ON THE THRESHOLD OF A DREAM

After two incredible albums offered by the MK II Moody Blues, they were bound to lose some of the magic sooner or later. Well guess what, no such thing happens here. On the Threshold of a Dream is not nearly as psychedelic as "In Search", but it continues well in the same expirmental vein. Mike Pinder's "Have you Heard" suite is probably his finest contribution, and possibly my very favorite from this group. It's my all-time favorite closer to an album. The suite gets me everytime, and the middle section titled "The Voyage", is a mellotron workout. Pinder was indeed an underrated keyboardist. Other highlights include a rather dark effort from Ray Thomas called "Dear Diary" where we are treated to some mildly distorted vocals. Tracks four through six contain some unique rockers that flow perfectly into one another. "Send Me No Wine" is unlike anything else The Moodies have ever done, and it really is catchy. John Lodge's "To Share Our Love" is somewhat of a hard rocker, but is far from groundbreaking. "So Deep Within You" is really something I wouldn't expect from Mr.Pinder, but then again this is one of the most unique songs off the album, and Pinder has always done well delivering those kinds of goods. "Never Comes the Day" is what Hayward does best, and it really is a nice song, but I've never totally gotten into it. "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" is a wonderful Hayward/Thomas collaboration and sets up well for some dark poetry from Graeme Edge, which in turn leads into the magnificent closer to the album. While I don't think "On the Threshold" is quite as good as "Days", "In Search", "To Our Children's", "Every Good Boy", and "Seventh Sojourn", it is an awesome piece of music. It's just that The Moodies "Core Seven" is so tight, that this album, which would rank sixth on my list from these lads, still earns a five star rating. That's how good this string of albums was.