Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed Original Mix question

After playing a dozen original LPs (US, UK, Japan) in search of the ultimate needle-drop, I've come to the conclusion that the original mix is (admittedly) more mysterious; but it's also largely murk. The remix is clearer; more tonally balanced; the fader cues are largely spot-on, as opposed to the original mix; and it's punchier all around. I tend to agree that it's nice hearing the additional harmonies on "Evening: Time To Get Away" on the original mix, but they might've appeared as a bit too much in the new mix.

Not to suck up, but Steve is right, IMO.

 

I can't remember the last time I was so surprised by a post!

It's ironic that even though I actually bought my first copy of DOFP in 1978. somehow I still ended up with the remix. I mean, in my local record store I could still buy sealed WB albums and get the green label in 1978m which was, what, four years after the switch? But somehow I still managed to get the remix of this album. It's the only one I've ever heard.

 

I found what I'd bet was an original US mix the other day (at least the inner sleeve advertised only albums from '69 and prior) and I passed it up. It was $2. Dunno what goes through my head sometimes.

Not really a big fan of this album, but I am curious to hear the difference. Based on the descriptions here, I do think that my mother actually has a copy with the original mix, because that's how I first listened to the album and always felt it sounded weak and thin. Since then I've only heard it on CD and am always surprised at how much fuller it sounded than I had remembered it being on my first experiences with it.

When it comes down to it, if I do listen to this album at all, it's mostly because I'm going to follow it up with LOST CHORD, THRESHOLD, etc. So maybe it's no wonder I've passed up so many of these...

 

The original mixes of Nights & Tuesday Afternoon appear on the Time Traveller box set. That the original mix didn't make it to the SACD was criminal.

 

So, the remix occurred in '74? Was that (in part) for the This Is... compilation?

 

Maybe it's from growing up with the remix, but I too think the original mix is dull and clumsy in comparison. The transitions are sloppy, the fidelity is muffled. Just bad news all around.

Having said that, it's a shame that the original was never made available at least once on (legitimate) CD, just for historical sake. It's a shame they didn't/couldn't replicate stuff like the backing vocals on "Time to Get Away," etc. And I'll admit, the original (album) mix of "Nights" is a lot spookier than the remix.

 

My understanding was that the remix occurred in 1978. My point was that I apparently got one of the remixes hot off the presses!

 

I believe the album remix was done circa 1978. The remixes of the songs on This Is... are actually different than the original or the later remixes. "Nights In White Satin" has actually been released in at least five mixes:

- original mono single mix (no orchestra)
- original stereo mix
- This Is... remix
- quad remix (also the basis for the 5.1 "tweaked" mix)
- 1978 album remix

 

I am a HUGE fan of the album (and The ). To me the REMIX is the one that sounds weak & thin, all balls surgically removed from it.

 

I thought it was from 1973. '78 is too late, because wasn't the MFSL LP (the first place I heard the remix) from '77?

 

Even as a tiny tot I could hear what Tues. Afternoon was about. Even if you don't speak a word of English, Justin's vocals carry the meaning just fine. Many of the Moodies songs stuck with me as a small child. Ride My See Saw is another one that I recall hearing before I knew what a mix or master was. A whole world of wonderment opened up for me as I approached 7 and 8 years old. Great timing to be so young and impressionable just as this new era is dawning. I'm thankful for the recording technology, as I don't know if I'd have been as knocked out with this music on 78s or wax cylinders.

I think this is a work as enduring as Pepper and DSOTM as a first rate concept album.

 

I hear the wax cylinder has the remix. Drat!

 

Well, I'm a rocker at heart, so the original mix on UK wax might rock my world well enough.

 

Apart from any merits of the remix itself, the fact that it's been in print 3x as long as the original has probably tempered the disgust that people often feel about remixes in general.

Since writing the original post, I've since made a needle-drop of the original mix (thanks for a forum member here who sold me a German copy) of which I am quite happy. Much better pressing than the (non-GK) US copies I had used before.

In general I've been very pleased with needle drops made from european vinyl. Most have had very little in the way of inner-groove nastiness, and they tend to clean up very well using Cool Edit.

 

According to I know Hugh Mendl made the last Remix in 1977 as it was being readied for a MFSL release...it actually then is a MFSL Remix,not intended as a Deram mix...strange! Michael Boyce

 

To the best orf my knowledge, the remix was in 1973, probably when the tapes were pulled for the quad mix. In 1977, MFSL used the already remixed tape for it's LP. When I heard it , it was a major WTF moment. I couldn't figure out why it didn't sound like DOFP anymore. Here's the T-shirt MFSL gave out when they put out the LP:

 

The Moodies aren't Jewish. That would be 10CC.

 

What is the tell tale sign of a non remix original? Being fairly new to the Moodies (only been a fan for a year), I'm not as intimately connected with all the differences and nuances of their work. What song should I check to make sure if the album is remixed or not?

I have:

Japanese King pressing from '73
Holland pressing from I don't know when. No white border on top.
RCA record club version (absolutely terrible regardless of mix).

Also have WG & MFSL cd's, which I KNOW are the remix.

Do I even have the original mix????

 

On the original, at the end of the song, they say "evening, time to get away" 3 times. On the remix, they only say it twice.

 

1977 is when the '73 remix was released by MFSL, so people have attatched that (incorrect) date to it.

 

Thanks a bunch. I'll check it out after dinner!

 

I've got an Australian pressing of the original mix from gawd knows when. I'm betting it's made from overseas stampers, like a lot of Australian pressings...