#544: The Moodies!

Can't believe I haven't written about this B4 -- The Moody Blues were my 1st Serious Musical Addiction, even B4 The Beatles. My cousin Jim had a copy of the Moodies' DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED, which I heard a few times while growing up, & I always loved their stuff when it occasionally came on the radio -- "Ride My See-Saw," "Question," "The Story in Your Eyes," "Tuesday Afternoon," & especially the suprising hitbound return of "Nights in White Satin" in '72.
Their songs always seemed 2 have a mystical, spacey, massed-chorale quality that seemed lacking in almost all other Top 40 hits. That mystical quality likely set me off on my search 4 more Strange Music that's continued ever since. In late 1974 I took the plunge & bought their 1st 7 albums all at 1nce & disappeared in2 them 4 months....
Tho I still think they did some genius stuff, the Moodies could B inconsistent. Almost all of their albums have at least 1 song that is impossible 2 take. & almost all of them have at least 1 song that's so damned catchy or brilliant that you'll never forget it.
At their best, the Moodies always had gorgeous group vocals, dynamic & melodic guitar work, strong pop-based songwriting by all the band members, & great mellotron/keyboard sounds. Tony Clarke's heavy production was way ahead of its time -- especially the way he made whole sides of Moodies albums flow together like song suites that couldn't B interrupted.
If the Moodies had bn promoted more in the late '60s & early '70s, I think they coulda had 1/2adozen more hits, as I shall note below....
After more than 35 years of listening, here's what I think of their output....
DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED (1967) is a rock classic, but 1/2 of it's slushy movie-soundtrack instrumentals. The actual SONGS R hard 2 beat -- bassist John Lodge's Dave Clark Five-ish "Peak Hour," guitarist Justin Hayward's gorgeous "Tuesday Afternoon" & "Evening: Time to Get Away," flutist Ray Thomas's "Twilight Time," & Hayward's classic funeral-wail "Nights in White Satin." I can almost take Thomas's "Another Morning" & drummer Graeme Edge's poem "Late Lament" -- about the only place where the orchestra actually ADDS something. But the opening of Side 1 is actually the album's weakest point. Dated, but still great.
IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD ('68) is the Moodies' most dated album, all full of Eastern philosophies & "cool" Indian instrumentation. But there's still some great stuff: The queasy opening chromatic slide ("Departure") in2 the dynamite "Ride My See-Saw," the dated-but-spacey "Legend of a Mind" (with some nice flute from Ray Thomas), the hushed "Voices in the Sky," Hayward's dramatic "The Actor." But the bad stuff is Really Bad. Worst is the howlingly silly "Om," possibly their dumbest track ever.
ON THE THRESHOLD OF A DREAM ('69) opens with a great mini-drama "In the Beginning," then in2 a catchy shoulda-been-single, Hayward's "Lovely to See You." The rest of the 1st side is pretty solid Xcept 4 Thomas's kinda lazy "Dear Diary." The Moodies even make their 1st try at Country with "Send Me No Wine"! The 2nd side opens with another shoulda-bn-classic "Never Comes the Day," but then it's almost all downhill 2 the closing 6-minute psychedelic freakout "Have You Heard?/The Voyage." Graeme Edge's poem "The Dream" is his best piece ever, even tho it does set up that anticlimactic closing....
TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN ('69) has a distant, remote, icy feeling that is absolutely unlike NE other Moodies album. It takes longer 2 get in2 -- I hated it at 1st -- but it soon Bcame 1 of my favorites. The 1 Required Stupid Track here is the opener, "Higher and Higher," which is moronic. Things get rolling slowly with Lodge's "Eyes of a Child," which flows directly in2 Thomas's bouncy "Floating." The killer here is Lodge's brief-but-ferociously-rockin' "Eyes of a Child Part 2" -- they coulda filled up a whole side with something as good as this! "Beyond" is a spacey instrumental that keeps getting interrupted by silly keyboard doodles. "Out and In" is keybsman Mike Pinder's 1st great song on a Moodies album -- but Real Fans know he also wrote "Simple Game," the killer B-side 2 "Ride My See-Saw" -- those doo-doo-doo vocal choruses get me every time!
*AHEM* ... Over 2 Side 2, which opens with the best thing here, Hayward's driving "Gypsy," which has great spacey lyrics, driving guitar, & some of those Moodies-patented wordless-vocal choruses. Pinder's "Sun is Still Shining" is nice & litely bouncy, not unlike a replay of "Floating" from Side 1. Lodge continues his roll with the moody "Candle of Life." Hayward teams up with Thomas 4 the spacey closer "Watching and Waiting," which I insist is narrated by a planet waiting 4 humans 2 come Xplore it. There's a couple other brief sketches, but they're not much. Overall, an album tough 2 love at 1st, but it REALLY grows on you....
A QUESTION OF BALANCE ('70) opens with Hayward's killer single "Question," & mosta the resta the 1st side is also classic. Edge's driving "Don't You Feel Small?" is his 1st & best Real Song so far. Lodge's "Tortoise and the Hare" is a bouncy move-along based on the old fairy tale. The Thomas & Pinder trax R less than their best work, tho I can almost take Thomas's romantic "And the Tide Rushes In" in a weak moment.
The 2nd side shoulda bn pressed in gold. It opens with Hayward's classic shoulda-bn-hit "It's Up to You," which has everything a hit needs Xcept a solid ending. Lodge's "Minstrel's Song" keeps the quality level high, & Hayward's "Dawning is the Day" continues the mood. Pinder's "Melancholy Man" gets a little preachy, & Thomas/Edge's "The Balance" really goes over the top, sounding almost like a church sermon ... but a pretty good 1....
EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR ('71) has some weak spots, including the directionless opening instrumental "Procession," but then it Gets Good. Hayward's "Story in Your Eyes" was a killer single, & Thomas's "Our Guessing Game" woulda made a great follow-up with its terrific choruses. Lodge's "Emily's Song" is a little romantic & slushy, but Edge's "After You Came" is a driving rocker with lotsa Hayward gtr.
Side 2 opens with a Lodge epic, "One More Time to Live" -- big production, lotsa drama. They follow it with Thomas's lite kids' song "Nice to be Here." Heaviness kicks back in with Hayward's melodramatic "You Can Never Go Home," which is my fave track here. Pinder's "My Song" turns in2 more mellotron-freakout, a disappointing ending.
SEVENTH SOJOURN ('72) has some great stuff, but it was programmed backwards. It shoulda opened with Edge/Hayward's "You and Me," a brilliant end-of-the-world rocker & 1 of my fave Moodies trax ever. Hayward's "Land of Make-Believe" continues the high quality. Lodge's "I'm Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band" was 1 of 2 hits offa this album, which reached #1 in the US in early '73.
Over on Side 1, things get going slowly with Hayward's slushy "New Horizons," but Thomas's "For My Lady" is a gorgeous old English sea-shanty/beer-drinking song. Lodge's "Isn't Life Strange?" was a hit, but it just sounds like Bad Early Bee Gees, 2 me. There R 2 Pinder songs on this album, both lacking in tuneage.
THIS IS ('74) is a best-of which is 1 of the few places you can find Pinder's great "Simple Game." Most of the rest of the choices R pretty obvious....
Justin Hayward & John Lodge's BLUE JAYS ('75) isn't a Moodies album, but the best stuff here stands with the band's best work, especially the dramatic opening "This Morning" & "Remember Me My Friend," Lodge's anthemic "Saved by the Music," & the gorgeous cosmic closer "When You Wake Up."
OCTAVE ('78) was a disappointing comeback. I hear maybe 4 decent songs: Edge's "I'll Be Level With You," Lodge's silly "Steppin' in a Slide Zone," & Hayward's "Had to Fall in Love" & the closing "Day We Meet Again." The rest sounds awfully tired....
LONG DISTANCE VOYAGER ('81) was the real comeback, & 1 of my favorites. Only a coupla weak trax. Hayward's "The Voice" is almost a patented, cliched Moodies hit -- spacey, cosmic, driving. I can't take "Gemini Dream." Hayward's "In My World" is pretty gorgeous tho, & almost worth its 7 mins. The really great stuff is on Side 2, tho -- Hayward's "Meanwhile" is a gorgeous, sparkly classic that shoulda been a hit. Lodge's "Nervous" is the best Barry Manilow song that BM never wrote -- ultra-romantic, melodramatic, a great sappy lovesong. Thomas's "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" is an absolute hoot that shoulda also bn a hit -- rock&roll as circus, swirling, dramatic, brilliant. They coulda retired after this.
THE PRESENT ('83) is my fave Moodies album ever, but it isn't 4 every1 -- it's a bit Adult-Contemporary/EZ Listening, a mature, mellower Moodies, looking back from Middle Age. That said, I think it's their most consistent album ever. It opens with a REAL cliched Moodies almost-hit, Hayward's "Blue World" -- I LOVE it, but listen 2 the lyrics -- it's all a string of Moodies cliches. Hayward & Lodge's "Meet Me Halfway" keeps up the melodic high quality. Lodge's "Sitting at the Wheel" is another bouncy rocker. Over on side 2, Hayward dives back in2 Country with the twangy "It's Cold Outside of Your Heart," & follows with the ultra-romantic "Running Water," which coulda bn the themesong 4 this album. Ray Thomas closes with the '60s throwback "I Am," then the angry, driving "Sorry," which I think was a helluva way 2 end a career. They really SHOULD have retired after this....
Of the stuff that followed, I liked "Your Wildest Dreams" & "The Other Side of Life" & tried 2 get in2 that album but couldn't. KEYS OF THE KINGDOM ('91) was their worst ever, not 1 song with NE life 2 it -- I've read that Thomas's "Celtic Sonant," buried at the end of Side 2, was pretty good -- but I was numb by then.
SUR LA MER had the wonderful "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" & the pretty-good "No More Lies," but the rest was pretty weak, including Hayward's hideous & Mbarrassing "Deep." STRANGE TIMES (2000) started OK with Hayward's "English Sunset," but after that I just drifted off.
Their TIME TRAVELLER box set has most of the songs mentioned above on it (Xcept 4 "Simple Game"), + 1/2 of Hayward&Lodge's BLUE JAYS album. There's 2 much from LOST CHORD & KEYS, & not enuf from DAYS, VOYAGER & PRESENT, but they get most of the other stuff right.
Of course, I coulda made up a better box set selection, + written a better historical essay 2 go with the box, but they didn't ask me....
Last I heard, the Moodies were still touring with Hayward, Lodge & Edge + a ton of help. Thomas had retired, & replacement keybsguy Patrick Moraz (who never got enuf credit 4 livening-up VOYAGER & PRESENT) is long gone. I'd still go see 'em if I had the chance....

(This post is 4 Lex Dexter, who nudged me ... & made this the EZest music-review post I've done in quite awhile....)