The Moodie Blues

While I agree with Sean to some extent, I wouldn't stop completely after SS. Albums such as "Long distance voyager" and "Octave" have some decent stuff on them, and even "Keys for the kingdom" has its moments.

One other msut have though is Hayward and Lodge's "Bluejays" album, which is the lost Moody Blues album, and every bit as good as the magnificent seven.

Personally, I love the Moody Blues...as a kid, I thought they were the best band in the world. Also the first band I went to see in concert.

Those seven albums mentioned before are all classics...I have a review for each one in the database, BTW. "Days of Future Passed" should be in everyone's album collection, just because it's so unique, and the following "In Search of the Lost Chord" is a great example of the transition from psychedelic to progressive. But the next five albums show more characteristic Moody sounds, and are all worth a listen.

If you aren't opposed to filesharing, I've managed to find each album on various p2p networks. Just make sure you buy them if you like them...I'm legal, I think- I own all of them on vinyl and "Days" on 8-track as well .

Excellent! Now, I just hope I can find these at a local record store .

I actually love that 80s MB album... Long Distance Voyager.  I mean I love the Moody's earlier stuff too... but this album had a few songs that just mesmerized me for awhile..."In My World" is a beautiful song.. and Meanwhile was just too close for comfort...

The Moody Blues had a stretch of 7 classic albums in the late 60s/early 70s.  They combined almost dreamy Beatlesque (but much more melancholy) stuff with flute, mellotron, and even some spoken word poetry.
Days of Future Past: A fusion of 60s (very good) pop with an orchestra.
On the Threshold of a Dream: No orchestra but plenty of mellotron.  check out the last 3 linked tracks if you can.
In Search of the Lost Chord:  Even some  Eastern influences, and their best song, Legend of a Mind.
To the children's children's children: I slight drop off from the previous three, but still contains some beautiful music.
A Question of Balance: Contained the song Question with one of the coolest intros of any song every recorded.
Every Good Boy Deserves a Favor: More song oriented and less interesting, in my opinion, than the others, but still very good.
Seventh Sojourn: Contains Isn't Life Strange, a song so bombastic that you just gotta love it.

Also, they came out with Long Distance Voyager, a great album with Pat Moraz on keyboards in the early 80s