A QUESTION OF BALANCE

This time around the boys knuckled down and instead just wrote a bunch of good songs. 'Questions' is not my favourite but it rocks. 'How is it we are here' has a great bassline. Many of the tracks have a quaint charm about them, like 'Tortoise and the hare' and 'The minstrels song'. There's nothing quaint about 'it's up to you', a ten gallon rocker that vaguely sounds Van Halen-ish (think Black and Blue). Towards the end of the album you get one of the best Moody Blues songs ever, 'Dawning is the day' which is quite unknown, and maybe a little too complex to be a radio hit. It has a folk rock sort of sound and the guitar playing is just excellent. It's quite emotional and is very melodic, sought of gradually builds up to a dramatic finale, but never loses it's composure. Justin's voice is really smooth, too. He uses the full range of his voice on this one.

Well 'A question of balance' is not without it's faults but gets a big tick in my book. It's 7 / 10, three and a half, rounded up to four, because, all the songs are enjoyable, well-conceived and catchy! Admittedly, I never listen to the last two songs. I don't want to say that 'Melancholy Man' is a bad song, because it's not. So many other people really like this song, so I will say it is just not my taste. I can't really praise the title track though. But it's not that bad. The first eight songs are very enjoyable, it's also good how they blend various styles together, even in the one song. Well done!