Disco de The Moody Blues: “Other Side of Life”

TOSOL is not my favorite of the Moodies and it certainly is not their best work by far. Still, it's the Moody Blues, and even at their worst, they are better than 99% of the "stuff" being peddled today and labeled music.

I enjoyed Justin Hayward's Your Wildest Dreams, I just Don't Care, and The other Side of Life. Hayward and Lodge collaborated on Running out of Love and I love the song on all levels, especially their sweet harmony.

John Lodge's It May Be a Fire isn't my fave of his but it was a pleasant surprise as was Rock n Roll Over You.

This CD is for die-hard MB's completists or those who love 80's sounding music. The "core 7 MB only" folks probably hate this one. I love The Moodies and am willing to stick by them thru thick and thin. This CD isn't vintage Moody Blues, but hey it WAS the 1980's.

I'm puzzled by the negative reviews here. As a Moody Blues album, this is outstanding material. Of course there are synth flourishes from Patrick Moraz that may be over the top, but heck, that over the top quality was always part of the Moodies music. And these are really great songs! One reviewer criticized "Rock N Roll Over You" as being silly, but hey, this is rock and roll! The tune had stuck with me for years, and when I bought this as a download was just as driving as I remember. I just got this as a download, made my own CD with the cover, and have loved it. In my view this ended the Moodies as a creative force, and if you are a fan of this great band, don't miss this music.

This is one of the best albums in my collection for a number of reasons. The Moody Blues are one of my favorite bands and I happen to love both rock n'roll and electronically based music, and "The Other Side" happens to be a pretty good mix. Also, "Your Wildest Dreams" is one of the best songs ever created! Majestic, enchanting, almost epic, awesome vocal work laced with soothing harmonic synths, next to "True Faith" by New Order its probably my favorite song in existance! The fast-paced and edgy "Rock n' Roll Over You" along with the charming and energetic "Talkin' Talkin'" will drive you wild on the dancefloor and definitely add to the fun and spontanaity that went into making this treasure. Now, for some reason "The Spirit" is the song that is most trashed in earlier reviews. This song ROCKS! I'm speaking both as an avid Moody Blues fan and as an Eighties Child! Aside from a strong beat and excellent synths an instrumentation, the vocals are superb, if a bit oddly sung, and the lyrics are so poetic, almost matching some of New Order's best work (their lead singer, in my own opinion, is the BEST lyricist). Now, if you're looking for the softer side of the band, don't worry its still here. The best example is without a doubt the ending piece "It May Be A Fire", one of John Lodge's finest contemporary tunes. It brings back the elements from some of their earlier work with a more updated sound, but without the electronic edge that resonates throughout most of this album.

My only complaint about this release would have to be the piffly lyrics on "I Just Don't Care", probably the only bad song on here. Also, I don't care for the studio version of "The Other Side Of Life" nearly so much as for the Red Rocks rendition and other live versions I've heard. But overall, "The Other Side Of Life" is just fun to listen to. Understandably, more mature and/or more serious fans may find this music to be a joke and we all have our preferences, but this masterpiece is certainly one of mine. Don't let the negative reviews scare you and listen with an open-mind as well as with a curious soul. You may be surprised.

This whole album is very energetic and classic "80's". Lots of synthesizer. I won't cover all the songs, but the ones that stand out for me.

"Your Wildest Dreams" is right up there with the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" IMHO, as far as perfect pop songs go. If the song doesn't grab you with the catchy tune, vocals or great synthesisers, it'll grab you with the story. Not only that, the video was incredible. (Didn't it win "Video of the Year" or something?)

The title track, "The Other Side of Life" is a cool song Great thumping bass line all through this tune. Even better in concert.

"I Don't Care" is a sweet, stars-in-the-eyes Hayward love ballad.

"Rock and Roll Over You" almost has some great bass parts and a hip/hop scratchy thing going on at the end; "Like a rock...like a .....like a.....like a ro....like a rock......" Very catchy.

"It May Be A Fire", I personally love as the lyrics are are very inspiring and hopeful. But one wouldn't expect any less than inspiring and hopeful from The Moody Blues.

All in all, I highly recommend this to add to your 80's collection!

My father bought this CD several years ago, but never listened to it (other than "Your Wildest Dreams"), so I listened to it for the first time about a year ago, and at it was a bit disappointing at first. Moraz did not seem to have much input as to the direction of the band's music...until now. I still wonder what Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge did while Moraz was playing with his synthesizers, electric keyboards, and whatever other stuff he used to make this mess. On LDV and THE PRESENT, Pinder and his Mellotron were noticeably replaced by Moraz and his aforementioned junk, but the results were still pretty good. Here, Moraz went way too far, and the results significantly worse than anything else. Although the album is pretty heavily influenced by Moraz, it will actually grow on you. If you listen to this album expecting the original Moody Blues sound with synthesizers, you won't be disappointed. "Your Wildest Dreams," "The Other Side of Life," "I Just Don't Care," and "It May Be a Fire," are actually pretty good songs. However, the other five will take some time to get used to. For fans of the classic MB and only the classic MB, stay away from this, but if you're willing to accept the heavy influence of Moraz, it isn't bad.