What a compilation of the "Classic 7" Moody Blues tunes! I have the vinyl version of this album as well as the CD. There is a photo montage of early pictures of the band on the inside of the vinyl release, when you open up the gatefold sleeve ... One of the pictures of the band features Justin Hayward with a beard! While the CD version doesn't include the photo montage, the booklet includes a well-written, detailed commentary of the band, in the liner notes, by John Tracy. There is also a section featuring the UK and USA release data and chart positions of all The Moody Blues material up to this greatest hits compilation. In addition, the CD booklet also features a couple of photos not seen on any of their original LP's, including one photo that looks like it was taken during the "Octave" period.
The CD release reveals that all of the songs were re-mastered by Anthony Hawkins, who also re-mastered the songs from the original CD version of Justin Hayward's "Night Flight" album, so we get outstanding sound quality, all the way through. Also, as with the earlier CD versions of the "Classic 7" albums, the tail ends of the final tunes that end out Side One are cross-faded with the intro of the songs on Side Two, creating one continuous flow of all of the tracks.
The remix of "Question" on this LP is nice, with some of the instrumentation missing from the intro (as heard on the single version of the song), and some additional instrumentation and vocals near the end of the song ... I liked that arrangement.
The sound of the bass guitar is boosted tremendously on the mixes of "The Actor," "Legend of a Mind," and "Watching and Waiting." For some strange reason, this mix of "The Actor" is edited down by one verse, near the end of the song, but you can hear Justin Hayward's lead vocal more audibly during the final chanting line in the song, compared to the mix on "In Search of the Lost Chord." "Legend of a Mind" is missing some of the mellotron pieces near the end of the song, but it adds backing vocals to one of the "Timothy Leary" lines near the beginning of the song ... Also, some of the instrumentation and the vocals are rearranged on the track, when listening to the stereo quality, so that was a cool effect.
The addition of the instrumental track, "Beyond" from "To Our Children's Children's Children," playing in the background behind the poetry of "The Word," made for a great combination ... I like how that track ends out with the "OM" chant, and then it merges with the opening lyrics to "Eyes of a Child."
For all of the material from "On The Threshold of a Dream," we get some nice mixes of all of the tracks, with better "stereo" separation of the vocals from "Never Comes The Day," "Have You Heard, Part 1," and "Have You Heard, Part 2" (compared to the stereo mixes on "O.T.T.O.A.D") . There is also a better stereo mix of "The Voyage," right where the pianos come in, near the end of that track. This mix of "In The Beginning" is unusual, because Justin Hayward and Mike Pinder's voices are more audible on this version and Graeme Edge's voice (The computer voice) is heard more in the background.
The mix of "Tuesday Afternoon" fades out before the orchestra comes in at the end, so it sounds more like the version on "The Best of The Moody Blues" ... Also, the stereo quality is in reverse, compared to the other mixes of the song.
"A Simple Game" made for a nice addition, too, but the song ends a little earlier on this mix than the mixes featured on the 2006 Deluxe CD edition of "In Search Of The Lost Chord" and the "Prelude" CD, so we don't hear some of Justin Hayward's singing at the end. Justin's vocals are brought to the fore on the mix of "The Story in Your Eyes," and the same goes for "Melancholy Man," with the backup vocals and the synthesizer piece halfway through the song.
There is also a third stereo remix of the orchestral version of "Nights in White Satin" (In addition to the mixes from both the vinyl and CD versions of "Days of Future Passed"). I like the effect of the vocals from the end of "Melancholy Man" merging with the orchestral intro to "Nights in White Satin," and we can hear Mike Pinder shout, "Believe me! Believe me!" in the background.
What a shame that this album went out of print! :( Currently, the only excerpts from "This Is The Moody Blues" that are available today include the mixes of "Eyes of a Child" and "Melancholy Man," which reappear on the 2 CD set "The Singles+" and the mix of "A Simple Game," which reappeared on the 3 disc compilation "Collected."
I think that "This Is The Moody Blues" should be re-released in an updated format. It would be great if the CD's were packaged with the see-through jewel cases, featuring the "Classic 7" album covers underneath (As seen with the 1997 re-mastered CD releases of those albums). The CD booklet should remain the same, because it includes a lot of info on the band, plus a mini poster of the photo montage from the vinyl release could also be included, with lyrics to the songs on the back of it. For anyone who has seen the re-mastered CD version of Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma" album, "This Is The Moody Blues" could be packaged the same way!
Should this collection be reissued someday, I'll look forward to re-reviewing it, right here on Amazon.com! Let's keep our fingers crossed that this album makes a return in the near future. :) Thanks for reading! God Bless... :)
RATED 5 STARS EXTRAORDINARY COMPILATION OF THE MOODY BLUES FIRST 7 LP ALBUMS
RELEASED BETWEEN 1967 TO 1972
THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES 2-CD SET [1989] RARE OUT-OF-PRINT COLLECTOR'S CD
*Original Double LP Release date - 1974
*2 CD Set Digitally Remastered Release Date - 1989
*Features 12 page full color booklet with historical MOODY BLUES band info and photos
THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES 2-CD SET [1989] features 26 of the band's greatest
Progressive Psychedelic Rock `N Roll Music songs from their first seven [7] albums:
1. Days of Future Passed [1967]
2. In Search of the Lost Chord [1968]
3. On the Threshold of a Dream [1969]
4. To Our Children's Children's Children [1969]
5. A Question of Balance [1970]
6. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour [1971]
7. Seventh Sojourn [1972]
MOODY BLUES BAND MEMBERS
Having sold 70 million Gold Albums worldwide between 1966 to 2010, the MOODY BLUES like the BEATLES created, composed, and played some of the world's greatest Progressive Psychedelic Rock `N Roll Music! On this DIGITALLY REMASTERED 1989 THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES 2-CD SET, the band's original five [5] English musicians played the following instruments:
*Mike Pinder [Founder] - vocals, mellotron, piano, harpsichord, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, cello, autoharp & tambura [Indian stringed lute]
*Justin Hayward - vocals, piano, mellotron, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, sitar, harpsichord, bass guitar, percussion & tablas [Indian bongos]
*Graeme Edge - spoken & singing vocals, drums, piano, timpani, tambourine & tablas [Indian bongos]
*John Lodge - vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, cello, tambourine & snare drum
*Ray Thomas - vocals, C flute, alto flute, soprano saxophone, oboe, French horn & tambourine
CD #1 TRACK LISTING
1. QUESTION(Justin Hayward)5:39
2. THE ACTOR(Justin Hayward)4:11
3. THE WORD(Graeme Edge)0:51
4. EYES OF A CHILD(John Lodge 2:34
5. DEAR DIARY(Ray Thomas)3:47
6. LEGEND OF A MIND(Ray Thomas)6:37
7. IN THE BEGINNING(Graeme Edge)2:06
8. LOVELY TO SEE YOU(Justin Hayward)2:35
9. NEVER COMES THE DAY(Justin Hayward)4:39
10. ISN'T LIFE STRANGE (John Lodge)6:32
11. THE DREAM(Graeme Edge) 0:52
12. HAVE YOU HEARD - PART ONE (Mike Pinder)1:23
13. THE VOYAGE (Mike Pinder) 4:08
14. HAVE YOU HEARD - PART TWO (Mike Pinder)2:08
CD #2 TRACK LISTING
1. RIDE MY SEE-SAW(John Lodge)3:32
2. TUESDAY AFTERNOON(Justin Hayward)4:04
3. AND THE TIDE RUSHES IN(Ray Thomas)2:54
4. NEW HORIZONS(Justin Hayward)5:06
5. SIMPLE GAME(Mike Pinder)3:18
6. WATCHING AND WAITING(Justin Hayward)4:21
7. I'M JUST A SINGER IN A ROCK AND ROLL BAND(John Lodge)4:11
8. FOR MY LADY(Ray Thomas)3:54
9. THE STORY IN YOUR EYES(Justin Hayward)2:45
10. MELANCHOLY MAN(Mike Pinder)5:05
11. NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN(Justin Hayward)4:33
12. LATE LAMENT(Graeme Edge)2:33
It might surprise those coming in late to the MOODY BLUES story that the original THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES Double-LP from 1974 was the first compilation devoted to the Moody Blues' music. This was 7 years after the Moody Blues switch from R&B-based British Invasion rock 'n roll to Progressive Psychedelic Rock `N Roll Music and 10 years into their overall history, an long time for a successful band to avoid the compilation route.
On THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES 2-CD SET [1989], all of the 26 songs were digitally remastered from original master tapes by world famous recording engineer Anthony Hawkins who created outstanding sound quality from beginning to end. All 26 songs on CD 1 and CD 2 are cross-faded into the next song's intro creating one continuous flow on all 26 tracks.
On THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES 2-CD SET, the original five [5] MOODY BLUES band members worked closely with
recording engineer Anthony Hawkins using four [4] selection process criteria to chose the final 26 songs:
1. Select only the favorite #1 Moody Blues's songs played on FM radio from 1967 - 1973
2. Listeners must hear a psychedelic rock collage of the Moody Blues 26 best songs from each of five [5] Moody Blues most important contributions to the group's work
3. Ignore final 26 songs historical release date order on first seven [7] albums
4. All 26 final songs must be connected conceptually, musically, and artistically
Connected lyrically and musically like the BEATLES SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND CD ALBUM, all 26 songs on THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES 2-CD SET [1989] and their hauntingly beautiful lyrics will mesmerize your ears unleashing positive feelings because all 26 songs flow into one another with perfect musical harmony like a pristine tropical waterfall makes us feel relaxed and calm with its negative ions! This 2-CD is without a doubt one of the MOODY BLUES greatest recording masterpieces whose brilliant meaningful lyrics will stimulate your intellect and imagination to the highest levels of cognitive thinking about the true spiritual meaning of life and God's preordained purpose for the human race on Earth!
