The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed

The Moody Blues' second album was also their first of what would be a succession of "concept" albums. Inspired by the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper and utilizing the London Festival Orchestra primarily for epic instrumental interludes between songs, Days of Future Passed moved the Birmingham band away from its early R&B roots (as displayed on its debut album with soon-to-depart future Wings member Denny Laine) into uncharted rock territory, making them the early pioneers of both classical and progressive rock. The concept of the 1967 release was very simple, tracing a day in the life from dawn to night, from awakening to sleep. The seven tracks spawned two hit singles--"Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin" (which hit No. 2 four years after the LP's original release) and a prog-rock cottage industry. --Bill Holdship Amazon.com

Awesome album

I love this band and this album proves that they are one of the best bands of our time. My favorite song, "Question", is one of the massive hits on this album. What I thought was great was there was music from the original singer of the Moody Blues - my husband was disappointed that there wasn't more of his songs, but he really likes the album. This is the Moody Blues album to buy if you're a real fan. November 13, 2008

A long-overdue upgrade

Okay, so it's not the grand double disc set that's available from the U.K., but it is a long-overdue upgrade on the domestic front. And if you already own "Prelude" and are planning to buy "Live at the BBC", then the U.S. upgrades of "Days" through "Every Good Boy" will do just fine. To begin with, I was blown away by the sound quality, but buyer should also know that the re-mix has some differences, so you might want to hold on to your originals. It does, however, open us up to a whole new world of possibilities of how this album might have sounded like in the first place. In the booklet it states that the purpose of Decca Records bringing the new Deram imprint was to give the rock bands' stereo recordings more depth. (If this were true, why wasn't Procol Harum's first album given this treatment?) Having injected that question, we can now move on...
First off, MB fans everywhere know the pitfalls and failures of the new line-up from late 1966. We are also familiar with how this album came to fruition. The bonus tracks are not new to a lot of us, i.e. the first three singles. Missing from the bonus cuts however, is the 45 version of "Nights in White Satin", although the BBC chestnut "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is included. Imperfect though it may be, it's a great run through with Justin taking lead vocal and Ray doing an equally great job of holding the whole thing together on the interludes. The alternate mixes of "Tuesday", "Dawn", "Sun Set" and "Twilight Time" are exceptional as well as the original album cycle. Can't wait to hear the rest in this series. What I'm most grateful for, is the time and energy spent by Justin and all to see to it that these new remasters were done with the highest integrety. Great work, guys!! July 17, 2008

disappointed

I don't know where this CD was made, but it is a terrible recording. Not worth the free shipping. June 21, 2008

Days of Future Passed

ESSENTIAL ALBUM!!! On the heels of the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's came the Moody Blues Days of Future Passed. Days of Future of Passed hasn't aged quite as well as Sgt. Pepper's but this album had a concept that tied together much better than the other. Released in 1967 Days of Future Passed was the third Moody Blues studio album. This album had a new lineup that featured Justin Hayward (Lead guitar, vocals) & John Lodge (bass, vocals). Gone was Denny Laine who later be Paul McCartney & Wings rhythm guitarist. Another interesting fact about this album was it peaked at #3 on the charts in 1972, five years after it was originally released! The new & more talented version of the Moody Blues was ready to take off.

Two singles were released from the album; "Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon)" climbed to #24 on the charts in 1968. The most famous single "Nights in White Satin" went to #2 on the charts in 1972. It was belatedly released, the story behind it being a very interesting one. As legend would have it (I'm not able to actually verify this tale) a DJ located somewhere in the Northwest of the U.S.A. was working the night shift, he wanted to take an extended break (can you guess why?), so he checked his playlists to find the song that had the longest time length, he found "Nights in White Satin", supposedly a B-side at that time, & put it on. If we believe this tale then it's obvious that the song spread over the airwaves like a wildfire out of control until the label was forced to release it as an A-side & you know the rest of the story.

Actually only about half of the album is the Moody Blues. The other half belongs to the London Festival Orchestra which was an orchestra in name only, it didn't actually exist except for the recording of this album. Conductor/Arranger Peter Knight was the man behind this part of the album. Decca records actually wanted the Moodys to record Dvorak's "New World Symphony" in order to showcase the new sound technology they had developed. Of course, we know that didn't happen. The Moody Blues put their concept together & with the help of Peter Knight they would complete it. Knight was responsible for the orchestral sections, in most cases he scored the Moodys songs into orchestral arrangemnets using them os intros, outros & bridges between the songs. When Decca records got the finished product they didn't know what to do with it; it wasn't quite classical music nor was it quite pop music. They released it anyway (thank you) & though it didn't quite catch on initially, it would do so later.

The songs "Tuesday Afternoon" & "Nights in White Satin" are now considered classic & are the best on this album. They've dated better than the rest of the album because their music & arrangements are timeless; they're just as good now as they were back then. "Nights in White Satin" I would consider one of Rock's Top 100 songs. It's unfortunate that the rest of the album is more of a sign of the times, psychedelic & hippie-oriented lyrics being the cause. The rest of the proper Moody Blues songs are merely average. The marriage of rock to an orchestra was a good one though, in that sense, this a groundbreaking album. It deserves its recognition & status.

The additions of Hayward & Lodge improved the Moody Blues immensely, they went from being an ordinary R&B group to one of the leading psychedelic/pop bands in the world. None of these musicians (Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas, Graeme Edge) will ever be considered among the best at their respective instruments but, very much like the Beatles, the sum was greater than the parts. May 26, 2008

An essential

The history of this albums speaks for itself. As one of the earliest concept albums to be made, it set the standard to which all others inspire. This is one of those pieces that should be common to everyone's collection. It is mellow, sweeping, deep, and powerful. February 29, 2008

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