THE PRESENT

After the refreshing breeze of previous "Long Distance Voyager" and when everyone was thinking that MB could return to their best prog days - at least, partially, the band seemed to give a step backwards with "The Present", also a pretentious name since this title is now much more a 'past' than the 'future passed'.

Hearing this album I remember John Lennon saying that McCartney was specialized in composing 'granny songs'; yes, there's a bunch of granny songs here, but I also realize that our beloved grandmothers deserve a Moodie work only for them.

Otherwise, if songs aren't that great other MB's feats are still present: singing, playing, cover art, general production, etc. There are no disappointments in these fields. The entire work is highly audible, seeing from a popish perspective.

However, from a prog point I think that this work should receive a 2 star rating but one splendid song itself add an extra star to the album: "Blue world", one of the best Moody Blues ballads ever. So the final rating is good, but non-essential. Total: 3.