TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN

Probably the least accessible of the magnificent seven, "To Our Children's Children's Children" is meant to be listened to from start to finish, as no track really provides the grip of a "Tuesday Afternoon" or "Never Comes the Day". Instead, the overall effect is generally peaceful and trippy, and best experienced as a whole.

As always, the band knows how to pace the proceedings, with the first "side" consisting of mostly snippets, all being dramatically different yet somehow forming a highly palatable sweet. With all the Moodys innovation in the latter part of the sixties, the idea of a suite of brief tracks had not been explored until now. "Higher and Higher" revels in trademark silly spoken themes as verses, and explores man's ever expanding reach into the cosmos. My favourite remark is a comparison to the power of "ten thousand butterfly sneezes". "Eyes of a Child Part 1" is a much mellower affair with excellent verses and harmony in the choruses, while Ray Thomas continues to explore the moods engendered by psychedelic substances on "Floating". "Eyes of a Child" Part 2 is much rockier and only hearkens back to part 1 in the lyrics of the chorus. "I Never Thought I'd Live to be 100" is a quiet prelude to the moody instrumental "Beyond" in which the band fades in and out of energetic and spacey passages. Quite impressive but not exactly the stuff of 45s. "Out and In" comes closer to this quality but is by no means poppy, but more a mellotron-drenched introspection while still being somewhat catchy.

The mellotromatic theme continues with "Gypsy", probably the standout here, with some fine Hayward acoustic and electric guitars and a wordless chorus that becomes intrinsic to one's experience of the Moodys. The next two tracks go perfectly together, "Eternity Road" and the even better "Candle of Life", both more laid back and spacey with plenty of intermingled mellotrons and guitars. But "Sun is Still Shining" continues this trend to a poor end, requiring illicit substances for appreciation rather than merely being enhanced by such indulgences. In fact, it is really the lack of progression on side 2 which keeps this disc from a perfect rating. The beautiful closer "Watching and Waiting" would have been more powerful had it been paced better, after a more upbeat number perhaps, rather than coming at the end of a nearly incessant downbeat set of tunes.

The implication in the title is that this would be the album by which the Moodys should be remembered. While I doubt this to be the case, it represents them well and should be passed down rather than up.