LONG DISTANCE VOYAGER

I know I need an asbestos suit to say this, but it is my favorite album from the Moodies. I have all of the big 7 albums too but there is always a couple of tracks with really cringeworthy lyrics on each. Not that these are the greatest lyrics, but I'm not cringing either. After they took some time off and Mike Pinder quit the band, the Moody Blues returned with Octave. To me it seemed to be a bit tentative but on the follow up, Long Distance Voyager, swung for the fences and it really paid off. When the Moodies are at their best, they have input from most everyone. Stalwarts Justin Haywood and John Lodge also have a major writing contribution from Ray Thomas as he wrote and sang on the last 3 songs of the album. Grams Edge wrote the rocky track 22,000 days and although Patrick Moraz didn't have any writing credits, this album has plenty of interesting keyboards. The album had 2 big hits in Gemini Dream and The Voice, but hit singles are not new to the Moodies. I think it is the rest of the album that make this an excellent album. My favorite track on the album is Talking Out of Turn a wonderful track by Lodge but this is a very balance and well recorded album.

LDV is a synth pop album but this is a prog site and there is very little of it here. This is a solid effort by the Moodies worthy of a 4 star rating. 4 stars