TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN

This album actually works on a conceptual level, where a tear in space and time is opened to reveal the mysteries of the universe. That's a loose interpretation, mind you, and listeners in a "medicated" mood may discover their own variation on that theme, but the signposts are there. A foreboding orchestral swarm (perhaps symbolic of the Big Bang) is dispelled, and THE MOODIES draw their audience into a suitable plane of consciousness on "Higher and Higher." Admonished to see with the "Eyes of a Child," we're treated to a peter pan-orama of the magical world below on "Floating." After a short acoustic interlude, "I Never Thought I'd Live To Be A Hundred," the instrumental "Beyond" serves as an interstellar train ride past various stops, arriving at "Out And In" where we unlock the key to the universal "Oz" within us all. We are the "Gypsy," travelling down "Eternity Road" in search of life's answers, drawn to the "Candle of Life" where all is revealed. Reminded that the "Sun Is Still Shining" back on earth, we return to our individual KANSAS. "Watching and Waiting" (which served as the single), sums up the lessons learned: this world was made for us, its magic and perfection waiting to be discovered. The songs on "To Our Children's Children's Children" are soft and dreamlike, the mellotron and acoustic guitars wafting along like strands of incense smoke. Believing that the individual sections are part of a bigger whole helps this amorphous-sounding album take shape.

This is a record that seeks to develop a one-on-one relationship with the listener, a presumption that pegs it as prog rock. It is greater than the sum of its parts; a very good picture painted with merely good strokes ("Gypsy," "Candle of Life," "Floating"). You won't find any "classic" tracks on "To Our Children's Children's Children", but don't be fooled: this is still classic MOODIES.