IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD

The phrase from the album's weakest track Dr. Livingstone, I Presume, sung in a rather happy and pop manner, quite summarises my thoughts when listening to The Moody Blues' 3rd release for the first few times. I was expecting to find the characteristic sound that made the band famous in their early period. I am now faced with a rather diverse album, an amalgam of more components that someone could imagine to find in a 60s release.

Quite surprising are the few narrative intros to songs, giving a rather mysterious tone to the overall sound. From the melodic, light-hearted tunes of Ride my See-Saw and The Best Way to Travel, to the more nostalgic Voices in the Sky and The Actor the band unveils a number of unique musical influences that turn this into a rather sophisticated release. If someone is to add the folk and oriental journeys in Legend of a Mind and Om respectively, then we start talking about some sort of a special sound.

The excellent musicianship is obvious mainly from the way acoustic guitars, flute and percussion are blended together. Keyboards, instrumentation and orchestration have been carefully selected to create this mysterious atmosphere. The broad range of experimentation peaks at the album's best moments: House of Four Doors can be easily described as one of the first progressive (as we mean it today) tracks in history; as different doors open, different musical styles from classical to baroque and symphonic appear; Visions of Paradise is a captivating tune, with Ray Thomas' flute dominating the atmosphere. Melodic vocals, and accompanying mellotron and acoustic guitars, selecting "eastern" chords, generate a majestic polyphony.

Bearing in mind that the year is only 1968, one can only be amazed at the level of musicianship, the quality of the sound and the innovativeness of this release. I could only judge this album on its own as I am not fully acquainted with the band's catalogue; on that basis, the few pop moments are not enough to spoil an extremely intriguing release.

PS. The album cover is one of the best I have ever encountered

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