LONG DISTANCE VOYAGER

Patrick Moraz gives the Moodies a sonic new sound. They were going for it on 'Octave' but successfully achieve it here with Moraz. So this album is splattered all over with sci-fi synths and vintage Moody melodies and lyrics.

At first listen, this album sounds great, but on repeated listens, most of these songs sound like catchy choruses repeated over and over and over again, and most of these songs lack a lot of the emotional fire that is usually found on a Moody Blues recording.

The only song that stands up over time is the exquisite 'Nervious'. It begins with gut- wrenchingly beautiful flute from Ray Thomas, that totally brings you to tears, and then the acoustic guitar strums gently and John sings 'Why am I so nervous?, please tell me why I can't speak' and this is genuinely touching. Also this is one song on this album that is sung with conviction and emotion. The rest of the album doesn't stack up, but a few tracks are solid enough to make this worth about 2.5 stars, and I will round that up because I like the Moodies (bloody fanatical fan!)