THRESHOLD OF A DREAM - LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT 1970

The Moody Blues was at the top of their fame when they performed in the famous Isle of Wight festival in 1970. They had just released Question of Balance, their fifth album. Are the expectations for this DVD fulfilled? Hmm, probably, but it could be better. Technical quality is pretty good for that age, though the camera work is not anyhow remarkable. Also for the band's behalf the visual side of the show is nothing special, nor it tries to be. Even the contact with the vast audience is a bit distant. I haven't seen other MB concerts of the old times to compare this to, but in the light of the live CD's I've heard, they always sound much better in the studio albums - naturally. (That's why I'm not so keen on their shows. I was glad to see this once but no need to return to this later.)

The set contains something from all the five albums, though clearly more from the then latest album plus Days Of Future Passed ('Tuesday Afternoon', 'The Sunset' and 'Nights in White Satin') than the three others. A very unnecessary track is at least 'Tortoise and the Hare'. Otherwise the track list is quite ordinary with hits such as 'Never Comes the Day', Pinder's 'Melancholy Man', Ray Thomas number 'Legend of a Mind' and the encore 'Ride My See-Saw'. Good stuff, even if I could easily name several missing songs that might have been fresher highlights.

Approximately 20 minutes of the contents (that leaves about an hour for the concert itself) is archive material of the festival and band members' thoughts of it nearly 30 years later. An interesting moment is Mike Pinder's demonstration of the mechanics of Mellotron! Graeme Edge is given the last word; he cites the poem 'Late Lament' which ends up the debut album. The man may look much older but the voice is very much the same. The collector of the band must have this DVD, for others a one-time viewing is satisfactory, if you can borrow it from a library for example.