The Moody Blues Album: “Go Now!”

My first exposure to the EARLY Moody Blues was the awful-sounding US LP "GO NOW". I'm bemoaning the "electronic stereo" remix, not the music! At least that was (more or less) a legitimate "album" (in the way US butcher-versions of great UK albums were in the 60's). THIS has no point in existing-- a seemingly random sampling of 45 and album tracks thrown together to make a quick buck (and I've seen a number of these over the years).

Let me be clear-- I've grown to LOVE the Denny Laine incarnation of The Moodies-- and to share my enthusiasm, I highly recommend anyone track down a copy of the complete version of THE MAGNIFICENT MOODIES (the one with all the 45 and LP sides-- 25 songs in all).

I would strongly recommend anyone familiar with only the post-1967 Moody Blues to listen to this album.

Only by doing so is it possible to truly appreciate the difference that recruiting quality songwriters and musicians - one with the added bonus of being blessed with an exceptional voice - can make to an otherwise lacklustre band.

The departure of Denny Laine and Clint Warwick would have gone almost unnoticed had it not resulted in the marked increase in the quality of the band's output and success following their replacement by Justin Hayward and John Lodge, and the obvious inspiration that these recruits were to the up-until-then latent songwriting abilities and heavily-concealed musical talents of the three members that remained from pre-1967 - Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge.

Listening to this collection by what amounted to little more than an average covers band, you could not possibly imagine the immense potential that lay hidden. Therefore, unsurprisingly and thankfully, it is the Hayward/Lodge etc line-up that people identify as the Moody Blues.

In short, the impressive catalogue of the Moody Blues, from 1967 to the present day, is neither added to nor enriched at all by this offering from the Moody Whos.

Denny Laine is one of the great voices of the Rock era and this album reflects the soulful origins of the original Moody Blues. The later non-original Moody Blues became an overblown group without true musical definition.