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Moody Blues blues

Just finished running This Is Moody Blues and Days of Future Past through the Spin-Clean. Picked them up at the record show last weekend.

Will be listening to them tonight.

I believe "This is the Moody Blues" was just released on CD in the US for the first time last year. (and not until 2004 in the UK) Someone must still like these guys.
 
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day67 said:
Sooooo..... while we're at it, a great segue to ANOTHER fairly progressive early '70's rock band -- how 'bout Emerson, Lake (the K.C. connection), and Palmer? --Needs its own thread I'ld say.
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For me there is no comparing these two bands - ELP & TMB. I liked both back in the day, but even back then I felt ELP was by far the better group, both in their compositions and musicianship. Having recently listened to both I'd say ELP's music has stood the test of time (well 40 years at least) and the Moodies not so much although some of their songs are still good to my ear. ymmv
 
i studied the inside cover photo of the group on On the Threshold...for fashion tips- i just flipped for the hippie/edwardian dandy look and copied it as much as possible- i was nuts for the music from about 68 through 70/71, then all of a sudden To Our Children's ....seemed corny and affected, and it ended for me right there. i started with Tuesday Afternoon, a great bit of William Wordsworth-ian romanticism and went from there, but i think they'd worked their seam out after the first 3 lps. i still enjoy the prog/psych of Ride my Seesaw or straight up psych of Legend of a Mind/Timothy Leary....
 
cubdog said:
I just tried to listen to their Live at Red Rocks album. Pretty bad. Having graduated from high school in 1970 I certainly got my fill of the Moodies in their heyday. My enjoyment of their music seemed to vary depending upon my mental state at that given moment.

cubdog
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Same here, 1971 high school grad. I remember getting stoned and enjoying listening to In Search of the Lost Chord on headphones a good few times. For me, the Moody Blues were something of a musical stepping stone. Upon hearing early Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Soft Machine, etc., they no longer floated my boat, but, they helped me step away from pop music and onward to music with deeper content.
 
shrinkboy said:
i studied the inside cover photo of the group on On the Threshold...for fashion tips- i just flipped for the hippie/edwardian dandy look and copied it as much as possible...
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I am thankful you did not adopt Justin Hayward's cropped top from the "Chord" era:

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Not long ago I introduced the Moody Blues to my 17 year old son and he went as crazy for them as I am. Even went around to his buddies at school getting them to listen. A few weeks ago I brought ELP's pictures at an Exhibition home and threw it on the CD player. Even though I liked them back in the day I could not listen to them and both my wife and son asked me to take them off.

Moody Blues - :thmbsp:
Emerson Lake and Palmer - not so much

Shelly_D
 
Great points made here! Exactly. TMB, ELP and King Crimson all very different to say the least but all shared, at least at one point, the cutting edge status of being Progressive Rock's best of the best.

At times I've thrown on an LP cut and asked myself, "how and why did I ever like that song?" ....maybe that's the "buzz" factor. We go on and grow on.
 
day67 said:
Great points made here! Exactly. TMB, ELP and King Crimson all very different to say the least but all shared, at least at one point, the cutting edge status of being Progressive Rock's best of the best.

At times I've thrown on an LP cut and asked myself, "how and why did I ever like that song?" ....maybe that's the "buzz" factor. We go on and grow on.
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True dat.

All three endeavored to elevate Rock & Roll to High Art vis a vis using Classical, Baroque, and other motifs.

Much of it sounds great unless one is wedded to the opposite notion that Rock & Roll is inherently in conflict with High Art forms.
 
the Moody Blues

re the Moody Blues: if you were alive & aware in the 60s, you understand the sound & allure of TMB work.
 
I'm surprised at the distaste for the old Moodys! Personally, I think their early material is amazing. The Seventh Sojourn & Days Of Future Passed are some of my all time favorites. I'm not a big fan of their 80's stuff but everything before that is great.

BREATHE DEEP....
 
luddite said:
There was a garage sale where an entire collection of Moody Blues albums sat in a box and not having heard them for forty years, I got the collection. Having now listened expectantly to one album after another, I have decided that they were not very good. These albums will go to the thrift shop along with some furniture I'm tired of packing around every time we move. Why were the Moody Blues so successful, anyway?
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Oh, I don't know about all that now. From what I have heard from The Moody Blues it's been decent for the most part. Sure, they are perfectionists, we're talking The Moody Blues, not Rush or something. That said, you have to consider that a lot of bands in that time were not precision, just good ol' music and for they're time it sounds good to me in my opinion, but not all of it. I've heard a couple of songs from The Moody Blues that I would turn off right after the first note. Also note that the production on some of their stuff was not exactly stellar, so your hearing the result of that as well. They aren't my favorite band and I just have one album from them and it's the only one I will want, but then again the music of that era is my scene so there ya are.
Why were they so successful? The question is, were they really successful? Even at that, your guess is as good as mine as to why and the same can be said for many artists of the time.
If you like them, fine, if not, fine. At the end of the day it doesn't matter.
 
superdog said:
Moody Blues are cool up until '77 or' 78.After that I can't deal with them.
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Sad, but true. I remember buying "Octave" when it came out in 78' and was disappointed after hearing it. I actually liked "Blue Jays" by Haywood & Lodge better. Not a big fan of their 80's output either.
 
grooveman said:
Sad, but true. I remember buying "Octave" when it came out in 78' and was disappointed after hearing it. I actually liked "Blue Jays" by Haywood & Lodge better. Not a big fan of their 80's output either.
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As previously stated, Long Distance Voyager was very good. Better than Octave which I have always found lackluster.

After Voyager though, the years and combined forces of Disco, New Wave, Punk, and Arena Rock caused the Moodies to lose their way. I think they were also missing Mike Pinder, who had departed around Octave.

Watching their 80s videos you see them trying to retain some sense of their musical style while also trying to look contemporary. And it does not work, save for a decent tune here or there.

Now they rest on their laurels. But when the laurels are exceptional, that ain't so bad.
 
You know, I'm a little miffed at the way so many "audiophiles" here at AK find it so easy to jump all over a band like the Moodies when I hear so many of them rave about all those schmaltzy chick-singers whose music puts me into a coma (You know which ones I mean... I won't name any names). The Moody Blues MORE than earned their place in music history, plus they've always been great live. Their first 7 albums are all great. The first two are their best, and are also well-known audiophile favorites (I'm not including the album with "Go Now" from a few years earlier... Just the classic lineup starting with "Days").

I realize we all have different tastes, but the Moody Blues do not deserve the pistol-whipping they're getting here... :no:

I suppose they probably hate the Kinks too...
 
egl333 said:
Perhaps only John Lennon of the Beatles are in the same league as song writers. In the future,the Moody Blues will probably be considered classic like we currently consider composers Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.
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So, in this future world, are we forced by a fascist government to consider them classic, or does this happen by free will - after a nuclear disaster which by chance, leaves only their music to survive?

:smoke:
 
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