SEVENTH SOJOURN

Another great Moodies album, and said to be their last great one. The band split after this release and reformed in the late 70's. SS is an album of gentle dark melancholy, with a few rockers thrown in for good measure. Mike Pinder swaps the Mellotron for the superior Chamberlain on SS, and his contribution is as melodic and atmospheric as ever. The opener 'Lost in a Lost World' is among my favourites. It's a dark and mounfull song, awash with ambient sounds, sombre vocal harmonies and sinister bursts from Pinders Chamberlain. 'New Horizons' is a beautiful ballad, with not so much as a hint of cheesey topping, and is brought to life by some fine melodic lead guitar work, and classic harmonies. 'For my Lady' is a bouncy little sea shanty. Sound terrible? I assure you it's not. Despite the jaunty rhythim, again the song oozes Moody Blues melancholy in generous measure.

There's basically no bad tracks on this album IMO, but the albums centre piece, for me, has to be 'You and Me' This is a moodies masterpice and is one of those great moments where the Chamberlain, the vocal harmonies and lead vocal melody work so well against the rhythim section, to create energy, drama and beauty. Haywards vocal performance is fine throughout, and the song seems perfectly juxtaposed with the following piece, 'The Land of Make Believe' Another superb offering.

I've yet to hear the two albums that preceded Seventh Sojourn, but so far I've not been dissapointed by anything the Moody Blues produced between 1967 and 1972. I dont really regard them as a 'prog' band, just a great band, with a unique and very attractive sound and approach to song writing.