The Moody Blues album by album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Glenn Christense, Sep 18, 2017.

  1. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block Thread Starter

    That's what makes the world go round. You don't think the orchestra hits sound bombastic, but I do. :D
     
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  2. roman.p

    roman.p Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    This was the first Moody Blues album I heard, sometime in the winter of 1970/71, and I thought it was magical. Today, I like it well enough, but find it's weighed down by a couple of so-so Lodge songs.
    According to the group and Clarke, it was an attempt to sort of get back to basics with supposedly simpler songs that could be more easily performed live, after the complexity of Children's Children. Nevertheless, by my count, the band played five of the songs from Children's Children in concert, and only four from this album, until the Octave tour, when they added "The Balance".
    Do they use the Moog on "Question"? I'm not sure, but it's loud and clear on "Melancholy Man" and "How is It (We Are Here)".
    Note that the latter song marks, I believe, the first appearance of Hayward's ultra-sweet Marshall fuzz tone, which was to be became his trademark lead guitar sound for the next decade.
    Another first: Edge's debut with an actual song (as opposed to poetry), "Don't You Feel Small", which features marimba, latin percussion, and no bass. And the wild flute solo is, I believe, Thomas's last such solo on record. (On future albums, the flute would be relegated to melody lines, such as on "One More Time to Live" or "Land of Make Believe".) Note also that on the bogus live DVD from the Paris Olympia, you can hear an extra 15 seconds or so of his solo on the fadeout.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2017
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  3. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block Thread Starter

    I always thought Graeme's whispered part in "Don't You Feel Small" is weird.

    Also, a small factoid about the cover:

    The cover was changed slightly to hide the face of Colonel John Blashford-Snell, who had objected to an image of an explorer wearing a pith helmet and wielding a Webley .455 pistol on the cover of the original LP, which he felt was derived from a photograph of himself. The relevant part of the cover was changed to show a generic individual in response to his law suit.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    He admits in the Classic Artists video that he had considerable help from the others on the songs he's credited with writing. The one he says is definitely his is "I'll Be Level With You" on Octave.
     
  5. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    By far my favorite of his !
     
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  6. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    The Moog is at the end of the song, after the orchestra hits at .4:35 It is deep and low, It can then be heard doubling the bass 4:45 and emulating pizzicato strings 5:05 when they reprise the choral vocals.
    Its not the Mellotron in those specific parts , though tron is present in passages in the song.
    The Moog is also heard during the instrumental section of "Dawning Is the Day" 1:42 to 2:30in a rhumba fashion.
     
  7. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    Note also that "Tide" features what sounds like plucked upright bass. No electric bass,
     
  8. Billo

    Billo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern England
    In an interview Justin Hayward said TOCCC was his personal favorite of the so called 'core seven' albums...BUT he added it sold the least out of the seven !

    I think AQOB was their attempt to get away from the deeper concept idea of the preceeding four studio albums with material better suited - and easier to perform - for live concert shows

    Justin provided the big UK hit 'Question' - a different version of the album's opening track which was a UK no.2 - annoyingly held off top spot only by the England Football team's 1970 World Cup song 'Back Home' (which was written by a Scotsman !)

    Mike's 'Melacholy Man' was a chart topping single in France too

    those two songs and a couple of others are the 'loose' theme of a world in need of 'balance' to restore some kind of order, while Ray's lovely song from the heart reflected the same re his first marriage

    John provided a couple of more strident songs and the overall package was pretty complete but probably it was a case of a couple of really outstandings songs carrying the set

    Justin's 'It's Up To You' and 'Dawning is The Day' were great tracks too in addition to Mike's and Ray's lone song here (as later on 'Seventh Sojourn' album)

    nothing poor here but overall it was probably more an album of songs as opposed to any unified work as such - something they clearly intended

    it was a big selling album tho', no sign of any drop off in quality or support for the band tho' maybe the band were 'treading water' for a spell here before then swimming onwards ?

    besides Blashford-Snell the earliest copies had a flap at the top and a slit on the other end of the gatefold to tuck it in - an idea dropped on later versions of the sleeve
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2017
  9. Defrance

    Defrance A Northern Soul

    Location:
    Calgary, AB
    AQOB is my least favorite of the Classic 7 by quite a ways. That this was the only one my Dad never bought until the late 80s probably has something to do with it... but the songs themselves aren't quite as good as the other albums.

    The first song of these I heard was "Question" sometime in the late 80s on the radio. I remember thinking, "Is this a new Moody Blues song? If so, they've finally released something that sounds like their old stuff!" I was surprised to hear I'd been missing out on this album throughout my childhood years. I think a few months later we got our first CD player for Christmas and my Dad bought this disc soon after.

    My favorites here are "Question", of course, along with "And The Tide Rushes In", "It's Up To You", and "Melancholy Man". Tide is perhaps my favorite song of Ray's... it's right up there with "Legend Of A Mind" and "Eternity Road" for me. On the down side, I find "Minstrel's Song" cloying, and "The Balance" is their weakest spoken word track.

    After listening to the album just now, I don't agree with the track sequencing they decided upon. I like this better:
    A1 - Question
    A2 - Tortoise And The Hare
    A3 - It's Up To You
    A4 - Melancholy Man

    B1 - Don't You Feel Small?
    B2 - How Is It (We Are Here)?
    B3 - Minstrel's Song
    B4 - Dawning Is The Day
    B5 - And The Tide Rushes In
    B6 - The Balance

    This gets rid of the jarring transition from "Question" to "How Is It?", puts the Pinder epic at the end of a side, allows for the excellent full intro to "Don't You Feel Small?", and doesn't sandwich "And The Tide Rushes In" into a spot it doesn't feel right in.
     
  10. roman.p

    roman.p Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Yes, of course, I forgot about "Dawning is the Day". As for "Question", the pizzicato is Lodge's bass played in a very high register (the bass is double tracked). And that low buzzing sound I always assumed was Mellotron on some kind of horn setting.
     
  11. Nick Dunning

    Nick Dunning Forum Resident

    I first heard this record and 'TOCCC' via 1970's cassettes that I picked up in the mid-1980's.

    I absolutely loved the way this one opens - the first three songs are all wonderful in different ways.

    I have the (very different) quad mix on now, interesting that the mix of 'Question' is similar to the 45, and not the original album version with keyboards from almost the start (which I prefer). Mike Pinder scores with the atmospheric 'How Is It (We Are Here)' and Ray Thomas's 'And The Tide Rushes In' is a stunningly honest ballad.

    It gets very bitty after that sadly, it's really front-loaded like a 1990's record.

    John Lodge's songs, in particular, are pretty weak. I really don't go much on 'Melancholy Man', which I find monotonous, either. 'Dawning Is The Day' is lovely though, Justin Hayward was a master of a middle eight, and he pulls it off again on this track.

    Yes this was supposed to be a simpler recording, and apparently was fairly written from scratch, and in the studio, but it is a weaker record than it's predecessors. The SACD sounds absolutely superb here though.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2017
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  12. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    "Question" is, bar none, my all time favorite Moodies song. Nothing else about this album ever had to prove itself to me.

    And, for a long time, nothing else really did. Maybe it was the awkward segue into "How Is It", but for a long time I couldn't get into the rest of the album at all. That has finally started to change somewhat, as I've come to like "And the Tide Rushes In" and "Minstrel's Song" quite a bit, and there isn't really anything I dislike here. But it still remains mostly about "Question" to me. Which is okay...even if that were the only song they had ever done, it would impress me!
     
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  13. skisdlimit

    skisdlimit Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bellevue, WA
    If this were one of those poll ranking threads, I'd rate AQOB: "A pretty solid effort - worth recommending." In fact, I'd say it only really suffers in comparison to what came before.

    Probably the main problem with this album, as others have already noted, is that it seems to be front-loaded, with what was originally Side 1 being significantly stronger than Side 2. So much so, for me anyway, that I can barely recall what the second half of this actually contains, and had to look up the track listing before posting here, which is not to say that those are "bad" songs, just not nearly as memorable as prior group efforts.

    Therein lies the other major flaw, which is that AQOB somehow lacks the band unity found on TOCCC, and sounds more like an unrelated collection of songs to me, despite the overriding themes presented in the single "Question" (count me in as preferring that mix over the more bombastic album cut). My other favorites here are probably Thomas' "And The Tide Rushes In" (I've not directly compared this version with any remixes) and Edge's "Don't You Feel Small" (who doesn't relate to that?).

    If you're a casual listener, I'm tempted to say that the best bits here can be found on comps, particularly because of those sometimes superior (IMHO) mixes especially evident on
    This Is The Moody Blues (that way cool echo effect on "Question" as presented there makes it my favorite version of this song! :cool:). Still, AQOB is one of the "core seven" so it remains a must for fans, plus the album artwork is kind of a period hoot as well. :)
     
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  14. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    Certain it is Moog.
    You can also hear it :14 in the beginning of the track on the LP version after the orchestra hits before the verse inserted from the original take.

    Not a biggee. That's what I hear on this track. Does not sound Tron.
    Have not seen interview with Pinder or band discussing instrumentation on track other than Open C tuning on acoustic 12 string being used.
     
  15. varitone

    varitone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lincs, UK
    I agree with those who say A Question Of Balance was front-loaded. The first 3 tracks together are as strong as anything else from the big 7 albums, but then ...

    I enjoy it anyway, probably more now since the expanded edition was released.
     
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  16. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    I really like Question of Balance. Question is a great song starting out as sort of tribute to Pinball Wizard and PT's writing style but then goes into a beautiful interlude section that really brings the song to another level.
     
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  17. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    I agree with the general sentiment thus far, regarding A Question of Balance: really good album, but one of the least best of the core seven.

    Question and Melancholy Man are two of my favorite Moodies songs, and I am quite fond of Minstrel's Song as well. I like the rest, but while the prior album seemed to flow like wine, this one seemed more like a collection of songs. The flow and cohesiveness wasn't quite at the level of the prior records. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very good record, but when compared to the albums that came before and then after it, its flaws are more evident.
     
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  18. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    My favorite song from the album is Justin's It's Up To You. Just a fantastic song IMO. I always wondered if he was going to write a country music influenced song and low and behold it showed up here. A lot of his guitar fills always had a country slide influence to them. I just wish the pedal steel sound kept going in the song. I assume it is a keyboard but I may be wrong.
     
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  19. roman.p

    roman.p Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Nope, that's a real live pedal steel guitar. Love that cut.
     
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  20. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    Interesting. I don't think I ever saw a credit for it.
    Is that Justin playing the pedal steel?
     
  21. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    Yes. Justin played it
     
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  22. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    I think that the abandoned Pinder song "Mike's Number 1" (work track so named as it was his first for the album sessions) could have been developed into a worthy album cut.
    Definitely has that 1970 post 60s hopeful optimism, and nice vibe.
    Think that the problem with the track was ending the verses.
    It sort of trails off and just hangs there and definitely needs tidying up.
    The middle eight is fine
    If time was spent on resolving that issue with the end of the verse, it would have been a great track to come after the opener "Question"
     
  23. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    Always thought that "It's Up to You" should have been released as a single.
    Strong song and I think it would have done very well in the top 40 charts.
    Would have been a late sumner, fall release.
    Perfect.
    Not to divert from the thread, but an entire discussion could be made regarding what singles could have should have been released by the group.
     
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  24. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    I have to disagree with the crowd on this one. A Question of Balance has become my favourite Moody Blues LP, after To Our Children's Children was for a long time. In fact I put it as no. 1 on my all-time LPs list; I did that the other day in the top 20 thread and a few years ago in the top 100 thread. (I believe I included TOCCC in the top 20)

    Also, I think Side 2 is easily the better side, although it's all good obviously. There aren't too many three-song combos like It's Up to You / Minstrel Song / Dawning is the Day. The third of these was one I disliked when it came out, but by now it's my favourite on the LP.

    And I think the 45 version of Question is much better than the one here, because the 45 has that marvellous acoustic 12-string into and you can also hear it ringing out behind the singer in the slow section of the song - two aspects that make it easily superior IMHO.

    I had forgotten about Mike's Number One, which I first discovered a few years ago. I like it; it wouldn't have been the worst track on the LP had it been included. I just gave it another listen and it suddenly reminded me of Gimme a Little Something, one of the extras from the In Search of the Lost Chord era.
     
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  25. "Question" is one of my favorite MB songs. I bought the single as soon as it hit the shelves. For some reason they issued both stereo and mono of which I have both versions plus the stereo/mono promo copy. The stereo version was the first one I bought.
    An independent local record store got the U.K. pressing of "A Question Of Balance" album a week or two before the U.S. version hit the shelves, so that is the version I have. I was very disappointed how they messed up "Question" on the LP. It just didn't sound as good as the single version. That single version is included on one of their compilation CD's, but I can't remember which one right now. I did like most of the rest of the songs on the album.

    As a side note, I have many of the MB albums in quadraphonic(DTS DVD-A, R2R tape, SACD, etc.) and that is the way I prefer to listen to them. It puts you in the middle of the performance. Kinda like the quad version of Pink Floyd's DSOTM.
     

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