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)
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)

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,
The KingstonTrio
The Temptations
The Who

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.
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

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,
To tell your troubles to,
I sit down and lend an ear,
Yet I hear nothing new

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.

---

The Magnificent Moodies - 1965/2007 Great American
8

Best song: Go Now

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

Days of Future Passed - 1967 Deram
D

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.

Send me your thoughts

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

---

In Search of the Lost Chord - 1968 Deram
9

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.

Send me your thoughts

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...
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

"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

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On the Threshold of a Dream - 1969 Deram
A

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.

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*To Our Children's Children's Children - 1969 Threshold*
10

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.
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.

"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.

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Caught Live + 5 - 1977 Threshold
A

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.

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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.

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A Question of Balance - 1970 Threshold
C

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?

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"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.

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Live At The 1970 Isle Of Wight Festival - 2008 Eagle
A

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.

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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.

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Live At The BBC 1967-1970 - 2007 Decca
8

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.

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Every Good Boy Deserves Favour - 1971 Threshold
8

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 ...

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

Seventh Sojourn - 1972 Threshold
C

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 ...

Send me your thoughts

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.
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.

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.

---

Blue Jays (Justin Hayward and John Lodge) - 1975 Threshold
8

Best song: This Morning

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

Natural Avenue (John Lodge) - 1977 Polygram
9

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

Octave - 1978 Threshold
8

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

Long Distance Voyager - 1981 Threshold
A

Best song: Meanwhile

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

The Present - 1983 Threshold
B

Best song: Blue World

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

Moving Mountains (Justin Hayward) - 1985 Atlantic
7

Best song: Take Your Chances or Goodbye

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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?'

---

The Other Side of Life - 1986 Polygram
7

Best song: The Other Side of Life

Send me your thoughts

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.

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Prelude - 1987 Polygram
A

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.

Send me your thoughts

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!

---

Sur La Mer - 1988 Polygram
4

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.

Send me your thoughts

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...
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

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.

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Classic Blue (Justin Hayward with Mike Batt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra) - 1989 Trax Music
7

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.

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Keys of the Kingdom - 1991 Polygram
8

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.

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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.

---

A Night at Red Rocks (With The Colorado Symphony Orchestra) - 1993 Polydor
9

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.

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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.

---

Time Traveller - 1994 PolyGram
8

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 ....)

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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?

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The View From The Hill - 1996 CMC
8

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.

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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.

---

Strange Times - 1999 Universal
B

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.

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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.

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Live at the Royal Albert Hall - 2000 Ark21
8

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.

---

December - 2003 Universal
7

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.

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Lovely To See You - 2005 Image
A

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.

Send me your thoughts

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.
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