ONCE AGAIN

1971 saw the release of the second album, 'Once Again', which opened with Les Holroyd's "She Said" which again saw the band starting to create their own musical style although it was still firmly based on The Moody Blues. While Les, John and Woolly all provided songs for the album there were also four group compositions, including the wonderful "Mockingbird". The longest song on the album, this is the first song that shows them taking their music and the Mellotron firmly in hand to create a song that is both thoughtful and beautiful, quiet and soaring. The fact that it is still very much a firm favourite shows just how well the song has lasted, but for me it is unusual to hear the impact of the orchestra which in the live environment has now been replaced with keyboards. This is a much more consistent album, and is more approachable than the debut.

Originally appeared in Feedback #70, Oct 02