The Moody Blues
 

Because, IMO, they're the second greatest band in the world behind the Beach Boys.

Seriously, these guys are absolutely amazing. Their "core seven" albums contain some of the best rock ever put to tape. Their second album Days of Future Passed is the textbook for how to create a symphonic, orchestral soundscape in the context of a rock 'n' roll record.

These guys were full of great musical ideas in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and still are today. Their newer records, while not as epic as say In Search of the Lost Chord or Seventh Sojourn, are still better than a lot of rock 'n' roll coming out today.

In addition to still being a recording act, they're also still a legitimate touring act with 3 out of 5 "classic" members. Not only that, but their shows are still popular and their shows aren't just "oldies shows". Read the reviews of their concerts...these guys still have it 40 years after the release of their first album.

If you've never got into the Moody Blues, start with Days of Future Passed and work sequentially through the discography. For those of you who know the Moodies' music, let's hear the love.

Ridiculously underated, i consider Days Of Future Past to be one of the most innovative and important albums of the 60s, i remember when Rolling Stone left it off my list and how pissed off i was.

EDIT: Sorry i said "overrated", i meant "underrated", twas a nasty typo, tis fixed now.

That's a hard point to argue, no doubt. What's really funny is that it was never supposed to be released. Deram Records wanted the Moody Blues to record an album to demonstrate stereo sound (keep in mind that stereo didn't take off in the UK until around 1970) in exchange for the record company forgiving the band's debt (they owed the record label several thousand quid in advances).

The problem was, after all was said and done, Deram had spent so much money on this demonstration record that they decided to release it to try and recoup some of their costs. haha

I heard about that, but it also made a great showcase for the bands songwriting talents.

Moody Blues
 

Just heard the song "Nights In White Satin" today and I love it. I love the Broadway play feel the chorus has, and I love the epilogue at the end of the song. You don't hear much music like that anymore. If anybody knows of any other good songs by this band let me know!

Days of Future Past is my candidate for being the first true progressive rock album.

Some point to the Procol Harum debut released a few months earlier which is a great album and an influence on prog but it doesn't really sound that proggy and is more like a fusion of R&B and baroque pop.

Days of Future Past on the other hand is the true bridge between psychedelia and prog. In terms of the concept, the themes, the atmospheric feel, the song structures, the arrangements and most importantly the use of symphonic and classical elements. You can hear the clear influence it had on King Crimson, Genesis, Yes and others.

While they never surpassed DOFP or ever showed as much experimental ambition again, they still put out some solid albums in the late 60s and early 70s and don't get as much credit and respect as they deserve.

hayward is incredible love his vocals
you should check out hayward live in san juan capistrano
here is some moody blues i recorded

I recently discovered this band, my favourite songs are (in no particular order) :

Nights In White Satin
Gimme' A Little Something
In My World
Candle Of Life
I Don't Mind
Melancholy Man
This Is My House (But Nobody Calls)
Boulevard de la Madelaine

Oh I think they did surpass it with A Question of Balance and On the Threshold of a Dream. Days of Future Past has a couple of standout songs at least but the orchestral interludes by Peter Knight I don't like so much.

Not as much as on some later albums because of all those orchestral sections.

Only if you think 'On the Threshold of the Dream' is the Moody's best album :laughing:

what about freak out by frank zappa? (1966)

^ Too bad boo boo's not here to give you his explanation. IMO, I never thought of Freak Out as Prog Rock, simply because the first half was very good parodies with fairly conventional song structures, and he second half was so far out there, that I always considered it avant garde. But is was a huge influence on Krautrock.

Not at all, I concur.

I personally felt Freak Out! was very mediocre. Apart from 'Brain Police', 'Help I'm a Rock', and 'The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet' the album is largely average... and what's with the freaking kazoo sounding solo every song?

No! I love them too, thanks for the bump. :)

I think Days Of Future Past was their best album by far;Tuesday Afternoon and Twilight Time are wonderful tracks that seem to conjure up the dreamy afternoons of childhood. The blending of orchestra and rock band is handled very well too.
What a pity that the Moodies put those rather laughable spoken-word bits on their albums, though; I think they singlehandedly ensured that Progressive Rock would forever carry the "pretentious" label, with which it is so often branded.

I don't like the orchestral segments of Days of Future Past, sounds too much like easy listening music to me.

Best album for me is A Question of Balance, followed by On the Threshold of a Dream.

I love them, especially these 2 masterpieces. I sometimes call the first one their "magnum opus". Justin Hayward :bowdown: is terribly unappreciated, compared to some of his contemporaries.

^ Yes, I guess they do cross that line sometimes on Days of Future Passed, starrynight, but that album was probably their most innovative moment.
There`s some good music, but nothing innovative about Balance or Threshold; more a case of "Don`t mess with the formula", as Brian Wilson`s money-minded Dad used to tell BW.

Well as I've said here a few times already I don't care if something is seen as innovative or not. One reason is that something might be innovative only if looked at in a narrow context, and my other reason is that if I don't think it is good music I still won't like it anyway. I still adore Tuesday Afternoon and Nights in White Satin from that album. But the other music just doesn't fit that well anyway to me and could easily have been taken from a bland film soundtrack.

And as for formulas, well all music has formulas but what matters is what is done with the formula that is used (how creative someone is). And I wouldn't accept they were just looking to make money with later albums, indeed I think they put quite different sounding songs on the same album. For instance on Threshold you have the country sounding Send Me No Wine, a more rnb rocker To Share Our Love and a progressive ballad Have You Heard and Question has the folk-like Minstrel's Song. Some of their later albums can sound a bit too dependant on production effects for me, but I think there is good songwriting on those two.

^ Sorry, starrynight, I shouldn`t have been so dismissive about Threshold and Question; thinking about it, what Brian Wilson might have heard from his Dad really has no relevence at all to what the Moody Blues were doing.

^ In fact, this is how I usually feel about a piece of music, too. The important question is "Does this music sound good to me today?", not "Should I like this because it is historically significant ?"

Anyway, here are two Moody Blues tracks that always sound good to me. I wonder what your verdict is on them :-

i don't have an opinion in either direction strongly about them

i mean, they're just there

i put on their "classic" albums sometimes, but i don't find anything particularly great about any of them

now, Procol Harum, on the other hand, that was a terrif 60s proto-prog band

When Procul were good, they were good, but I always felt that for every song that hit the target, there were at least two that didn`t. Also, they never really broke out of the 3-min pop song format - or did they ?

there were some songs reaching five minutes on their "classic" albums

on their comeback album, The Prodigal Stranger, most songs are longer than 5 minutes

This, Procul Harum were far more interesting than the Moody Blues in general, but I've been meaning to listen to the classic Moody Blues albums again (haven't listened to them in years)

I can't say Procol Harum have ever done as much for me as The Moody Blues who wrote some classic melodies and had a sound all of their own, partly created by their use of the mellotron. Part of that sound was Justin Hayward's autumnal voice which can be heard on the two songs above (which of course I like).

One of the best ever Moody Blues tunes from In Search of the Lost Chord


The Moody Blues - Legend of a mind - YouTube

and equally as good.


The Moody Blues - House Of Four Doors - YouTube

House of Four Doors isn't one of their best melodies for me, the chorus doesn't grab me. They did plenty of good songs though.


One of the things I like about their music is that there is an archaic sound to them but instead of making it dated it makes it more timeless. I think it's because the basis of it is the feeling of the music and not superficial elements like using archaic instruments. It feels from some deep ancestral past but in a very undefined way and so can still connect to us.

Their music is definitely based around feeling and unconventional instruments, which gives them a somewaht timeless feel. Their influence on prog rock I'd say has a lot to do with this. They certainly belong in any Cosmic best albums list

At least get his name right
 

His name is Justin HayWARD, not HayWOOD ! And his music is unique and timeless and fabulous. Not to mention his voice is gorgeous !

We do know that.

Yeah, I love Jason Hayward.

Sooooo funny. har har

an original poster someplace on here didn't know that, sorry if I posted on the wrong thread

In general most of their songs were just 3 and 4 mins but they helped set the precedent for long progressive suites with this song on their second album in 1968.


Procol Harum "In Held 'Twas In I" (Part 1) - YouTube

and part 2.


Procol Harum "In Held 'Twas In I" (Part 2) - YouTube

The Moody Blues - Melancholy Man, how I love this song! :D

Such a great band. Days of Future Past is probably my favorite but they have many great cd's. In Search of the Lost Chord, To Our Children's Children's Children, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Seventh Sojourn... They are a band of many very good songs but only a few radio hits. To cut it down to just a 5 to 10 songs is hard.

I really like "The other side of life". I'm wondering what your opinion about that album is.

Would be interesting to know.