A QUESTION OF BALANCE

The weakest outing of the classic 7 Moody Blues albums. This is the least developed musically, and the songs carry a strong commercial sound to them. The great moods and atmospheres we're used to from the Moody's appear to be missing and instead we have some easy listening acoustically driven number that are entertaining but far from anything ground breaking. "The Question" acts as an amazing opener and is very misleading as you'll expect a fantastic album, but you've just licked all the icing off the cake and the rest is pretty mediocre until the album redeems itself in the last two songs. "Melancholy Man" will get stuck in your head, and though a little annoying at first, creates a very impressive depressed atmosphere. You might want to stay away from that one if you're on any anti- depressant medication. And finally the album closer "The Balance" wraps things up very nicely. Overall the album makes for a good listen but make this the last of your Moody Blues' purchases as they have better material to be explored.