it in my top five favorite albums. Thank you for
giving it the props it truly deserves.
Anton Jägare (antonjagare.hotmail.com) (07/13/09)
Hooks galore! Truly this is the Moodies best effort, although I wouldn't rate quite
as highly as you. But a solid 13 no doubt. Personally I actually prefer the first
side, but that's just me. Higher and Higher, The Eyes of a Child, Floating and Out
and In are some of the best songs they did as far I'm concerned. I've never digged
Gypsy quite as much as everyone else seem to do, but the silly (yeah, silly) Candle
of Life and Sun Is Still Shining are pure masterpieces.
"matt faris" (7headedchicken.gmail.com) (12/13/10)
I, too, regard this as their best work. And while I don't think I could add
anything to your very well written review of the album, I will say that the
inner gatefold picture of the band is very telling. Even though it is just
a painting, I can see a group of people who have just been shown the future
and are very concerned about it, and possibly very sad about not being able
to be there to do anything about it. So they write *To Our Children's
Children's Children*. What a masterpiece. And yes, as of this posting, the
sun is still shining.
"karon" (karon.karonadams.com) (04/13/11)
This is an album I have heard most of my life. I was born in 64 so the
Moodies were recording all of my life. I was in high school when I
discovered the group. One day, I realized that a LOT of my favorite songs
were by the same group and I started searching out the albums. I have been a
devoted fan since.
I am also a serious Space Fanatic and have had the privilege of meeting
several astronauts who were involved in the 60's space race. Men who went to
the Moon and were the first to walk in space. I have even met the very First
man to walk in space. I have given this album to some of these men, though
many already owned it. the Moodies are popular among the Astronaut Corps. I
am better friends with one Astronaut's wife than I am with some of the
Astronauts and she and I talk often. This is a favorite album of hers and
she tells me her husband describes space very closely to the way the music
does. That just makes this album all the more valuable to me.
Whether the band had spoken to anyone in the space program or if this is a
case of excellent imagination drawing from current events, the Moodies did a
wonderful job of telling the story of the day, the Space Race, with this
beautiful album. And, the beginning of the album, the opening of Higher and
Higher is EXACTLY the sound of a Saturn V blasting off. I have heard
recordings of the Blast off and have spoken to the men. They all agree.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
Now this one I really like. The Moodies at their best. Another great album that flows from beginning to end. A fine collection of
strong songs. All the good things about the Moodies such as harmonies, the mellotron, neat transitions, and a couple of poems.
If I had to nit-pick, I'd say it has taken me a long time to appreciate Gypsy and Sun Is Still Shining, but at the same time, these
songs help to give the album its essential texture. As songs maybe they fall short, but as pieces of the album they work.
Overall, a real favorite.
islam rrapaj (ch33selom.gmail.com) (01/13/12)
I really enjoyed your review on that album. Maybe i did because it is one of my favorite albums of all time but still. While i do
disagree on the best song being Gyspy because i like Candle of Life much much better and Out and In is a great one too, please keep
up the good work. I very much enjoy visiting this website.
Brian Blommer (bblommer.enlaso.com) (04/13/12)
Great review. I agree it is their finest.
One thing I would add: As Michael Pinder has stated (and I have experienced), it is really an album to lift you somewhere. Not
metaphorically (i.e. an album about space travel), but in a literal sense. Now this may sound out there, but anyone who has had the
experience will agree it is specifically designed (side one, that is) to raise you vibrationally to the point where you fully
understand Justin’s cryptic statement: “I never thought I’d get to do the things that all those other sounds do.”
The songs are designed to guide you to the instrumental (Beyond) where you are able to completely merge with the sounds (in form
and in movement), becoming the foreground and the background, the massive and the very small. Lodge prepares you for this by
stating earlier on: “no words will go with you , and now what is real”.
This is why Michael firmly states “you gotta take a journey out and in”. You cannot remain in the realm of concepts and thoughts
(even feelings or your physical body) and truly experience what they have created for you to experience.
Side 2 is essentially about how you integrate this experience, how you take it into the world, and who you must do your best to be
after having an experience of expanded awareness, of “learning to play with fire”. “Watching and Waiting” evokes such deep feelings
of bittersweet loneliness because it speaks of the aloneness of anyone who has been in an expanded state (drug induced, meditation
induced, childhood induced, it doesn’t really matter).
I would just add that I’m not necessarily trying to convince you (or anyone) that this is the meaning and purpose of the album. But
I would suggest you give it a good listen with this in mind (and perhaps follow Michael’s advice to “close your eyes and look up
between your brows”). Then let the sounds take you somewhere the way you would allow a jet or rocket take you.
Best song: Gypsy
An
archive release of a typical 1969 concert, the record company made this
available primarily to stir up some interest in the Moodies before their
emminent '78 comeback. The band members themselves try to keep their
distance from this recording, feeling perhaps that it was of extremely
subpar quality (there's also the fact that you can tell that they were
VERY doped up for this performance; of course, who wasn't in 1969?). I
dunno. I enjoy it, even if the songs sound extremely different from the
original versions.
But then, that's probably the main appeal of the
record. When listening to the original lp's, it's often easy to lose
yourself in the gorgeous arrangements and impeccable harmonies, the result
being that you can forget that the songs themselves are quite fine. The
altered moog parts, subtlely different rhythms, and odd live tone to
Hayward's vocals manage to aptly show that these songs can hold up well no
matter what the arrangement. Not that the arrangements are bad
here, though. "Gypsy" is just as good as the original, and in some ways
superior, in particular that Mike manages to make the mellotron really
rock. The Days material all goes off with wonderful results;
"Sunset" is better than the terrific original, "Peak Hour" rocks as much as
ever, "Tuesday Afternoon" has Hayward's best vocals of the show, and "Nights"
is still "Nights."
The Dream material is also quite fine. "Never
Comes the Day" is as catchy as ever, but the biggest surprise is that they
manage to pull off a really interesting rendition of the ending "Are You
Sitting Comfortably"/"The Dream"/"Have You Heard"/"Voyage" suite, despite the
total lack of mellotron overdubs. Also, it is in this rendition that its
true potential as great stoner music is revealed (again, probably helped
by the band members' state at the time of recording). Anyways, the
Chord material, although easily the weakest chunk in the show,
could be much worse. "Dr. Livingston" miraculously becomes an actual
rock song, and "Legend of a Mind" is pretty good (although far
surpassed by the later Red Rocks version). Oh, and the closing "Ride
My See-saw" is absolutely hilarious; they are SO STONED in the opening, you
can't help but just laugh. All in all, a great conclusion to an extremely
fun concert; I mean, you have to get a kick out of such 'serious'
musicians performing while baked out of their brains.
Oh, we also have
a side of previously unreleased studio outtakes dating from '67 and '68.
And only one of them, Pinder's R&B attempt "Please Think About It," could
really be called bad. At worst, the others are catchy with nice harmonies
("Gimme a Little Something," "Long Summer Days") and at best rank up with some
of the best material Hayward ever came up with ("King and Queen" and
especially "What am I Doing Here," with a sad, mournful tone and
purely impeccable vocals). Good stuff. They should have put these on
albums instead of ... um ... well, I'm not sure they really could've
bumped much material off, but couldn't they have just made the other
albums longer? Sure they could've. Oh well. I guess they had to fill this
show out somehow.
Scottartist.aol.com
The CAUGHT LIVE + 5 version of ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY also has
a subtly different, but gorgeous melodic twist on the third line of each
verse. Love it.
Trfesok.aol.com (5/12/04)
The biggest jolt upon first hearing the album is that it's so raw. Hardly
what one would expect from a group with a fairly sophisticated studio
sound. The biggest problem with this, for me, is the vocals. They really
are unable to duplicate the harmonies in a live setting (Lodge's falsetto
is as annoying as ever). The band's other three singers sould much better
on their own. And the mellotron sound is very iffy -- it was really
difficult to keep in it in tune live. It took a long time for the album
to grow on me, but I eventually got used to it (seeing the band live on a
few occasions also helps). The biggest surprise is Edge's drumming -- he
really was a maniac in live setting (he's the one doing all that
yelling!). "The Voyage" doesn't really work without the extra keyboard
overdubs, but I have to agree that "Sunset" is better than the studio
version. Still, I would suggest seeing the band live or fully
assimilating the "Core 7" before buying this.
Bob
Keviniron17.aol.com (5/15/05)
Your analogy of this particular LP vs. the existing drug induced era
was not unusual.at the age of 52 i can easly relate. Having a musical
background myself and a deep appreciation for stellar and prolific
musicians and bands like emerson lake; Yes, King crimson one can only
thank them for their contributions. In the 70s, I was lucky enough to
meet a lot of these performers firsthand. I was bouncing for a karate
studio and Belkin prodctions, at 19 pretty neet! In jan 2005 I came
across this amazing +five lp.A promo to boot! Nine dollars later, i
had it playing on a direct drive turntable via a dynamic range
expander and graphic equallizer . Not to mention I completely pre
washed the 36 year old MASTERPIECE! This promo lp has a hole punched in the upper
righthand corner to hang on dj,s studio lp racks. It is one of the
heaviest vinyl non remakes i own. Last month my brother and his wife
from england visited for a tranquill evening away from our hectic
business lives. After settling in and consuming bombay gin we headed
to the basement for pool and music. My brothers wife who has been to
royal albert at that time told me that +5 on my equipment sounded
better then when she heard it live! I knew when i rebuilt my old
system i could achieve that! When one can have tears broutght to ones
eyes by the meaning of never comes the day because of our busy lives,
It puts more meaning into give a little bit more take a little bit
less from each other tonight. thank god for those MOODIE BLUES !
"David Sheehan" (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (11/13/09)
I really like this one. I think almost every number on here comes off
splendidly, especially 'The Sun Set' and 'Never Comes The Day' which
absolutely demolish their studio counterparts. Mike's mellotron also
seems to be on good behavior (unlike on Isle of Wight) and the
recording quality is excellent. The only downer for me is 'Ride My See
Saw', which for some reason is played with a lame arrangement that
lacks the killer guitar riff from the studio version (it seems that
all of the performances from this period were of this arrangement). At
least Hayward nails the solo. Also, Lodge's shrieking falsetto is at
its most annoying here, probably because of fatigue, being the end of
the concert. Other than this small beef, I'm very happy with it. I
give it a 12.
Best song: Question
Once upon a time, back when I was just getting into the band, I
didn't care for this album much at all. Sure, "Question" was quite
possibly my favorite song of all, but the rest of the album? Forget about
it! Of course, as I've grown and my tastes have matured, I've finally
gotten to a point where I quite enjoy it. Thankfully.
Another concept
album, this one is an "ecological"-themed album, but only four of the ten
tracks really fit it at all (incidentally, these were the songs that most
repulsed me about the album). Pinder's weird "How is It (We are Here?),"
about strip mining, evolution, and other assorted stuff is certainly one
of the most creative songs he ever came up with, even if the mellotron and guitar sounds
sound are a bit rough around the edges. Edge's "Don't You Feel Small," which
could have been great were it not for his irritating whispering over the
whole thing, has a neat vibe to it, and I love that rocking flute part in
the middle. Next, Lodge's bass-driven "Tortoise and the Hare" (guess what
it's about) has a wonderful groove to it, and although Lodge's singing
somewhat leaves something to be desired, it's catchy, and it could've been a hit
single for them had they chosen to release it. And finally, we have the
closing poem, "The Balance," with music by Thomas. I know very well that
it's kinda lame when taken from a totally objective point of view, but I
get so much dorky pleasure out of hearing Pinder preachin' it and
the others harmonizing those "just open your eyes and realize the way it's
always been" parts. So sue me.
Anyways, the rest of the album isn't
bad, isn't bad at all. The main difference between this album and the
previous ones is that they've decided to go a bit lighter on the mellotron
than before, primarily because they were finding it unbearably difficult
to perform live songs that had originally had 30 layers of sound. This
doesn't mean that the mellotron has disappeared, just that it's not the center
of everything anymore. Most importantly, though, the songs are good. The
opening "Question" is still my favorite Moody Blues song, and with good
cause. It has everything; lightning fast acoustic strumming in the
beginning, a beautiful middle section with a wonderful melody and gorgeous
Hayward vocals, and then a return to the rocking of the beginning. I
simply adore this song, and will adamently claim that it is one of the top
20 or so rock songs ever written. Hayward's other two contributions, "It's
Up to You" and "Dawning is the Day," obviously have no hope to be as
awe-inspiring, but they're still very good. They're pretty, catchy,
sometimes rocking, and the latter has an ecstatically happy middle
instrumental section. And right before that song, we get the absolutely
lovely hippy love anthem, Lodge's "Minstrel Song." I used to hate this song
with a vengeance, but I was just an idiot. It's happy happy happy, with a
wonderful "everywhere love is all around" chorus. It, combined with
"Dawning," lifts you and cheers you up like almost nothing in the Moody
catalogue.
Which, in my opinion, makes the following song, Pinder's
"Melancholy Man," that much more effective. I should probably hate the song,
and it's by no means his best work, but I don't think it deserves all the
venom it sometimes receives from fans. The soul crushing effect of this
track is even better than that on, say, Pink Floyd's "Welcome to the
Machine," of which I am extremely fond, and isn't that what you would
expect of a track called "Melancholy Man?" Of course it is. In any case, the
remaining track on this album is another great Thomas tune, the pretty "The
Tide Rushes In." It has a great melody, those wonderful vocals, and a VERY memorable
chorus ("then the tide rushes in and washes my castles away, then I'm
really not so sure on which side of the bed I should lay").
As I said, I didn't like this album much when first getting into the band, but now I'm dreadfully fond of it, and probably will be forever. It doesn't sound as quintessentially Moodies as others in the core 7, but if that's the closest thing to a major nit-pick I can give, what right have I to complain?
"Fernando H. Canto" (sirmustapha.ig.com.br) (2/26/03)
Not as good as the previous one, but hell, it would never be anyway. Side A is
virtually perfect. Question starts fast and energetic, and melts into that
beautiful slow mid-section. At the first listen, I found it too long, but now,
it's perfect to me. How Is It We Are Here, The Tide Rushes In, Don't You Feel
Small are all nice, and Tortoise And The Hare is such a weird, intriguing song!
I've never thought a "It's alright, it's alright, it's alright" chant
would make me feel it's NOT alright! Heh heh heh. Side B is kinda weaker, but
I'm still fond of It's Up To You, Minstrel Song and Dawning Is The Day, and
guess what? I LOVE Melancholy Man! I may be wrong, but this might be one of the
most unique moments on the Moodies catalogue. I mean, it's hard to find a song
so depressed and hopeless like that! Radiohead would have a hard time matching
that! It might be the 1970 pop version of Everything In Its Right Place. Hah
hah. Oh, and The Balance is quite nifty for yet another poem song, even if in
that chorus, I guess I would never guess what the guys were saying without
reading the lyrics...
One thing. I HATE it that these CD releases have the A-side closer and the
B-side opener crossfaded. What if I want to record the album to tape, for
Chrissake?
Bleh, record companies are stupid.
Trfesok.aol.com (11/25/06)
The slight (if temporary) reduction in production is indeed
appealing. I also really liked the last album, but it did get to be a
bit much in places. Here, it's notable that three of the songs have
NO keyboards on them at all! The big dud for me is, yes, "Melancholy
Man." It makes its point, but then beats it into the ground for far
too long. The mood shift in this song and Mike's other contribution
is a rather sudden change from the hippie optimism which marked his
songs from "Love and Beauty" onwards. Lodge, Thomas and Edge do carry
that on rather effectively with the medieval vibe of "Minstrel's
Song" and the pseudo-Biblical "The Balance." The group, believe it or
not, actually revived that last one for the 1978 and 1981 tours, with
Edge reciting his own poem, to amazing audience response. I first
heard "And The Tide Rushes In" on the group's first compilation This
is the Moody Blues, and it was certainly one of the songs that got me
further into the group. Hayward's first two songs are indeed classics
-- "It's Up to You" is really underrated and catchy. I'm less fond
"Dawning is the Day," but it's nice enough. All in all, it's a
slightly atypical album from the group, but it might not be a bad
place to start, since the production does make it easier to get into.
By the way, you use the terms "mellotron" and "moog" interchangeably.
They are actually two very different keyboards. Interestingly, Pinder
uses both for the first time on his tracks. The moog produces
that high pitched whining sound on "How is It?" as well as the murky,
foggy sound on "Melancholy Man," which I do have to admit enhances
the mood of the song.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
I was slightly disappointed when I first heard this album, and I have never quite rated it as one of their best. And it has some
of their best songs ever, for example Question, And The Tide Rushes In, Melancholy Man. And there are no real bummers on this
album either. But it doesn't work for me the way the previous two did. It just doesn't flow. There isn't enough variation
(texture, I call it). And the poetry arrives too late, half spoken, half sung in the last track.
Still, an enjoyable listen. A decent enough collection of songs, performed in the classic Moodies style, with the above mentioned
highlights still able to make my spine tingle when I hear them.
Best song: Question
A nice album to have if you like Caught Live + 5. The main distinguishing feature of this show, of course, was that it was in front of one of the largest festival crowds in the history of rock music, and there's something strangely odd about the idea of this music getting peformed in front of hundreds of thousands of people. The band continues to have a very rough sound live, as they don't any real attempt to replicate their studio work note-for-note on stage, but that also continues to give the band a lot of charm. There are a couple of missed vocal cues here and there, and some spots where something clearly went awry in the recording process, but overall the band seems slightly better here than on CL+5.
The setlist, as expected, is largely similar to that on CL+5. The band opens with "Gypsy" and "Sunset," which both go off splendidly (Mike in particular shines, both in the roaring mellotron and in his passionate singing). The show ends with the last 10+ minutes of Threshold, and I still think that it may sound more interesting here, because of the lack of overdubs, than it did in the studio. And, of course, the last three tracks are "Nights," "Legend" and "See-Saw," all of which are done well. The middle also features rousing performances of "Tuesday Afternoon" (where Justin changes the line to "Sunday afternoon" once; I'm guessing that the band performed this concert on a Sunday) and "Never Comes the Day" (inferior to the CL+5 version, largely because the harmonica riff in the chorus is impossible to find, but it's still lovely).
The rest of the setlist drops "Dr. Livingston" and "Peak Hour," and in their place the band adds four tracks from A Question of Balance (which makes sense, given that they were touring it at the time). "Question" is the clear highlight of these; the acoustic guitar strumming gets swapped out for an electric, and while Hayward's singing is rougher (as usual), the song ends up having a strong punch to it that the original lacked. Elsewhere, "Minstrel's Song" comes off as a pleasant hippy shuffle (it kinda sounds to me like it would have been better suited for Woodstock than for this festival, but that doesn't bug me too much), "Tortoise and the Hare" is done decently enough, and "Melancholy Man" preserves nearly all of the soul-crushing aspects of the original to good effect. If anybody in the band benefited from the rougher live sound, it was clearly Mike, and his vocals are great here.
In short, while it doesn't show the Moodies as a spectacular live band, it does show them as an interesting one, and I'd definitely recommend this to a hardcore fan. I would also like to extend my compliments to the recording company for squeezing this whole show onto one disc; I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that the actual performance contained various bits of stage banter, and the inclusion of any of it (or excessive applause) would have forced this album to come out as a double album. By stripping out everything except for the actual songs, the album fits snugly onto one disc, and it's most appreciated.
David Sheehan (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (06/13/09)
There is a lot to hate about this release. First, as you mentioned,
the recording quality is extremely sub-par. Second, Mike's mellotron
is being VERY finicky. All I can figure is that it must have been
hot/humid out and it really messed it up, but there are several
sections where it goes totally berserk. Third, missed vocal cues.
There are several, and I can attribute them (in the guys' defense) to
nerves, as they're playing in front of a huge crowd, but I also
suspect they were baked beyond belief as well. If you've seen the DVD
(I've seen some clips from it on youtube), they even look totally
stoned. Fourth, and the most damning of all, S-L-O-P-P-Y playing.
Tortoise and the Hare is awful, and it's seriously one of the worst
live performances by a major band that I've heard, and Minstrel's
Song isn't much better. The harmony singing in both of these songs is
absolutely horrendous. It sounds like a chorus of ME, for Christ's
sake, and that is not a compliment. On the plus side, Edge seems to
be in good form throughout, and some of the numbers go off well. The
Sun Set is still great, as are Never Come the Day and Gypsy.
Melancholy Man and Question are the clear highlights of the newer
material, and the electric guitar on Question sounds surprisingly
punchy. In the end, I would rank this significantly below Caught Live
+5, and probably give it an overall 10 at the most, and probably a
high 9.
Best song: nah
Not one of the best BBC collections I've heard, but it's probably necessary for serious fans. The second half of the second disc is basically another presentation of CL+5/Isle of Wight-type live material (but seriously truncated in places), but the rest is a decent sketch of the band's history starting from the pre-DOFP days. The earliest stuff is an absolute blast ("Fly Me High" sounds like such a great song here!!), and because the set is more or less chronological, it's interesting to get a glimpse into which songs were written earlier than they made it onto their various albums. There's an early version of "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" that's nearly revelatory, and all they had to do to make me love this song (instead of considering mildly annoying like I did for years) was accentuate that fantastic mellotron riff in the chorus (which is buried in the studio version). It's also great to have multiple (albeit often shortened) versions of tracks I've loved for years, with slight tweaks in the vocals or the mix that betray live performance.
My problem with the collection is that it's pretty clear that there were several BBC performances that must have involved the band miming its performances, because they come closer than they should to the studio versions. For instance, I know with 100% certainty that the version of "Never Comes the Day" on disc 1 is just the studio version (the version on the second disc is clearly live). You know how I know this? I know this because there's an extremely charming mistake in the recording of the studio version, and they exactly replicate that mistake in this version. There's also a lot of ISOTLC material that likewise sounds distressingly similar to the studio versions; similarity is one thing, but if you're not expressly labeling your collection as a partial compilation of studio material, you shouldn't make it one.
Still, it's a fun set to listen to for a hardcore fan. I mean, why wouldn't I be interested in alternate versions of "Love and Beauty" or "Twilight Time" or "Another Morning?" Buy it if you're a fan and you see it cheap.
Best song: Story In Your Eyes or One More Time To Live
Just as time has improved by feelings towards Question,
so has it worsened by feelings towards this album. It's not horrid or
anything, and it could make a legitimate claim to being the quintessential
Moody Blues album in that almost every one of their sides is put up for
display, but that's the main problem. Whereas in all of the previous
albums, they would at least throw a few twists into their formula to keep
it somewhat fresh, here it sounds like they just didn't care that much.
Heck, they even outright steal some elements from Dream; the
opening and closing high-pitched sound is exactly the same as before, only
slightly higher pitched, not to mention that "My Song" is nothing but a poor
rewrite of the superb "Have You Heard?"/"The Voyage" suite. Not to mention that the band's experimentations with keyboard sounds other than those that come from the mellotron are not entirely successful.
The
concept for this LP is based on the 'journey of life', like on
TOCCC, but whereas on Children's the focus was on the
passage of time, here the best summation would be 'the never-ending
hardships and occasional joys of life.' Of course, the fact that only two
of the songs fall into the 'joy' category should give you an idea of the
group's outlook on life at that time, but I guess that's a price of fame.
One of these is Lodge's lovely "Emily's Song," a touching ode to
his newborn daughter. I don't mind the string parts one bit, and Justin's
backing harmonies are simply perfect. The other one is another
archetypical Thomas composition, the more or less silly "Nice to be Here."
Of course, it's basically the same song as "Another Morning" and "Dr. Livingston," which
annoys me, but it's not bad, just ok. I dunno, I guess I expect more out
of this band now than 'just ok,' especially since I know that they are
capable of so much better.
On the other side of the coin, we start out
with "Procession" seguing into the well-known rocker "Story in Your Eyes."
Now, "Procession" gets a lot of bad remarks even from devoted fans, but I
don't put much stock in those, aside from noticing some silly synth noises here and there. Sure, it fails in its ultimate purpose (to
span the music styles throughout history), but I can't think of many tracks that could pull that off successfully. Meanwhile, what they do give us is mostly quite good,
especially that chunk in the end when the flute melts into the classical
guitar melts into the church organ melts into the electric guitar. That
moment is one of the definite highlights of the whole album, and is one of
the few testaments to the group's genius to be found on here. "Story," then, is
just terrific, with careful production carrying the electric riffs through
the acoustic strumming and back again, with a great melody and solid
backing harmonies.
Moving on, we get to Thomas' "Guessing Game," one of
those 'life is hard' songs. Pretty good lyrics, good singing, and a decent
melody are all there, but unfortunately, all of these add up to just a
pretty good song. Not great, just pretty good. Same goes for Edge's rocker
"After You Came," written as a lament re: his recent divorce. The effect of
the band members trading off lines in the chorus is extremely clever,
something they had never done before, and the lyrical metaphors are good,
but ... I dunno, it's one of those songs that I really like, but I can
really tell that I shouldn't. Moving on, we have Lodge's beautifully
bombastic "One More Time to Live." The verses are quite nice, but it's the
chorus that really makes the song. With as much bombast as they all can
muster, the guys do a reprisal of "Procession" and more, spouting all of the
one word problems and solutions they can come up with, and the singing is almost
able to do it justice (I mean, as much justice as can be given to an idea that's as goofy as this). Even better, halfway into each trip through the chorus, the two main vocal parts switch (Pinder and Thomas start
singing Hayward and Lodge's parts, and vice verse), giving the song a
feeling of completeness it might not otherwise have had.
Finally, after "Nice" and before "My Song," we get another lovely Hayward number in "You Can
Never Go Home." Some might disapprove of layering Justin with such thick
backing vocals, but I don't think it harms the song any. Besides, the
melody is lovely, and those lyrics .. wow. Maybe they're somewhat naive,
but I really don't care. I love this song to death, and I'm proud to admit
it. I mean, it's about never being able to return to the past that you
loved so much, even if you return to the site and even to the same person.
That's deep, and it moves me powerfully.
Basically, there are not enough songs (and "My Song" hardly counts, it's just a lot of chanting and
noises with a boring intro and outro), and there too many instances where
they're clearly short on ideas. Still, at least they took care of the
small details to compensate for the songwriting shortage. The backing
harmonies are, to my ears, the best on any Moody Blues album, and the
mellotron sound is richer than on AQOB. Anyways, you can do one of
two things with respect to this album and be happy with it; one, you can
buy it first,
since it is a good summary of the group's overall 'sound,' and two,
if you become a huge fan of the formula, you can buy it later and enjoy
the fact that they barely deviate from it at all. Fortunately, they had
one last surge ...
Scottartist.aol.com
Can't help it, I love EGBDF, no matter what anyone says. I wasn't
stoned when I heard it, but I was hopelessy in love and feeling all those
teenage epiphanies of emotional whatever, and this album, the first
Moodies album I ever heard just bonded with me. I kinda think of it as
their darkest though. Despite NICE TO BE HERE, it's just a ponderous
album, but sometimes I'm just in that kind of mood.
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
Complaints up front..."Story in your eyes" is TOO SHORT! "Procession" is
probably too long, tho I thot it was really intelligent they reprised it in
the chorus of "One More Time To Live"...a wonderful wonderful tune, by the
way...Now that I know (from your site) the reason BEHIND "Emily's Song", it
makes more sense, but really, I thot it was 'just nice' and that's about
all..."You Can Never Go Home" is a masterpiece, and "My Song", even though
it may steal ideas from earlier lps...could also be seen as a further
development of Pinder's own outlook; even though he can be quite morose,
perhaps he is trying to be optimistic, while at the same time, perhaps
telling everying (including his bandmates) that there is more to him than
anyone will ever know...("How can I tell you...all the things inside my
head?")...Again, interesting to know what "After you've gone" is all about;
I enjoy it just because it rocks and adds yet another dimension to the
Moodies' sound..."Nice to Be Here" is cool, yes, but it is a little bit
sinister, too...and after Thomas "goes back" to his childhood to revisit
cartoon characters, Hayward then comes in and tells us, that we can't go
home anymore...so those two songs, juxtaposed together, are a little bit
jarring....To me, a very musical album. (the first Moodies album I had ever
heard, by the way).
Trfesok.aol.com (5/20/04)
Maybe I'm biased, because this was also the first Moodies album I heard
from beginning to end, but I rate it the best. First, the production is
the most sophisticated of the "Core 7", but retains the clarity of Q of
B. and none of the occasional murkiness of the eariler albums (I wonder
what happened to the vow to record only what could be performed live --
"Procession" is hardly a stage piece!). I do think that "Emily's Song"
and "My Song" are pretty weak. The former has a very sickly-sweet and
awkward arrangments and a wimpy John vocal. And "My Song" is indeed an
attempt to make a more complex "Voyage", but is really unconvincing.
"Nice to Be Here" is another delightful example of Ray's whimsical side.
And the rest of the songs really have a lot of sheer power, both
musically and vocally. "After You Came" is the best single thing Edge
ever wrote -- just a great, emotionally convincing rock song. (And,
notice, again -- no keyboards -- the Moodies weren't all about
mellotrons!) "You Can Never Go Home" is an unusually personal song from
Hayward.
The Moodies reached a peak here, the culmination of their original sound.
Bob
"David Sheehan" (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (11/13/09)
This is probably the best example I know of an album whose constituent
parts are almost all good, and that I like when its on, but I rarely
feel the need to listen to it, and as a whole it leaves little lasting
impression on me (the least of all of the core seven, in fact).
'Procession' starts out lame, but like you said, the final minute or
two are really great. Had you noticed that the notes E-G-B-D-F are
played on piano right after the "CREATION!" chant? I thought I was so
cool for noticing that a few days ago and then saw a comment stating
the same thing on Prindle's page. Grrr. Supposedly that sequence of
notes are buried all over the album, and I suspect the "spaceship"
sounds at the the beginning and end of the record are a loop of these
intervals, but I haven't actually checked this. I agree wholeheartedly
about 'You Can Never Go Home': it is one of the most powerful moments
in the whole MB discography, especially the middle chunk of the song.
I think it would've fit well on TOCCC, actually, and Hayward's vocals
would've certainly sounded more powerful in 1969 than they did here. I
don't really care for Thomas' 'Our Guessing Game', and I really don't
know what it is that bugs me so much about it. The best I can come up
with is that the chorus is so "jerky" and cluttered, not to mention
that too much emphasis is placed on this portion of the song. It
sounds almost Phil Spector-ish, and I mean that in a bad way. Pinder's
'My Song' has it's moments, but overall it is a failure and it is an
obvious retread of the superior 'Have You Heard' suite. I do really
like the first part of the middle section of the song a lot though
(from about 1:30 through 3:30), but it's certainly not enough to carry
the song. Had they combined that instrumental section with the last
part of 'Procession', and dumped the rest of 'My Song', it couldn't
have hurt. I'm also not completely sold on Lodge's contributions.
'Emily's Song' is nice, and a touching ode to a new child, but his
vocals are soooo wimpy that they really come close to spoiling the
song. 'One More Time To Live' is better, but the chanting section sort
of irks me the same way that the chorus of 'Our Guessing Game' does:
jerky and cluttered. Edge's 'After You Came' is great, though. No
beefs there. Thomas' 'Nice to Be Here', while it certainly doesn't
belong on this album (it sticks out like a sore thumb), is decent, and
is helped out by a great bassline. 'The Story in Your Eyes' is
magnificent, like everyone else says it is. Could be longer though.
There is a great outtake on the new remastered version, a
Hayward/Thomas gem called 'The Dreamer', sung by Ray. It is obviously
unfinished, but it really is a great tune in my opinion, which would
have only helped this album.
Having bitched and moaned about the majority of this album, I will say
this: The main fault of this record is that we've heard it all before,
and better. This is what happened when To Our Children's Children's
Children and A Question of Balance got together and made sweet love.
But unfortunately as great as those two were, here we didn't really
get the good stuff from them, and what is left is slightly generic.
It's still prime-era Moody Blues though, and if someone held a gun to
my head, I'd say it's an overall 10, but I really would probably give
it an 11.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
My favourite Moodies album. I can't put my finger on why, except that the album takes me through a variety of moods, and finishes
on a note of awe combined with optimism (My Song) after taking me to the brink of despair (You Can Never Go Home Any More).
The Story In Your Eyes is one of my favorite songs. "We're part of the fire that is burning/And from the ashes we can build
another day.". Classic Moodies sentiments! The performance of this song is top notch, too.
I'm happy enough with Procession as an intro to the album. It's original and thoughtful, and builds up a certain amount of
tension, which is duly unleashed by The Story In Your Eyes.
My other favourite is One More Time To Live. This song encapsulates the whole album, taking me through a sequence of moods from
joy to hopeful optimism via fear and despair.
Everyone is different, and musical taste is subjective. I can only say that, based on how it moves me, this is one of the finest
albums I have ever heard.
Best song: New Horizons
By 1972 the Moody Blues were probably one of the five most
popular groups in the world. All of their albums had reached the top 5 in
either Britain or the USA, and they were able to sell out stadiums with the
greatest of ease. Unfortunately for all, the band was tired; tired of each
other, tired of being isolated from the world, tired of the business end
of Threshold. They needed a break and they needed one badly.
But, they were still signed on to do one more album, and so they pressed
forward. As one might expect of these guys, though, they made no attempt
to keep their sadness out of the music, and the result is their most
painful sounding and mature album ever. Fortunately, that is much more of
a benefit than a hinderance to the songs, and I give this album a C
without any hesitation.
Anyways, the first thing you will notice about
the album, other than the bleak aura surrounding, is that the production
is far cleaner and crisper than it has ever been before. The main reason
for this was that Mike acquired a replacement for the Mellotron, called
the Chamberlain. It worked the same way as the old moog, except that the
sound quality was MUCH better and they could get a good sound out of it
without having to layer and overdub it. There's also the fact that the
songs have much greater emphasis on guitar than on EGBDF, so that
helps.
Now for the songs. First off, Mike Pinder MORE than redeems himself for
his My Song flop on Favour. The opening "Lost in a Lost World" is my
choice for his best album-cut ever (it trails only "A Simple Game" in my mind), and falls into my top fifteen list for the
'core 7' era. The lyrics are actually interesting, with a great melody and
much more pleasant singing than we're used to from him. And the
penultimate "When You're a Free Man" is wonderfully bleak, with a flute line
(actually, I sorta think it's a clarinet, because it seems at times to be
too low to be a flute) that appears for a while, goes away, comes back,
and fades out in the end as a terrific horn line pops up, almost invisible
to the ear. I absolutely love that song (which I believe is dedicated to
Timothy Leary, who had recently been incarcerated).
Meanwhile,
Hayward's "New Horizons" and "The Land of Make Believe" are beautiful and
optimistic, yet sad at the same time. The former, in particular, is
absolutely gorgeous; Hayward's vocals soar, and those final sixteen
measures, whoa ... I know I'm a bit of a wuss, so this probably doesn't
mean much, but tears came to my eyes during these measures AT LEAST the
first fifty or sixty times that I listened to them, they are SO BEAUTIFUL.
Hayward's majestic guitar line and that GORGEOUS Chamberlain sound ...
wow. Wow. The album's worth it just for that (even though there are
certainly other great songs on here). Anyways, "Land of Make Believe" is
terrific too; somewhat sappy, sure, but the melody's not too
saccharine, and I like those lyrics. So sue me, I'll always be a wuss at
heart.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Edge each have one contribution to the
album, and they don't hurt things at all. Ray's is "For My Lady," with a
very maritime feel, a nice melody, and the good ole trembling tenor we've
grown to know and love. On a side note, I'd like to note that that is
not a guitar string breaking after "and slowly bow her head," as
many fans think; that was just Justin plucking it harder than normal for
emphasis. Moving on, Edge paired with Hayward on the rocker "You and Me."
There's nothing particularly noteworthy about this song, and yet it is
extremely solid overall, and highly enjoyable.
The best known songs on the album, however, belong to Lodge. The first,
his slow anthem "Isn't Life Strange," is possibly his best song ever, and
letting himself and Justin trade off verses worked out very well. Not to
mention that Thomas' tenor in the "cry cry cry" part sounds really
good here, and that staggering way of singing the choruses is simply
splendid. Nowadays, when they perform this live, they sing it 'normally,'
and while it still sounds good, I miss the power that the original
provided. Lodge's other piece, on the other hand, has never lost a thing,
and has even gotten better over time. Of course, this is remarkable, given
that the original is so good. "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)," then
is a rant that the guys really had to get out of their system (which is
understandable; many of their fans considered them to be messengers of
God (I guess that's kinda the band's own fault, but never mind), and some even came to them to be healed. Needless to say, this
freaked the guys out a bit) but that wouldn't mean anything if the song
itself weren't really good. The harmonies ... it is VERY hard to describe
how awesome these guys sound when they're all singing lead together.
Thomas is rather high in the mix (though Lodge is highest, seeing as he
wrote the song and all), which helps give the vocals lower pitched feel to
them than usual, but everyone sounds great. Not to mention that I really
love that fuzz guitar they use throughout. And the VERY quiet flute intro,
coming out of "When You're a Free Man" (although it was edited out for the
single version), is a perfect way to start the song.
Anyways, it hit number one in the States quite easily and stayed there for
a month, and the ensuing nine month tour was huge. And, of course, they
disbanded as soon as it was over. They didn't know for sure if they would
ever get back together, but since they all parted on good terms, the door
was left open. Ray Thomas would put out a couple of solo albums, and Edge,
Lodge and Pinder would each put out one a piece. As for Hayward, he had
one true solo album ('77's Songwriter, which I don't have) and one
that was a collaboration with some familiar faces ...
Amanda Kenyon (kenyon.csinet.net)
Hey! Came across your site through a link from the Prindle/Bunnell site,
and I must say that I'm very impressed with the Moody Blues reviews.
They're my very favorite band, and I always get all excited when I find
someone else who doesn't think they're completely stupid.
Anyhow, I just read the Seventh Sojourn review, and the bit about
the flute caught my eye. He may have been using an alto or tenor flute -
they're bigger than the standard one, and have a deeper sound. Same with
the intro to Eyes of a Child on TOCCC - I thought it was a clarinet
for the longest time, but the more I listen to it, the more I think it's
actually a low-pitched flute. Just my two cents.
Scottartist.aol.com
I love the 'sadness' of SEVENTH SOJOURN. The music and the cover
art are
probably the best mix of any of their albums, They play off each other
perfectly. This was the first Moodies album I owned. My brother had the
EGBDF, TOCCC, and DOFP. After that I brought them all
into the house
first.
Awake600.aol.com
I must say, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this album, given what I
had heard about its' lifeless and formulaic tendencies. The only song on
here that I can say I really don't like at all is "When You're A Free
Man", which is just a total drag for me to sit through, and I can't
remember a heck of a lot about it. Luckily that song is followed by "I'm
Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)" which RULES. Definitely my pick
for best song on here. It's extremely catchy beyond comprehension, the
harmonizing is incredible, and there's so much drive to it, which is such
a relief after all the other songs. Not that any of the other songs are
bad though. "You And Me" has a killer riff to it (imagine, a great guitar
riff in a Moodies song!) and one of the catchiest choruses, "Isn't Life
Strange" is so gorgeous I can even forgive them for repeating the refrain
too many times at the end, "Land Of Make Believe" is enjoyable in a
child-like way, "For My Lady" is a really pretty medieval sounding ballad,
"Lost In A Lost World" is a fine depression-worn opener in the typical
Pinder style, and then there's "New Horizons" - I wasn't too big on it at
first, as the chorus seems to me just a little too adult pop sounding, but
after a couple more listens I found it to be incredibly beautiful and
inspiring, especially the ending. I almost agree with the 12 here - I'd
give it a fairly high 8 (11), the detraction for me being of course "Free
Man".
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
You hit it right on the head, with this album. I have to agree with
everything you said here. I feel the same way about all of the songs,
including, crying tears on "New Horizons"...man oh man, it just doesn't get
any better. From a "feel" standpoint, this is a very sad, wistful
album...almost fatalistically beautiful...a great album to play at the
funeral of a loved one, perhaps...I had this album long before the single
of "just a singer in a rock and roll band" was released...and it totally
surprised me...Moody Blues boogie, for sure...Actually I only have one
point to dispute..."Isn't Life Strange" has NEVER been one of my favorite
songs, tho it sounds better to me, NOW, than it used to...to me, it's just
kinda clunky...a little over-extended...to me, it just doesn't groove. That
is not saying it's bad...to me, tho, it doesn't quite measure up to the
rest of the album...and I actually think Pinder really shines brightest on
this record...Both of his songs are so, so, so, so achingly sad...When I
first obtained this album, way back long ago, I did think there was
something "different" about it....but I couldn't put my finger on it...for
it is top quality, the melodies are as good as ever...there seems to be a
different "spirit" happening here...and, I guess in retrospect, this album
could be seen as the Moodies "Abbey Road"...knowing the end of the road was
near; let's make one more great album, guys...and they did. Dave
Trfesok.aol.com (6/16/04)
A lot of fans seem to like this one better than the last one, but I
don't. Not that it isn't good, but the overall mood is way too somber.
Most of the songs seem to have a very peculiar mixture of sadness and
hope running through them. And I don't agree that it sounds better than
EGBDF, either. Maybe it has to do with the fact they they recorded the
basic tracks in Mike Pinder's garage! I have to agree with Dave on "Free
Man", which is the only song I rapidly dislike - -even more tedious than
"Melancholy Man".( By the way, that's a bass flute that Ray uses -- it's
also present on his From Mighty Oaks album). I do think that "Lost
World" works well, with the guitar and percussion providing some
intensity which counterbalances the lyrics.
My two favorites are the two rockers. I like the Christian themed (take
another look) lyrics of "You and Me". "Singer" has some excellent
harmony overdubs and it does sound like they are having fun. But,
otherwise, you can tell that the guys (especially Pinder) seem to be at
the end of the road, and Hayward has said that they were starting to feel
that they were repeating themselves. Too bad, because I do really miss
their signature sound, which they would abandon after this.
Roland (deadflycast.epowerc.net) (9/20/04)
This record (I have the LP, the 8 track, cassette AND CD) is one classic
masterpiece. The songs are a great wrap-up to that period of the late
60's - early 70's (before cocaine hit all the bands and marathon, i.e.
pointless, guitar solos became the "in" thing)...the Moody Blues gave and
continue to give hope and promise to the world. I saw the band live at
the Sunrise Musical Theatre in Sunrise FL. From the opening strains of
"For My Lady" (Ray Thomas got a little mixed up with the verses) to the
rousing ending encore of "I'm Just A Singer", I had tears in my eyes:
tears of gratitude to this band and tears reminiscent of "Puff the Magic
Dragon"......knowing that it was the end of an era and that the world had
truly moved on.....these guys had the vocal harmony down to a "T"....both
on record and in live performance. And even now, with every listen, the
songs still break me out in chills.....the same way it did in
1972......"Oh, say it's true, Only love will see you through, you know
what love can do to you"......it may have been the "Land of Make
Believe", but it was a great place to be........
"David Sheehan" (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (01/13/10)
First, you're right about the production on here. It is easily the
best-sounding album of the core 7. The chamberlain has the most to do
with the crisper sound, but I also notice that the drums sound much
more upfront and, well, better than they ever had before. The
chamberlain definitely has a clearer sound and doesn't require the
extensive overdubbing that the mellotron did, but it's at the cost of
the haunting reverb-laden sound from before, which I suppose could be
a positive or a negative. Anyway, I almost agree with your score--I'd
give it a 13, albeit a low one. I agree with you about 'Lost in a Lost
World', it's certainly one of Pinder's best melodies, and though it
doesn't quite top 'A Simple Game,' which is more economical and
achieves a more powerful punch, it is still top-notch, and you're
probably right about it being his second best studio track with the
Moodies.
My dad was a big Moody Blues fan back when these albums were coming
out (I discovered them through him), and he claims that when he first
heard 'I'm Just a Singer...' that he wrote off the Moody Blues for
good. He claims that's the worst song from the core seven, and that it
was a harbinger of things to come. In other words, he cites this song
as the first evidence of them "selling out" and rejecting their roles
as voices of their generation and becoming more interested in the
business of making money by pandering to the lowest common
denominator. I'm not really sure what it is that song represents to
him, but I definitely do not agree. I think it is one of the most
honest moments in their entire catalog, and the lyrics are so
well-constructed and easy to follow that I don't see how anyone can
possibly misconstrue them*, or blame them for their apparent
bewilderment of their delusional hard core fans. I do think that my
dad's right with his timing at least. It is the last song of the core
seven, and it's obvious with the benefit of hindsight that the heights
reached up to this point were getting ready to be left behind for
good.
*Besides John Lodge. Have you seen the Legend of a Band documentary?
He says something to the effect that the lyrics mean (I'm paraphrasing
here) "We're all singers in a rock and roll band. We're all air
guitarists and air vocalists..." without saying a thing about just
being an ordinary person and not some kind of prophet. I swear, John
Lodge must have some form of Alzheimer's or something. What a weird
guy.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
Yes, a good album full of good songs, but somehow I don't like it as much as some people. A question of taste, I suppose. For me
it lacks the texture of previous albums, being pretty subdued throughout, except for the two rockers. Nothing wrong with subdued
songs ... I adore Melancholy Man, Isn't Life Strange, When you're a Free Man, etc., but the album is almost all in the melancholy
groove. And there isn't even a melancholy poem from Mr Edge.
Highlights for me are For My Lady, Isn't Life Strange, You And Me, and When You're a Free Man. This last one seems to be unpopular
with other reviewers, but it grew on me over time, and is now a favourite.
Like I said, a question of taste.
Best song: This Morning
I originally intended to put this album
on a
'miscellaneous' page, under the idea of eventually making a Justin Hayward
solo page and including this album. However, I realized two things which
made this plan somewhat irrational; first, John Lodge has a hand in about
half of this albums' songs, which means it isn't really a Hayward solo
project, and second, I only had one Hayward solo album at the time (Classic
Blue). So here it is.
Indeed, in many ways this should be
considered a Moody Blues album, if only because of who participated in its
creation; besides Hayward and Lodge, we also have Tony Clarke producing
and Peter Knight, of Days fame, contributing orchestral
arrangments. Sure, there's no mellotron, and none of Ray's tenor, but
other than that, it's definitely the 'classic' sound (and the orchestra
more than makes up for the lack of moog). Unfortunately, there's one
problem with the album, and this drags it down to a 8; the songs. While
none of them are really bad, I'd honestly have to say that I love
three of the songs, really like two of them, and the rest I couldn't care
less about. The thing is, the way the album starts, one's first
instinct would probably be to go "WOW!!! This album's gonna RULE!" You
see, the opening Hayward-penned "This Morning" is an absolutely amazing
song, and the album is worth buying solely for it. It starts as a quiet
piano and acoustic number, then Hayward's vocals come in, the guitars
become a soft electric, and the melody goes from simple to a wonderful,
gorgeous, soaring, not-too-bombastic chorus, and then you do it all over
again. And the closing quiet instrumental section isn't overlong in the
slightest, as the pianos, strings, and guitars melt into each other as
they fade into the next song. Egads, I love this song.
But there are
other great songs too! Side two kicks off with two more classics, the
'rocking' "Saved by the Music" and the beautiful "I Dreamed Last Night." The
former, one of John's three solo contributions to the album, has a lovely,
memorable melody, and the way the song accelerates towards the chorus each
time through is absolutely wonderful. And what wonderful lines to sing,
"This time I'm saved by the music, saved by the song we can sing. This
time I'm saved by the music, saved by the song that you bring." Kinda
sissyish, sure, but it's great! Meanwhile, "I Dreamed Last Night" is simply
fantastic. The string arrangements, for once, truly carry the song to a
new level, the melody rules, and the middle section is soaring and
gorgeous without going overboard. Good stuff.
A couple of other songs
are a little weaker, but I still enjoy them just fine. "Remember Me (My
Friend)" is a solid anthem of brotherly love, and while at moments it can
seem to drag, overall it works just fine. And the chorus is nice too, with
that "what can I say ..." part sucking you back in just in case you
started to drift away. There's also the Lodge-written "You," which sounds
closer to country than anything the group had done up to that point. It's
nice, though. Lodge makes it sound so sincere, and once again the chorus
is solid and well-written.
HOWEVER, there are 5 other songs on here
(well, 6 on the re-release), and they all have one thing in common; they
each set the exact same mood, and that mood is lush, sappy
romanticism. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Moodies' sappy odes to
love as much as anybody, but there's only so much I can take in one
sitting. I hate to say it, but this is one of those albums that has
to be listened to just a little bit at a time, because otherwise you'll
have almost no chance of staying awake. And it's not even so much the
orchestration; the only song where Knight really goes overboard is Nights
Winters Years, and that's not even so bad until Hayward's done singing and
it's just the orchestra playing a WAY too bombastic arrangment of the
original melody, which wasn't that great to start with.
The rest is the
rest. On the re-release, we get a decent song called "Blue Guitar," which is
noteworthy mostly because there are actually some good guitar lines on it.
But the other songs are all just romantic, majestic pomp, with only a
semblance of melody here and there. Not horrid, but I just can't find any
reason to ever listen to them, especially if I can just flip to "This
Morning" over and over again. Regardless, however, this is still a good
album, and I have no problem giving it a 8. Also, it's of interest in that
this was the first (although certainly not the last) Moody Blues-related
album that would have John and Justin assuming (virtually) all of the
songwriting duties.
Scottartist.aol.com
I was disappointed with BLUE JAYS the first time I listened to it,
but it grew on me fast after that. Personally, I'm very fond of WHO ARE
YOU NOW, one of Hayward's more overlooked songs. It's simple, short,
unpretentious and quietly nostalgic. Sort of the opposite of NIGHTS,
WINTERS, YEARS. BJ is far and away my favorite product of the solo
years,
(and it was the most successful)
Buyers guide Plc (info.buyersguide.co.uk) (1/24/02)
I agree with you that this essentially a lower case 'M' Moody Blues
album. In fact any fan of the Moodies should have it their collection.
'This Morning' kicks it off so strongly, you are left feeling that there
should be more. And there is - albeit much more subtly.
As with other Moodies albums, it is carried in large part by the great
vocals these guys provide. On other pages (somewhere) you link Justin
Hayward with Greg Lake as the top prog vocalists. A bit remiss to not
mention Jon Anderson in the same sentence, but that's another argument.
Anyway, this is the album poor Greg Lake never had - especially since it
was right up his alley considering his contributions on ELP's Works One.
It is also amazing to think that this is really the last album of the
classic Moody Blues sound that fans have come to know and appreciate.
Your review and rating are right on the dime.
Richard
Ronald R. Ditty Jr. (purplestrat63.yahoo.com) (10/04/05)
I don't know if you'll ever get this, not knowing when the original
page was written, editted, and what not. My thing about the Blue
Jays (John Lodge/Justin Hayward) disc is that this album is
fantastic...from a Moody Blues' fans viewpoint. I wouldn't expect a
'non-believer' to enjoy it (btw, I'm not calling you a
'non-believer'), this is for Moodies fans. My favorite songs are
(with commentary); "I Dreamed Last Night" (better than "Nights In
White Satin", beautiful chord progression...Justin is a master at
that!), "This Morning" ( great harmonies from Justin and John, but
the whole album is full of that, great guitar at the end), and "When
You Wake Up" (this may be my favorite Justin Hayward song
ever...listen to that guitar work! Justin Hayward is underrated,
Hell, he's UNDISCOVERED when discusing lead guitar. Sure, we have
Clapton, Blackmore, Page, etc...but Justin's leads are so smooth and
flowing, especially from this era). I wish that they would perform
these at Moodies shows. Maybe when Graeme retires, they will.
David Sheehan (dawningistheday.yahoo.com) (01/13/09)
Oh, I think this is rated too low! It's better than Natural Avenue,
isn't it? Anyway, I quite like this album. I think I'd give it a 12,
but certainly no higher. The only weak points are its lack of
diversity which you mentioned (and are 100% correct), and the bombast
of the orchestration on "Nights Winters Years" and "Maybe". The thing
is, I like both of these songs, particularly "Maybe" (though I wish
Hayward had done the vocals--Lodge's are very wimpy on this track),
but sometimes the orchestra is just too much. They're the only ones I
skip at times. "When You Wake Up" has never done much for me, though
it's still quite good. The rest though, W-O-W. Seriously, I really
dig the majority of this album, especially "This Morning", "Remember
Me (My Friend)", and "Saved by the Music". I think this is BY FAR the
best Moody Blues-related side project.
trfesok.aol.com (04/13/09)
As the first "outside" release after the "Core 7", it certainly
sounds more like them than any solo album, or any of the following
Moodies album. I do like it, but I do have a few beefs. The biggest
complaint is Knight's arrangements. I don't agree -- I think they
wreck the three tracks he did. Especially "Nights, Winters, Years."
It was one of Hayward's weakest songs to start with, and then the
orchestra makes it sound like the end of a really bad, old movie.
"Maybe" previews the overblown sounds of Lodge's next album. "I
Dreamed Last Night" is the best of the three, but Knight still makes
it sound hopelessly cornball. Fortunately, the string trio (from a
band called Providence, who had recorded an album for
Threshold) which provided the arrangements on the rest of the songs
supports them, as opposed to overwhelm them, as Knight did.
The vocal harmonies are really nice, although they lack a fullness
that Pinder and Thomas would have provided. On a couple of songs,
"Remember Me, My Friend" and "You" (where he alternates lead vocals
with Lodge on the verses), Hayward sings in a range slightly too high
for himself, which makes it difficult to tell him from Lodge. I agree
that the first three songs are really strong. "Saved by the Music"
adds a needed dash of energy to all this romanticism, although
Lodge's voice gets a little too strained at the end of the verses
("when our love comes shining througghhh" - bleah). "Who Are You
Now?" is my favorite - the minimal arrangement (acoustic guitar,
synth, cello) really provides an nice, intimate contrast to the rest
of the album. Almost sounds like a cross between the Moodies and
Simon & Garfunkel. Finally, I disagree with you about "When You Wake
Up" - I like it a lot. The lyrics are an interesting throwback to
TOCCC, with their story of a generation starship. It's not too long
or slow at all -- after all, the song's about a journey that takes
centuries.
Overall, this is a nice supplement to the "Core 7", but it doesn't
replace any of them.
Ross Dryer (dryerross.yahoo.com) (01/13/13)
Okay. So, it's obvious that this is definitely not the best Moodies album (and, of course, this is just as much a Moodies album as
"Strange Times"; although, really, that one did have "My Little Lovely" and "Nothing Changes", so whatever), but it is certainly
"one of"! I can't get enough of this album- there are so many great melodies here, and, of course, a lovely mood. It is the same
mood throughout, though, and sometimes the orchestration gets a little out of control; plus, there's no "New Horizons" here (but
"This Morning" comes close). But those are the only three problems with the album for me.
And the songs are great. But for some reason, everybody tends to mention four or five of the tracks and leave the rest to naught.
"This Morning", "Remember Me, My Friend", and "Saved By the Music" are always mentioned, and "You" and "Blue Guitar" most of the
time, and "Nights Winters Years" as a lowdark. And the rest of the songs are just, like, not there.
There'll be none of that here. I will go through all of the tracks like I do in my comments. "This Morning", like I said, comes
close to matching the quality of "New Horizons" and the best of TOCCC, although it's not really going to touch those. Nothing's
going to touch those, of course, but you could be fooled, because this one's amazing, easily the best song on the album. Every
single melody it cycles through (and there are a lot) is extremely catchy, and there's a great buildup from verse to chorus, and
the ending is gorgeously grandiose. The only thing that really bugs me about the song is the bit in the, uh, "bridge", I guess,
where the momentum is slightly butchered with "My baby...ooooooh my darling", but that's not big because it's immediately regained
by, "Sleepless are the hours...". Great song!
On the side of more "anthem to a true friend" type tunes, we have "Remember Me, My Friend". Dang, this is one heck of a song. Hooks
up the wazoo. Anthemic chant. "You don't need to ask me, if I'll be your friend...I am...I am...", "Walk-ing on this ea-earth,
fin-din' you-u-u-u... You! Youuuu-u-u-u! What can I saaaa-ay-ay, you don't need to find the words to say what's on your mind." That
was the only bit of the part of the album I had ("TM", "RM,MF", "My Brother", "Saved by the Music", "I Dreamed Last Night", "When
You Wake Up", "Blue Guitar") that I could remember on first listen. Suck on that, Pinder! And the jam at the end? The little
calypso thing? Have you heard the cassette version? That jam's expanded and gets HOT!
Then, there's one of the band's cutest little pop songs ever, the other "brotherly love" tune the sweet little "My Brother". Awwww,
that song just makes me smile. While it's true that it's easily the least memorable song on here (I had a lot of trouble remember
ANY of it on first few listens), it's eventually become "The Song that Brings a Smile to My Face". Where most of the others have me
closing my eyes and swaying and air-conducting and whate'er, this one just brings a big grin to my face. Unfortunately, it is the
song that best represents the general opinion of the album- pretty, but not memorable at all. Plus, I find the sudden time
signature changes a bit awkward. Weird lyrics, too.
"You", though, is something different entirely. The only thing that's countryish about it to me is the string section at the very
beginning- the rest is prime George Harrison, gorgeous verse (with the exact type of "All Things Must Pass" piano line between
second and third lines), gorgeous bridge, amazing chorus ("I-I-I, I-I believe, what is lost fore-e-ver, has brought the change in
me")...you know, this review is getting monotonous.
But ha! Next we have "Nights Winters Years", which, it would seem, many hate the guts of, but I think it's dang gorgeous again.
Hayward sounds amazing on that one, especially when he goes, "Down, down, do-o-own, where your dreams are fo-ou-und" and "HOW can
LOVE be WRONG and FEEEEEL so RIIIIIIIIIGHT?", at which point, of course, Knight takes over and makes something giant and bombastic
that was really just a gorgeous little unpretentious Hollywoodish ballad. Still, though, the melodies are so excellent in their
simplicity, and the ending does get me really air-conducting, and I always feel, when it comes to the end, that I've just listened
to a freakin' awesome piece of music. I know it's so cheesy, but...
On side two, there's "Saved By the Music". Gadzooks, this song is great- don't you just looooove the piano line during the "main
groove" of the song? And the verses are sooooo sweet, but the chorus is even sweeter, and I LOVE when they go "This time
we're...SAAAAAVED!" near the end, and...whatever.
"I Dreamed Last Night" may not seem AT ALL catchy on first few listens, but it really gets under your skin. Like, it's great.
Everything about it, once again, is perfect. You already said it all and I'm not going to say it again. "If there's a time...and a
place...to begin love...It must be now...let it go...set it free..." So simple, so gorgeous. And Knight does a great job with it.
Ha!
"Who Are You Now" is NOT the best, like so many people on ProgArchives.com state, but it's an ebullient medievalistic acoustic
ballad with perfectly placed strings and a gorgeous melody. Works great as a relaxation piece, especially with the extremely
beautiful cello solo. Wow. Nobody releases songs like this anymore!
And "Maybe"? Well, that's another one where Knight gets a bit obnoxious...as if I care! Direct similarities to "NWY" abound, but
this time it's Lodge singing a gorgeously simple verse melody and a GREAT chorus ("Some-one who neeeeeeeeeds... Some-one who
feeeeeeeeeels... Some-one who seeeeees...can find you!"). Dang it, why does no one mention this song?
And "When You Wake Up"? Whoah. "And as we speak...a little fast-er...than the stars...in this new.........wo-orld of ours..." is so
brilliant, it's like, wow, man. And so slooow. The chorus literally goes, "Wheeeeeeeeeen yooooouuuuuu waaaaaaake uuuuuuuuuup,
yooooouuuuuu wiiiiiill fiiiiiiind...", but it's so dreamy and hypnotic! And then...it goes into a completely different groove, with
a HUGE hook that goes, "Aaahhh-ah-ah! Ah-aaahhh-ah-ah-ah-aaahhh-ah-aaahhh-ah-aaahhh!". Also, when Hayward comes back in with the
verse melody during the most climactic bit, it's emotionally uplifting like...well, like everything else on the album. It kinda
irritates me, though, that he just gets to sing the first line of the verse when he's cut off by the "Aaahhh-ah-ah..."s. Ah well.
C'est la vie.
And, of course, "Blue Guitar". More gorgeous singing and melodies, but what really captures here is, of course, the guitar. Have
you heard the last forty-five seconds of that song? Depressing as heck, but DANG.
So yeah. Blue Jays keep a-rockin'. Go listen to a few of these tracks again! Personally, even "This Morning" took me a few listens,
but I got it as I eventually did the others.
Best song: Who Could Change or Say You Love Me
Listening to the various solo albums and collaborations of the band members really drives home the following idea in my mind: the Moody Blues were a band entirely (except for Edge) made of second bananas. By this I mean that the four main songwriters were all the kind of guys you could rely on for two or three really good songs per album, but that would have trouble filling out a recording with great songs from start to finish. Now, within a band as "democratic" as the Moodies were, this made for an ideal situation, since nobody had to contribute more than two or three of those songs an album, and as such the band's albums ranged from good to great. This album, though, follows the expected pattern of a Moody Blues second banana; a bunch of material ranging from mediocre to quite good, with a couple of incredible peaks thrown in for good measure.
The album actually starts off quite strong, giving the impression of a potential minor classic. The opening "Intro to Children of Rock and Roll" (the full track is much later in the album) is a minute-long acoustic number that's just sorta there, but the title track that follows is quite interesting. It's a fascinating example of how an awkward, not-quite-right sequence of notes, as in the verses, can function as a full-fledged hook, and while the "rocking" foundation is kinda pedestrian, the various elements of the song come together in a way that I really like. "Carry Me" and "Summer Breeze" are both rather nice pop-ballads that each boast pretty lovely melodies; they each basically just ride a couple of nice, but not amazing, hooks for a few minutes a piece, and they each leave me with a warm feeling when they're over. We then come to the album's first major classic, the gloriously anthemic "Who Could Change." The melody is built around a two-note foundation, a foundation that has led to some classics through the years (e.g. "Imagine," "Isn't it a Pity") and scores of tacky anthems, and I really think this song comes out strongly on the positive end of things. It's a song that really benefits from John's "shaky" voice, in much the same way that his parts in "Isn't Life Strange" benefit, and the contrast between John's voice and the incredible build in the arrangements (including guitar parts that sound uncannily like Hayward at his best but which apparently aren't) as the song goes on really impresses me. A hardcore Moody Blues fan that hasn't heard this song is a sad hardcore Moody Blues fan indeed.
Unfortunately, the album falters pretty badly in the second half. The track immediately following "Who Could Change" ("Broken Dreams, Hard Road") is shockingly clumsy sounding after the songs that had come before it, and the weak reggae of "Piece of My Heart" doesn't make me feel any better either. "Rainbow" is a rather nice, albeit schmaltzy, orchestrated ballad, while neither "Children of Rock and Roll" nor "Street Cafe" sound as powerful or interesting as John seems to think they should. They're not bad, but they're not that great, either. Plus, the CD version ends with a bonus single, "I Threw it All Away," where John inexplicably tries to do what sounds like a Bryan Ferry imitation to my ears, and the mix of saxophones and female backing singers doesn't seem tasteful at all to me.
However, in the midst of the dreck of the second side, there is one more ballad that stands up to anything John wrote in his career with the Moodies. "Say You Love Me" is basically the template for all of the great ballads he did later, and I'm not sure he ever topped this one. The first half of each verse melody is only mildly interesting, but the second half of each verse, leading into each repetition of the chorus, is one of the most powerful bits of music (ignoring the lyrics, which are largely predictable given the title) mentioned on this whole page. There's just something amazing to me about that chord sequence, and the way John belts those lines with all of his charmingly limited might, that makes the song get stuck in my head all the time. Plus, there are some nice bits of guitar window dressing throughout, and a curious descending synth sound that pops up from time to time. Great song.
So overall, this is a pretty inconsistent offering, one I could probably give a smaller grade if I were feeling cynical, but it's definitely one I like on the whole. The peaks are great, and there are enough good songs for me to give this a 9 without too much consternation. The album was out of print for a long time, but hey, I found a CD copy of it, so it can't be impossible. Hardcore Moodies fans should definitely look for this.
RRJOSEF.aol.com (01/13/09)
Well, I do agree with you about "Say You Love Me", which is the most
powerful ballad John wrote post-Core 7. The sweeping orchestration
gives the song a 'Hey Jude" kind of effect, with the repetition at
the end complimenting John's emotional vocals perfectly.
However, the rest of the album doesn't thrill me. The rest of the
string arrangements are incredibly sappy, the woodwinds on the title
track sound hopelessly hokey, and let's not get started on most of
the lyrics.
However, the biggest flaw is that John's voice, always the weakest in
the Moodies, is too thin to carry a complete album of material. He
sounds very strained throughout most of it, and overdubbing himself
on harmonies doesn't help. Small wonder that he never did another
solo album. "Say You Love Me" might be worth finding, but forget
about an extended search for the rest of it.
This is one of the album covers that misses a lot when transferred to
the smaller CD format. Roger Dean did it, combining his surrealistic
cloud skyscape with photography of a sunset. The lyric sheet has more
photos of beautiful sunsets. Interesting that I'm more enthusiastic
about the cover than the music..
By the way, "Street Cafe/"I Threw It All Away" was a single released
a couple of years after the album. Supposedly, it's how the Moodies
linked up with Pip Williams.
David Sheehan (dawningistheday.yahoo.com) (01/13/09)
I was surprised by the relative quality of this one. I think it's
better than Songwriter (Hayward's release from the same year), at
least. I think I'd probably give it a 10 overall rather than an 11,
but that's just quibbling. I agree that "Who Could Change" and "Say
You Love Me" are the best songs on here, but I think "Say You Love
Me" comes in first by a fair margin. "Broken Dreams, Hard Road"
reminds me strongly of "Question" in structure, but that's all.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Gerard Nowak (dzynj.wp.pl) (01/13/09)
I was somewhat surprised to see so high a rating, still bearing in mind the one-star Rolling Stone Record Guide review,
which shrugged the record off as “weak and precious” – it struck me as a very suitable assessment. But I must say I agree
with most of your opinions, and you phrased them neatly enough. I mean the “second bananas” tag, and the general remarks as
for the beginning of the album. The only disagreement, though a crucial one, is over Who Could Change.
I got to know the album when I was 18, which is 14 years ago, I was a hardcore fan back then, and Blue Jays my no.1 record
of all-time. Even back then I would say Natural Avenue was mediocre, I was not at all pleased with the predictable
orchestral arrangements, Lodge’s vocals, and the guitar tone stripped off Hayward’s heavenly distortion, and the whole aura
of the album seemed somewhat flat and mundane. But yes, the Intro sounded promising enough, with this harmonic resolution on the word “why”, not unlike the massive four-piece Moody Blues harmony. The title track was the only novelty of the album I
accepted eagerly, I agree with your description of the track to a word, and would only mention the almost clumsy harmonica
solo, which fits the near-clumsiness of the whole song perfectly. That was fresh and unexpected. Then come Summer Breeze and Carry Me, which set the tone for the rest of the proceedings. The melodies are really beautiful, and the lyrics (the
familiar combination of the hopeful and the naive) add to the warm feeling you mentioned. Plus Carry Me boasts a beautiful
flute solo. But my problem with this album had already started by then – even these two melodies seemed slightly
insubstantial for this elaborate orchestral backing, and there were not enough melodic ideas to justify the length of both.
Now, 14 years on, I can finally, though reluctantly, sum up my feelings with a short “songwriting shortcomings” dismissal,
and again this is something you mentioned in the review: a whole album of self-penned songs proved too big a challenge for
John Lodge.
Now, for a matter of contention, I always considered Who Could Change the worst song on the album, consisting basically of
one melodic hook, which by the way reappeared in a better setting as Lean On Me. It might have been quite nice on its own,
or in between a Thomas’ song and a Pinder’s song, but after Breeze and Carry (which have much better melodies), this one
exhausted me by repeating the same overall tone. Say You Love Me works much better for me, the melody seems more
substantial, and the vocal delivery in the chorus is indeed very impressive. Still, the song I like most on the album,
alongside the title track, is – surprisingly enough – Broken Dreams Hard Road! These strained vocals finally make sense here
and the soaring melody is awesome! Unfortunately the middle section once again comes back to the middling standards of the
previous tracks.
Out of the remaining songs, I like the melody of Rainbow, though it is marred by rather stupid lyrics. On the other hand the
Piece of My Heart lyrics are both daring and puzzling (“and the little boy/ is three/ does he look like me?”), and I kind of
like this song, perhaps for its slightly sinister and orchestra-free feel. Children of Rock And Roll is basically dull.
My rating: 5 out of 10.
Best song: Driftwood
Yeah, yeah, I can hear the groans from all over
the world as I'm typing this, but c'mon people, it isn't that bad.
Sure, it sucks in a few places, and it has a number of general weaknesses,
but I insist that these aren't enough to drag it below a 8.
Actually, I guess part of the problem is that, in many ways, this album
was doomed almost from the beginning. All of the members had gotten to get
some solo work out of their systems, and they were all willing to reform
the band, but Mike's heart just wasn't in it. He had become a family man,
living in California, and he didn't want to give that up just yet. Willing
to accomodate him, the band headed out to California for the recording
sessions, but even with that bonus, Pinder couldn't make it the whole way.
Hence, he only contributes a single song, and the presence of mellotron on
this album is scant at best. Hence, the band had to mostly turn towards
synthesizers, although by no means could one say the album is 'infested'
with them, and for a good reason. You see, just as crippling as Pinder's
change of heart was the loss of producer Tony Clarke; in the middle of the
sessions, his marriage managed to go kapoot, and seeing as there are no
other producer credits for the album, this would help to explain the
general sound of it. There is VERY little in the way of production on this
album; with few exceptions, the sound is very midrange, with little oomph
in either the high or low ends of the audio spectrum.
There's also the issue that it seems the band wasn't exactly sure what
direction they wanted to go with this album. There is very little
resemblance to the 'classic' sound on this album; besides the fact that in
many ways, the songs seem like they would belong on each of their
respective solo albums, there is very little flute on this album.
Maybe they decided that a full-fledged resurrection of their previous
style would peg them as 'dinosaurs,' or maybe it was just all of the
distractions surrounding its making, but the fact remains that this is the
first Moody Blues album that could be called 'unfocused.'
But if you can get past that, there isn't too much to dislike about
this recording. The only one who really does a bad job is Thomas, although
to be fair, his contributions aren't just bad, they're absolutely awful.
To my ears, "Under Moonshine" is a collection of melodic and lyrical ideas
that might have been good on their own, but all thrown together and as
undeveloped as they are, the effect is miserable. As for "I'm Your Man,"
well, I wish I could at least give it that 'compliment'; am I the only one
who thinks that it sounds like the theme to a 70's soap opera? Horrid,
dull, boring stuff. Nice singing (Ray's voice is getting better with age)
but that's it.
But other than that ... I can honestly say that to some degree, I like
every other song on this album. Lodge's "Steppin' in a Slide Zone" doesn't
sound too much like anything the band had ever done before, but it's a
really catchy pop-rocker, and the harmonies are quite reminiscient of "I'm
Just a Singer" (not to mention that the song worked extremely well live with an
orchestra, and well even without one). Edge's "I'll Be Level With You" is similar, and I guess this
labels me a dork, but I enjoy that song just fine. The lyrics are kinda
dumb, sure, and if you want to be annoyed by the guitar tone (a really weird sound Hayward had dabbled with a couple of times before), you will,
but otherwise there's really nothing wrong with it. Meanwhile, both Lodge
and Pinder (he did get in one song before he left) contribute great
numbers to side two. John's "Survival" has a wonderful melody with a
soaring, well-orchestrated chorus, and any fan of the 'core 7' will
absolutely adore it. Finally, in my not so humble opinion, Pinder's "One
Step Into the Light" is beautiful. Pompous and overly self-referential,
sure, but an absolutely perfect ending to his Moodies recording career,
and he seems at peace in music for perhaps the first time ever.
The hero of this album, however, is most definitely Hayward. Although,
again, none of his contributions sound much at all like his songs of old,
each and every one of them is terrific. Even the 'throwaway' "Top Rank
Suite" (a celebration of the recent ending of his contract with Top Rank
Inc., which owned the rights to all of his songs, thanks to his naivety
back in 1966) is humorous enough to be good, with nice saxophone work and
ebullient singing. And the ballads are simply superb. "Had to Fall in Love"
is a bit simple, yes, but the harmonies are nice, and this is one of the
cases where the lack of production really helps the sound.
"Driftwood" is one of his best songs ever, with meaningful, memorable
lyrics, a nice melody, and a pleasant sax solo at the end that seems as if
it was sent down from heaven to perfect the rest of the song. And, last
but certainly not least, we have a beautiful anthem about the sorrow of
saying goodbye (not to mention that it's dedicated to Mike), "The Day We
Meet Again." The synth sounds in the beginning, while a bit clumsy, work
absolutely perfectly in the context of the sadness surrounding the album
and the song, and once again, the emotions of Hayward pour themselves all
over his vocals and his playing, making this one of the most
heart-wrenching odes of his career. If you can't get moved by it, well, I
guess you've never been there.
This is a wonderful album. Parts suck, sure, but I guess there's only so
much you can expect after a six-year hiatus. And this meets my
expectations just fine. If you can listen to it without repeatedly saying
to yourself, 'eew, this doesn't sound like the core 7, so it must be
icky,' you too will enjoy it.
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
When I first got this, I was excited...THE MOODIES REUNITE! And, "Slide
Zone" was as exciting an opening track, as "See Saw" had been long before.
But what happened after that? "Under Moonshine" is just not a good song at
all. "I'm a Man" is just fine, though...Thomas writes directly about
vulnerability, always a high point in my book. "One Step", though very
awkward lyrically, does manage to work..."Had to Fall In Love" is probably
THE classic tune on this album...simple, plaintive, gorgeous melody (I
learned it on guitar)...I am sorry, but I have never been wild about
"Driftwood", tho other parts of the album do shine a bit..."Top Rank Suite"
is snappy, and different, but is this the place where the Moodies sounded
so different that they weren't the Moodies anymore? Again, I apologize, but
"The Day We Meet Again" and "Driftwood", while containing nice melodies,
are just kinda lifeless...when I heard this album for the first time, I
thot "something is wrong here"....as Justin Hayward wrote in an earlier
song, "You can never....go home....any more". Dave
Trfesok.aol.com (6/27/04)
This was a MAJOR disappointment when it was first released, and it took a
long time for it to grow on me. The only reason that it wasn't more
jarring at the time for me is that I had bought several of the solo
albums in the interim. And, yes, you're right, half of the songs --
Thomas's two, "Survival", "One Step", "Top Rank Suite" (funky Moodies is
NEVER good Moodies) sound like outtakes from those albums. In an
interview around the time of The Present, Ray stated that the timing of
the album was a mistake -- that they should have toured prior to
recording it, to reestablish themselves as a unit. Not that they could
have convinced Pinder, but anyway..
It's clear that the band was unsure about it's direction, except that
they didn't want to go back to their Mellotron-drenched past. But this
album makes it apparent (as did Pinder's The Promise and Hayward's
Songwriter) that the band is not yet comfortable with the use of synths.
I'm convinced that there's no Mellotron at all, despite Mike's
declaration in "One Step". The sound, instead, seems to be based on ARP
synths, which just don't sound as majestic. And the use of real strings
on "Under Moonshine", "I'm Your Man", and "Survival", as on Thomas's and
Lodge's own albums, makes the songs sound like overblown, sappy MOR
instead of classical.
Still, there is quite a lot of the band's identity on the songs --
namely, Hayward's electric fuzz leads and those great, massed vocal
harmonies. And there are a number of decent songs. I find the saxes
intrusive and on "Driftwood" (I find any sort of "black" influences at
all totaly out of place in the Moodies sound), but the song itself is
lovely. "Had to Fall in Love" provides a nice, rare, intimate moment.
Agreed, "The Day We Meet Again" is an emotionally powerful finale, with a
lot of the good old bombast. I really like Edge's number a lot, and was
one of the few songs on the album that came across great live. Good
lyrics (about his son, I think) and great vocals. And the synth and bass
flute on "Slide Zone" help bring back some of the mystery of the band. It
usually gets the nod for best song, and I might agree. I do think that
"One Step" has very nice melody, but that wimpy electric piano and the
absolutely overdone lyrics don't do it service.
This record could probably only be recommended to a very seasoned
Moodies fan. A transitional album that doesn't have enough of either its
60's/early 70's sound or its 80's/90's sound.
Bob
"David Sheehan" (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (11/13/09)
I agree that this album is not THAT bad. I also agree with the overall
ten. That said, it is certainly (according to me) their worst album so
far. I tend to like 'Under Moonshine' a little better than you seem
to, but it really does sound like an outtake from From Mighty Oaks.
It's okay, but no better than that. 'I'm Your Man', however, really
does blow. Big time. I think it's the only really bad song on the
album. It's also a blatant rip off of Ray's own song 'Didn't I' from
Hopes Wishes and Dreams, which also sucks almost as bad. Unlike you, I
definitely would not pick 'Survival' as the album's best track. It's
too long! The whole last couple of minutes have no excuse for being
there at all; they just repeat the same thing over and over. Blah.
It's decent, but I think most of the other tracks are better. I really
like 'Steppin' in a Slide Zone' waaayyy more than is probably healthy,
so I guess that would be my top pick. It's just so retarded and catchy
(sort of like 'Sitting at the Wheel' would be a few years later) that
I just can't help myself. I'd say the same applies to 'Top Rank
Suite'. That's probably the Moody Blues' most unjustly hated track.
Oh, and thanks for giving props to 'One Step into the Light'. I really
like it as well, and even with its over the top New Age-y lyrics, I
still find it powerful. It is a great swansong for Mike with the MB.
Overall, I'd say 7 of the 10 tracks are at least good, 2 are decent,
and only one is embarrassing. That's a far cry from their worst album
ever, which seems to be its reputation among hard core fans.
"Dan Hogg" (dantheman_sg27.yahoo.com) (05/13/10)
This album perplexes me. I went through a pretty involved Moody Blues phase in late
'04-early '05, and again in late '06. It's odd that such a through-and-through
mediocre album as this one grabs me. All three Hayward's ballads are allright, some
a little better than others. "Survival" is cool, "One Step" is ehh, and both Ray
Thomas songs are no good. The other three have some bizarre grip on me. "Top Rank
Suite" is so wack and not Moody Blues-like, makes me think 'yeahhhhh don't ever do
that again," "I'll Be Level With You" has such a braindead riff, bad lyrics, yet I
still listen intently each time. And oh man "Slide Zone"....what the living daylight
is a slide zone, it must be important??? The solemn chorus is one of the most
gloriously, hilariously stupid moments in my entire collection. Yet I like "Slide
Zone," and despise "Level." Maybe you can explain the grip???
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
By the time this came along, I had got fed up of waiting for The Moodies to reform, and my tastes were going off in different
directions. Still, I welcomed the chance to savour some new Moodies material.
For the first time since In search of ...., the Moodies produced some songs that I hated (I still dislike them), namely Under
Moonshine, Top Rank Suite, I'm Your Man. Three bum songs in an album is rather a lot.
Fortunately, they compensated with the rest of the album, which varies from solid to outstanding. The closing trio of Survival/One
Step Into The Light/The Day We Meet Again is a fabulous run of fine songs in the best Moodies tradition. Wonderful.
Driftwood and I'll Be Level With You are also great songs.
On balance, I'm glad they made this, but it can never be a favorite, due to the above mentioned bum tracks.
Best song: Meanwhile
After losing both Pinder and Clarke in the Octave
sessions, it was assumed by most that this was merely a temporary
situation, and that when the band recorded its next album the lineup would
return to standard form. Even Pinder himself was under the impression that
he would still have the opportunity to work with the band in the studio,
even if he had little desire to go touring again. Imagine his surprise
when he learned through the media a couple of years later that the band
was working on a new album without having contacted him. Effectively, Mike
had been dumped without the rest of the band letting him know of it (btw,
the story of Pinder being ready to sign the contract to go on the
Octave tour but that he couldn't because he started shaking greatly
at the very thought of leaving his family again is just a myth; it's a
nice story, but Pinder's side, which I am more ready to believe, is what I
have previously written).
Pinder's replacement for the Octave
tour, and ultimately for the next few albums, was a man by the name of
Patrick Moraz, who was most notable for having played on Yes'
Relayer album (the new producer, btw, was some guy named Pip
Williams, about whom I know nothing). Now don't get me wrong - I do NOT hate Moraz in general, as he was a fabulous jazz-fusion keyboardist capable of doing all sorts of stuff. I mean, "Gates of Delirium" is my favorite Yes song,
and that is in no small part due to Moraz's exceptional work. Alas, he turned out fundamentally incompatible with The Moody Blues, if only because of a complete inability to exercise restraint. See, much of his work in the 70's involved hyperactive, energetic burts of all sorts of cool stuff, and it fit in because the other bandmates were doing similar things. Unfortunately, well, The Moody Blues were simply not of the same make and model as Relayer-era Yes; not inferior necessarily, but different for sure. Alas, Moraz didn't seem to realize that, and because he desired to be excessive while the others weren't, he inevitably became the forefront of the
group's new sound, and given that he had undergone a major technophillian update in his sound to match the 80's, this is bad. Side two sees him pull back a bit, but on side one, his synths
are EVERYWHERE. Add in that he seemingly desired to sound as "hip" as possible, and you have an album that, for much of it, sounds ridiculously dated. Stupid little *zap* noises, disco-style rhythms and
sounds and all, the result is that it is very hard at first to accept this as the Moodies we had come to know and love. You can get used to it, but it's a struggle.
And yet, despite Patrick's every attempt to make this album suck, he simply
cannot, because the songs are terrific. Both Hayward and Lodge still had
their wonderful sense of melody, and Justin's vocals were still going
strong at 35. The only track which comes close to being bad is the purely
disco "Gemini Dream," but even that is somewhat catchy. Justin and John pull
out some nice harmonies and vocal hooks, and almost manage to make it a
good song despite Moraz's refusal to shut up. And the rest is all between
good and great. The opening "The Voice," with a spacey intro to the album,
is a wonderfully catchy pop-rocker in the grand tradition of "Ride my
See-Saw," with solid Hayward vocals and just enough guitar to distract you
from the *zap* noises (however, the live version, with an orchestra,
absolutely blows the original away). Lodge's seven minute "Talking Out of
Turn" is even better, with effective bits of orchestration, sad yet
optimistic lyrics about losing a loved one due to not being able to shut
up, and guitar parts that help to hammer it all home.
After "Gemini Dream," we get two more Hayward
classics, each better than the last (if that makes sense, but I don't
think it does. Oops). "In My World" is a stunningly beautiful ode of love,
with gentle acoustic strummings and tasteful keyboard work. For years, I wanted this to be the song I danced to on my wedding day, and while I eventually went with different selections, I don't feel shame in having considered this for so long. Simply gorgeous stuff. And
it gets better too. Meanwhile is an absolutely fantastic song, with
completely on-the-money vocals about the pain of loving someone when it
isn't returned or when you had your shot and blew it. And the keyboards
actually sound very nice; lovely, bubbly tones without crappy synth noises
anywhere. Beautiful, just beautiful.
Side two is a bit different, but
not necessarily much weaker. Edge's "22,000 Days" is a pretty good song,
with decent lyrics and nice harmonizing on everyone's part. Of course, I
could do without Edge's "and get it right" snarl in the chorus, but other
than that it isn't bad. Fortunately, if you didn't like it, immediately
following is another beautiful lost-love ballad, Lodge's Nervous.
True, the chorus is just pablum, but those verses, those beautiful verses
... once again, if these lyrics and the way they're sung don't hit you, I
guess you just haven't been there. Of course, I'm almost always
there, so I guess that's why it works so well on me ...
Finally, we
have Thomas' chunk of contributions, one of the great love it/hate it
dichotomies in the group's whole catalogue. His "Painted Smile"/"Reflective
Smile"/"Veteran Cosmic Rocker" suite is, on the surface, a completely lame
self-parody of all of his work from the 'glory' years. The thing is,
though, I really, really like it. It is SO whack and SO self-mocking that
you can't help but think that that is what Ray intended from the very
beginning. Besides, the songs are memorable, Ray's voice sounds great,
there's a nice flute/synth jam in the middle of "VCR," and the lyrics range
from realistically sad to absolutely hilarious. And I just adore that
"Heeee's afraaaaid that heeeeee wiiiiiiiilllllll diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie,"
part that Ray belts out with all of his might, followed by Moraz's
multi-octave arpeggio and closing chords. Of course, you might hate it,
but that's your problem, not mine.
As you know, I am not an enormous fan of the 80's as a whole, or at least the 80's as generically depicted in history (there's a lot of good stuff buried underneath the surface, but man you have to dig). And yet, as much of a mainstream 80's album as much of this is, I can't remotely dislike this. There are too many keyboards, yes, but there's not yet any
sense of a "sell-out" soundwise. Of course, many Moodies fans refuse to
acknowledge the band's existence from this time forward, and that's their
perogative.
Scottartist.aol.com
Thank you, thank you for stating that MEANWHILE is your favorite song from
LDV. I didn't think anybody had even noticed this song but me. For
all the hits and classics Hayward has written for the Moody Blues, he has
a long list of songs that are criminally overlooked, and this is one of
them. It's a tight little gem, a masterpiece in an overblown album. Funny
how the group utterly dismisses Moraz stay now. He's no longer credited on
the songs recorded during his period- not as a full member, I mean. I
never did care for him or the sound he brought, myself. Mike Pinder's
mellotron made the Moodie's sound. Moraz' synths sounded like everybody
elses' in the 80's. The Ray Thomas tryptych is obviously a parody, as the
group had been trying to tell the world that they were not prophets.
VETERAN COSMIC ROCKER, Like FOR MY LADY, got loads of airplay, and
could've been a hit single if the group ever had considered a Ray Thomas
song for an A-side. (Unless the failure of the Thomas co-written WATCHING
AND WAITING scared them off)
Trfesok.aol.com (11/25/06)
I really disagree with you on this one. This the album Octave should
have been. The band recaptured the cohesion they obviously couldn't
before. And I do think that Moraz was one big reason for this. While
I agree that his presence got to be increasingly irritating as time
progressed, here, I find his arrangements to be supportive and
tasteful, never overwhelming the songwriting. His virtuosity and
facility with synths, at this point, was exactly what the band
needed. Of course, the group members gave him a great set of songs
to work with. Some of the songs recall the group's psychedelic days
("The Voice" and especially "22,000 Days," which really sounds like
"One More Time to Live"). Ray's tracks are a very pointed comment on
rock stardom, and very catchy. "Meanwhile" was one of the half dozen
tracks which got airplay, and I agree that it's underrated. Jealousy
in a Moodies song! Some say that "Talking Out of Turn" and "In My
World" go on too long, but I don't agree. It's like they had so many
arrangement ideas that they had to make them longer so they could try
them all. Really nice stuff. "Nervous" is a bit annoying, John
continuing to clone "Say You Love Me" and "Survival," but at least
it's a better production.
The only track I absolutely cannot stand, of course, is the idiotic
"Gemini Dream." This is where, I think, your 80's beef comes into
full play, with that monotonous beat, those stereotypically staccato
New Wave synth chords, dumb lyrics and that embarrassing stuttering
effect on the vocals. Totally out of place in the Moodies sound.
Unfortunately, it was a big single, so much so that they kept trying
to pull it off again!
Except for that song, though, I think it's the only post-"Core 7"
album that's as good as those classics. I'd actually give this one a
9. Non-hardcore fans, though, can bail out after this point.
Robert St. (presto1989.yahoo.com) (02/13/12)
Bear with me on this dull story.
I just read your review of this album as I am listening to it now (on a promo vinyl version no less), and what drove me to write to
you was that I think Ray Thomas's contributions to the band have been so overlooked, and you liked his contributions here.
Funny thing is, I was born in July 1969, and was exposed to a top 40 station in southern New England all through my summer vacation
in 1981. I HATED both Gemini Dream and The Voice as they came on the radio almost constantly from May to September. About four
years later, in 1985, I came upon both singles in a used record store and bought them for sentimental reasons (yeah, nostalgia at
15, go figure). In addition, I had just bought a box of about 200 45's from a yard sale down the street and realized I had a
Moodies single in there ("Nights in White Satin", more on that in a few).
So began my journey into the Moody Blues, and I wanted, of all things, "Long Distance Voyager". First, though. I got the "Voices
in the Sky" compilation (because it covered 1967-83) for my birthday in '85. Yeah I coulda had This Is the Moody Blues. I got
that a couple weeks later after a nose operation (sympathy).
I got a used copy of "Voyager" the same day I got a reissue of "A Question of Balance" (so that's my first "Classic 7" Moodys
album). Anyway, Voyager is a great album. I do have a special place for Ray Thomas songs. He's an underrated contributor to the
band and he was sorely under represented on the Time Traveler box. I have favorites like "Twilight Time", "Lazy Day", "Floating",
"Eternity Road", "Nice to Be Here". And "Celtic Sonant" from Keys to the Kingdom is a personal favorite.
I'm glad I discovered your site and will read more reviews (and probably respond).
StarRiders.aol.com (03/13/12)
I like Long Distance Voyager. I agree that Patrick Moraz over-played, but somehow it all works. Yes, the Moody Blues tried to get
a bit hip here, but there is still the Moody Blues. The Voice is one of my favorite Moody Blues songs.
I've been a fan of the Moody Blues since the beginning and have tickets to see them next month.
Best song: Blue World
The Moodies,
throughout most of
their history, have tried to distance themselves from this album. In fact,
they have refused to play any songs off of it since the The Other Side
of Life tour in 1986. However, this knowledge should not be taken as
an indictment of the album itself, but rather of the circumstances
surrounding it. Afterall, the guys were all in their late 30's now, and
they were coming to grips with the fact that their youth was slipping
away. In particular, Edge was enduring his second divorce (correct me if
I'm wrong), but that was just an extreme case. And, knowing the Moodies
as we do, this couldn't help but result in a very introspective, but also
very mature sound.
I think that the biggest problem that several fans have with this album is
a direct result of that fact; whatever traces of 'rock' that could be
found on their older albums are completely gone, replaced with a solid
mixture of various pop elements and, of all things, some country. Well,
all I can say is this; as people get older, their musical tastes tend to
mellow. The Moody Blues were about as mellow as any group around, and that
was before they got old. Country is a mellow genre. Therefore, it
should be expected that their would be some country elements in their
sound.
It's not as if these elements are
everywhere, though. Moraz is still very much alive and kicking, and
his keyboards and matching production are definitely abundant throughout.
In other words, nobody's going to confuse this with a Hank Williams album
anytime soon. I'd say only three of the ten tracks have any country in
them at all, and they're all good tracks. For starters, we have Lodge's
absurdly catchy "Sitting at the Wheel," a
half-pop/half-rock/half-country/half-something that sounds like almost
nothing else the band had ever done before nor would ever do again. The
lyrics are memorable, ESPECIALLY the chorus, the synths actually help out,
and Hayward's guitar solo at the end is this neat slide thing with a
really cool tone. And apparently, it sounded awesome live; it's too bad
that there's no official release of it. In any case, following is one of
Edge's best songs, his loneliness anthem "Going Nowhere." Thomas' deep
vocals help provide a sorrow that he might not have been able to create
ten years previous, and the vocal melodies and harmonies are simply
classic. Maybe it's a bit long, with Moraz going a bit far with random
wanking at the end, but I still enjoy it to death. Finally, the third
country song on the album (not to mention the one where the influence is
most obvious), is Hayward's sad It's "Cold Outside of Your Heart." Say what
you will, but it's pretty, and the laments for "someone waiting for me"
... wow. Just wonderful.
In any case, the rest of the album is mostly
just various pop songs with '83 production, but that doesn't mean they
suck or anything. The only song on the album that could be called bad is
Lodge's "Under my Feet," which has never really done anything for me one way
or the other. But even that has a solid introduction, the memorable
instrumental "Hole in the World." Now, military marches aren't really the
group's forte, but the really pull it off, with Edge's drums, Hayward's
guitar, and Moraz's keys coming together to form an authoritarian, regal
atmosphere. Meanwhile, the opening depressing "Blue World," my favorite song from the band in the 80's, is a terrific
number, with a hooky bassline, a superb vocal melody by Justin, and manages
to create the general atmosphere of, well, a blue, saddened world. Next,
Justin and John combine to create the wonderful, absolutely beautiful "Meet
Me Halfway." Everything works in this song. It's sad yet cheerful,
and the hopeful "won't you meet me halfway" pleas will tear at your
heartstrings.
Moving onto side two, we find another beautiful Justin
song, the gorgeous "Running Water." It's a very simple song, and yet ... it
just works. I have no idea how else to do it justice. The lyrics, the
melody, and the keyboards all pull their part superbly, especially the
line, "we'll live to love another day." Nothing particularly brilliant
about it, I suppose, but I love it. So there. In any case, we close out
things with two Thomas ditties. The first is a strange
pseudo-universalistic 60's style voice of God number entitled "I Am." Lots
of flute on this one (enjoy it while it lasts; it's going away for a few
years), and it is here that one can truly appreciate just how much better
Ray's voice has gotten since he began. The second ("Sorry") is better,
though. As
cheesy as the lyrics can be, with Ray talking to his lover about her
afterglow, the melody rules, and regardless of how much corny production
there is, it just doesn't get in the way. And, as usual, the song
definitely falls into the 'mature' category.
In short, this is a very
solid album that has the fault of being a product of its time. I knock it
a point because while the production is certainly less 'cheezy' than last
time, it also shows greater potential to seriously annoy this listener
just because it's in every nook and cranny of the sound. Regardless, this
album is terrific, and their last great album for several years.
Dave H. (omni45.verizon.net)
There are moments on both of these Moody Blues records that reach me.
But...for some reason, and I have played both of them a lot...they just
aren't as "Memorable" as their classic period stuff. Tho, I do like "Hole
In The World", how it carries forth the drum-marching motif into an entire
song...I love "Blue World", and especially "The Voice"...for me, "Talking
out of turn" is a bit too long and mundane......I found the bit about "I am
the son of Love" to be a little bit scary...but...one reason I admire these
albums, is because Ray Thomas was given half of side two, of each album, to
express himself...it is almost as if, the next album, "The Other Side Of
Life" is nothing more than a synthesized Blue Jays album...and I am not a
big fan of that album...and "The Other Side of Life", for me, is a
candyassed attempt at street-level realism by Hayward...I just kinda think
it is not a very good song. But...I will have to listen to these albums
again and again, I believe, to really be able to talk about them
intelligently...it is sad, but for the life of me, I can't even REMEMBER
most of the songs on these albums. Not the way I instantly remembered
everything on "In Search Of The Lost Chord"...can it be....the songs....on
these newer albums...just aren't that memorable? Hope not....Dave
Trfesok.aol.com (11/25/06)
Again, I disagree -- I do find The Present to be a downturn from LDV.
This time, I do think Moraz gets a lot of the blame here. His
keyboards are thicker, less varied in tone, and frequently bury the
guitars. Plus we don't get any of the tasteful string arrangements
like on "Nervous" and "Talking out of Turn." The production is more
generic -- the latter day Alan Parsons Project came to mind the first
time I played it. The lyrics are also getting weaker, either too
sketchy ("Blue World," "Meet Me Halfway," "Sitting at the Wheel") or
too trite ("Running Water," "It's Cold Outside of Your Heart").
Still, it's pretty listenable. "Blue World," despite the lyrics, is a
classic, with that upfront bass and keyboard arpeggios creating a
perfect Moodies atmosphere. "Going Nowhere" is my other favorite,
with very moving lyrics -- although I really hate that awkward
phrase, "Although the new" -- what's with that, Graeme?
The rest I can sort of take or leave. Occasionally, there are some
interesting instrumental touches -- the synth clarinet solo on "Going
Nowhere"; the distorted harmonica on "Sorry"; the vocoder on "Hole in
the World." "I Am" would be a more interesting flashback to the
Core 7 days if it was longer than 41 seconds! And "Sitting on the
Wheel" was a far better lead off single than "Gemini Dream" --
bouncy without trying to be psuedo-funky, although Moraz's noodlings
are a bit out of place. And it's a big relief form the rather
somber mood of the rest of the album. I think that's why it was a
relative commercial failure -- it's dark, for the Moodies. Despite,
this is the last album that was at least tolerable from beginning to
end for a long time.,p>
I don't get why they totally ignore the album now, either. On
the tour, they played about half of the songs, and they came off
just fine. "Sitting on the Wheel," anyway, deserves a revival in
concert now.
"karon" (karon.karonadams.com) (04/13/11)
WOW! I hate that the band dislikes this album so much. it is one of my
favorites. Just for listening. Blue World and Sitting at the Wheel are two
of my favorite "Driving" songs. But, then, I am a Muscle Car girl. I have
been known, when I lived in Atlanta, to get in the car and just drive around
285 over and over listening to the Moodies. When these two songs played, I
would often have to slow down because I would catch myself zipping in and
out of traffic and worried I would be pulled over. Mind you, at the time, I
was a 30 something mother of two
Under My Feet is one of my all time favorite songs, all around. It saddens
me that John Lodge is not so proud of it. Perhaps it has to do with my life
at the time I heard it. my world was shaking in many ways and this song
expressed that for me. But, still, a couple of decades later, I still see my
world shaking in different ways, every day, and this song still speaks to me
about those changes. Everything changes. Now, my kids are in college, they
are leaving my life in a way and, Under My Feet, the world is giving way
again as I see my life change.
This my not be my overall favorite album, but it contains some of my
personal favorite songs.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
This is one of the last Moodies albums that I bought. I was penniless when it was released, and I couldn't afford it.
Subsequently, I found it hard to track down in the second-hand shops. Consequently, I'm not all that familiar with it.
Looking at the listing, the only tracks that trigger any emotion are Blue World, which I like, and Sitting At The Wheel, which I
don't. Otherwise, can't really comment.
Best song: Take Your Chances or Goodbye
Fortunately, the balance of the album is quite decent, if a little inconsistent. Predictably, much of it mines the same kind of territory as on the contemporary MB albums, which on the one hand means there are some solid gems, and on the other means that there some mildly embarrassing (though certainly nothing as bad as on "Silverbird") attempts at incorporating contemporary styles and technology. "One Again" is some sort of synthesized reggae, and while it has a surprisingly moving synthesizer sequence in the middle, it's just not very good at all. The title track could have been decent with a better arrangement, but the production and especially the generic saxophone work doom it to mediocre adult contemporary.
The rest is very nice. "Take Your Chances" has slightly worse-sounding production than I'd like, and the verses immediately expose that Justin's voice was starting to get old, but the song is otherwise every bit as good as all of Justin's other late-period songs in the same vein (e.g. "The Voice," "Your Wildest Dreams" etc). "Is it Just a Game" is another solid pop song, one that could have replaced most of the songs over the next two MB albums without drawing complaints from me; again, pretty standard Hayward, but that makes it lovely by default.
After hitting a terrible stretch that includes all three of the tracks I cited as mediocre or worse, the album finishes off quite strong. "Lost and Found," if nothing else, features a pleasant sequence in the breaks, and Justin's singing is pretty lovely. "Goodbye" is much better, though, featuring a playful melody that's full of nice hooks I'm happy to have playing in my head for as long as they want to stay. Then we have a nice throwback to the style of Blue Jays in "Who Knows," but it's way better of a throwback than "Silverbird" could ever be; those long-held notes might have sounded better with Justin's voice in its prime instead of starting its decline, but they're memorable notes nonetheless, and the orchestration sounds really nice here. "The Best is Yet to Come" is a slightly weaker and schmaltzier throwback to Blue Jays, but it's still a pretty sweet-sounding ballad, and a nice way to finish the main album. The bonus track single, "The Lights are Low," points the way strongly to the style and production of The Other Side of Life, but the song is alluringly moody, and while it was silly for Justin to think this would be a massive single, it's definitely a keeper.
So overall, while this isn't a great album, I do think this is about as good as could have been expected from Hayward around this time. I'd recommend it to any 80's Moody Blues who's curious, were it not for the fact that, as of writing, the CD is very out-of-print and costs an arm and a leg to obtain through various means. Still, if you can find the good tracks somewhere, they're worth a few listens.
David Sheehan (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (12/13/09)
I definitely agree with you about 'Silverbird.' While I like the basic
melody just fine, the song itself is far too long and repetitive, the
synthesized "percussive" tones are awful, and the female backing
vocals are absolutely horrid. It's a good example of a decent song
ruined by overproduction. On the other hand, the title track is ruined
by underdevelopment. To me it sounds like a poor, totally uninspired
rewrite of 'Driftwood.' Oh, and maybe it's just me, but I would think
that a song called 'Moving Mountains' would sound powerful, majestic,
hell, even bombastic....nope. Just plodding generic synths and a wimpy
vocal are enough to do the job apparently. You hit the nail on the
head about 'Who Knows' and 'The Best is Yet to Come' sounding like
Blue Jays throwbacks. 'TBiYtC' could've replaced 'Nights Winters
Years' quite nicely, and besides the saxophone in 'Who Knows,' I'd be
willing to believe it was a Blue Jays outtake if I didn't know better.
Oh, and one more observation: does anyone else think 'Goodbye' begins
awfully similarly to 'For My Lady?'
Best song: The Other Side of Life
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. After The Present topped off at 15 in Britain and 24 in the
US, easily their lowest overall chart positions ever, the group's midlife
crisis just got worse. And so, they entered the inevitable second phase of
any good crisis; pretending to be young, hip, and with it again. Hence,
they took on a new producer, Tony Visconti, as well as a new sound,
vintage 1986. What was the result? First of all, it meant bringing even
more in the way of electronics into the sound. Moraz got to be the center
of virtually everything, but Visconti also got to take control with tons
and tons of programming. Some guitars, but no more than absolutely
necessary, and of course almost none of the drumming is real. Second of
all, and just as devestating, was the removal of flutes and, consequently,
Thomas from the sound. Yes, he's pictured on the front and back cover, but
none of the songs are his, there's no flute at all, and whatever vocal
harmonies he might have contributed were completely wiped from the mix.
Apparently, Tony had decided that the best way for the group to regain a
large following was to market them as Justin, John, and a bunch of
backups. Unfortunately, this did not really prove to be the best of ideas,
and while the album peaked at #9 on the US charts, it was also easily
their worst album to date.
Still ... I mean, I wouldn't want to listen
to this much more than every other year, but it could be worse, a lot
worse. I mean, it was 1986 for crying out loud. The fact that there are
any good songs on here is cause for celebration. Actually, come to
think of it, the only songs that aren't that good are those that John had
a part in writing (of course, that's 5 of the 9, but hey). In fact,
there's only one song that I loathe, the amazingly bad electronic rocker "Rock 'N'
Roll Over You." If ever there was an argument for not letting former
masters of 60's production to get a hold of 80's technology, this would be
it. It's a stupid, stupid song, with awful lyrics, and that part at the
end is
simply hideous ("like a rock like a ro like like a like a ro like a rock,"
eeeeeew).
His other contributions are better, but are still little
better than generic 80's pop. "It May Be a Fire" is VERY dull, regardless of
the decent guitar solo at the end, and "Talkin' Talking," "Running Out of
Love," and "Slings and Arrows," while not awful by any means, are simply lame
attempts to be 'cool,' despite the fact that they're coming from 40 year
olds. I mean, c'mon, didn't it occur to them at all that they were making
themselves the targets of jokes, in the near future if not immediately
(like Pat Boone getting into heavy metal)? Oy.
However, I love the
other four songs on here. One of them, the Edge/Moraz co-written "The
Spirit," would normally sound almost overbearingly pompous with its
pseudo-universalistic lyrics ("But I can help for I am time ... I'm in you for I
am love"), but here it's just so nice to hear something other than
run-of-the-mill 80's pop that I can't help but love it. Meanwhile,
Hayward's three solo numbers are as solid as anything else he had done
with the Moodies, and are definitely what saves this album from a 5 or 6. The opening lost-love anthem "Your Wildest Dreams" fully deserved to be a
top ten hit for them (it also won the Grammy for best music video in
1986), with its nostalgic lyrics for both a woman in particular and the
spirit of the 60's in general. It has a wonderful melody, nice singing
regardless of the (by now) obvious decline in Justin's voice, and the
production actually helps (imagine that). There's also the pretty, simple
ditty "I Just Don't Care," with Hayward doing his best little lovesick boy
imitation and doing it very well. Plus, regardless of all the synths,
they're spare enough so as to not ruin the song.
The best of them all, however, the savior of the album and one of their best
songs of the 80's (and I stand by that, weirdly cheesy as it may be), is the wonderful title track. It's simply one verse and
a chorus repeated once a piece, with a reprise of the second half of the
chorus at the end, but it works. The bassline is VERY catchy, it
has an atmosphere completely unlike any other song of this album, and the
ever-so-slight risky nature of the lyrics is magnified wonderfully by
both the guitars and the keys. Great, great stuff (and live with an
orchestra, it's just an AMAZING experience).
As you might have guessed, this is not one of my favorite albums, but
there is definitely some solid music on here. Of course, most of the album
is completely disposable, but again, this is 1986 we're talking about.
Don't be afraid to buy it, if you're a big fan.
Trfesok.aol.com (11/25/06)
An even bigger downturn. "Your Wildest Dreams" is indeed a wonderful
tune, and I held out high hopes for the rest of the album, only to be
even more disappointed this time around. Visconti does get a huge
part of the blame, but, to be fair, the guys (except maybe for Ray,
who might as well not even be mentioned in the credits) were very
interested in exploring the latest technology. However, all these
sequencers, synths and drum machines render the band's music almost
totally mechanical and soulless. Of course, it doesn't help that the
songwriting continues to deteriorate. A lot of the lyrics are
increasingly simplistic and lazy. I agree that almost anything Lodge
hand a hand in here is atrocious, with the dumb attempts to produce
dance beats (even "Running Out of Love", which is just a slower
version of the other Justin/John collaborations). I knew "Gemini
Dream" was a bad idea, and here's the proof. Especially "Rock and
Roll Over You, agreed -- a profound embarrassment. This one,
"Talkin' Talkin'" and "Slings and Arrows" give even the worst stuff
on the next album competition for worst Moodies tracks ever.
"The Spirit" is interesting because of time signature changes that
are very unusual for the Moodies, although Edge's lyrics don't flow
well at all. The title track has grown on me over time, with above
average lyrics for this area. The novelty of hearing blues chord
progressions played on synths wore off quickly, though. However,
besides"YWD", there's only one other song that I'd put on a latter
day Moodies playlist. Lodge's "Say You
Love Me"=>"Survival"=>"Nervous" line leads this time to "It May Be A
Fire", but it's the only song he wrote here that I actually like. It
may be a repeat, and the lyrics are totally predictable, but it's
neat that Moraz was able to work out the orchestration totally on
keyboards instead of hiring strings to do that. Plus, Justin's solo
on the coda really lifts the song up. One of the few organic moments
on the album. If there had been more like these, maybe the album
would be more listenable, but, on the whole, this a really bad
direction to go in, and keep going in.
This tour was the first where they made big changes in their stage
show -- leather jackets, the female backing vocalists, Bias Boshell
on backup keyboards, brightly colored backdrops. I was sort of
appalled, but the crowd ate it all up. Edge, in particular, seemed to
be enjoying himself, even if he had drum machines helping him out on
the new stuff. Four of the songs made it to the concert :'' YWD"
(of course), "It May Be a Fire", the title track and "Rock and Roll
Over You" (bleah). Lodge also mentioned that it was included on the
soundtrack to "Karate Kid II", which was NOT an incentive to see the
film.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
I pretty much agree with your review. I love the title track. I like some others. I'm irritated by the rest. I could apply that
to most of their 1980s output.
Best song: Love And Beauty or A Simple Game
A nice little compilation of non-album tracks from the band's early days. Roughly speaking, the material can be split in two parts - songs marking their transaction from a typical British Invasion group to the artsy guys we know and love, and songs that can be found on the +5 portion of the Caught Live + 5 album. Of course, this album is VERY difficult to come buy, but given that (other than the +5 songs), these songs are either impossible to find or can only be found on the Time Traveller boxset, it'll probably be worth your while to look on e-bay for it. Likewise, it'll be worth your while to read about these songs here.
Of the six otherwise-unavailable songs, the biggest shock to average fans of the group will be that two of them really betray the group's R&B roots. That doesn't mean they're that good, of course - Pinder's "I Really Haven't Got the Time" is amusing but not much more, while Hayward's "Leave This Man Alone" only has a memorable but somewhat annoying chorus as its greatest attribute - but still interesting to hear from a historical perspective.
NOT SO with the other four songs. Pinder, in particular, comes up with a pair of HUGE winners, showing that if anybody was really responsible for the band's earliest successes, it was Mike. "Love and Beauty" is revolutionary for the group in a number of ways - one, it's the group's first instance of using a mellotron (which needless to say would be just a little bit important for the band later). Two, for the first time, the band has figured out how to harmonize in the manner that would make us all swoon to the floor. And third, it's the first song of the group to feature such a solid vocal melody and ESPECIALLY such an impeccable chorus. Not to mention that it features that tinge of depression that makes us love Mike so much, or that the song seems like the prototype for most of Genesis' debut.
The real piece de resistance, though, is "A Simple Game." Building upon the triumph of "L&B," this features the first manifestation of Mike's "cosmic" side, but only a slight tinge of it in the lyrics is featured - the song isn't overshadowed by psychedelia, like on Chord. And the choral melody and harmonies ... wow. I mean, WOW. Can you even BELIEVE this song is only available on out-of-print compilations??!! I mean, that has to be one of the most perfectly efficient melodies I have ever heard in my life, and that's even without taking into account the middle-eight. I command you to hear this song NOW, legally or illegally or whatever.
Now, of course, Hayward's other two contributions from this era can't hope to quite reach that level, but they're quite amusing nonetheless. The main piano line to "Fly Me High" does steal a bit from the Beatles' "She's A Woman," as pointed out elsewhere, but the vocal melody is considerably different. Plus, Justin's vocals are already in fine shape, and they have just enough bounce to them to make the song come alive. In contrast, "Cities" is a downbeat number about how much it sucks to live in cities, and Justin has vaguely ghostly quality to his voice that helps things even more. So yeah, it's enjoyable.
Oh, and what about the +5 material? I already told you about those songs (albeit far too concisely) in that review, and since I'm a busy man, I see no need to go over them again. So there. Get this album, in any case.
Dan Hogg (dantheman_sg27.yahoo.com) (02/12/05)
I agree with you on "A Simple Game," I had the chance to get it off
KaZaa and it is simply wonderful! Great harmonies and everything, should
have been an album track. An interesting note...I found out somehow on
AMG that the Four Tops covered that song in the '70s. It's true!! They
even made it a single, and it didn't do so well. Not only that, but they
covered "So Deep Within You"!!!!! When I heard THAT sample, I nearly
laughed my head off, hearing these guys put soul into a bad Pinder song
(sorry, that song always made me cringe, I'll add Moody Blues reviews to
my site someday). Very interesting trivia.
-Dan
Trfesok.aol.com (11/25/06)
The way that you demarcate the tracks, and the way the CD pretty much
arranges them, is by the order of release. However, it's more
illuminating to program them in the order in which they were recorded
-- 7 tracks preceding DOFP, 4 recorded around the time of
..Lost Chord, with the pointless "remix" (ooh, there's no cymbal
crash at the end! Big deal!) of "Late Lament" bridging the gap.
When you do that, it becomes pretty clear that the early Moodies
were floundering immediately post-Denny Laine, trying desperately to
find a direction. The tracks all sound quite dissimilar to each
other. The first session produced the "Fly Me High"/"I Really Haven't
Got the Time" single. The former is indeed a trippy fun pop song that
was perfect for 1967. The flip side, on the other hand, was already
pretty dated (footage is supposed to exist of the original band
performing it). but it's fun hearing Mike playing barrelhouse piano.
The next session produced "Long Summer Days" and "Leave this Man
Alone." The former has some very interesting hippie-esque lyrics, but
Pinder's piano arrangement is pretty bland. On the other hand,
Justin's guitar, to me, sounds out of tune on "Leave This Man
Alone!" Was that on purpose? Weird song.
The final set of sessions produced "Cities," "Please Think About It"
and "Love and Beauty." "Please Think About It" is an extremely
obvious rewrite of "Go Now" that, again, was dated by 1967. "Cities"
has very naive lyrics, but the harpsichord is a good touch. However,
they finally hit upon their original sound with "Love and Beauty."
With a bit of polish on the lyrics, it could have fit in on OTTAD
with no trouble.
The post-DOFP songs would have all been worthy additions to the Core
7. "Give Me A Little Something" is a bit slight lyrically, but sung
very nicely by Hayward. "What Am I Doing Here?" is unusually dark for
this point in the Moodies history.
Now, given all this, it should be noted that tracking down this CD is
unnecessary at this point. CL+5 is still in print, and all of the
other songs can now be found as bonus tracks on the new remasters of
DOFP and ..Lost Chord. The only thing missing from here is the stereo
mix of "Cities",which I prefer to the mono single. That's still on
Time Traveler, though I'm not too sure that's worth the price of a box
set!
Best song: I Know You're Out There Somewhere
Shoot me. Please, just kill me now. I love this band to death,
I really do, but this album is an embarassment of the highest level.
Apparently, the commercial success of TOSOL convinced the guys that
their future was as deliverers of icky, generic 80's pop. And whereas
Life had a number of great songs surrounded by harmless filler, its
successor merely has a few nuggets of decency in a sea of utter crap. I
mean, if there's one thing worse than 'hip' 80's pop, it's hip 80's pop
done by a bunch of 40 year old men enduring a midlife crisis and trying to
reclaim their youth with juvenile lyrics and corny production.
Ok, for starters, Ray Thomas didn't even bother to show up for the
recording sessions. Maybe he was ill, but my guess is that he was hurt by
the idea of being totally irrelevant to the new sound of the group.
Plus, if you thought there were too many keyboards on Life, you'll
be sickened here; suffice it to say that in addition to Moraz, both Justin
and John are also credited with keyboards. And, of course, even that is
drowned by the fact that Visconti wanted to program as much as he possibly
could, so real drums are a precious rarity. And the songs ... how can
these morons have done Children 19 years ago, or even The
Present 5 years ago? Oy.
Now, I'd say that there is one very good song on here, one.
Ironically, my initial prejudice against this album was based on my
exposure to this song on Legend of a Band, but regardless of the
production, "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" is a wonderful tune. Sure,
it's little more than a sequel to "Your Wildest Dreams," but the lyrics are
nice, and the melody is actually solid. And the 'emergence' from the
keyboard swamp back into the last verse is a beautiful, well-crafted
moment, and truly benefits the song. Good stuff. But there's some other
nice songs here. "No More Lies" is nice despite the ridiculously inane
lyrics, mainly because of the lightened production. Likewise for the
nostalgic "Vintage Wine," with a good acoustic melody and a recorder in the
background (remember, no flutes around).
A couple other songs aren't particularly great, but they're at
least somewhat ok (listenable, anyways). "Want to be With You" is too long,
and the synths are annoying, but it's more or less pretty, I guess.
There's also Lodge's "Love is on the Run," which actually shows brief
glimpses of solid lyrics, a decent melody, and a nice guitar sound
throughout. At least it doesn't want to make you vomit.
The rest, however, does. "River of Endless Love," "Here Comes the Weekend,"
"Breaking Point," "Miracle," and "Deep" are among the worst songs I have in my
whole collection. The only people that enjoy them, best as I can tell, are
middle-aged women who go to Moody Blues concerts to stare at the guys'
buns. I mean, "Deep" is all about Hayward wanting to have sex. A pretty good
guitar solo, sure, but otherwise it's absolutely disgusitng. Not as bad as
"HCTW," though. If one song can completely illustrate how pathetic this
album is, this would be it. Dear me, what in the hell was John thinking?
Ugh, ugh, ugh. I'm not gonna talk about the other songs; suffice it say
they're all horrible.
This album is miserable. It made them the laughing stocks of Polygram.
And, fortunately, it only peaked at #37. Don't buy it. Don't even consider
it.
Scottartist.aol.com
A middle-aged Moodies loving friend tells me SLM is his wife's
favorite
Moody Blues album, and that she plays it in the car all the time. Does
this
prove your point about who likes this collection? I don't want to say, but
you can infer. It's just so very sub-par.
MaxOmaggot.aol.com (8/15/01)
Oh, man, come on! River of Endless Love, Here Comes the Weekend,
Breaking
Point, Miracle, and Deep are my favourite songs on this album (along with
Vintage Wine and IKYOTS)! I feel so bad... because I really do like
them.
River of Endless Love, Deep, and Here Comes the Weekend are dark... and
Breaking Point is just shit-scary. You should give this album some more
listens... it's better than TOSOL, I think.
Jean Marlow (wolram.optushome.com.au) (4/29/04)
John, on behalf of all women of slightly advanced years, I have to take
issue with your comments. I love the Moodies, but I can't stand this album.
If I had never heard anything else by them, it would have passed through my
mind as a piece of meaningless fluff, but I actually PAID for the thing!
Full Price! Because so much that they had done before was good to great, I
figured that this would be too, and bought it. Unheard!
The lyrics are banal, the melodies are so-so, even the harmonies aren't
really that hot.
I don't have a problem with Hayward telling us he wants sex on *deep*-
probably half the great songs of the past forty years are saying exactly the
same thing. It's just that this isn't a great song. But it isn't his worst
song on the album. Why doesn't anyone see the irony in a song called *No
More Lies* being just so superficial and, yes, dishonest. It reeks of
insincerity, and from re-listening to it this past weekend, I'm not sure
that Justin didn't feel a fraud when he was singing it. At least I hope
that his insincerity stemmed from a realisation that if you call it *no more
lies*, there should be some truth in it.
I think that this may be the most disappointing album in my collection.
Pity, really, because a lot of their earlier work is among my favourites.
Trfesok.aol.com (10/19/05)
Sur La Merde is more like it. The only arguing point here is which
one is worse, this one or the last one. The thing is, most of these
songs could have been salvageable under other, non-80's
circumstances. The one exception is "Miracle," an incredibly bad
"Gemini Dream" rewrite. "GD" was bad enough, but this thing is
hopeless. The ballads have typically nice Justin and John melodies,
but are saddled with lyrics that are either clumsy ("Love is on the
run from me" -- nobody talks like that, Mr. Lodge!) or trite ("No
More Lies," "Want to Be With You," "Vintage Wine"). The only more
boring album closer that I can think of than "Deep" is Genesis'
"Fading Lights." The fast numbers are, of course, not much better
lyrically ("The River of Endless Love"?), but at least the melodies
are decent, even if they are buried in hideous textures. "Here Comes
the Weekend" is indeed to worst offender. It could have been a pretty
good surging pop-rocker. However, one can hardly believe that a guy
in his 40's wrote those lyrics, and Moraz's inappropriately
over-the-top keyboard arrangement is totally at odds with the words.
Bleah! I do disagree about "Breaking Point," which I think is the
best song. No one else seems to like it, but the arrangement is
relatively low-key, and the atmosphere is perfect for a song about a
guy on the brink of madness. Something very atypical for the Moodies.
Otherwise, this one is only for the diehard Moodies fan.
Elaine Larsen (tmblues.yahoo.com) (02/16/08)
Hello...
I just want to first say I'm still young... I was born in 1972...
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
I'm not supposed to like this. It's the Album that all Moodies fans and critics despise. Well, actually ... taken on its own
merits, and avoiding comparison with earlier work, I think there are some good eighties tracks in there. And some bad ones too. In
fact, for me, the album divides neatly into those two categories:
Good - I Know You're Out There Somewhere, Want To Be With You, No More Lies, Vintage Wine, Love Is On The Run, Deep
Bad - River Of Endless Love, Here Comes The Weekend, Breaking Point, Miracle
I guess the thing that bugs me even about the good tracks is that they are mostly about relationships. What happened to that old
idealism? For me that's almost as big an aberation as the techno-pop nonsense.
Best song: God Only Knows
An orchestra-enhanced cover album. Whee. Strangely enough, though, it's not actually bad. Sure, there's an 80-piece orchestra providing all the instrumentation, but this album proves conclusively that orchestration does not automatically mean pretension. It's basically an album of songs that Justin Hayward and Mike Batt (arranger and conductor) like a lot and wanted to give tribute to in their own special way - in other words, it's a humble "please accept our offering, oh mighty ones of music whose boots we are not fit to strap" album. And that's ultimately what makes the album surprisingly enjoyable. (NOTE: I just realized that I managed to make this introduction alarmingly similar to George Starostin's intro to the same album without actually remembering anything he himself had said - this should give you an idea of how predictable the album is as a whole, if commentary is likewise predictable).
I say surprisingly because, predictably, there's a whole lot of flaws that come with the process. For one thing, there's an utter lack of ambition to do something non-standard with the orchestral arrangements. The arrangements are "nice", sure, but most uninventive orchestral music is nice as well. In other words, I'm not about to go praising the orchestration to the heavens or anything (like I would do for, say, Yes' later Magnification). It's just ok to hear.
There's also the fact that not all the songs are that hot. Composer Mike Batt gets three of his own songs on the album, and none of them stick in my head in the slightest. Likewise, I have trouble remembering a thing about "Man of the World" by Peter Green - good background music, and nothing else. And the eternal joke that is "MacArthur Park" is just as eye-rolling as ever on this album. But even some songs I enjoyed previously don't get the right treatment - I've always loved Don Maclean's "Vincent" (this is from somebody who over the years has become INCREDIBLY sick of "American Pie"), but this runthrough goes a bit too much into atmosphere while sacrificing the inate prettiness. Similarly, I thought that the cover of "Forever Autumn" (which Justin himself sang on ten or so years previous) would be great, especially since it's one of my favorite songs of all time and the original had orchestration, but it overdoes the trick and loses crispness. Harumph.
Still, most of the rest is quite nice. This is my first introduction to "The Tracks of My Tears," apparently an old Temptations song, and it's successfully made me interesting in hearing the original. And the other songs, songs I know quite well, ALL sound great. I would go so far as to say that, sometimes, I enjoy this version of "God Only Knows" even more than the original - it has a flow to its lushness that I honestly don't even think the original had, not to mention that Justin's vocals here more than do the song justice. Likewise, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is done splendidly, as it would be hard to NOT do that song splendidly. And, er, we get "Blackbird" (good Beatles), "Scarborough Fair" (done in the classic Simon and Garfunkel style), and even "STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN." A guitarless Stairway, sure, but almost certainly the closest thing to an inventive rearrangment that one can find on the album.
And, er, yeah. The album's ok. Nothing special, but definitely ok. Besides, Justin's singing is still as pretty as ever here. So there.
Buyers guide Plc (info.buyersguide.co.uk) (1/24/02)
According to my tastes, I should love this album. But I don't. In fact I
am very glad there better Hayward offerings I still have yet to hear.
Your review is quite correct in saying that the songs are not all that
hot. More exactly this album is DULLSVILLE. So dull and boring that you
can't even listen to it a few times to let the music grow on you. This
stuff makes the worst album of a second-rate prog band like Renaissance
sound great. Honest.
As for the production and arrangements, it is excellent. Which is why I
say an album like this should appeal to my taste. Yes it's all dressed up
very nicely - but goes nowhere with me.
A 6 here is quite generous (although I guess it was a high 5 rounded up
judging from your review), even for an album basically of cover songs and
few original songs.
Richard
Music Lover (blondechicksinger.hotmail.com) (10/11/04)
This is such an elegantly beautiful album. With songs like "Vincent",
"Tracks of My Tears", "God Only Knows", "Scarborough Fair","Blackbird"
and "A White Shade of Pale"(that always sounded like a Moody Blues song,
to me anyway), which are all gorgeous songs to begin with and then have
them covered by Justin Hayward and a full orchestra, one can't lose in
the "simply magnificent" deparment! Anyway, Mike Batt penned a couple
of original songs off this album, one being the depressing, "Man of the
World". I just can^Òt handle the line, "sometimes I wish I^Òd never been
born" Good lord! What was that? The only other song on here that I don't
like is "MacArthur Park", which BTW, I don't like no matter WHO is
singing it.
And like many others, I also feel this version of "God Only Knows" is
better than the Beach Boys' version. Justin also covers his own song,
"Forever Autumn" which appeared initially on the Jeff Wayne "War of the
Worlds" album. Always a wonderful song and emphasized more so by the
orchestra.
Justin even does a stupendous cover of "Stairway to Heaven". And that's
no easy song to cover. I held my breath upon first listen, wondering how
he would handle the "and as we wind on down the road..." part but it was
smooth....just like buttah!
I wish he would do a "Classic Blue II" album.
Best song: Say It With Love
Whoa, there are good, nay, great songs on here! Sure, a
couple of this album's tracks sound like Sur la Mer outtakes (the
crappy "Say What You Mean" is particularly loathsome, while "Once is Enough"
and "Magic" are not much better), but the rest sounds as if they have
started to remember how to make really good music. This probably has
something to do with the fact that they dumped both Moraz and Visconti in
the middle of the recording sessions, not to mention that Thomas is back!
Of course, Edge didn't actually show up for most of the sessions, seeing
as he assumed the band would just stick to its programmed drums shtick.
Seriously, though, the songs are, with the exceptions mentioned above, are
at some level of good and are often great. Sure, there's a lot of
programming, but the melodies are great, the songs beautiful, and
Hayward's newly found pop voice compliments them absolutely perfectly.
Justin's opening two, the poppy "Say it with Love" (the band's best song since "Blue World," I think) and his love anthem "Bless
the Wings (That Bring You Back)," are simply wonderful numbers. The former
is simple, yet amazingly catchy, with terrifically nostalgic lyrics and a
wonderful feel we haven't had since The Present. And the latter
graces us with an actual orchestra, but whereas the parts on Blue
Jays were somewhat annoying, here they work perfectly. But that's not
all! "Hope and Pray" is one of Justin's best ever pop songs, with yet
another simply gorgeous melody and perfect lyrics. And, of course, we get
the closing "Never Blame the Rainbows For the Rain," with an unbelievably
beautiful chorus and lyrics that will not leave your head for hours
afterwards.
Not to mention that Thomas co-writes on that song. Even better, though, is
that he gets his own song for the first time in 8 years, and it's a
doozie. LOTS of flutes, some mellotrons, and DEEP vocals on his part.
"Celtic Sonant," it's called. Great stuff. It's too bad that he couldn't
contribute to other songs, but I guess you have to take what you can
get.
Finally, even Lodge is writing good songs again! Sure, "Magic" blows (not to
mention that he helped Justin with "OIE"), but elsewhere, he's writing great
ballads! Sure, he's gained a reputation among fans as the 'rocker' of the
group, but he's always done his best with balladeering; at least, he
hasn't had as many major duds as with his rockers. I mean, "Evening,"
"Eyes of a Child," "Minstrel's Song," "Emily's Song," "Isn't Life Strange,"
"Survival," "Talking Out of Turn" ... you get the idea. In any case, one of
them is co-written with Justin, the lovely "Is This Heaven?" It might not
strike you as anything the first few times you hear it (I know it didn't
with me), but it's really quite a solid number, with nice singing by
Justin and another great melody. But his own songs are just as good. "Lean
on Me (Tonight)" is VERY pretty, a terrific lullaby that sounds simply
wonderful in concert. The 'orchestral' synths work to perfection, and the
vocal melody is superb. "Shadows on the Wall" is slightly weaker, mainly
because John's vocals sound even weaker than usual, but it's still quite a
solid song. Definitely better than "Breaking Point," that's for sure.
Anyways, if the album were just the eight good songs on here, I'd
seriously have to consider a grade in the letters. However, the other three songs are horrid
enough to drag the whole album down to a low 8. Regardless,
don't be afraid to buy it if you're a fan, and please ignore the All-music
Guide, which gave it one star.
Trfesok.aol.com (10/19/05)
Yes, an improvement over the previous two, but what wouldn't have
been? I do think that that the album is still a bit overproduced in
some places, but in a different way. The sequencers and drum machines
have been almost cut out (they even bring in a session drummer for
two tracks), which helps. And with Moraz basically out of the
picture, the use of keyboards is more for orchestral textures than
for instrumental grandstanding. They still overdo it in some cases
("Bless the Wings", "Say What You Mean" -- you don't need synths and
strings for these songs.), but at least it's not as oppressive.
As you said, though, quality control in the songwriting department is
still lacking. The worst aspect still continues to be the "Gemini
Dream" thing -- trying to present themselves as "funky" pop-rockers.
Guys, you're middle-aged, white and English!!! 1991 was WAY too late
for a disco tune like "Say What You Mean." And what's with that poem
in the second part -- a Moodies version of rap? Justin, you should
have known better. However, my vote for most hideous tune has to go
to "Once is Enough." Once was too much is more like it. Dumb music,
corny horns and obnoxiously self-referential lyrics which I bet come
from Lodge.
The balance is at least more listenable. Lodge's ballads continue
along the same lines as before, but don't offend. I actually think
that "Magic" is pretty catchy, although would have been more so
without another corny horn arrangement. I find "Hope and Pray" a bit
bland, but "Never Blame.." is a pretty track. "Say It With Love" is a
bit mechanical (coming from Mike + the Mechanics producer, that's not
a surprise), but Justin sounds very heartfelt on it. :"Is that
Heaven?" is delightfully whimsical, along the lines of Thomas' early
work, actually. Speaking of whom, I would definitely vote "Celtic
Sonant" best track. A throwback, to be sure, but gorgeous lyrics and
vocals, simply the best harmonies on a Moodies song since The
Present.
Still a pretty mediocre album, but still not washed up...
"David Sheehan" (davidasheehan.gmail.com) (11/13/09)
I'm going to be a cynic and give this one an overall 9. I do think
that it's noticeably weaker than, say, Octave. That said, it is a huge
step up from the last two albums. I also think that there are really
on three BAD songs on here ('Once Is Enough', 'Magic', and especially
'Say What You Mean'), but for me none of the others really jump out at
me as great songs, with one exception. I think Lodge's 'Shadows on the
Wall' is one of his best post-core 7 contributions. and is my easy
pick for the album's best track. Most of the other "good" tracks on
here are marred by complete and utter banality, despite their
sometimes captivating melodies. This album, probably more than any
other in their catalog, sounds the Moody Blues going through the
motions (TOSOL and SLM were so bad they must have been giving it an
honest effort, at least). You can just smell the insincerity (well,
except for Thomas. No doubt he's dead serious about 'Celtic Sonnet'.).
Anyway. I've always thought the intro to 'Magic' sounded like a
rip-off of 'The Punk and the Godfather'. Oh, and why in the world was
'Highway' left off this album?! Wasn't it recorded during the same
sessions? Obviously its inclusion would've helped matters
considerably, and given me a new top track pick. Probably the weirdest
rarity that should've been on a proper album since 'A Simple Game'.
"karon" (karon.karonadams.com) (04/13/11)
I was actually dreading this release. I was well known to my friends as a
Moodies fan and the last couple of albums had left me and them a bit low.
But, keeping faith, I bought this one when it came out. There are some duds
but there was real beauty here, too. Real music! It was like they had
awakened and remembered how to write and play. Never Blame the Rainbows is
my favorite for the lyrics. The words are so real they will haunt you. you
cannot forget them once they are in your head. It takes effort to move on.
They always hit me so hard, I have left instruction that the line "The Last
Whispered Wish of Age is to Live it All Again" be on my head stone. That one
phrase seems to sum up all of life to me.
Yes, this album does contain some dreck, serious dreck, but overall, I was
thrilled to hear it and felt glad I had stuck by the band when it was
released.
Best song: The Voice or Legend Of A Mind
In June 1998, I had the opportunity to see the band live with
the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, and all I can say is that it
positively RULED. There was not a wrong note all evening by either the
group nor the orchestra, the songs were lifted to another level by the
arrangements, and a great time was had by all. Unfortunately, this
particular album does not do the best job of conveying that quality. This
is easily understood, of course; it was the first ever time that the group
had attached an orchestra to itself, so of course we could expect some
flaws.
Actually, there are really only two problems with the album (though both
are relatively huge). One is that it sounds as if the band is slightly
under the weather. Ray sounds great, but Justin and ESPECIALLY John don't
sound anywhere near their usual selves. And considering that Hayward's
voice had declined in quality anyways due to age, it's not always a pretty
sound. And John sounds awful, just awful. My guess is that he had a major
cold, including a sore throat for this performance. Too bad that had to
happen at such a historically significant concert. In any case, the other
main problem is the brass section. The strings sound absolutely wonderful
throughout, but the trumpets and trombones seem to not have the slightest
idea of where the rest of the orchestra is at any given time. Listen to
the main part of I'm Just a Singer and you'll know what I mean.
However, I still enjoy this album quite a bit, and won't give it any less than a 9. For starters, although Justin and John show
almost no ability to hit extreme notes cleanly anymore, this merely gives
Ray an opportunity to be placed higher in the mix. It is absolutely
amazing to me to hear just how deep and powerful his voice has become
through the years, and he manages to lift the others to a level they could
not otherwise reach vocally (also thanks to the female backup singers, who
do a standout job). More importantly, though, several of the arrangments
are just great. I consider this rendition of "The Voice" to be far
superior to the original, as the strings, brass, and keyboards (there
are two keyboardists, by the way; Paul Bliss and Bias Boshell) lift the
song in a way that Moraz could never even approach.
There's also "Isn't Life Strange," an incredibly emotional experience that
simply has to be heard to be understood. The triumphant horn blasts at the
end are not in the least bit cheezy, and give the song a powerful
conclusion that the original lacked (not that the original is at all bad,
mind you!). And "The Other Side of Life" just sounds great! The bass has
even greater oomph than before, and that string part bridging the gap
between the verse and chorus is simply outstanding. What really gets me,
though, is the extended ending of "I'm Just a Singer." Now, the main part of
the song is clumsy as hell, with awful harmonizing and a trombone that is
hopelessly lost. However, the end more than makes up for it. Hayward gets
in a terrific solo, but even more impressive is the part near the very
end with the repeated string arpeggios rising and falling out of Lodge and
Hayward's power chords. Now THAT's an arrangment.
In any case, the only songs I'd say are inferior to the originals are "I
Know You're Out There Somewhere," "Your Wildest Dreams," and "Lovely to See
You," the latter of which is ruined by keyboards and more keyboards. "Nights"
and "Question" are as lovely as ever, and "Ride my See-saw" is a great way to end. Basically, if you enjoyed the originals, you should enjoy this.
Feel free to get it.
PS: The expanded edition of the album, which provides the entire concert, neither hurts nor helps the album tremendously overall, though it does contribute a fantabulous performance of "Legend of a Mind" (detailed in the Time Traveler review below, since that's where it was originally available). The rating is staying the same, therefore, at a 9.
trfesok.aol.com (06/13/09)
Your review hits the highlights well enough, although I don't think
the brass sounds as bad as you do. (The coda on "Isn't Life
Strange?", using the Greatest Hits/Legend of a Band arrangement, is
quite powerful). The vocals are indeed the biggest issue. Justin
sounds rather nasal (particularly on "Tuesday Afternoon"), and John
is even thinner than usual. (I wonder if it's because they weren't
used to Colorado's altitude?) The group harmonies on "..Singer..."
and "..See-Saw" are also pretty hopeless. Although I do think that
this version of "Emily's Song" is better than the studio version,
flowing more smoothly than the original, with the strings and John's
lowered voice. I agree that Ray's two showcases are fantastic, making
me wish they had given him more to do. (Imagine "And the Tide Rushes
In" or "Our Guessing Game" with the orchestra!). The beautiful
strings on "New Horizons" and "Voices in the Sky" do help
compensate for Justin's weakened voice. The most innovative
arrangement, surprisingly, goes to "The Other Side of Life". Rather
than just duplicating the synth parts or clashing with
them, conductor Larry Baird gives the song a dark, cinematic score
that really works perfectly.
However, I also have to give my vote to "Legend of a Mind" as best
song. Like the rest of the album, the orchestra detracts a bit from
the mystery and spaciness of the song. However, this is made up by
the sheet grandeur of the orchestra, Ray's vocals and the
flute/keyboard duet. By the way, Ray started doing this with Moraz on
the Octave tour, and it did come across better when he was in the
band. By the way, the other big highlight during the sets of that
period was "Veteran Cosmic Rocker", when Ray and Moraz would perform
another great extended duet on keyboards and harmonica/flute. If you
can find a decent sounding bootleg from the Moraz era, it's worth it
just for that.
I find your reasons for liking "The Voice" most interesting -- "the
strings, brass, and keyboards ... lift the song". Well, I hate to
burst your bubble, but the orchestra does NOT play on this song. If
you program the complete concert in sequence, listen through
headphones, or watch the video, it's obvious. The concert consisted
of three sets. The first, with the orchestra, ends with "Voices in
the Sky." Then, the band plays alone, starting with "Lovely to See
You" (By the way, I don't think this song is "ruined by keyboards" --
there's only one synth. Bias Boshell plays rhythm guitar on this
one. They make it less mysterious and more poppy, but it's still
fun). The orchestra then picks up again with "The Other Side of
Life". "The Voice" was part of the second set. Not that there aren't
any reasons for liking this version -- one electric guitar and two
drummers make the song sound less cosmic, but tougher and more
intense, especially at the end. The synths do suggest what a string
arrangement might sound like on this song, but I'm not sure that it
was ever played with the orchestra.
(author's note): I do need to point out that, when I saw them in 1998, they opened with The Voice, and the orchestra definitely was used in that song. It is possible, though, that I projected my memory of that performance upon my listening to this track, and just assumed there was an orchestra here.
Best song: Legend Of A Mind
Want some useless trivia? My first ever full-fledged review was
of this here boxset, back on the old Prindle site. And, being my first
try, it really sucked. Still, at least it was a start, and I'd like to
think that I've come a long ways since then.
So anyways, this here's a 5 CD box set, and it's a really terrific way to
become acquanited with the band. Well, that is, if you really like to go
all out in learning about a group, or you have a crazy friend like me who
obsesses about the group and talks about them all the time and tries to
get all his friends into them. The main problem with it, though, is just
that. For all intents and purposes, it's just a glorified greatest hits
package. Whereas many groups take the opportunity of a boxset to use it as
a chance to lavish their fans with rare or unreleased material, the
compilers of this set decided to treat it as more of a "Moody Blues Hall
of Fame." And while they mostly do a good job of selecting tracks, it is
inevitable that I would have gripes. For instance, neither "Eternity Road"
nor "The Tide Rushes In" made the cut, while the crappy "My Song" did. And
there's not enough Days material. And while I'm happy that they
included my favorite Blue Jays cuts ("This Morning" etc), there's still a good deal of boring material on that album, and some of it makes it here. I could go on, but I
think that my previous reviews will give a clear enough ideas of what
songs I feel should deserve this 'pedestal' treatment.
So that leaves the unreleased material, and while I certainly wish there
was more, I'm more or less happy with what they included. The first three
tracks are pre-DOFP numbers that can only be found elsewhere on the
out-of-print Prelude, and they're all goodies (read about them in the Prelude review from above). Complaints can be voiced about the ones they chose (no "A Simple Game??!!" What were they thinking?) but whatever.
Alas, there are only three other new studio numbers on the rest of the
set.
One of them, "Forever Autumn," was from a musical rendition of War of the
Worlds, and Hayward was asked to contribute lead vocals. And it's an
absolutely gorgeous, breathtakingly beautiful number, in case you've never
heard it before. If those "like a leaf on a breeze, you bleeew
awaaaaay..." parts don't move you, nothing can. In any case, the second is
a KOTK outtake, the poppy "Highway." It's a shame that they couldn't
have dispatched of "Magic" and replaced it with this, seeing as the former
blew and the latter is great. I mean, it's got a bagpipe in the beginning,
for crying out loud! What else could you want? Anyways, the third and
final studio number is the boys' 1994 cover of a song called "This is the
Moment." Apparently it comes from a Broadway musical, but that doesn't
bother me one bit. All I know is that the melody is gorgeous, the
production good, and the vocal harmonies in place. A great, great song.
The crux of the album, however, comes from the fifth disc; it is the previously unreleased tracks of Red Rocks, and it makes the whole set worth
it. Sort of. I mean, out of the eight performances, four of them are kinda
weak, mainly due to the weakened vocals of the Blue Jays. "Emily's Song" and
"Voices in the Sky" suffer in particular, not to mention that in the former,
the strings are slightly behind for the first few measures. New Horizons
isn't nearly as bad, and the string arrangements are terrific, but it's
just not the same without those soaring Hayward vox. And the closing
"Gemini Dream" is just awful. BUT, the other four performances are
wonderful. They kick it off with "Story in Your Eyes," and it rocks even
harder than the original. Plus, Hayward's voice actually sounds passable,
since it isn't being called on to soar. And both of the Keys
numbers, "Bless the Wings" and "Say it with Love," go off wonderfully, and the former may
even surpass the terrific original. (I should note, though, that the 2003 reissue of Red Rocks has the concert in full, so the tracks here I kinda made moot)
The ultimate performance, however, and the one that moves me like nothing
else on here, is the live version of "Legend of a Mind." Thomas' vocals are
AWESOME, the orchestral arrangement is terrific, and the flute solo ... oh
the flute solo. It was slightly better when I saw them five years later,
but this particular one is no slouch either. The keyboards elevate Ray's
playing without overshadowing it, and you get sucked in like you cannot
believe. An amazing, absolutely amazing piece of writing and playing.
In conclusion, feel free to get a copy of this, but only if you can get it
cheap. My recommendation would be through BMG music service, but if you
can find it for $20 elsewhere, knock yourself out (and if you do,
feel free to tack on an extra point). Just don't pay $65 for
it like I did (oooh, the pain ....)
Scottartist.aol.com
Is it any wonder that TIME TRAVELLER delves so deeply into the core
seven
albums, then skips so lightly over the later ones? There's nearly twice as
much disc space alloted to the earlier stuff. No surprise. Maybe what the
CD
market needs in place of all these newer best of's is a remastered release
of
THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES. It's time.
trfesok.aol.com (09/13/10)
Now that the expanded ..Red Rocks has been issued, you can only get the first 4
discs. It seems that this is aimed at a very limited audience. For someone just
looking for hit singles, they're all here, but you can get those on a one or two
disc set. Not enough rarities for hardcore fans. So, the audience is someone in
between -- somebody who might be interested in more than hit singles, but doesn't
want to get every album. Hayward is overrepresented (all but one of his "Core 7"
tunes are here), maybe. But you get a good sampler of the talents of the other band
members, too, although I have quibbles with the selections, as well, of course. (The
stereo mix of "A Simple Game" is the biggest oversight.)
Random thoughts:
The first 3 tracks are now on the expanded DoFP, although, as I said, "Cities" is
here in the Prelude stereo remix. This mix seems to be unavailable for download
anywhere.
It's interesting to hear the two parts of "House of Four Doors" edited together as
one track, although this makes the ending of the song a bit confusing..
"I'm Just a Singer" is here in the single mix (starting in at full volume) rather
than the album mix (which gradually fades in from the fadeout of "When You're a Free
Man").
"Forever Autumn" is indeed a nice bonus, the peak of the War of the Worlds album.
They really didn't take any chances on the fourth disc -- all but "Highway" were
released as A-side singles. "Highway" is a great song, easily besting almost all of
KotK. My guess is that it was excluded because they didn't want weight the album
too heavily in favor of Visconti productions, since they fired him in the middle of
the sessions. Glad it finally turned up.
Since the fifth disc is out of print, "This is the Moment" seems to have fallen
through the cracks. It's just as well, I suppose. I don't really care for this one.
We all know that the Moodies can get pretty sappy, but they never really descended
into all out schlock until they agreed to record this one (for a sampler album
celebrating the 1994 World Cup, apparently). It doesn't sound to me like a Moody
Blues song at all. It really is more suited to a project like Justin's Classic Blue.
The essay provides an interesting history of the group, although it glosses over the
post-Octave phase of the band (including Moraz -- they only list him as an
"additional" session musician!). I tend to agree with you -- anyone new with more
than a casual interest in the group would do well to find a cheap, used copy of this
as an introduction to the group. Of course, how many of these people are around
nowadays?
The View From The Hill - 1996 CMC
Best song: Troubadour
Hardcore Moodies fans (and I mean the REALLY hardcore ones - those who gave up on the band when Pinder left need not apply) tend to overrate this pretty fiercely, but I guess that's what hardcore fans are for. This should've been (part of, anyway) an actual MB album, but the rest of the band was perfectly content to stay in its never-ending-best-of-tour rut, so Justin went into the studio with the band's touring keyboardist and some other random musicians (apparently one, Phil Palmer, from Dire Straits) and put this together.
Honestly, it's not that bad. Almost none of the songs even come close to approaching some of Justin's latter-day peaks ("Say it with Love," "Your Wildest Dreams," "Meanwhile," "English Sunset," etc etc), but they also avoid hitting the depths of SLM (except for "The Promised Land," a seven-minute "heavenly" bore which can't hold a candle to "Nights in White Satin," or "In My World" for that matter). The album is more-or-less "Adult Contemporary," yet the album is able to avoid, at least to some degree, all of the nasty aspects that can pop from that genre. The sap-level is mostly kept low (except for "Promised Land" and its immediate predecessor, "Broken Dream"), there's an acceptable sprinkling of slightly more up-tempo pop songs here and there (which is good, since Justin has consistently shown talent with such numbers since '80), and the instrumentation is mostly REAL. Huzzah! The ghosts of Moraz and Visconti hath been slain! There's some synths, of course, but they're an augmentation rather than the central feature, and the endless drum programming of before has also been banished. All of these factors ultimately work together to make the album a LOT more enjoyable than it might otherwise be.
Not that all the songs are mediocre or anything, though. "I Heard It" is a fine way to kick off the album, a slightly weaker and less hook-filled take on stuff like "The Voice" and "Say it with Love," but a latter-day up-tempo Hayward pop song has to go out of its way to not be entertaining. His voice retains the prettiness (though, again, none of the old MIGHT) that he had shown in recent MB albums, and the chorus is at least somewhat catchy. I guess. The best song throughout is "Troubadour," which manages to successfully transplant Justin's pop-sensibilities into a genuine country environment without sounding like Garth Brooks. Yup, good hooks plus slide guitars, that's what this is all about.
Elsewhere, there's ... er .... man, you know, for an album that I like as a whole, it's really really hard to figure out what to say about individual songs. "Something to Believe In" has a quite lovely air around it, even if the lyrics are mostly about not having any focus in life. Oooh, and I mustn't forget "Billy," a seven minute tale of a teenager who kills himself with a handgun. I'm impressed that Justin was able to take such a depressing topic and make sure to not lessen its impact with an overdose of saccharine - the atmosphere is vaguely unsettling, and it doesn't hurt that the "it's a sad world, it's a sad sad world" chorus is one of the most memorable moments of the album. And hey, it's kinda neat the way he finishes the album not on that note, but rather with an ok, slightly optimistic acoustic ballad in "Children of Paradise." Hey, if we consider Heaven a sort of paradise, is it possible that the reason the song follows Billy is that we ourselves have followed Billy? Or am I just looking for non-existent meta? Hmm.
There are other songs, some better ("The Way of the World," filled with some hooks), some worse ("Shame," for one), but they don't really need mention. The album is very samey, so it's difficult to come up with distinguishing characteristics of each. On the other hand, though, this samey-ness does help the album hold together as a more-or-less cohesive whole, and after all, I'm grading albums and not collections of songs. If you're not afraid of some ok, slightly-but-not-too-much A/C pop, pick this one up.
Trfesok.aol.com (01/13/07)
Much, much better, overall than the preceding three Moody Blues
studio albums. Justin finally figured out that overproduction doesn't
necessarily mean either hip or filled with grandeur. His voice, of
course, is getting thinner and thinner. But the catchy melodies are
all there, highlighted by the toned down arrangements. Even
"Sometimes Less Is More" fits in, even though is was recorded at an
entirely separate session from the rest of the album. To me, the
weakest element is the lyrics. They continue to be quite trite,
especially when he's trying to be profound ("Billy," "Something to
Believe In"). The songs also occasionally contribute to the
phenomenon of "CD-itis" -- "We can make the songs longer, because
it's a CD" -- even though a few, particularly "The Promised Land,"
don't have enough ideas to justify their lengths. Although I have to
say that I don't mind hearing a few extra licks on "Troubadour,"
which I also pick as my favorite. The basic idea is the same as
"Vintage Wine," but much improved in every way. Oh, and the 60's folk
rock sound on "The Way of the World" is quite nice, too. It's clear
from the next Moodies album that Justin learned a lot from a
temporary break from the group.
Best song: English Sunset, Love Don't Come Easy, and Words You Say
all qualify
Yup, you read right, that's an overall grade of B. Bands simply don't make comebacks like this. Of course, the
mainstream music community completely ignored this album, but that
doesn't make this miracle any less true.
Now, I'm not saying this album is perfect. It's just that not a single song on here
is even mediocre, much less bad. And for that we can thank the fact
that aging has finally given Lodge and Hayward great wisdom rather
than an urge to prove how 'young' they are. This is an album that
captures the simultaneous pains, fears, and happiness of growing old,
and it's wonderful to hear the world's greatest 'sincere band'
offering their take on aging and the passage of time. Even better, though,
is the general feel of the album. It's as if they took all of the elements they've ever incorporated
into their sound, filtered out whatever would harm the album, fixed some
previous mistakes, and distributed it throughout. There are GREAT
Present style pop songs, a smidge of country (Present
again), WONDERFUL Lodge ballads, simply superb orchestration, and there's
even a poem!
Hayward kicks things off in splendid fashion with the terrific pair of
"English Sunset" and "Haunted." "ES" is a fantastic, smooth pop song in the
wonderful style of, yup, The Present, and not even the techno
rhythm track can distract me from the wonderful melody. And the lost-love
lament "Haunted," while occasionally straying a bit too close to adult
contemporary, is nevertheless another great showcase
for modern-day Hayward balladry. I dunno, I probably shouldn't enjoy
the song too much, but there's just something about Justin's lovely
voice that makes it really enjoyable. And his other songs are wonderful
as well! "Foolish Love" is ANOTHER great pop song, with a terribly memorable
melody and excellent orchestration, especially in the ending fadeout. And
how about the countryish "All That is Real is You," huh? It has a nice melody, but what I enjoy most is the general structure of the song.
It reminds me greatly of Yes' "Turn of the Century" in the way it is
gradually built from a simple acoustic romantic ditty into an
overwhelmingly emotional ode of love. Or maybe it's just me. And speaking
of simple acoustic ditties, check out Justin's "The Swallow." Another
wonderful melody, great Moody lyrics, and appropriate string parts at the
end.
His shared contributions with Lodge aren't any worse either. Sooner or
Later may seem a bit too much on the lighthearted side at first, but it
has some of the best harmonizing we've heard since EGBDF, and both
the melody and chorus are perfectly solid. And the title track, hooooooo
boy. If stuff like "Breaking Point" and "Miracle" destroyed your faith in
their ability to come up with a great (let alone good) song anymore, this
shoulds change your mind in a heartbeat. Best as I can tell, it's a nod to
"Age of Aquarius," but it's a terrific song in it's own right. And that
descending "doo do do doo do do doo strange times strange times" part in
the chorus ... wow. Guys, all is forgiven. In any case, the two also pull
out a nice self-referential 'rocker' in "The One." Your mileage may vary,
but the best interpretation I've seen came from the band's official
newsgroup. The first verse refers to Denny Laine, the second to Pinder, the third to
Moraz, and the fourth to themselves. Read the lyrics again and tell me if
that doesn't make a lot of sense.
Alright, so far I've given almost nothing but praise to the album, and
even if the rest of the album was armpit noises I'd probably still give it a good grade. What's great, though, is that Lodge's numbers are
WONDERFUL. He's finally given up trying to 'rock', and he's decided to go
with what he does best, his beautiful ballads. "Words You Say" is the most
gorgeous of all of these, with his thoughtful vocals lamenting his losing
of love and a peaceful flute line helping it along. Of course, many fans
really dislike this song, and say it's one of the most boring things
they've ever heard. Good for them. I hope for their own sake they someday
realize that there is more to music than just the notes that are being
played. In any case, "Love Don't Come Easy" is also fantastic. If "WYS" is the
successor to "Nervous," than "Love ..." is definitely the sequel to "Talking
Out of Turn," and it rules. The verses are not a word too long, the chorus
is solid, and everything is exactly where it should be. "Wherever You Are"
and "Forever Now" are a wee bit weaker, but still plenty enjoyable. The
lyrics may be a bit dippy in places, particularly in the former, but you
probably won't even notice that until after the song has ended.
So there you are. Thomas gets a couple of minutes with his prototypical "My
Little Lovely," and while it's certainly nice, it's little different from
"For My Lady" or his other songs. And Edge's "Nothing Changes" is terrific,
not for his commentary on the way things are always the same no matter
what millenium you live in, but rather for the great music that
accompanies it. Seriously, this group has come up with some terrific note
sequences in their stay together, but that final chunk after Edge stops
speaking for the final time with the rest of the group singing and playing
is among the most beautiful and powerful music they've ever produced. This could have been one of the best late-period swansongs ever.
trfesok.aol.com (06/13/09)
Agreed, just the best since The Present, and I think I like it
better. As I said, it's clear that Justin had a big hand in the
sound, since the (relatively) stripped down production is quite
similar to A View From the Hill. (I think it was even recorded in
the same studio in Italy). Especially "Foolish Love", which sounds a
lot like "The Way of the World" to me. Both are good songs, though,
so no complaints. Of course, it wouldn't be a Moodies album without
keyboards and orchestration, but these are surprisingly low key and
fairly far back in the mix. The emphasis, more than any other of
their albums, is on guitars, and it's a good sound. The occasional
programming is not intrusive, except maybe on "English Sunset." 90's
techno? Maybe, but it's a really good song, with Hayward's best
lyrics in years. "Haunted" is a bit hokey, with that finger snapping
and those backing vocals, but pleasant. The little acoustic noodle
at the beginning of "The Swallow" is nice, too. The Hayward/Lodge
collaborations are much better than what they came up with on the
previous three, although I wish Hayward was singing the lead on "The
One" instead. Nice vocal interchange on "Sooner of Later." I've sort
of become resigned to the now limited vocals of Hayward and Lodge,
although it's only a real headache at the end of the verses of the
title track ("We're living in strange tiiiimes" -- quite
strained -- it's a long way from "Question"). Still, interesting
lyrics on those two songs. Both Ray and Graeme came up with good
offerings, too. It's too bad that they didn't put in more,
especially, since, unlike you, I think Lodge got too much to do. It
was OK for him to contribute one or maybe two slow ballads to each
album before this, but four? Try playing these all in sequence and
see if you're still a wake at the end. Especially, sorry, "Words You
Say". Gotta go w ith the consensus here. Someone on a Moodies
listserv referred to this one as a "bathroom break" song, and I know
what she meant. This formless thing just seems to drag on forever.
The other three are better, but not especially necessary.
Still, this did represent a surprising rebound for the Moodies. I
guess it was a pretty big hit in the UK, although Americans
couldn't have cared less. Too bad, because it's well worth it,
especially for long time fans.
Tim Light (timlight99.hotmail.com) (8/13/11)
I only recently acquired this, and haven't played it much, but I quite liked it. I think it will grow on me over time.
Best song: It's basically a compilation, after all
An idiotic cash-in. Not that it's bad - oh no, on the contrary,
from a pure technical and musical level, everything is just hunky-dory,
much more so than on Red Rocks. But I would never dream of giving
this album a better album than its live predecessor, for one sad reason -
this album makes me feel, more than any other, that the Moodies had
gotten old, that they'd completely stagnated, and that, dare I say it,
they'd reached a point where they were washed up. At least in 1992, when they started playing with
the orchestra, it was a grand, fantastic idea, and one that did not cease,
for a good six or seven years, to amaze in the stunning sound that the
whole ensemble was able to produce. But now, especially since they had the
exact same, completely non-deviating setlist for two tours in a row, it
seemed to legitimize and justify the whinings of everybody who had made fun
of the group for years and years and years. No wonder that they decided
to drop the orchestra and go back to a 'normal' setup.
Still, all moaning and groaning aside, I wouldn't want to give this album
a poor rating, because none of the songs are performed badly at all. The
only gripes I have with the performances are that, in order to squeeze
onto one cd, there are some very annoying edits (or did the band perform
them this way in the first place? That would sadden me further). "Legend of
a Mind" loses the vast majority of the flute solo, while "Isn't Life Strange"
has a whole verse removed. There's only three verses in the song,
and you remove one of them, and the one you remove is the one that
normally has the beautifully bombastic trumpet parts that made the Red
Rocks version so stunning? Stupid.
Everything else is fine, though. Hayward has found a new singing voice,
and while it's obviously not as stunning as his original one, it's quite
solid and pretty in its own way. Besides, it's nice to hear that he's
found a way to eliminate the increasing level of stridency that had
creeped into his singing over the years, as well as that he didn't
completely lose it like Greg Lake did. His playing is very good as well -
his solo on "I'm Just a Singer" is that much more confident and 'rocking'
than the one on Red Rocks, and his licks on "Story in Your Eyes"
are just wonderful.
The other major good point is that John completely makes up for his
singing disaster on Red Rocks. "Words You Say" loses nothing from the
original, and both "Singer" and "See-Saw" are infinitely improved from the '92
versions.
Other than that, well, you can probably look at the track selection and
know how it will be. If you liked the songs before, you'll like them here,
and vice verse. Personally, though, I'd rather listen to Red Rocks,
warts and all, than this one.
Robert L Koehl (progrockerr.juno.com)
Hi,
After reading the review on your site, I just had to respond. First of
all, I have to disagree with you on Red Rocks being better than
this cd. This disc actually captures the Moodies live sound, which Red
Rocks failed to do. This also has much better versions of English
Sunset, Story in Your Eyes, and I know You're Out There Somewhere than can
be found anywhere else. I was dissapointed with Red Rocks and have
spent the last 7 years disgusted at that release's failure to capture
their live magic.
As for the edits, just wait for the DVD. I've already seen the video
version of the concert, and it has the COMPLETE Isn't Life Strange as
well as alot of the between song talk. (For instance, during Your Wildest
Dreams some guy in the audience was doing backflips up the isle, and
Justin takes a moment to compliment him after the song)
My biggest beef with this cd is that, having been at the show itself, I
can't get over how many songs got cut altogether. They didn't open the
show with Tuesday Afternoon. They opened with The Voice, and this cd
cuts that song as well as For My Lady, Strange Times, and Steppin In A
Slide Zone from the first half of the show.
(author's note): Lemmee get this straight - they had an OFFICIAL
live recording of Steppin' in a Slide Zone and DIDN'T INCLUDE
IT???!!!!
Those bastards!!!! Sorry for my rage, but when I saw the guys back in '98,
that song was a MAJOR highlight.
The Other Side of Life and
Nothing Changes were cut from the second half of the show for this cd. I
can't get over that. Nothing Changes was actually the highlight of the
concert and they friggen cut it.
You also mentioned some stuff about the setlist. Well, this has been
discussed alot on Moodies listservs. The setlist has been virtually the
same since 1972. Just with new songs tacked on in he first half of each
show. Oh well. I agree wholeheartedly with you about John redeeming his
Lean on Me travesty from Red Rocks with Words You Say. It's just
sad that they edited Slide Zone out of this release. The orchestral
version of this song has stunned me since they debuted it in 1994. If you
can find it, there's a bootleg of a 94 tour concert which was recorded
from a radio broadcast called "Starlight Sojourn." It's worth looking for
if only for the number of rare old songs they brought out for that tour.
"Music Lover" (blondechicksinger.hotmail.com) (9/20/04)
I almost didn’t buy this CD since I had A Night at Red Rocks, you know. "What’s the point?", I asked myself. Then I got the DVD to this May 2000 performance at The Royal Albert Hall and was so impressed with Justin’s enthusiasm in "Story in Your Eyes" and his impressive waa waaa waaah waaah waaarrroowww guitar licks in "I’m Just A Singer In A Rock and Roll Band" that I ran out and bought this CD.
The production quality is superior to Red Rocks, and the vocals are much clearer, also. I too, am appalled to read that there was a live recording of "Steppin’ in A Slide Zone" and it wasn’t included?!! How could they?!!
Yeah, yeah. "Legend of A Mind" was cut short, but I have the long version on the Red Rocks CD, so it wasn’t a problem.
And what happened to the initial keyboard intro in "I Know You’re Out There Somewhere"? It didn’t happen! Then Justin played a single chord on the guitar instead. I hope it was a technical flaw and not because the keyboardist was not paying attention and didn’t come in on time. (Geez! Can you imagine the ass-chewing he might have received from Hayward if that actually was the case?)
I particularly was moved by "Words You Say". John’s vocals were in top form and to me, it was more poignant than the studio version.
The only off-putting thing on this CD is right before "Nights in White Satin", we hear a chorus of over-zealous women scream out: "JJJUUUUUSTTTTTIIIIIINNNN!" That just poured cheese-whiz all over that song for me. I mean, come on people! Here, this man is about to embark on this beautiful, classic, almost sacred love ballad that is always the highlight of any Moody Blues concert and we get these silly women screaming out his name, like it's 1972 and he's David Cassidy. However, once you get passed the disgust of that, the performance of "Nights" is flawless and absolutely gorgeous. In fact, it’s my choice for best live version of this song.
Great CD. Definitely get it, along with the DVD.
trfesok.aol.com (06/13/09)
Yes, it's pretty superfluous for everyone except rather hardcore
fans. It'd be nice if this had been expanded to 2 CD's like the
revised ..Red Rocks so that the complete show could have been
included. As such, the selection is quite predictable, with the live
five songs that were always played in the same place and in the same
sequence. Minuses do include the two edits -- I don't think "Isn't
Life Strange?" suffers that much, but the video makes it very obvious
that the keyboards/flute duet on "Legend.." was chopped out so that
the song just seems like standard runthrough. At least they could
have kept it for the video, but no. And I know they were plugging
Strange Times, but why did they have to pick "Words You Say" as one
of those songs? Actually, relistening to this version reminds me that
the song is similar in structure to "Isn't Life Strange?", but that
doesn't prevent it from being sleep inducing ("I don't want to wake
up now", indeed).
However, the pluses are that the vocals are indeed better, especially
Hayward, up to at least the level on Strange Times. The harmonies on
"..Singer" are still flat and hopeless, but they do make up for that
with some instrumental excitement. Finally, real hardcores will
notice that two of the songs that didn't get orchestral backing on ..
Red Rocks -- "I Know We're Out There Somewhere" and "The Story in
Your Eyes" -- get new arrangements here. This is especially helpful
on the latter, which usually loses the mystery and power of the
studio version to become a standard hard rock song live. Some of that
is at least restored with the orchestra. These two are worth a
purchase for hardcore fan. I agree, though, that's it's not the best
introduction to live Moodies for new fans.
It seems to me that the subtitle of the album is a dig at the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame for not inducting the band. With "roots snobs"
and purists on the selection committee like Jann Wenner and Dave
Marsh -- people that hate all art rock and prog -- it's pretty
unlikely that'll ever happen.
Best song: Don't Need A Reindeer
This should have been the worst Moodies album ever, and on my first listen it was. First of all, Ray Thomas retired from the band in early 2003 - his voice and flute playing were still great, but if you saw him on his last few tours with the band, it's obvious that he was in constant pain and just plain too old to keep touring. Anyway, given what happened last time Ray wasn't in the studio (Sur La Mer), this was a bad omen (even though the producer was kind enough to contribute some flute parts to make up for Ray's absence). More important and pertinent, though, was that it was announced a couple of months prior to release that the new Moodies album would be a ... Christmas album. A CHRISTMAS ALBUM, the surest sign (in theory) of a band losing whatever shreds of artistic integrity they might have remaining. Further, the blow was doubly fierce for me, as I've considered Strange Times a perfect swan-song album for the band since it first came out, and it hurt me that they'd possibly go out with their dignity in tatters.
Fortunately, despite my first listen, which told me this was a 3 if ever there was one, this has settled in as, at the least, a decently good album. The most important thing about the album is that it's not just a collection of Christmas carols - instead, it's a mix of Christmas-related covers and some decent originals relating to feelings and memories from Christmases past and present. Furthermore, the choice of covers is nowhere near as banal as it could be. Ok, so putting on "White Christmas" is a bit of an eye-roller (nice song, of course, but it's been done so many zillion times that I need to hear an interesting variation done in a rendition of it to make me care), and doing John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" is a decision that still perplexes me (um, I always was under the impression that there was a huge dose of cynicism underlying that track, not making it exactly right for a 'normal' Christmas album). And ok, writing a song based around such a well-known Bach melody is a bit of a cheat (then again, I guess Procol Harum wrote "Whiter Shade of Pale" around another well-known Bach melody, and that song rules, so ...). On the other hand, both "When a Child is Born" and the closing "In the Bleak Midwinter" are quite pleasant at the least, and Mike Batt's (the guy from Classic Blue) "A Winter's Tale" has one of the best choruses I've heard in some time (made better by Justin's still lovely voice), so the covers aren't a total loss.
What really surprises me most about the album is that, despite my first impression, the originals are nowhere near the waste I thought they were initially. Take the opening "Don't Need a Reindeer," for instance, which seemingly confirmed my fears with its somewhat dippy lyrics and opening dose of shmaltz, but that instead quickly turns into one of Justin's patented late-period pop wonders (man! How many times can one person write songs in the same up-tempo-smoothed-over vein and still come up with a winner almost EVERY SINGLE TIME??!!!). Great chorus, great alternate use of singing over acoustic guitars and a capella, great uplifting atmosphere. Once again, thank you Justin.
The following "December Snow" comes closer to the slower, A/C Hayward demonstrated on much of View From the Hill, but still doesn't go too far into icky-ville. There's still too many slight melody twists for somebody to confuse it with solo Phil Collins, and there's this nice quiet winding synth line underpinning the main acoustic melody before it gives way to a mellow piano section before coming back at the end. The line kinda reminds me of Yes' Onward, so I guess that's why I like it. Anyway, Justin's other original, Yes I Believe, seemed a bit too sappy to me first listen, and I guess in a way it still does, but on the other hand, all modern Moodies music can be considered too sappy from a certain perspective. This is hardly a bad example of Moodies sap, and perfectly decent as nice modern Hayward balladry.
Elsewhere, Lodge contributes a couple of ok ballads (well below the standard he set for himself last album, unfortunately) to round out the album - not bad, not worth expounding upon. Basically, then, the album is surprisingly ok - it's an album by old old boring men, but definitely not an album by untalented old old boring men. Don't rush out to buy this, but don't ignore it forever if you're a Moodies diehard.
Trfesok.aol.com (12/16/06)
This was actually the record company's idea, so the group can't
entirely be blamed. One of the odd things about the album is, once
again, a peculiar feeling of melancholy that runs through about half
of the songs. Lodge's "The Spirit of Christmas" is actually about the
lack of the spirit of Christmas! "On This Christmas Day", "December
Snow" and "A Winter's Tale" (recorded by David Essex of "Rock On"
fame, originally) seem to deal with romances ending at holiday time,
and the title of "In the Bleak Midwinter" speaks for itself, doesn't
it? Lennon's tune is always a bit ambiguous in its feel (and notice
how they leave out the "War is over/If you want it" refrain -- forced
to by the record company?) Fortunately, this is counterbalanced by
more optimistic stuff like "Don't Need a Reindeer", "Yes I Believe"
and "When a Child is Born." Still, the Moody Blues have released yet
another album where they live up to their name.
It's a pleasant enough listen, but that's about it. Neither the
instruments or the vocals have any drive or power at this point. Edge
is a non-factor, of course. The only semi-dud, I agree is "White
Christmas," but the record company forced that one down their
throats. Still, the guitar solo adds a slight twist. I'm biased
towards "In the Quiet of Christmas Morning" because "Jesu, The Joy of
Man's Desiring" was the processional at my wedding, but I would also
have to go with "Don't Need a Reindeer" as best tune, the most upbeat
and energetic. I hate the cover art, though -- looks like the
cheapest, tackiest Christmas card. The group has always had more
interesting cover art in the past. Overall, though, I think a few
non-fans of a mellow bent would also get something out of this at
holiday time, but it won't convert anyone to becoming a Moodies fan.
David Andino (davidandino83.msn.com) (11/22/08)
I have not heard of them until years ago and today I liked them but
have not got the albums. this album represent either a crass
commercial move or a great gift. hey, either we get a moody mixtape
or the 2 cd set gold. gold has all the core seven albums represented
like days, chord, threshold, children, question, good boy and
sojourn. the second disc is more spotty but at times it is underrated
and the moody blues are always underrated. rolling stone can suck a
fat one as is captain marvel aka ryan the faggy boy for hating my
favorite band the moody blues and hating anime as well. go fuck
yourself, motherfucker!!!!!!!!!!!. anyway this album I think ou may
find this cheap for a buck or two. how come all prog bands are not in
the rock n roll hall of fame is beyond me!. december=6.
Best song: Several
Over time, as the band moved from mega-popular art-poppers to (largely) over-the-hill old farts, certain things just became frozen solid in the band's live show. "Tuesday Afternoon" would be either the first or second song. Immediately following it would be Ray singing "For my Lady" or (for a brief period) "Eternity Road." The first half of the show would end with "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," immediately followed by "Story in Your Eyes." The second half would open with "Your Wildest Dreams," "Isn't Life Strange?" and "The Other Side of Life," and close with "I'm Just a Singer etc," "Nights," "Legend of a Mind," "Question" and "Ride My See-Saw" as the encore. This is the third live album to come out of this general mold in the 90's and 00's, and it's tough to see at first what the heck the point of it would be.
Well, the point of it is that (a) it's probably the best of the three, and (b) it offers a lot of things that the last two live albums don't (not the least of which is that this has no orchestra). I'm as sad as anybody that Ray had to retire from the band, but with respect to the band's tours and this album (and actually, I caught this tour the same month as when this was recorded), his retirement was a boon, because it spurred the band into bringing out a lot of otherwise neglected material. Besides, the replacement flautist, one Norda Mullen, fills his shoes just fine, and she really sounds just thrilled to be on stage the whole time.
Rather than talking about the tracks that appear on every Moodies live album possible (which are done just fine, mind you, but not with anything revelatory about them), I'll instead talk about the ones that are surprises (all pleasant ones) to see. They open with, naturally, "Lovely to See You," and while it's never been one of my very favorite MB tracks, it shows right away that Justin's still in good vocal form, and it's definitely nice that there's much less of a keyboard presence in this version than in the one on Red Rocks. A few tracks later is big surprise #1: "The Actor." It's a very stirring rendition of a song that I enjoy more and more as I get older (not that I didn't like it when I was younger or anything, though), and Norda's first real melodic showcase.
Next up is a track that I had wanted an official live version of for years, "Steppin' in a Slide Zone." Man, the lyrics to this song may get dumber every time I hear them, and there's just something oh so wrong about the psuedo-tough feel to it, but I've loved this song at all three Moodies concerts I've heard in my life, and I love it here. So much for my rock'n'roll credibility. Anyway, after a decent (but inexplicably short; they cut out the "And how many words have I got to say ..." verse) runthrough of "The Voice," there's an extremely lovely performance of "Talking Out of Turn," trimmed from the overlong original length of 7+ minutes down to a more managable 5:43. It sounds a bazillion times more inspired than the perfunctory runthrough of "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" that immediately follows, I'll tell you what (Sheesh, it's a decent enough song, but it should not be a live standard!).
To kick off the second half, before Lodge and Edge come out, Hayward brings out the second big surprise; a rendition of "Forever Autumn" (!!!!!) with just Paul Bliss and Gordon Marshall (the second drummer) backing him up. The song (if you've forgotten, it was originally done for the War of the Worlds soundtrack Jeff Wayne put together in the late 70's) has been unavailable outside the band's myriad compilations (including Time Traveller) and Justin's Classic Blue album, so it might be worth getting this album just to have a version of this super-duper gorgeous number lying around. And speaking of gorgeous, a few tracks later we have "December Snow," which actually turns out to be close to a late-period MB classic (the mix of Norda's rolling flute lines and the way Justin sings, "Time take this sadness from me, time bring my heart back safely" is a good way to pull a couple of my heart strings).
Now, this may seem like a pretty decent number of surprises already for a MB live album, and it would be, but two bigger ones remain. The first is, I kid you not, a spirited rendition of "Higher and Higher," with the band bringing back that amazing TOCCC vibe with aplomb while Graeme recites the poem and tears down the house by dancing and bouncing around the stage. It's the closest (aside from, maybe, the end of "Singer") you'll get to hearing the band really doing any kind of "jamming," and it provides a reminder that Justin is a pretty decent guitarist after all. And then, to calm things down, the band goes into the softer side of its 1969 repertiore with "Are You Sitting Comfortably?," in which Norda steals the show. Her flute lines are sooooooo mystical and enchanting (Gordon also plays second flute in the background) that she arguably outdoes Ray at his own game (in this case, anyway); all we need is a mellotron and, well, it would be the late 60's all over again.
So that, aside from all of the stuff that any remaining MB fan knows of their shows, is your really nice live album. It can't get higher than an A because it's kinda not very necessary in the grand scheme of things, but I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy this album to death while intensely listening to it for reviewing purposes, so giving it lower than an A would seem fraudulent too. But guys, you might want to back off of the "1 studio, 1 live" pattern for a bit; unless you plan on bringing out some Present tracks, anyway...
PS: The best "you dork" moment of the album: while introducing "Higher and Higher," Graeme tries to work the crowd into a frenzy by emphasizing that this is a song they wrote about three decades ago, a tactic that strikes me as dumb for two reasons. First, a lot of the songs in the program were written more than three decades before the recording of this album, and second, three decades previous to this, the band was on hiatus and doing solo albums. Do your math, hippie!
PPS: I do admit, though, that the line about how the song was written, "Back when my hair was brown, and my teeth were white," is a funny one.
Music Lover (blondechicksinger.hotmail.com) (07/02/06)
I agree with you in that this is an incredible live CD....especially for the
fact that "Higher and Higher" is on it. Norda Mullen, while a great
flautist, is no Ray Thomas. It's especially noticable on the DVD or in
concert. No stage presence at all. Ray was much more charismatic and
entertaining on stage but alas, he retired so we'll just have to accept it.
I've owned this CD for quite some time but have yet to listen to "I'm Just A
Singer in A Rock and Roll Band", and "Ride My See Saw" because Ray's
beautiful vocals are sorely missed. If I want to hear those in the way they
were meant to be heard, I'll throw on the originals or "Red Rocks".
Nevertheless, still worth the purchase just to hear the live versions of
"Higher and Higher", "December Snow", "Steppin' in A Slide Zone, :"Are You
Sitting Comfortably?", "Forever Autumn" and "Gypsy".
Trfesok.aol.com (09/20/06)
I also saw the band on this tour, about a month after this was
recorded, and I had a marvelous time. The setlist was the same, in
the same sequence, except that they dropped "Forever Autumn" (did you
get that song, John, at your show? If you did, I'm jealous). I hadn't
seen the band in 13 years, mainly because they were stuck in the
greatest-hits-plus-plug-latest-album setlist rut pretty much since
Red Rocks. And why I certainly also miss Ray ("Legend of a Mind" was
always a big highlight), his departure indeed shook up the setlist to
good effect. A fair amount of esoteric selections for the hardcore
fans. Not too many quibbles, although it's too bad that they totally
neglected The Present (again) and Strange Times (more surprising) but
included the always mediocre "Lean On Me (Tonight)."
The weakest element still continues the be the weakening, thin vocals
of J&J (and the girls still sound out of place), but they don't ruin
the songs. What's interesting in that the solo lead vocals of Lodge
"I'm Just A Singer" and "Stepping in a Slide Zone" somehow sound more
tolerable than when they had three singers all trying -- and failing
-- to duplicate the studio harmonies. "Forever Autumn" is the
standout, vocally, here, with Justin approaching the richness of the
studio version. On the other hand, the extra musicians really help
to fill out the sound, as usual -- beautiful flute from Norda (cool
on the intro to "..Slide Zone"), and Paul Bliss finally gets some
authentic mellotron sounds from his synths. And the recording quality
is definitely the best of the band's live albums. If somebody is
curious about sampling the live sound of the group after
investigating the "Core 7" and Long Distance Voyager, this is the
best purchase.
In Search Of The Lost Chord 8(11)
On The Threshold Of a Dream 8(12)
To Our Children's Children's Children 10(14)
A Question Of Balance 7(10)
Every Good Boy Deserves Favor 8(11)
Seventh Sojourn 10(15)
Octave 4(7)
Long Distance Voyager 8(13)
The Present 8(12)
The Other Side Of Life 7(10)
Sur La Mer 5(8) (sorry)
Keys To The Kingdom 6(9)
A Night at Red Rocks 7(11)
Strange Times 8(13)
Hall Of Fame at Royal Albert Hall 7(10)
The KingstonTrio
The Temptations
The Who
I was a drummer in an Army bag pipe band and, IMHO, I like his style despite being nowhere as good as Keith Moon but far better
than Ringo
To tell your troubles to,
I sit down and lend an ear,
Yet I hear nothing new
The Magnificent Moodies - 1965/2007 Great American
8
Days of
Future Passed - 1967 Deram
D
In Search of the Lost Chord - 1968 Deram
9
The band captured a moment in time- it was cooler than now-we all felt
free...we were free-- even if for a short while..
Tom von Anger
On the Threshold of a Dream - 1969 Deram
A
*To Our Children's Children's Children - 1969 Threshold*
10
I'm utterly amazed at how nearly every damn chorus here manages to be so extremely
catchy. Definitely one of the 10 best albums of 1969.
Caught Live + 5 -
1977 Threshold
A
A Question of
Balance - 1970 Threshold
C
Live At The 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival - 2008 Eagle
A
Live At The BBC 1967-1970 - 2007 Decca
8
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour - 1971 Threshold
8
Seventh Sojourn - 1972 Threshold
C
You can still find SONGWRITER on CD if you search long enough. It's
out
there. No SEVENTH SOJOURN, or even BLUE JAYS, but a nice
effort.
Blue Jays (Justin Hayward and
John Lodge) - 1975 Threshold
8
Natural Avenue (John Lodge) - 1977 Polygram
9
Octave - 1978 Threshold
8
Long Distance Voyager - 1981 Threshold
A
The
Present - 1983 Threshold
B
Moving Mountains (Justin Hayward) - 1985 Atlantic
7
The Other Side of
Life - 1986 Polygram
7
Prelude - 1987 Polygram
A
Sur La Mer - 1988 Polygram
4
The Moody Blues are my fav!!
surlamer is One of my most favorite albums...
It goes to show that everyone has different tastes...
To completely be judgemental is wrong...But that is my opinion..
One's perception on what they hear...through the lyrics, is
phenonmenal..
You trash on Deep like it was bad..But it is much much more than
that..*sex*..
Apparently You haven't had an experience that was beyond just the
sex...
Deep is intuitively a wonderful lyric expressing a Feeling Deep
within..
connecting to another person...
Poetry is in all songs..lyrics...that is what they are..a poem...all
of them..
It's beyond You to be so hard on songs ..simpy put..you don't like
them..
doesn't make the album bad..maybe to you..but not everyone...
Telling someone it's a waste of money to buy it...is your opinion and
should be stated so..
To each their own...
BTW... Question is Tops albums for me....
I did a video...and did my best to try to form pictures within...in a
rendition to their video question..
you can check it out at www.youtube.com/tmblues
it is good... and I am totally loving everything you have taken time
to write about the history of the blues
and their travels...and ups and downs...
I appreciate another fan...They are on tour now..and I'll be at their
concert in Santa Rosa, Ca
come March Nineth...
Totally kewl!! Can't wait!!!
Hope they make maybe one more album..before to long!!..
thanks for your time in reading this...
God Bless..and Moodies!! R the best! overall!!
Elaine
Classic Blue (Justin Hayward with Mike Batt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra) - 1989 Trax Music
7
Keys of the Kingdom - 1991 Polygram
8
A Night at Red Rocks (With The Colorado Symphony
Orchestra) - 1993 Polydor
9
Time Traveller - 1994 PolyGram
8
8
Strange Times - 1999 Universal
B
Live at the Royal Albert Hall - 2000 Ark21
8
December - 2003 Universal
7
Lovely To See You - 2005 Image
A
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