JOURNEY INTO AMAZING CAVES OST

"Journey into amazing caves" is the soundtrack to an IMAX film released in 2001, featuring songs and performances by the Moody Blues. The music and arrangements on the album though are credited to Steve Wood and Daniel May. Confused? Let me explain.

Most of the music here appears to be orchestral interpretations of a handful of songs originally performed by the Moody Blues. Thus we have recognisable melodies from songs such as "Wildest dreams", "Nights in white satin", and "Question". The only familiar song with a vocal performance is "Ride my see-saw", which is used in the film over a white water ride. The orchestral pieces have the feel of extracts from "Days of future past", the music being suitably atmospheric for a nature film.

There is one genuinely new song by the Moody Blues. "We can fly-water", which plays over the end credits. It is a decent if unremarkable Moodies original, which as far as I am aware is not available elsewhere.

The actual IMAX film, complete with the soundtrack, is also available on DVD. It has a running time of around 40 minutes, with another 40 minutes dedicated to a "making of" film. The film's narration is by Liam Neeson, but unfortunately it is not possible to turn off the narration to listen to the music alone. As far as the film itself is concerned, I found it to be rather lacking in actual caves, with much of the time being given over to the challenges of accessing and exploring them. The caves themselves were interesting, but rather glossed over. It was disappointing too that one of the caves turned out to be a transitory ice cave in a glacier, and thus not a real cave at all.

Returning to the music though, this is really just atmospheric backing for the main feature. While it is pleasing to hear the familiar tones of Moody Blues melodies, the album and DVD are far from essential for fans of the band.