IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD

Another album I had the privilege of introducing to my girlfriend, and actually an opportunity to not only listen to it with newer ears (it's been years since I've listened through) and review, but to really come to an appreciation of it. The Moody Blues' second Prog Rock album (their third LP), this is still very of the tone of what came before, Days of Future Passed (1967), and yet it is a continuation on their path to... paving the way for their own sound (to continue the metaphor), which I feel culminates to the excellent On the Threshold of a Dream (1969), In Search's follow-up. The album that came to mind for this as I listened was one that followed it some 5 month later, S.F. Sorrow, the Psych-Pop meets Freakbeat epic concept album by The Pretty Things, a true-blue favorite of mine. They share a similar conceptual song-cycle style. In a similar way as that album, this has poppy earworms galore juxtaposed to wild, spacy psychedelic sections. What else came out in this general Psych Rock vein, in this already-new era for the genre (especially with the advent of more progressive ideations)? Spirit and The Family That Plays Together (Spirit), Horizontal and the significantly better Idea (regardless, Bee Gees' 1st is even stronger), The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (The Nice), The United States of America (The United States of America), Odessey and Oracle (The Zombies), A Saucerful of Secrets (Pink Floyd), Shades of Deep Purple (Deep Purple), and Head (The Monkees), just to name the ones I like the best.

All starts with the tense, wild, even hysterical monologue by the now recently passed Graeme Edge, "Departure", which is immediately replaced by the upbeat, Psych-Pop-Rock "Ride My See-Saw", I feel topically just so of the time (the Pink Floyd song "Bike" came to mind). Awesome melody and harmonies, all over a driving beat and sort of Townsend-esque guitar riffing. I said to my GF last night that I shouldn't take for granted just how good the guitar is in The Moody Blues. As exemplary a songwriter as Justin Hayward is, he is a force to be reckoned with on the guitar, too. This is followed immediately by the upbeat sort of fanfare, "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume". Awesome bass-playing from John Lodge here.

"House of Four Doors - Part 1" is melodically not super strong and even gives sway to a bit of hokeyness, but the harmonies are pretty wowing and the Ringo-draggin' rhythm section is something else. This is our first really progressive track. Very spacy stuff here. This is followed by "Legend of a Mind", this incredible, mind-expanding Psych-Prog epic about the hypothetical, I assume, mind-death of Timothy Leary, as "he flies the astral plane" and is brought "back the same day". I love this so much, seriously. Then it's the much shorter second part to "House of Four Doors". More conclusive than a sort of interlude, though... it's very nearly that too.

We enter the bucolic on "Voices in the Sky", a really really beautiful Hayward number to start off the second side. I'm glad I'm relistening to this one specifically, because I like it even better. I just don't get tired of his songwriting. Now, will this appeal to the average fan of early Prog Rock? Not so sure. I'm putting that into consideration. Then it's onto a very Mike Pinder track, the psychedelic classic "The Best Way to Travel" . Surprise, boys and girls! The best way to travel is "thinking"! How about that haha. I mean, as childlike- wonderful as this is, it's a nice, timeless sentiment and really the song is untarnished by any such element of hoke or simplicity. A Psychedelic must-hear in my opinion.

From here, they waste no time to get into the lovely "Visions of Paradise", a reeds-ready number co- penned by Hayward and reedsmaster Ray Thomas. Very psychedelic, this features, in addition to flute, a sitar (or probably an electric sitar) to great effect. Then it's a very memorable number, "The Actor". This has more layered reeds and some more tasty bass-playing. I would say, in terms of this album, this is Hayward's best song. There's something very timeless about this. Much to be mimicked, I'd think. We get our final track, another Raga-Psych number "Om" introduced by another Edge monologue, "The Word". "Om" is more beautiful and expansive and epic in sonics than it is some great, wild composition. Excellent closer to a Psych-Prog classic!