So, everyone's been telling me that they are one of the bands that defined british prog and the use of mellotron in general... Yet noone ever talks about them here extensively.

I was wondering, which of their albums should I get for a good start?

Keke:

Try either A Question of Balance or On the Threshold of a Dream.

Happy listening!

I've been a Moodies fan officially for 19 years.  They are probably my favourite band.  THE albums by them to get are the "first seven":  Days through Seventh Sojourn.  If you want a good comp to start out with, THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES (if you can find it) is a two-disc best of that was arranged by Tony Clarke-- all the stuff on it seagues into everything else, just like on one of their original albums, it's just that it's a comp.  And it's got Mike's "Simple Game" on it (which you won't find anywhere else that I know of).

       For those of you who are already Moodies fans, send me a message and I'll tell you about the time that I unexpectedly talked to Mike Pinder on the phone (how I came to do it isn't really something I'm proud of, though, but...)

Start With:

Days of Future Passed (1967)

The Birth of Symphonic Prog Rock

Keke wrote: So, everyone's been telling me that they are one of the bands that defined british prog and the use of mellotron in general... Yet noone ever talks about them here extensively.

I've been wondering the same thing.  You almost never hear them referred to in reviews of newer bands.  When did you last read, "they sound like the Moody Blues...?"  And they are never referred to as one of the big bands of the '70's.  It's always Yes, Genesis, KC, etc.

So what's wrong with this picture?  I don't understand.  They were a great band, and as NetsNJFan posted, they gave birth to symphonic prog????????????

FloydWright wrote: Here's my personal take, but this may or may not be accurate, and I invite people with more expertise in earlier music to set me straight if necessary. One of their first albums, Days of Future Passed, involved a live orchestra as well as some Mellotron. This is the album that I think really brought something new to the musical scene, especially given how good the sound was on it. That had to have been something almost entirely unprecedented for its time. After that, though, they never went back to actually using a live orchestra. They used a Mellotron to try to replicate the orchestra. This was one of the very first samplers, and while that was revolutionary as well, I think the execution had mixed results. When used as a backing instrument it could be very effective; when brought to the forefront, the limitations of the technology (I think) surely had to be evident even then. The other problem with the Moody Blues (to my mind) is a tendency to be lyrically and musically quite sappy and also to mix pure pop in with their records, right from the beginning. And in the most recent albums, they've deteriorated very, very badly into something that is almost pure pop...and not just pop, but like something you'd hear on the radio show Delilah. This is one of the reasons that I personally can't get into them very far, and I would be interested to know if it bothers other people. Comments?

I agree, some of their stuff is bad, but you have to put it into historical context.  They were very much of the mid-'60s pop scene.  The fact that they made "Days of Future Passed", which still stands as one of the landmarks of Prog is amazing, considering it was 1967, a full 2 years before the advent of King Crimson.  That album was way ahead of its time and they should be credited for that.

But i agree, after that their albums are too poppy mixed in with the good prog.  If they had continued in that highly pompous orhestrated vein I'd have been delighted.  

^ Honestly, I agree with Mr. Heath. "Days" is a very important album, but it's not really a Moody Blues album in the sense that the orchestral parts are not Moodies compositions, and don't really express the unique feel or approach of the band. Once Pinder took over with the mellotron on subsequent albums, it was much more of a band project and more consciously 'progressive'.

They're not like any other band, but it's not the distinctiveness that most good prog bands get from exploring the outer fringes of music...it's more of a natural development of a particular psychedelic-era approach. The original seven albums showed a band exploring and experimenting just outside the 60's pop-rock structure, focusing on rich sonic storytelling. I can see where some might see them as 'poppy' or 'fluffy' (especially after the classic seven) but there's plenty of depth even in the silliest Ray-penned chanty.

A question: Wasn't the great Denny Lane (later in "Wings") a member of Moody Blues before they went prog??? Am I wrong??? He wrote the great ballad "Go Now".

flowerchild wrote: A question: Wasn't the great Denny Lane (later in "Wings") a member of Moody Blues before they went prog??? Am I wrong??? He wrote the great ballad "Go Now".

Yes, I remembered right Look here: http://rateyourmusic.com/view_album_details/album_id_is_49945 - http://rateyourmusic.com/view_album_details/album_id_is_4994 5

Cheers

Also: http://rateyourmusic.com/view_albums/artist_id_is_1645 - http://rateyourmusic.com/view_albums/artist_id_is_1645

Dick Heath wrote:

NetsNJFan wrote: I agree, some of their stuff is bad, but you have to put it into historical context.  They were very much of the mid-'60s pop scene.  The fact that they made "Days of Future Passed", which still stands as one of the landmarks of Prog is amazing, considering it was 1967, a full 2 years before the advent of King Crimson.  That album was way ahead of its time and they should be credited for that. But i agree, after that their albums are too poppy mixed in with the good prog.  If they had continued in that highly pompous orhestrated vein I'd have been delighted.

Very Interesting....
I'm only 17, so I really don't have much hisotrical context on the subjct compared to you, but Days of Future Past is really the the first album (1967) besides classical music is my vast collection (about 730 cds) that i listen to regularly.  We still can't write off its extreme historical importance and ambitions, and that it is just a great album in general.

1. Days of Future Passed
2. Long Distance Voyager (With Patrick Moraz instead of Mike Pinder, released in 1981)

Iván

FloydWright wrote: Here's my personal take, but this may or may not be accurate, and I invite people with more expertise in earlier music to set me straight if necessary. One of their first albums, Days of Future Passed, involved a live orchestra as well as some Mellotron. This is the album that I think really brought something new to the musical scene, especially given how good the sound was on it. That had to have been something almost entirely unprecedented for its time. After that, though, they never went back to actually using a live orchestra. They used a Mellotron to try to replicate the orchestra. This was one of the very first samplers, and while that was revolutionary as well, I think the execution had mixed results. When used as a backing instrument it could be very effective; when brought to the forefront, the limitations of the technology (I think) surely had to be evident even then. The other problem with the Moody Blues (to my mind) is a tendency to be lyrically and musically quite sappy and also to mix pure pop in with their records, right from the beginning. And in the most recent albums, they've deteriorated very, very badly into something that is almost pure pop...and not just pop, but like something you'd hear on the radio show Delilah. This is one of the reasons that I personally can't get into them very far, and I would be interested to know if it bothers other people. Comments?

They used orchestra on "Long Distance Voyager", although it was present only on some songs ("Talking out of turn", e.g.). Moody Blues is a band which has no mid-term: some people love it, others hate it. I have all their albums, and I agree with you: almost all of their work ater "The Present" is pure pop. But they still find a way to my CD player; at least it's good pop music and sometimes I like to hear it.

NetsNJFan wrote: Start With: Days of Future Passed (1967) The Birth of Symphonic Prog Rock

Couldn't have said it better!!

I think this album is work of genius, when you consider how young the band was at the time. Also when you consider where studio technology was at in 1967, the production on this album is years ahead of its time.

This was the first symphonic prog album ever IMO. NOT ITCOTCK

My fave album of theirs is the brilliant 'In Search Of The Lost Chord', though you can't go wrong with their first 7 albums.

I think the first person to use the mellotron was possibly Graham Bond in his great blues band The Graham Bond Organization, who had Dick Heckstall Smith, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall Smith in his ranks. Graham didn't really use the mellotron in the same way or as much as The Moody Blues did though, and it was considered an unreliable instrument to use in 1965 (when Bond recorded his first albums) as it apparently went out of tune very easily.

Another album which I consider to be hugely influential on the development of symphonic prog was The Zombies' 'Oddesey And Oracle', which had extensive use of the mellotron and some excellent arrangements. Anyone who likes bands like Spring, Cressida, Czar etc. should listen in to this album too.