TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN

This is my all-time fav MB album: in 'To Our Children's Children's Children' The Moody Blues allow themselves to become louder than ever before, pushing the guitar and mellotron sounds to its respective dges, while retaining their acoustic sensibility intact - the contrast that came out of this strategy is what captivates me so much of this album. Conceptually focused on the advance of science and techonolgy (in a time when the human race had just placed its first steps on the Moon), the lyrics celebrate the power of man's creativity while demanding a more conscious awareness and responsible treatment of the world around us. 'Higher and Higher' starts with a massive explosion seasoned with distant choruses (both human and "mellotronical"), and then the hard rocking tour de force emerges with genuine enthusiasm: Edge's parsimonious speech and the exultating chorus lines deliver a sense of total optimism about the progress of mankind. While the track's fade-aout is reaching its conclusion, the contrasting wind chime and autoharp passage that serves as an intro to 'Eyes of a Child' (one of Lodge's finest compositions ever) must be considered as top artistic idea in the Moodies' history: after the initial enthusiasm, comes a moment of bucolic, acoustic driven meditation about the way that man is supposed to observe and assimilate his own progress. Other highlights include the eerie instrumental 'Beyond' (effective alternation between the rocky parts and the somber mellotron layers), the catchy 'Gypsy', which features the usual Hayward's lyrical singing and the wall-of-sound backing vocals of Lodge, Thomas and Pinder; 'Eternity Road', a wonderful Thomas' tune (maybe his best ever) where his flute and Hayward's guitar shine during the fade-out - I wish this number had been a bit longer, so the soloing would have expanded futher. The ellegant melancholy of the following number, 'Candle of Life', offers a majestic interplay between piano and mellotron, while Lodge and Hayward complement fluidly their lead singins duties. The intense exotic colours of 'Sun is Still Shining' display an attractive sonic landscape for Pinder's lyrics, which remind us of the importance of looking inside oneself while exploring the world outside (a topic that had already been handled by Pinder in 'Out and In'). And... last, but definitely not least, comes the magnificent closure 'Watching and Waiting', whose overwhelming candour and effective simple orchestral harmonies on mellotron are simply irresistible: Hayward's lyrics complete accurately Pinder's previous idea in an awesome manner, concluding that the world is ours to explore and understand. Almost three years after their 'Days of Future passed' album, The Moody Blues gradually struggled to become a five-piece rock orchestra, something they achieved on record with 'To Our Children's...': as I stated before, I consider it their undisputed masterpiece.