Moody Blues : C/D, S/D

Why such a long gap between Seventh Sojourn and Octave?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moody_Blues

this seems to imply general band exhaustion

God, reading over this thread again makes me glad I wasn't there for the early shitty hater era of ilx.

Listening to In Search Of The Lost Chord, some really great songs but there's something that bothers me about the album as a whole.

I loved Bongwater's cover of "Ride My See-Saw" and the original is awesome too and much fuller sounding.

I quite dislike the tone of the vocals in "Dr Livingston, I Presume", I felt similarly about "Another Morning" on the previous album. I can't quite describe it but it's as if Ray Thomas is speaking in a brisk carefree manner, which shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing but I find it irritating. I hope he doesn't keep that manner later on.

Justin seems by far the best vocalist of them. All his songs on this are great.

Just seen that there are some versions of the early albums with way more bonus tracks. Hope the "standard" editions keep all the best stuff. The bonus tracks on Days Of Future Passed were fantastic.

Finished listening to it, it's very good mostly.

"The Actor" and "Visions Of Paradise" are pretty gorgeous.

The Peel show version of "The Best Way To Travel" has this clattering at the end that should have been on the album version.
Bonus tracks "A Simple Game" (Justin vocals version is better) and "What Am I Doing Here?" are great.

The Actor would be my #1 Moody Blues song

would be a definite top 10 of mine ..

In Search Of the Lost Chord is definitely a great album - I even wrote about it a few months ago. When people describe the sort of music that the Beatles made in their psychedelic period I often think of this one. It's been played out a lot but I still think "Voices in the Sky" is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded.

Played on the radio? Are they far more popular in America, Like The Zombies?

Nice piece. I guessed they might be considered bandwagon jumpers too square to really get in deep with the eastern spiritualism (which is probably going to be looked back on less favourably than ever) and psychedelic stuff. I don't recall them really going into that stuff on the documentary. I bet a lot of people held their big garden party album launch against them.

As someone earlier in this thread says, people who are fresh to this band will probably really like them. I knew virtually nothing about them before I saw Tim Burton's Dark Shadows (of all things; my sister thought the song was the only good thing about the film and she doesn't really listen to this sort of music). I think I first heard of them in an early issue of Prog magazine and admittedly I was slightly put off them because they looked very Austin Powers in some photos.

I haven't listened to enough to really place them properly but right now I associate them with Procol Harum and Family.

Played on the radio? Are they far more popular in America, Like The Zombies?

I haven't listened much to classic rock radio in a decade or so but from what I recall they were played fairly frequently, more than just "Thursday" and "Nights" - iirc lots of their later, not-so-good stuff as well.

God, reading over this thread again makes me glad I wasn't there for the early shitty hater era of ilx.

Far too many ugly men with moustaches (who looked about 42 in 1967 so God knows what they look like now) in this band for my liking.

"the story in your eyes", "just a singer in a rock & roll band", "ride my see saw", and "lovely to see you" are still classic rock radio highlights

They're great. I bet they influenced a lot of bands, even if those bands wouldn't name drop the Moodies as an influence. Hawkwind, Genesis, Even Joy Division / early New Order have audible Moody Blues influences.

In Search of the Lost Chord is great all the way through, and stands up to A Saucerful of Secrets by Pink Floyd, Forever Changes by Love, Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies, and really anything from that milieu.

But I agree that there's something seemingly uncool about them -- maybe just the idea of them. But then I listen to them and remember how great they are!

Also, Mike Pinder's playing is probably the most iconic use of the Mellotron anywhere in rock history.

C/D: Classic!
S: In Search of the Lost Chord, To Our Children's Children's Children; D: Most of Days of Future Passed, Their 80s comeback.

In Search of the Lost Chord was the first LP my grandma gave me when she found out I had a turntable. Still had bongwater stains on it.

For the record, I think it's great. Sorta what I imagined the Beatles sounded like before I heard them. "Voices in the Sky" is still one of the prettiest songs ever written.

I fucking loathe this song.

Your loss, but I never really payed attention to the lyrics. I'm sure a lot of people love it.

Love this song

last week ordered the 2cd set 'this is .. ' cos its the easiest way to just kick back and listen to the best stuff by the band when they were at their peak.
last night after some booze I pressed play and had the best 90 mins I have had in ages.
brilliant band.

yea they definitely had enough material for an absolutely killer greatest hits. TOCCC is the only Moodys album that I think is actually great from start to finish. though their filler stuff is plenty fine too sometimes

yea they definitely had enough material for an absolutely killer greatest hits.

"This is .." is clearly the best comp as it covers the glory years, and has edits/revisions so that it flows making it the best to experience the hits and more as opposed to diving in deep.
that said, every time I heard a song I just wanted to hear the full album that the song had been lifted from.
brilliant band.

you are proper ace Alfred, but you are massively wrong re this one.

It's okay. The world usually orients itself to me after a generation!

I’ve always felt that while “Nights in White Satin” was understandably the Moodies’ most iconic song—with its orchestral sweep, maudlin sentiment and earnest Hayward vocal—that it’s still a good distance from their best work. I’d say I feel that way about Days of Future Past generally tho “Tuesday Afternoon” is great and that BBC take of “Peak Hour” mentioned upthread is killer.

"Hawkwind, Genesis, Even Joy Division / early New Order have audible Moody Blues influences."

what? no.

also when I was a kid I thought it was "Knights in White Satin" and the song always conjured up images of knights with jousts on horses wearing stunning satin white capes, and in fact it still does. The alternative, sweaty naked hippies rolling around on satin sheets, is too gross.

Hey Alfred you will still be wrong in one generation fwiw

Hahahahaha I had a feeling this thread revive would be from Alfred’s “Worst Songs Ever” blog. You didn’t even mention the “Breathe deep, the gathering gloom” poetry bit.

Your loathing is my joy

You gloom has gathered.

Ah Alfred you’re cool in my book

https://amuseofire.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/martini-toast1.jpg?w=329

Just saw your "Brand New Key" entry. It wasnt until this week I knew about the song except the Wurzels "Combine Harvester" cover of it, and that there was an irish singer that even did that version of the song before them. Because I heard Rasputina's version or "Brand New Key" and I loved it.

Going through another period of listening to their Core Seven ... I think one of the more underrated things about them is that they have five fairly distinctive songwriters --- each of whom was responsible for some notable pieces. Hayward of course did a lot of the famous balladry. Lodge did more of the rock tunes ("Ride My See-Saw," "I'm Just a Singer"), Edge wrote the spoken word stuff ("The Dream," "The Word," "The Balance," my personal fave), and Thomas wrote "Legend of a Mind."

Pinder was responsible for some of their more interesting and experimental stuff -- "Out and In," "Lost in a Lost World," the "Have You Heard Pt. 1"/"The Voyage"/"Have You Heard Pt. 2" suite, "My Song." His voice was used for all of Edge's spoken word stuff (I love it, too, as it's almost perfectly theatrical). And of course, he did all the Mellotron parts, which is probably their most lasting innovation in pop.

In Search of the Lost Chord sounded good today in the rain, particularly The Actor.

Best UK psych band imo

I prefer the band that had that song about the show on tramplolines and the guy who did the somerset through the hogshead of real fire.

great band.
nice write up of the band in this months mojo.
I really need to get their 7th album to complete the set of their classic era releases.

Lost Chord is pretty much exactly what I thought Sgt. Pepper was gonna sound like before I heard it

still think "Voices in the Sky" is the prettiest thing ever

when my grandma found out I was into collecting records she gave me a bunch of her old LPs, including 5 of the 7 good ones

finally picked up the other 2. I don't exactly love the Moody Blues but I know those 7 are always seen as sort of a set and it bothered me I didn't have them. though the price of used vinyl has skyrocketed in the last 10 years these are still cheap and plenty available.

now that I'm listening to them properly I think they're great. Days of Future Past seems a bit overrated and is almost too goofy to take seriously (outside of 3 really great tracks, maybe the Indian-sounding one as well). but the other six are quite excellent. it is amusing to me how a lot of popular music just reflects the popular drugs of the time. in that sense their music is plenty appealing to me. I dig the floaty psychedelic vibes. my grandma was (and as far as I know still is) a massive stoner so I can see why she spoke so highly of these boys.

one track I'm surprised not to see mentioned on this thread is "Are You Sitting Comfortably" - that flute/woodwind melody over Heyward's voice is just pure bliss

yeah, i still need to get the 7th of the set.
instead i picked up this 2cd compilation of their classic era which blends all the big tunes together (including edits that are unavailable elsewhere) making it the best compilation ever.

https://www.discogs.com/The-Moody-Blues-This-Is-The-Moody-Blues/release/6173718

ahh .. i said the same thing 2 years ago.
well, at least i am consistent.

"face piles and piles of trials with smiles"

How many of their albums are concept albums? A lot of bands get an inaccurate reputation for this but that's three in a row so far.

a friend pointed out that "On the Threshold of a Dream" is their last one on Deram records before they moved to Threshold, and it clearly should have been called "On the Threshold of a Deram." sadly he probably pointed this out more than forty years ago and i still to this day can't think of those records without thinking of that.

The "Have You Heard" two-parter is such bliss. What a great band.

Threshold is my favourite of their albums. It's not Hayward's peak, but Pinder's songs are very consistent. With Have You Heard, it's amusing how closely they pattern the arrangement after A Day in the Life.

All of their albums from Days of Future Past to Every Good Boy are putatively concept records, although each successive record is less tied into the concept other than the cover, title and maybe two or three of the lyrics.

Huh, I never noticed that but it's definitely true. I don't think Seventh Sojourn has any concept at all. Maybe I'm just missing it.

current favorite is "You Can Never Go Home". there's this bent mellotron chord that just hits me in the gut.

Yeah, by 1972 they were so exhausted that just getting a record in stores was enough of a unifying idea.

Pinder’s compositions sort of snuck up on me. I originally sort of wrote them off but almost all of the deep cuts I fell for were either written by him (Out and In) or featured his voice (The Balance) or his next level Mellotron work (Beyond).

this is a good resource if you're wondering about what Mellotron sounds they were using:

https://www.planetmellotron.com/revmoodies.htm

my local shop has some of the post-7th Sojourn LPs for very cheap, still not sure if I want to check them out. of all the 60's psych/art rock bands I think they were the least able to adapt to the 70s, even the stuff they did do in the early 70's has a very 1968 vibe to it. either way I grabbed the Caught Live LP (for $2.99) and will probably be listening to it tonight

Surprised that "The Voice" hasn't popped up as a needle drop in something like "Stranger Things."

otm, I love Long Distance Voyager so much, love that they just went all in on synth-pop for the next decade and totally pulled it off, maybe the most graceful transition for a psych/prog band from the sixties into the eighties?