DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED

The lore surrounding the genesis of this concept album and foundation piece for progressive music has several different versions. The version I always heard was the record company approached The Moody Blues to record a rock n roll side of an album while an orchestra would record the other as a demonstration of a fancy new recording system. There is also the more common, and now seemingly refuted version, that the record company intended the album to be an adaptation of a Dvorak symphony....as a demonstration of a fancy new recording system. Whichever it was, it wasn't. Except for the fancy new recording system. The quality of the recording is absurdly clean for 1967. And before anyone asks, yes, I am familiar with the original pressings that occurred prior to the 1978 restoration. The transitions between The Moody's and the London Festival Orchestra appear seamless.

The concept, lifetime in the stages of a day. Perhaps not original, even in 1967. But conveyed with undeniable sound and lyric allusory precision. Even the poetic intro and closing are strong elements to the story. I am not aware of the level of cooperation between the orchestra and band as far as the arrangements go, but the orchestral parts serve almost exclusively as transitional elements. The music is not flawless. In particular Peak Hour, the lunch time theme, which feels completely out of place. Capturing that frantic midday pace with something as groundbreaking as the remainder of the album is somewhat of a metaphor for the frantic pace at which music itself was changing in 1967. As the only real stinker of the album closes side A (for those of you following along on vinyl), the true beauty of the album unfolds on side B as the afternoon-night sections. Tuesday Afternoon, the second most popular single for the album, is permeated with Mike Pinder's mellotron. This fades to the haunting verses of the evening and Twilight Time. This section provides what is certainly the most fluid orchestral to rock transitions. The Sun Set in particular incorporates slow bongo and flute for a safari-like feel, conveying the daily vacation as the work day ends. Then we get to the most identifiable single in the Moody Blue's entire discography, Knights in White Satin. The beautiful lamentation that moves even the most stagnant soul. One could, and I'm guessing some have, write a philosophy dissertation on the meaning and gravity of the few short verses.

I've gone through different stages of finding more or less importance of this album personally, but its place in the history of progressive music is undeniable. It is not perfect, but it is amazing and borders on essential.