DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED

The first album of the classic Moody Blues' line-up (Hayward, Lodge, Thomas, Pinder & Edge) was grounbreaking for many reasons: the album was credited to The Moody Blues with The London Festival Orchestra, Conducted by Peter Knight (other bands employed orchestras to enhance their sound, but this was the first to put that at the cover); it was probably the first concept album to be massively known and bought by record buyers; two poems were used to enhance the concept, as speeches (Rick Wakeman probably remembered this when he was arranging his "Journey to the Centre of the Earth"). That said, let's analyze the music: and the music on "Days of Future Passed" is pretty good! Album begins with an orchestral passage, which arranges some melodies of another songs, and goes further with the first poem, spoken by his author Graeme Edge. "Dawn is a feeling" is the first proper song, written & sung by Mike Pinder, a bit melancholic but perfectly appropriate to the mood of this album. Pinder also wrote the sumptuous "The Sunset", which perfectly blends his mellotron with the orchestra. "Another Morning" is a joyous song written and sung by Ray Thomas, who uses his Broadwayesque voice to create the idea of a "happy" awakening. "Peak Hour" is a rocking song written by John Lodge, going in the mood of the previous song. "The Afternoon" comes in two parts: first, the majestic "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)", one of the most enduring Hayward's compositions and second, "(Evening) Time to Get Away", another Lodge composition (and probably my least favourite track at this album). "Evening" is also splitted in two parts: the aforementioned "The Sunset" and "Twilight Time", another Thomas composition, which leads to another Edge poem ("Late Lament" as it became widely known) and the marvellous "Nights in White Satin". Everything has been said about this last song, so I will only say that this was the first prog-rock classic, perfect from the first to the last second of music. This album is a genuine masterpiece and must be at any prog-rock collection, at least for its historical value.