The Magnificent Moodies: Knights in White Satin

It's time to celebrate the music of The Magnificent Moodies as we look back in time to their classic songs from Days of Future Passed. The Moody Blues embarked on a proggy quest In Search of the Lost Chord for their second album, and they were On the Threshold of a Dream of success with their third album. Their fourth magnificent album featured classic prog that's really stood the test of time and should be passed down through the generations To Our Children's Children's Children. It required A Question of Balance for the Moodies next album, which featured a back-to-basics approach without the lush orchestration of earlier albums, making the songs easier to perform in concert. As every student of music will know, the lines of the treble clef: E-G-B-D-F are remembered by the mnemonic, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and that's how we remember the name of the Moody Blues sixth album too. The Moodies aptly-named Seventh Sojourn in 1972 would be their last album for six years, with the exception of the Justin Hayward/John Lodge Blue Jays project in 1975. The band returned with a whole Octave of great songs in 1978 and their next album marked the arrival of the Swiss Long Distance Voyager Patrick Moraz on keyboards, who journeyed all the way from the bands YES and Refugee. Moraz remained with the Moody Blues for The Present, but he had a huge fall-out with the band in 1991 in what was billed as The Music Trial of the Century, revealing The Other Side of Life in the notoriously cut-throat and litigious music business. The band were ready for a long holiday Sur La Mer (By the Sea) after that sobering experience. The Moody Blues gathered together The Keys of the Kingdom of prog once again for their next album, following those Strange Times in legal limbo, and they recorded a final Christmas themed album in 2003 to mark the metaphorical December of their long and illustrious musical career.

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - March 06 2023 at 02:24

Blue Jays & Long Distance Voyager rule!

  Days of Future Passed (1967) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLikNHjJ_cxzAp7f8ddlRAZvkaDUcRz0tW

 

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - February 09 2021 at 13:03

Great post, Paul! The Magnificent Moodies! What an essential and absolutely adorable band.

  On the Threshold of a Dream (1969) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLikNHjJ_cxzCuawrC6mhPlGpK0ONC3trn

Edited by Psychedelic Paul - February 09 2021 at 13:09

I love the peak period (Days thru 7th), but have never included "On the Threshold" in that list, as I find it is too full of 1960s rock that seems to have little to do with the experimentation you find elsewhere in the big 7.  It does have some good songs but the albums that followed (and Chord) are almost uniformly brilliant IMO.  The two that I rate 5 stars are "Question of Balance" and "Seventh Sojourn".  Of the post peak albums I don't think any are great but "The Present" is probably my favourite, though my favourite post peak Moodys related song is definitely "Forever Autumn", from Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds. with narration by Richard Burton and vocals by Justin Hayward.

   A Question of Balance (1970) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLikNHjJ_cxzA5hv7j7njRwUtNGinH6UIj

   Octave (1978) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLikNHjJ_cxzD8ober8RNjnUPrmfB28YFa

  The Present (1983) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLikNHjJ_cxzA8franIgqEYFITDjNatxAx