THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES

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"Lovely to see you again"

An excellent compilation covering the period from "Days of future passed" up to and including "Seventh Sojourn". This was the Moody Blues most creative and productive period, and the tracks selected here arguably represent the best of those albums.

The tracks have been ordered in such a way as to create the right balance, and are thus not presented chronologically. Clearly, considerable thought has gone into this, with tracks such as "Melancholy man" flowing seamlessly into "Nights in white satin", and "Isn't life strange" moving into "The dream" and the wonderful "Have you heard" suite. The trademark segues which feature on the early Moody Blues albums have once again been used here, adding to the delightful flow of the album.

With the focus being almost exclusively on the "Magnificent seven" albums, the only comparatively rare track is "A simple game". This excellent song became a major chart hit for Motown group The Four Tops. As with any compilation, there are omitted tracks which fans will feel should be there, but the selections chosen are indeed worthy.

The "Time traveller" 4 CD collection is the better option if cash is no object, but for a budget priced 90 minute introduction to the band during their heyday, "This is the Moody Blues" is ideal.

A decent compilation of the band's material from their classic albums of the late 60's and early 70's. I have had a small complex about this band (among the million other things), as I love their few hit songs, but I have never really gotten a grip of their other classic material, though I have tried... Maybe they often lack the emotional power that is present in the "Nights in White Satin" song? This element was much stronger present in their earliest material, when they started out as a rhythm'n'blues band at the early 60's, which material is not presented on this album. This is still much nicer listening experience than their full studio albums for me. I have placed the albums "On The Threshold of A Dream" and "In The Search of The Lost Chord" next to my stereos, and they are waiting for a day when I have gained enough strength for some further listening.

As a matter of fact I don't like compilations too much since they normally include only the most popular and/or accessible songs as they were gathered for a fan-to-be or a lazy one. Many times precious gems hidden deep inside a work have not a chance to be appreciated.

Chronology is another problem for mixing songs from different periods may cause more confusion than attraction.

In the case of 'This is Moody Blues' we have the hits but some aforementioned gems also appear like 'Have you heard 1&2' with the linking song 'The voyage' although I miss the ensemble 'You can never go home' with 'My song'.

I'd prefer also the tracks disposed chronologically but the order affects little just because the albums from were the songs came have many things in common: the famed 'MB's classical 7' (released from 1967 up to 1972).

Returning to the well-known songs they are all here: 'Nights in white satin', 'Tuesday afternoon', 'Question', 'I'm just a singer', 'The story n your eyes', etc. I believe that every taste shall be well served.

This is a fine addition for almost every ordinary music fan collection; however, for a prog-fan, I'd rate this album as good but non-essential, total: 3.

I never really though that I´d give a five star rating for a compilation, but this one is very special. Not only it covers the entire ´magnificent 7´ period of their career, but also it is very well done, with songs flowing one to the other seemslessly. Anyone who did the tracklisting did respect and understand quite well the band´s work. After reading the glowing reviews about this album I was curious enough to buy it, since I don´t own any of the originals and it would be too costly to get each one of them. As far as I remember here is their quintessencial work, not just the hits. Beautiful! And my CD remaster version comes with 18 (yes, 18!) extra tracks. So, a good work now tiurns to be an excellent one, since the bonus tracks includes such seminal songs that were left from the original track list, like Gypsy, Forever Autumn, Blue Guitar and many others. In the end you get an incredible 160 minute double CD of only their best material. Highly recommended!

Listening to the Moody Blues is like spooning into a bowl of extra rich vanilla ice cream: a not altogether nourishing experience, but still irresistibly tasty. Of course any appreciation of Progressive Rock has to more or less begin with the band's early albums (not including the 1966 Denny Laine "Magnificent Moodies" LP, which most fans regard as something from a different group entirely), and with that in mind this two-disc 1974 collection is an all but essential indulgence.

It was the first of what would later become a small, ongoing industry of Moody Blues compilations, and may still be the best of the bunch, if only because of its (thankfully) limited scope: the songs here were all drawn from their seven best and most influential albums, spanning the band's Golden Age between 1968 and 1972.

You can of course expect to hear all the usual hits ("Knights in White Satin", "Ride My See Saw", et al), but beyond those familiar touchstones is a generous sampling of other, no less quintessential selections, including (for better or worse) some of those trademark interludes of now horribly dated, paisley-colored poetry, without which any Moody Blues album would be incomplete.

All of it is desperately unfashionable today, but there's no denying the uncomplicated appeal and youthful idealism in much of the music. Add to that a strong element of undiluted nostalgia: these are songs to thrill the lingering teenage romantic in all of us, or at least those of us who came of age in the middle 1970s. Like our own lives at the time, this was a music in transition, capturing that moment when the Flower Power of the '60s, and the nascent psychedelia of the later BEATLES, blossomed into the mature Progressive Rock of YES, GENESIS, and especially the first KING CRIMSON, groups which never would have existing in the same form without the good example set by the Moodies.

Maybe you had to be there the first time around. But anyone admitting a weakness for the faux- orchestral sound of the Mellotron is already a fan of the Moody Blues, whether they realize it or not.

It's a shame the band never continued through the same door they opened for so many other acts. Listen to this set for proof: the twenty six tracks, taken from seven different LPs (and not arranged in chronological order), show little variation in style or content, an indication perhaps of the comfortable, gold-plated rut the Moodies dug for themselves at the time (and, as of this writing, continue to maintain almost four decades later).

On the other hand, that same uniform homogeny makes this compilation possibly more worthwhile than any of the band's individual albums: only the highlights of each are included. It may not be as comprehensive as later CD collections, but what it lacks in quantity it more than compensated for with quality, of both selection and presentation. This may in fact be the only Moody Blues album anybody really needs to hear.

A timewarp of everything brilliant concerning the Moody Blues

Woo hoo! My first Moody Blues purchase and I have sentimental value for this double vinyl album that I have held onto for decades. I stared at that cover and the gatefold for hours as the music unfolded before my impressionable ears at the tender age of thirteen. And what incredible music it was. It's all here, everything the band did that was worthwhile from "Days of Future Passed" up to and including "Seventh Sojourn". The magnificent 7 album septet was the band at their hiatus, the peak of their existence and it all went downhill from this mountaintop unfortunately apart from the odd single such as the glorious 'Gemini Dream', 'The Voice' and 'Steppin' in a Slide Zone'. First up, there is 'Question' and I will admit unreservedly that 'Question' is one of the greatest Moody Blues songs and I am stunned by the musicianship and the magical lyrics that never fail to lift my spirits; "And when you stop and think about it, You won't believe it's true, That all the love you've been giving, Has all been meant for you, I'm looking for someone to change my life, I'm looking for a miracle in my life, And if you could see what it's done to me, To lose the love I knew Could safely lead me through..." Beautiful, simply soul stirring stuff. 'Eyes of a child' is another definitive highlight from TOCCC with those uplifting harmonies in the chorus; "With the eyes of a child, You must come out and see, That your world's spinning 'round. And through life you will be A small part of a hope, Of a love that exists, In the eyes of a child, You will see." Unforgettable.

'Dear Diary' is melancholy and sweet with some trippy phased vocals similar to The Beatles 'Blue Jay Way' and I always loved that mystical enchanting sound.

I hate to repeat my words but 'Legend of a mind' is another classic that most Moody Fans would be familiar with. I like the lyrics on this; "Timothy Leary's dead, No, no, no, He's outside looking in, He'll fly his astral plane, Takes you trips around the bay, Brings you back the same day, Timothy Leary". Leary was the psych drug king who influenced this generation of 1968 and was himself an icon of pyschedelica and the Haight Ashbury scene. The Moody Blues knew it and capitalised on it with this track. The song features some very proggy mellotron sounds and an odd meter with intriguing structures.

'Lovely to see you' has one heck of a catchy chorus that infects you forever. It is gloriously uplifting and psyched up. 'Isn't life strange' is a huge hit for the band but I have forgotten it myself.

"Ride my see-saw" is an excellent infectious track that reminds me of early Pink Floyd. The lyrics are pysch bliss; "Ride, ride my see-saw, Take this place, On this trip Just for me, Ride, take a free ride, Take my place, Have my seat It's for free". The harmonies are arousing and it has a driving beat that captures the glorious scene of the flower power late 60s.

'Tuesday afternoon (forever afternoon)' is a classic. As I said elsewhere, words cannot express how much I adore this, but I will try. Hayward sings this beautifully and I love the way it changes time signature, a complete detour, and Hayward sings, "I'm looking at myself, Reflections of my mind, It's just the kind of day To leave myself behind, So gently swaying Through the fairy-land of love, If you'll just come with me And see the beauty of Tuesday Aaaaaafternooooooooooooooooooon...." This track would absolutely permeate itself in the band's repertoire. It encompasses everything the band stands for, soaring vocals, emotive thought provoking concepts, and music that reaches into the stratosphere.

Another highlight is the rocking 'I'm just a singer (in a rock and roll band)' a fun romp into the poppier side of the band's music. 'For my lady' is another hit I had heard many times on radio and always loved that lilting flute sound and poetic lyrical passage; "My boat sails stormy seas, Battles oceans filled with tears, At last my port's in view, Now that I've discovered you, Oh I'd give my life so lightly, For my gentle lady, Give it freely and completely To my lady." The drumming is almost military style and there's a nice epic feel to this. Ray Thomas's lyrics capture an ethereal atmosphere taken from the "Seventh Sojourn" album.

'Melancholy man' is another huge hit with interesting melodies that warrant attention. But it all pales to insignificance in comparison to the next track. 'Nights in White Satin'. I am in awe of this quintessential Moody Blues brilliant master work. It begins with astonishing orchestration as good as you will hear on a movie soundtrack. It rises to a crescendo and settles as the bass and drums keep a constant stream of rhythmic patterns. Hayward's voice is angelic, "Nights in white satin, Never reaching the end, Letters I've written, Never meaning to send..." I learnt this entire song off by heart as a teenager. The way the chorus lifts with choral massed choir and very strong melodies is unsurpassed. The flute solo is mesmirising and I have never been able to get it out of my head, it's there indefinitely and I am intoxicated by its spell... and it even ends with an epilogue 'Late Lament' that is part of the whole experience.

4 years later they released "Octave" and it was rather a lethargic effort. So there you have it. One of the best compilations of this band, released during an absence of newer material. I don't award masterpieces to compilations often, unless they offer something new to the table, but this is still worthy of the coveted 5 stars as everything the Moodies did that was worthwhile from their first 7 albums is here. So in essence you can save your dollars and skip straight to this compilation. That in itself is worth 5 stars.

This is a rarity for compilation albums, one that outshines most of the releases it came from.

The collection spans the seven classic albums of The Moody Blues, from the second album "Days Of Future Passed" (the first with the well known lineup) through "Seventh Sojourn".

Produced by Tony Clarke, the Moodies' long-time producer, the album does not run in chronological order. Instead, it mixes the album into another cohesive work, with the songs blending from one into another, just as they did on the original albums.

Clarke, for obvious reasons, includes all of the Moodies' hits, but those wouldn't fill two LPs. The additional tracks wisely avoid the most maudlin of the light ballads, and creat an album that is eerie and intelligent.

It's not just a starting point for listeners exploring the band. It's a journey all in itself.