In the 1980’s the Moody Blues took on a more electronic sound. I know that sound didn’t sit well with a lot of fans. For them this was probably the last great Moody Blues album – at least for a while. Certainly there are hints of what was to come with the band here, but the majority of this disc feels like it could have been lifted from the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It’s quite a dynamic album and has some great material. It still holds up quite well today. You’ll note that I already reviewed a few of these tracks on the Voices in the Sky compilation review. I’ve used those track reviews here for the sake of consistency.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2009  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

I’ve played this song in pretty much every progressive rock cover band (well, even the ones that did both covers and originals) I’ve ever played in. It’s a song that is positive and potent. It also manages to be catchy. It’s got a fairly simple ABACAB structure, but what they do with that is what makes this magical.

I have to preface this by saying that I like this song a lot. It’s a high energy jam that works quite well. Alright – let’s get to it. The rhythmic structure of this is disco – plain and simple. The arrangement is far more ELO than it is The Moody Blues. As a song it’s a good change of pace and it’s quite entertaining, but those two factors will be ringing in your head the whole way through. The thing is, despite that this still gets me going.

This ballad has a motif that’s very much in keeping with the Moody Blues sound of the 1960’s. There are a couple lush and powerful takes on the song’s central themes further down the road, but they never really move anywhere compositionally. This is a tasty little piece of nostalgia. That said, it doesn’t feel trite or dated, but rather just an extension of where the band has been and is going. I like the instrumental rework the song gets later that has a more rocking sound, but still preserves the structure of the piece. There is definitely a 1960’s sensibility to much of this number.

In many ways I think of this as the sequel to “I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock & Roll Band).” It’s a very prog infused jam with a hard rocking arrangement. This is a fun piece of music. I wouldn’t consider it necessarily a highlight of the disc, but it’s quite cool. There’s a great “gypsy” sort of element to the instrumental movement and it gets quite powerful.