When this came out in 1967, nobody knew what to make of it. Of course, they had Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper's to deal with that same year, so nothing was surprising. But pairing a festival orchestra with a former R&B/pop band? It was a risky gamble.
But boy, did it pay off.
Launching the second phase of the Moody Blues' career, this
distanced them from their Britpop/rock roots and started the move
to full-blown psychedelic rock. However, this has few of the
indulgences and flourishes that would bog down (or enhance,
depending on your point of view) later releases. Even with an
orchestra, this is still simpler and more accessible than most of
the Moodys' early releases.
Why, you ask? The Moody Blues live up to half of their band title. Their songs are emotional, able to evoke sighs of romance, pangs of loneliness or the joy of starting a new day. An orchestra, then, complements them very well, able to express with strings what the Moodies try to express with guitars.
The seven songs alternate between orchestra and progressive rock, with the orchestral amount lessening as the album plays. The album also gets more moody as it goes on, with the jaunty, childlike "Another Morning" near the beginning, the hard rock of "Lunch Break" following and then the classic "Tuesday Afternoon" right after.
Some of the best songs are the second parts of the titles, such as "Tuesday Afternoon/Forever Afternoon" and "The Sunset/Twilight Time." "Afternoon" has a slow, dirge-like guitar arpeggio, which segues nicely into the Eastern-influenced "Sunset" and the beautiful harmonies and minor chords of "Twilight Time."
And, of course, "Nights in White Satin" ends the album. Nothing else needs to be said about this, unless you think the overblown poetry bit at the end was a bad way to end the song. But since this whole album was an experiment, that transgression is forgiven.
The only real flaw here is the overuse of the orchestra on the first side (specifically, the first song and the beginning of "Lunch Break"). But the harmonies, the driving rockers, the moody tracks and the sheer originality of the whole things make up for the flaws. Essential to any progressive, orchestra or Moody Blues collection.
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