EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR

This is my favorite Moody Blues album, and that's saying something! Wonderful music from beginning to end. Many have a problem with Emily's Song and Nice to be Here. No problem for me. As a father of three girls, I relate completely with the lovely sentiments expressed in Emily's Song.

Nice to Be Here is surely nonsensical, but in a good sort of way. It kind of reminds me of a Brian Jacques Redwall Abbey novel. Silly, but warm and fun at the same time.

Everything else on the album is top notch Moody Blues, heartfelt and meaningful. "Procession" never fails to raise goose bumps as it charts the history of man through music - it leads beautifully into the magnificent "Story in Your Eyes".

"Our Guessing Game" is a great little song, starting out softly but with a rocking chorus that stays with you. "Emily's Song" is next, followed by a nice rocking tune "After You Came".

"One More Time to Live" is lyrically poignant and musically stirring. I especially am touched by the lines "Turn the earth to sand and still commit no crime" and "How one thought will live, provide the others die". A thought-provoking look at the human condition and what we do to our world and each other.

"Nice to Be Here" follows, then the gorgeous "You Can Never Go Home". I first heard this while on an extended trip away from home, and it sure hit me hard at the time. I continue to sense that feeling of longing for home whenever I listen to this great song (even when sitting in my living room!).

Pinder's "My Song" follows; another of his richly experimental mellotronic pieces that never fails to leave me amazed at his musical/spiritual accumen. Wonderful.

To me, this is the best Moody Blues album, and the Moodys at their best are the best of the art-rock bands. Absolutely essential, it remains in my top ten albums of all time.