i giorni del futuro già trascorso The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed (1967) Side one 1. The Day Begins: (5:50) The Day Begins (Peter Knight & The Moody Blues) - (4:08) Morning Glory (Graeme Edge) [unlisted track] - (1:42) 2. Dawn: (3:48) (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] - (0:38) Dawn is a Feeling (Mike Pinder) - (3:10) 3. The Morning: (3:55) (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] - (0:21) Another Morning (Ray Thomas) - (3:34) 4. Lunch Break: (5:33) (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] - (1:53) Peak Hour (John Lodge) - (3:40) Side two 5. The Afternoon: (8:23) Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?) (Justin Hayward) - (5:06) (Evening) Time to Get Away (Lodge) [unlisted track] - (3:17) 6. Evening: (6:40) (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] - (0:38) The Sunset (Pinder) - (2:39) Twilight Time (Thomas) - (3:23) 7. The Night: (7:24) Nights in White Satin (Hayward) - (5:38) Late Lament (Graeme Edge) [unlisted track] - (1:46) Personnel Musicians The Moody Blues: Justin Hayward - Acoustic and electric guitars, piano, keyboards, vocals. John Lodge - Bass guitar, electric guitar, vocals. Mike Pinder - Keyboards, mellotron, piano, vocals, (including spoken). Ray Thomas - Flutes, horns, percussion, keyboards, vocals. Graeme Edge - Drums, percussion, vocals. Peter Knight - Conductor, arrangements. The London Festival Orchestra. Production Tony Clarke: Producer, Realisation. Derek Varnals: Engineer. Hugh Mendl: Executive Producer, Liner Notes. Michael Dacre-Barclay: Realisation. David Anstey: Cover Design, Cover Painting. Steven Fallone: Digital Remastering. Days of Future Passed Studio album by The Moody Blues Released December 1967 Recorded 8 October–3 November 1967 Decca Studios West Hampstead, London Genre Progressive rock, psychedelic rock Length 41:34 Label Deram Records Producer Tony Clarke The Moody Blues chronology Singles from Days of Future Passed Nights in White Satin - Released: November 1967 Tuesday Afternoon - Released: July 1968 Professional ratings Allmusic 4.5/5 stars Rolling Stone (1968) mixed Rolling Stone (2007) favorable Spin favorable Sputnikmusic 5/5 Uncut 4/5 stars Yahoo! Music favorable Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by English rock band The Moody Blues, released in December 1967 on Deram Records. After two years performing as a struggling white R&B band, The Moody Blues were asked by their record label in September 1967 to record an adaptation of Antonín Dvořáks Symphony No. 9 as a stereo demonstration record. Instead, the band chose to record an orchestral song cycle about a typical working day. Recording sessions for the album took place at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London during May 9 to November 26, 1967. The band worked with record producer Tony Clarke, engineer Derek Varnals, and conductor Peter Knight. The albums music features psychedelic rockers, ballads by singer-songwriter and guitarist Justin Hayward, Mellotron played by keyboardist Mike Pinder, and orchestral accompaniment by the London Festival Orchestra. Music writers cite the album as a precursor to progressive rock music. Bill Holdship of Yahoo! Music remarks that the band created an entire genre here. Robert Christgau cites it as one of the essential albums of 1967 and finds it closer to high-art pomp than psychedelia. But there is a sharp pop discretion to the writing and a trippy romanticism in the mirroring effect of the strings and Mike Pinders Mellotron. Will Hermes cites the album as an essential progressive rock record and views that its use of the Mellotron, a tape replay keyboard, made it a signature element of the genre. Allmusic editor Bruce Eder calls the album one of the defining documents of the blossoming psychedelic era, and one of the most enduringly popular albums of its era. Background Members of the group have claimed that originally, the Moodies British label, Decca Records, had wanted them to record a rock version of Dvořáks New World Symphony for the newly formed Deram Records division in order to demonstrate their latest recording techniques, which were named Deramic Sound. Instead, the band (initially without the labels knowledge) decided to focus on an album based on an original stage show that theyd been working on. However, Decca recording engineer Derek Varnals disputes this story, claiming that even at the beginning of the sessions in 1967 there was no intent to record a Dvořák album and that talk of this project did not emerge until the mid-1970s.[10] Original vs. later mix In 1978 the album was remixed because of deterioration of the master tapes. The original 1967 stereo mix has never seen an official CD release. The ways in which the later mix departs most noticeably from the original are: After the orchestral intro, Dawn is a Feeling begins more abruptly, and there is less echo on Mike Pinders vocal on the bridge, making it more prominent. The orchestral intro Lunch Break goes on about 20 seconds longer before fading out. The bridges to (Evening) Time to Get Away have John Lodge singing alone; all the backing vocals on that part have been lost. The backing vocals on Twilight Time are heard through the entire song instead of only coming in at strategic points. Recensione di Sharkste (DeBaser) (4 stars) Quando comprai questo album, due anni fa, conoscevo i Moody Blues per il loro brano più famoso, parlo chiaramente di “Nights In White Satin” . Il disco lo comprai, comunque, perché da poco avevo scoperto la musica progressiva, attraverso Pink Floyd e compagnia bella; un genere che mi ha sempre affascinato per la tendenza a creare album concettuali, come veri e propri libri che parlano di temi diversi, più o meno seri, e che mettono in evidenza lo stato d’animo e le idee dell’artista in un determinato momento della sua carriera. Questo, lo so, avviene anche in molti altri artisti non progressive, ma è solo in questo genere che un tema, come in questo caso lo scorrere della giornata, è davvero il centro portante dell’opera, anche a livello tecnico – musicale. C’era una volta a Londra nel 1967 una casa discografica, la Decca Records, che per fini essenzialmente pubblicitari propose al complesso capitanato da John Lodge e Justin Hayward un ambizioso e praticamente impossibile progetto: produrre una versione rock della “sinfonia del nuovo mondo” di Antonin Dvoràk. Il complesso accettò, rendendosi conto in seguito che si trattava di un’immane stronzata. I ragazzi, rinunciando alla folle idea, continuarono però a lavorare sui loro progetti originali, senza disdegnare però un aiutino dalla già “disponibile” London Festival Orchestra. Risultato finale? Un bel repertorio di sette canzoni pop – progressive immerse in una matrice di musica sinfonica. Bella schifezza, dovevano aver pensato i discografici. Lo scetticismo permase fino alla sua uscita, nel 1967, quando il disco conobbe un grande successo. Come ho già detto, il “concept” si basa sullo scorrere della giornata: i titoli vanno dall’alba di “The Day Begins: Morning Glory” al tramonto di “Nights in White Satin”. Le canzoni hanno tutte una introduzione e una conclusione sinfonica, che allunga e spezza i brani, sia tra di loro che al loro interno. E’ quasi impossibile sentire il cambiamento di traccia da un brano all’altro; ed è anche difficile in alcuni casi associare ad un brano un solo tema musicale. Dall’introduzione classica e lirica della prima parte (“The day begins” e “Dawn is a feeling” ) si passa alla parte forse più “molle” del disco, cioè in sostanza il mattino e il mezzogiorno, in cui davvero i brani, un po’ troppo scanzonati, entrano in forte contrasto con l’orchestra. Ma superata questa debolezza si arriva ai 3 brani migliori, nel pomeriggio e nella sera. “Afternoon” è notevole. In essa convivono 2 temi, egualmente straordinari: si passa dalla prima “Forever afternoon”, con un sound decisamente vivace, alle note altissime di “Peak Hour”, in cui prevale invece la malinconia e la sensazione di dover partire, di lasciare la sicurezza del giorno avvicinandosi sempre più all’ignoto della sera. “Evening” è ancora meglio. L’introduzione, lasciata agli archi, precede un sound di basso e batteria molto potente, di ispirazione orientale – indiano, immancabilmente psichedelico e ipnotico. Un altro intermezzo sinfonico lascia spazio a un tema ancora più pesante, in modo che ci si ritrova nuovamente storditi, prima della “distensione” finale. “Nights in White Satin” la conoscono praticamente tutti. La voce candida di Hayward canta Nights in white satin, Never reaching the end, Letters I’ve written, Never meaning to send. Beauty Id always missed With these eyes before, Just what the truth is I cant say anymore. mentre il suono del sintetizzatore l’accompagna con suoni e voci da brividi, come dei fantasmi del passato. La canzone parla di un amore perduto, i cui unici resti sono un tessuto bianco, simbolo di innocenza e semplicità, di una bellezza ormai svanita. A mio parere le canzoni potevano resistere nella loro bellezza anche senza la componente sinfonica, che fa apparire il tutto un po’ artificioso e ingombrante. Ciò nonostante, il disco può rappresentare una piacevole scoperta per chiunque si voglia avvicinare al genere progressivo e a quel rock sinfonico che conobbe grande successo negli anni successivi. Review by Bruce Eder (ALLMUSIC) (4.5 stars) This album marked the formal debut of the psychedelic-era Moody Blues; though theyd made a pair of singles featuring new (as of 1966) members Justin Hayward and John Lodge, Days of Future Passed was a lot bolder and more ambitious. What surprises first-time listeners -- and delighted them at the time -- is the degree to which the group shares the spotlight with the London Festival Orchestra without compromising their sound or getting lost in the lush mix of sounds. Thats mostly because they came to this album with the strongest, most cohesive body of songs in their history, having spent the previous year working up a new stage act and a new body of material (and working the bugs out of it on-stage), the best of which ended up here. Decca Records had wanted a rock version of Dvoraks New World Symphony to showcase its enhanced stereo-sound technology, but at the behest of the band, producer Tony Clarke (with engineer Derek Varnals aiding and abetting) hijacked the project and instead cut the groups new repertory, with conductor/arranger Peter Knight adding the orchestral accompaniment and devising the bridge sections between the songs and the albums grandiose opening and closing sections. The record company didnt know what to do with the resulting album, which was neither classical nor pop, but following its release in December of 1967, audiences found their way to it as one of the first pieces of heavily orchestrated, album-length psychedelic rock to come out of England in the wake of the Beatles Sgt. Peppers and Magical Mystery Tour albums. Whats more, it was refreshingly original, rather than an attempt to mimic the Beatles; sandwiched among the playful lyricism of Another Morning and the mysticism of The Sunset, songs like Tuesday Afternoon and Twilight Time (which remained in their concert repertory for three years) were pounding rockers within the British psychedelic milieu, and the harmony singing (another new attribute for the group) made the bands sound unique. With Tuesday Afternoon and Nights In White Satin to drive sales, Days of Future Passed became one of the defining documents of the blossoming psychedelic era, and one of the most enduringly popular albums of its era. On CD, its history was fairly spotty until 1997, when it was remastered by Polygram; that edition blows every prior CD release (apart from Mobile Fidelitys limited-edition disc) out of contention, though this record is likely due for another upgrade -- and probably a format jump, perhaps to DVD-Audio -- on or before its 40th anniversary in 2007. Recensione di J.J. John (classikrock.blogspot) SERIE: LE RADICI DEL PROG n° 1 Nella seconda metà degli anni ’60, il rock inglese viveva un momento di grande effervescenza trainata sia dal boom economico che fungeva da volano per il mercato discografico, sia dalle straordinarie imprese dei Beatles che avevano riconfermato l’Inghilterra quale epicentro della nuova creatività giovanile: una nazione che era diventata non solo commercialmente impermeabile a qualunque tentativo di imitazione e reimportazione della propria musica (ad esempio da parte della garage bands americane), ma un incessante generatore di stili che venivano irradiati in tutto il mondo: psichedelia, blues, folk, pop e hard rock. Nel 1967 però, con l’uscita del loro capolavoro “Sergeant Pepper’s”, molti addetti ai lavori cominciarono a chiedersi con una certa inquietudine cosa sarebbe successo nel momento in cui i Beatles avessero esaurito la loro parabola creativa: cosa che peraltro si verificò nei due anni successivi. La soluzione fu di correre rapidamente ai ripari proponendo un nuovo stile che non solo fosse moderno e musicalmente inedito, ma in cui la generazione della “swinging london” avesse potuto identificarsi e riconoscersi proprio come aveva fatto sino a quel momento con il british beat. Un genere che fosse tanto sovversivo quanto abbastanza colto da attrarre anche la borghesia collegiale sinora snobbata dal rock; radicato profondamente nella cultura europea per evitare qualunque confusione col rock-american e poeticamente onirico in modo da conndensare in un solo kernel l’utopia del flower power con la grande tradizione della narrativa inglese, da Shakespeare a Tolkien. Il lampo di genio arrivò da una delle case discografiche allora più innovative della scena mondiale, la Decca Records, che per lanciare la sua nuova etichetta Deram e la sua nuova tecnologia d’incisione detta “Deramic Sound” (un primitivo otto piste composto da due registratori a 4 tracce che lavoravano in simultanea), convocò la band dei Moody Blues chiedendo loro di comporre e incidere una versione rock della “Sinfonia del nuovo mondo” del maestro cecoslovacco Antonin Dvořák. the moody bluesSecondo la testimonianza di Derek Varnals, allora tecnico della Decca, i Moodies però non ce la fecero a completare il progetto originale, pur rimanendo affascinati dalla prospettiva di poter mescolare rock e musica classica. Contro qualunque scetticismo della loro discografica, convocarono allora il maestro Peter Knight e la London Festival Orchestra per la realizzazione di un concept in chiave rock-sinfonico: la storia della giornata di un uomo qualunque dal risveglio sino alla notte sul modello dell’Ulisse di James Joyce. E la mossa fu quella giusta. Sulle prime il lavoro fu pesantemente criticato dalle frange più perbeniste della società inglese per il presunto uso di droghe da parte del gruppo, (vedasi i versi “l’odore dell’erba ti ha indotto a sognare”) ma più realisticamente, l’entusiasmo unanime di tutta l’audience giovanile – borghese e non – fece di “Days of future passed” uno dei dischi seminali della storia del rock. Di fatto, la sua inedita commistione tra classico e pop, il ricorso a nuove tecnologie strumentali e produttive, la sua straordinaria omogeneità narrativa e nondimeno l’altissimo valore esecutivo, avrebbero consacrato l’opera dei Moodies ad apertore del genere progressivo. Infelicemente, la Deram-Decca prestò tanta attenzione al progetto originale quanta distrazione nel conservare le matrici originali su nastro. Alchè, molte delle ristampe del disco che si susseguirono ininterrottamente a partire dalla prima reissue 1978, tradirono in molte parti la prima stesura che oggi è diventata assai rara da reperire su vinile in buone condizioni. Ciononostante, anche ascoltando il nuovo mixdown, è davvero impossibile non cogliere la straordinaria fluidità dell’opera che inizia con l’orchestrale “The day begins” e termina con lo strepitoso successo di “Nights in white satin” che verrà ripresa da mezzo mondo, inclusi i nostri Profeti, Gatti Rossi, Bit-Nik e soprattutto dai Nomadi che la ribattezzarono “Ho difeso il mio amore”. La liquidità del continuum musicale e narrativo non lascia dubbi sul fatto che un nuovo genere musicale sia alle porte e non ci vorrà molto perchè tutta una serie di musicisti sensibili alla musica classica e sino ad allora confinati nei conservatori o nelle scuole d’arte, colgano al volo l’occasione per reinventarsi essi stessi con delle nuove proposte stilistiche: dai primi Nice di “The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack” (1967) sino alllo storico In the court of the crimson king (1969) dei King Crimson passando per i Caravan, i Colsseum e i Soft Machine. Chi attribuisce la paternità del prog a “Freak Out” di Zappa (1966) deve rapidamente ricredersi per l’ovvio distinguo che intercorre tra l’opera di un genio isolato e un vero e proprio movimento che a partire dalle note dei Moody Blues coinvolgerà il mondo intero. Rewiew by .... (blogcritics) One of the major concerns I have with popular music in the past few decades, and with rock music in particular (I have many concerns, but I’ll concentrate on just one here), is that no one really writes beautiful songs anymore. No performers seem to be able to rise above the particular rock genre title they have been indelibly stamped with for purposes of record industry marketing and demographic data, and pen a piece that is graceful and elegantly rendered. There is so very little variation (let alone differentiation). It is as if everything musical has been covered with quickset cement. Rock indeed! Rock music used to thrive on invention and variability, mixing the heavy with the heavenly, the hard edges and the soft corners, the ethereal light and the impenetrable dark, so that everything didn’t drone on with such annoying rigidity. When was the last time you heard a genuinely beautiful song? If you’ve heard one recently, chances are it wasn’t penned in the last twenty or maybe even thirty years. It seems we’ve lost the art of artfulness. In prior generations of rock performers, The Beatles composed exquisite pop tunes with supernatural regularity, and Simon & Garfunkel made a career of crafting elegant compositions. Traffic, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, and even rock deities like The Who, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin — bands who had their greatest triumphs in the 60′s and 70′s — had the compositional skills to offer songs that really rocked, others that were full of epic grandeur, and still others that were, for want of a better word, beautiful. But there is very little contrast in current rock music, and even less innovation and variation. I suppose that once you’ve been put through the Walmartian musical meat-grinder, there is only Spam — or whatever meat substitute passes for popular music these days. Once you been barcoded and scanned, you must not break the mold. This is why there will never be another Days of Future Passed. Beauty, it would seem, is fast shuffling of this mortal coil. In this incredibly shrinking world of Twitter, Blackberry, and faceless friendships on Facebook, there is little time to stop and smell the roses, because many of us haven’t ventured outside the environs of the Internet since last April. Even what is sold as music currently is conveniently sequenced into repetitive digital sound-bytes – white noise on purple iPods – that leaves little room for considering the distinctive production and compositional prowess required to develop conceptual music in an album format. Why bother with an album when one can purchase greatest hits at .99 cents a download from Amazon or iTunes? If you have the time between tweets, chirps, and other fowl noises, I shall endeavor to explain it to you. Das of Future Passed (1967) is a musical treasure and an essential album for anyone who does not live in a cave and scratch his/her private parts in public. This is an album that bridges generations and spans genres; in fact, the longtime (and decidedly conservative) classical musical critic of the Detroit Free Press, the late John Guinn, said simply that Days of Future Passed was an album he “cherished”. That speaks volumes for the reach of this album. The Moody Blues advanced the “progressive rock” genre before anyone coined such a term, and the album was quite beyond anything recorded on the rock scene in the 1960s and has never been duplicated since. The Beatles and Procol Harum teased their fans with string arrangements and bits of Bach, The Who wrote rock pseudo-operas, and Frank Zappa toyed with symphonic compositions, but there had never before been a rock group completely integrated with an orchestra for an entire album. Originally conceived by the Decca label as a means to trumpet the new stereophonic sound and advanced recording techniques of its Deram division, The Moody Blues were to have gone in studio with an orchestra to provide a rock version of Antonín Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor (better known as the New World Symphony). Supposedly, the band had other ideas and, without the label’s knowledge, based the entire album on the concept of a day in the life of an individual, an “everyman”. Whether or not this is true is up for conjecture; but this is the stuff of rock legend, so why mess with it? Sonorous and seductive, naïve but nuanced, playful yet profound — Days of Future Passed succeeds on many levels as a means of aural gratification, particularly because it is hauntingly, even achingly beautiful in spots. I would suggest that the enchanting “Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)” and the epic ode to luxury bed sheets “Nights in White Satin” are two of the greatest love songs ever written. Also of note is the stirring poem “Morning Glory”, followed by the exquisite “Dawn is a Feeling” (great with coffee on the patio on a summer morning), the majestic “The Sunset”, and “Twilight Time” with its memorable lines “A nightingale plays a dark mellow phrase/Of notes that are rich and so true/An aerial display by the firefly brigade/Dancing to tunes no one knew.” From a compositional perspective, the songwriting responsibilities for the album were divided evenly between the various members of the Moodys: Justin Hayward (“Tuesday Afternoon” and “Nights in White Satin”), Mike Pinder (“Dawn is a Feeling” and “The Sunset”), John Lodge (“Peak Hour” and “Evening Time to Get Away”), Ray Thomas (“Another Morning” and “Twilight Time”), and even drummer Graeme Edge got to lend a hand (having penned the poems “Morning Glory” and “Late Lament”). Just as importantly, the use of the London Festival Orchestra (conducted by Peter Knight, who also composed the orchestral themes for the album) is an integral part of the album as a whole, rather than an afterthought simply to give a rock band a classical flair. The orchestra and the band have separate musical themes as the album progresses, sections that both reflect and enhance the other (with Mike Pinder’s innovative use of the mellotron amply filling in for the symphonic strings during the Moody’s sequences), and only during “Night in White Satin” do the two slowly intertwine, meeting in full at last for a magnificent crescendo as the song reaches its climax. The dark and melancholy poem “Late Lament” is also a memorable moment in rock history, and an appropriate ending for a day in the life as written by the Moody Blues: “…Cold hearted orb that rules the night/Removes the colours from our sight/Red is gray and yellow white/But we decide which is right/And which is an illusion?” No sir, they just don’t make ‘em like that no more. More’s the pity. Recensione di ihumax4 (DeBaser) (4 stars) Ho sempre considerato i Moody Blues una delle migliori formazioni degli anni 60. In un periodo così prolifico dal punto di vista musicale, la loro musica si sveste di ogni clichè per creare forse la più riuscita opera di rock-sinfonico mai prodotta. Fautori di un proto-prog insieme a Jethro Tull ed altre poche formazioni, i nostri Moody Blues si gettano in questo album nel non facile intento di costruire un concept-album basato sullo scorrere del tempo nellarco delle 24 ore del giorno; la struttura del disco parte infatti dallalba per seguire, canzone per canzone, una intera giornata. A parte la maestosità dellintero lavoro - è infatti la London Festival Orchestra ad accompagnare la band - ciò che colpisce è la giusta contrapposizione tra le sezioni orchestrali e quelle cantate e suonate dal gruppo capitanato da Justin Hayward. Spesso il salto è pressochè impercettibile come tra la iniziale The Day Begins e la successiva Dawn, altre volte è più marcato vedi il passaggio da Afternoon a Evening; nonostante le perplessità iniziali che possono assalire chi si accinge per la prima volta ad ascoltare simil capolavoro, vi assicuro che non risulterà affatto noioso dedicare tempo e attenzione a questa opera, lunico sbaglio che si può commettere è, come sempre, abusarne. Lambientazione sonora è quella propria di un film melodrammatico, protagonista un amore intenso che ha una svolta, forse tragica. Lo stesso mood malinconico e drammatico si respira nellultimo passaggio dellalbum The Night - Nights In White Satins, brano epocale ripreso in più episodi da varie formazioni quali gli italiani beatnik nel 1968 dopo che il paroliere italiano Paci parte di fantasia con la sua Ho difeso il mio amore; il raso bianco di una camicia da notte probabilmente racchiude in se la fine funesta di un amore perduto, lunico stralcio di una passione spentasi tragicamente. Days Of Future Passed diventerà il vostro compagno di viaggio lungo il protrarsi di ogni giorno che vivrete e non vi abbandonerà mai, ve lo assicuro. Review by SowingSeason (sputnikmusic) (5 stars) Review Summary: An astonishingly overlooked jewel in the history of progressive rock, Days of Future Passed was also an essential blueprint for the development of the genre. If you are a fan of classic rock, progressive rock, or both, you have almost certainly heard of King Crimson. Their debut In The Court of the Crimson King is frequently cited as the beginning of prog as well as the genre’s best album. While it certainly is a reigning classic in its own right, there are a few facts about that album that are all too often overlooked. Foremost among them is that their producer, Tony Clark, actually worked extensively with The Moody Blues before he even came close to a recording studio with King Crimson. Released a full two years prior, Days of Future Passed wowed listeners with The Moody Blues’ up and coming sound that would later become identified as the “progressive” quality as it pertains to classic rock. Thus, The Moody Blues (and in particular, this record) should at least be viewed as equal partners in the pioneering of the genre, if not the founders of prog itself. However, the point of this review is not to squabble over who should be credited with the berth of progressive rock, nor is it to downplay the importance of King Crimson. The Moody Blues’ Days of Future Passed is a criminally overlooked album in the genre’s history, one that deserves much more attention than it currently attains. Days of Future Passed possesses an array of swirling musical styles within its vast scope. From its majestic, classically-influenced beginning to the haunting, poetic closer ‘Nights in White Satin’, the album is neither here nor there in terms of a singular method. An actual orchestra was hired to help record the album, creating symphonic moments that collide perfectly with the music’s classical influences and the band’s flavor for limitless experimentation. The whole thing ends up sounding like one cohesive dream, tumbling gently over waves of strings, horns, and the excellent musicianship of each member of the band. Everyone contributes to the vocals, although Justin Hayward’s and John Lodge’s efforts are the center of focus in that respect. Graeme Edge’s drumming sets the mood for the album’s slow but effervescent progression, while Mike Pinder’s keyboarding lends a soft, delicate touch. In the guitar department, Denny Laine is absolutely brilliant, while masterfully interweaving his performance with duel bassists Clark & Warwick. Essentially, what we have here five highly trained musicians at their best, with the aid of the London Festival Orchestra making Days of Future Passed all the more epic. So what do The Moody Blues do with all of that knowledge and talent at their disposal? Well, they create a concept album of course! But before you scoff at the notion of something that has, as time elapsed, become a gimmick, remember that a “concept album” need not be over-the-top. Days of Future Passed takes you through one day, from the magisterial horns that open ‘Morning Glory’ to the spoken poem that ends the record like a haunting bedtime story. For as grandiose as these ideas may seem, The Moody Blues’ execution of the concept is flawless, packing enough fresh musical ideas within it to make Days of Future Passed feel like just the beginning of something much greater – which the band’s long and productive career eventually proved to be accurate. The orchestra’s contributions admittedly bridge a lot of the gaps in the concept, but they do so flawlessly and leave the album feeling like one forty minute song, which is essentially what it is. The lush, gorgeous flow over the album’s duration makes Days of Future Passed an absolute pleasure to listen to, whether it is simply in the background or whether you get lost within its intricacies. Despite its enormous sound and smooth sequence, Days of Future Passed is still incredibly memorable. It has that “stick” factor that lodges music into one’s mind in such a way that it refuses to leave and compels you to return for a second, third, and one hundredth listen (and perhaps beyond). Fans of classic rock radio may be familiar with tunes such as ‘Tuesday Afternoon’ and ‘Nights in White Satin’, both of which anchor the album and hopefully compel contemporary listeners to check out the entire work from which they came. Even the tracks that don’t qualify as “radio friendly” (i.e. the majority of the songs) demand repeated listens due to the sheer beauty with which they were composed, creating a comprehensive work that is in every way accessible, but in no way that has done before. The positive attributes that could be assigned to this album are nearly limitless. Days of Future Passed is like awaking from a black and white dream to find yourself in a gorgeous, sprawling world of color. If you don’t want to be a part of that world, you are simply denying yourself one of the greatest feelings that can be evoked from a musical experience. Biografia de .... (alohacriticon) Grupo de Birmingham (Inglaterra) fundado en 1964. Con Denny Laine en su filas y temas como “Go Now”, “Let Me Go”, “He Can Win” o “And My Baby’s Gone” The Moody Blues dieron inicio a su carrera en la Decca intérpretando estupenda música R&B; pero el R&B auténtico, no el soul pachanguero moderno, a miles de años luz del soul de Motown o Stax, que no se por qué demonios le llaman R&B confundiendo al personal ya que nada tiene que ver, a no ser sus raíces negras, con el excitante R&B de los años 50 y 60. Bueno, da igual… A finales de los 60, con la salida de Laine del grupo y la entrada de Justin Hayward, los Moody Blues abandonaron estos primeros sonidos para abrazar la psicodelia y sonidos orquestales alcanzando la inmortalidad gracias al tema “Nights In White Satin” y discos magníficos como “Days of future passed”, “On the treshold of a dream” o “In the search of the lost chord”. La banda, representada por Tony Secunda (quien también se haría cargo de la carrera de los Move), estaba compuesta en principio por el cantante y guitarrista Denny Laine (nacido el 29 de octubre de 1944 en Jersey), el teclista y vocalista Mike Pinder (nacido el 12 de diciembre de 1942 en Birmingham), el vocalista, flauta y armonicista Ray Thomas (nacido el 29 de diciembre de 1942 en Stourport on Severn), el bajista Clint Warwick (nacido el 25 de junio de 1940 en Birmingham) y el batería Graeme Edge (nacido el 30 de marzo de 1941 en Rochester). Antes de unirse el quinteto sus miembros ya habían tocado en diferentes bandas, habiendo compartido grupo Thomas y Pinder en grupos como El Riot & The Rebels o The Krew Cats, banda que llegó, como los Beatles, a tocar en Hamburgo. Por su parte Denny Laine había sido el líder de Denny & The Diplomats y Graeme Edge formó parte de Gerry Levene & The Avengers. Convertidos en los Moody Blues y en la Decca grabaron en 1964 el single “Lose your money (But don’t lose your mind)”, rítmico tema escrito por la pareja Laine/Pinder que pasó sin pena ni gloria por las tiendas de discos, todo lo contrario que el siguiente, “Go now”, canción escrita por Larry Banks y Milton Bennett, grabada previamente por Bessie Banks, que les llevó al número 1 en el Reino Unido y al 10 en los Estados Unidos en 1964. Al año siguiente aparecieron otros singles: “I don’t want to go on without you” (número 33), tema escrito por Jerry Wexler y el productor Bert Berns, “From the bottom of my heart (I love you)” (número 22), compuesto por Laine y Pinder, al igual que “Everyday” (número 44). Todos estos temas se encontraban en su LP debut, “The Magnificent Moodies” (1965), ampliado en reediciones posteriores de manera espléndida con sensacionales temas encontrados solamente en la época en formato single. Aunque las ventas de sus últimos sencillos no habían sido baladíes tras conseguir un número 1 con “Go Now” el grupo se sintió un tanto decepcionado con la respuesta comercial, en especial de las estupendas canciones “Boulevard de la Madelaine” y “Life’s not life”. Este hecho provocó que el grupo variase su formación de manera muy importante. De los Moody Blues, ahora con la representación de Brian Epstein, se marcharon Clint Warwick, sustituido por otro componente de los El Riot & The Rebels, el bajista y vocalista John Lodge (nacido el 20 de julio de 1945 en Birmingham), y el miembro clave de la banda hasta el momento, Denny Laine, que fue reemplazado por el cantante y guitarrista Justin Hayward (nacido el 14 de octubre de 1946 en Swindon). Laine alcanzó la fama en los años 70 junto a Paul McCartney formando parte de los Wings. Los nuevos Moody Blues sacaron al mercado “Days Of Future Passed” (1967), un gran álbum conceptual producido por Tony Clarke y orquestado por Pete Knight, que contaba con la participación de la London Festival Orchestra y ofertaba sonidos psicodélicos y progresivos ejemplificados en el single escrito por Hayward “Nights in white satin” (número 19 en 1967). El LP resultó más exitoso en los Estados Unidos que en su propio país, llegando al puesto 3 en el Billboard y al 27 en Inglaterra. Con anterioridad habían publicado en sencillo los temas “Fly me hight”, compuesto por Hayward, y “Love and beauty”, escrito por Mike Pinder. “In the search of the lost chord” (1968), con sonidos de mellotron (siendo Pinder un maestro del instrumento), prorrogó el sonido psicodélico, lírico y conceptual de esta nueva etapa y prosiguió incrementando su audiencia internacional, tanto en sus actuaciones en vivo como en la venta de sus vinilos, que en el Reino Unido le llevaron al número 5. Entre los temas de “In the search of the lost chord” se encontraban los singles “Voices in the sky” (número 27) y “Ride my See-Saw” (número 42). “On the treshold of a dream” (1969) alcanzó el número 1 en Gran Bretaña gracias a temas como “Lovely to see you” o el single “Never comes the day”, mientras que “To our children’s children” (1969), editado en su propio sello Threshold Records, llegó al puesto número 2. Si el final del decenio había sido estupendo para los Moody Blues el comienzo de los años 70 resultó igual o incluso mejor, ya que tanto “Question of balance” (1970), con el single “Question” (número 2), como el fenomenal “Every good boy deserves favour” (1971) alcanzaron lo más alto en el Reino Unido y el número 2 en los Estados Unidos. Las ganas de volar en solitario por parte de sus diferentes miembros provocó que, en la cumbre de su carrera, el grupo cesara sus actividades durante un largo tiempo después de publicar el LP “Seventh Sojourn” (1972), disco muy apreciable con temas como “For my lady”, “New Horizons”, “Lost in a lost world”, “Isn’t life strange” o “I’m just a singer (In a rock’n’roll band)” que les aupó al número 5 en el Reino Unido. Justin Hayward y John Lodge publicaron el disco “Blue Jays” (1975). Hayward y Lodge debutaron en solitario años después con, respectivamente, “Songwriter” (1977) y “Natural Avenue” (1977). Pinder había iniciado su carrera como solista con “The Promise” (1976), al igual que Thomas con “From mighty oaks” (1976) y Edge con su Graeme Edge Band y el disco “Kick off your muddy boots” (1975). A finales de los años 70 los Moody Blues volvieron a unirse para grabar “Octave” (1978), disco que los devolvió al número 1 en las listas británicas. Un año antes habían preparado su vuelta editado el disco en directo “Caught Live + 5” (1977), álbum que recogía actuaciones del grupo en los años 60. Tras “Octave” Mike Pinder, pieza muy importante en el sonido clásico de la banda, fue sustituido por Patrick Moraz. En las siguientes décadas The Moody Blues grabaron trabajos en estudio como “Long distance voyager” (1981) y “The Present” (1983), ambos producidos por Pip Williams, “The Other Side of Life” (1986), “Sur La Mer” (1988) y “Keys of the kingdom” (1991), todos ellos con producción de Tony Visconti, o “Strange times” (1999), sin Moraz y con los teclados de Danilo Madonia, y “December” (2003), sin la participación de Ray Thomas. Artist Biography by Bruce Eder (ALLMUSIC) Although theyre best known today for their lush, lyrically and musically profound (some would say bombastic) psychedelic-era albums, the Moody Blues started out as one of the better R&B-based combos of the British Invasion. The groups history began in Birmingham, England with Ray Thomas (harmonica, vocals) and Mike Pinder (keyboards, vocals), who had played together in El Riot & the Rebels and the Krew Cats. They began recruiting members of some of the best rival groups working in Birmingham, including Denny Laine (vocals, guitar), Graeme Edge (drums), and Clint Warwick (bass, vocals). The Magnificent Moodies The Moody Blues, as they came to be known, made their debut in Birmingham in May of 1964, and quickly earned the notice and later the services of manager Tony Secunda. A major tour was quickly booked, and the band landed an engagement at the Marquee Club, which resulted in a contract with Englands Decca Records less than six months after their formation. The groups first single, Steal Your Heart Away, released in September of 1964, didnt touch the British charts. But their second single, Go Now, released in November of 1964 -- a cover of a nearly identical American single by R&B singer Bessie Banks, heavily featuring Laines mournful lead vocal -- fulfilled every expectation and more, reaching number one in England and earning them a berth in some of the nations top performing venues (including the New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert, appearing with some of the top acts of the period); its number ten chart placement in America also earned them a place as a support act for the Beatles on one tour, and the release of a follow-up LP (Magnificent Moodies in England, Go Now in America) on both sides of the Atlantic. It was coming up with a follow-up hit to Go Now, however, that proved their undoing. Despite their fledgling songwriting efforts and the access they had to American demos, this version of the Moody Blues never came up with another single success. By the end of the spring of 1965, the frustration was palpable within the band. The group decided to make their fourth single, From the Bottom of My Heart, an experiment with a different, much more subtly soulful sound, and it was one of the most extraordinary records of the entire British Invasion, with haunting performances all around. Unfortunately, the single only reached number 22 on the British charts following its release in May of 1965, and barely brushed the Top 100 in America. Ultimately, the grind of touring, coupled with the strains facing the group, became too much for Warwick, who exited in the spring of 1966; and by August of 1966 Laine had left as well. The group soldiered on, however, Warwick succeeded by John Lodge, an ex-bandmate of Ray Thomas, and in late 1966 singer/guitarist Justin Hayward joined. For a time, they kept doing the same brand of music that the group had started with, but Hayward and Pinder were also writing different kinds of songs, reflecting somewhat more folk- and pop-oriented elements, that got out as singles, to little avail. At one point in 1966, the band decided to pull up stakes in England and start playing in Europe, where even a has-been British act could earn decent fees. And they began building a new act based on new material that was more in keeping with the slightly trippy, light psychedelic sounds that were becoming popular at the time. They were still critically short of money and prospects, however, when fate played a hand, in the form of a project initiated by Decca Records. Days of Future Passed In contrast to America, where home stereo systems swept the country after 1958, in England, stereo was still not dominant, or even common, in most peoples homes -- apart from classical listeners -- in 1966. Decca had come up with Deramic Stereo, which offered a wide spread of sound, coupled with superbly clean and rich recording, and was trying to market it with an LP that would serve as a showcase, utilizing pop/rock done in a classical style. The Moody Blues, who owed the label unrecouped advances and recording session fees from their various failed post-Go Now releases, were picked for the proposed project, which was to be a rock version of Dvoráks New World Symphony. Instead, they were somehow able to convince the Decca producers involved that the proposed adaptation was wrongheaded, and to deliver something else; the producer, Tony Clarke, was impressed with some of the bands own compositions, and with the approval of executive producer Hugh Mendl, and the cooperation of engineer Derek Varnals, the group effectively hijacked the project -- instead of Dvoráks music, they arrived at the idea of an archetypal days cycle of living represented in rock songs set within an orchestral framework, utilizing conductor/arranger Peter Knights orchestrations to expand and bridge the songs. The result was the album Days of Future Passed. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band The records mix of rock and classical sounds was new, and at first puzzled the record company, which didnt know how to market it, but eventually the record was issued, first in England and later in America. It became a hit in England, propelled up the charts by the single Nights in White Satin (authored and sung by Hayward), which made the Top 20 in the U.K.; in America, the chosen single was another Hayward song, Tuesday Afternoon. All of it hooked directly into the aftermath of the Summer of Love, and the LP was -- totally accidentally -- timed perfectly to fall into the hands of listeners who were looking for an orchestral/psychedelic recording to follow works such as the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Better still, the band still had a significant backlog of excellent psychedelic-themed songs to draw on. Their debt wiped out and their music now in demand, they went to work with a follow-up record in short order and delivered In Search of the Lost Chord (1968), which was configured somewhat differently from its predecessor. Though Decca was ecstatic with the sales results of Days of Future Passed and the singles, and assigned Clarke and Varnals to work with them in the future, the label wasnt willing to schedule full-blown orchestral sessions again. And having just come out of a financial hole, the group wasnt about to go into debt again financing such a recording. Their Satanic Majesties Request The solution to the problem of accompaniment came from Mike Pinder, and an organ-like device called a Mellotron. Using tape heads activated by the touch of keys, and tape loops comprised of the sounds of horns, strings, etc., the instrument generated an eerie, orchestra-like sound. Introduced at the start of the 60s as a potential rival to the Hammond organ, the Mellotron had worked its way into rock music slowly, in acts such as the Graham Bond Organisation, and had emerged to some public prominence on Beatles records such as Strawberry Fields Forever and, more recently, I Am the Walrus; during that same year, in a similar supporting capacity, it would also turn up on the Rolling Stones Their Satanic Majesties Request. As it happened, Pinder not only knew how to play the Mellotron, but had also worked in the factory that built them, which enabled him over the years to re-engineer, modify, and customize the instruments to his specifications. (The resulting instruments were nicknamed Pindertrons.) On the Threshold of a DreamIn Search of the Lost Chord (1968) put the Mellotron in the spotlight, and it quickly became a part of their signature sound. The album, sublimely beautiful and steeped in a strange mix of British whimsy (Dr. Livingston I Presume) and ornate, languid Eastern-oriented songs (Visions of Paradise, Om), also introduced one psychedelic-era anthem, Legend of a Mind; authored by Ray Thomas and utilizing the name of LSD guru Timothy Leary in its lyric and choruses, along with swooping cellos and lilting flute, it helped make the band an instant favorite among the late-60s counterculture. (The group members have since admitted at various times that they were, as was the norm at the time, indulging in various hallucinogenic substances.) That album and its follow-up, 1969s On the Threshold of a Dream, were magnificent achievements, utilizing their multi-instrumental skills and the full capability of the studio in overdubbing voices, instruments, etc. But in the process of making those two LPs, the group found that theyd painted themselves into a corner as performing musicians -- thanks to overdubbing, those albums were essentially the work of 15 or 20 Moody Blues, not a quintet, and they were unable to re-create their sound properly in concert. To Our Childrens Childrens Children From their album To Our Childrens Childrens Children -- which was also the first release of the groups own newly founded label, Threshold Records -- only one song, the guitar-driven Gypsy, ever worked on-stage. Beginning with A Question of Balance (1970), the group specifically recorded songs in arrangements that they could play in concert, stripping down their sound a bit by reducing their reliance on overdubbing and, in the process, toughening up their sound. They were able to do most of that album and their next record, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, on-stage, with impressive results. By that time, all five members of the band were composing songs, and each had his own identity, Pinder the impassioned mystic, Lodge the rocker, Edge the poet, Thomas the playful mystic, and Hayward the romantic -- all had contributed significantly to their repertoire, though Hayward tended to have the biggest share of the groups singles, and his songs often occupied the lead-off spot on their LPs. Meanwhile, a significant part of their audience didnt think of the Moody Blues merely as musicians but, rather, as spiritual guides. John Lodges song Im Just a Singer (In a Rock & Roll Band) was his answer to this phenomenon, renouncing the role that had been thrust upon the band -- it was also an unusually hard-rocking number for the group, and was also a modest hit single. Ironically, in 1972, the group was suddenly competing with itself when Nights in White Satin charted again in America and England, selling far more than it had in 1967; that new round of single sales also resulted in Days of Future Passed selling anew by the tens of thousands. Seventh Sojourn In the midst of all of this activity, the members, finally slowing down and enjoying the fruits of their success, had reached an impasse. As they prepared to record their new album, Seventh Sojourn (1972), the strain of touring and recording steadily for five years had taken its toll. Good songs were becoming more difficult to deliver and record, and cutting that album had proved nearly impossible. The public never saw the problems, and its release earned them their best reviews to date and was accompanied by a major international tour, and the sales and attendance were huge. Once the tour was over, however, it was announced that the group was going on hiatus -- they wouldnt work together again for five years. Hayward and Lodge recorded a very successful duet album, Blue Jays (1975), and all five members did solo albums. All were released through Threshold, which was still distributed by English Decca (then called London Records in the United States), and Threshold even maintained a small catalog of other artists, including Trapeze and Providence, though they evidently missed their chance to sign a group that might well have eclipsed the Moody Blues musically, King Crimson. (Ironically, the latter also used the Mellotron as a central part of their sound, but in a totally different way, and were the only group ever to make more distinctive use of the instrument.) This Is the Moody Blues The Moodies old records were strong enough, elicited enough positive memories, and picked up enough new listeners (even amid the punk and disco booms) that a double-LP retrospective (This Is the Moody Blues) sold extremely well, years after theyd stopped working together, as did a live/studio archival double LP (Caught Live + 5). By 1977, the members had decided to reunite -- although all five participated in the resulting album, Octave (1978), there were numerous stresses during its recording, and Pinder was ultimately unhappy enough with the LP to decline to go on tour with the band. The reunion tour came off anyway, with ex-Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz brought in to fill out the lineup, and the album topped the charts. Long Distance Voyager The groups next record, Long Distance Voyager (1981), was even more popular, though by this time a schism was beginning to develop between the band and the critical community. The reviews from critics (whod seldom been that enamored of the band even in its heyday) became ever more harsh, and although their hiatus had allowed the band to skip the punk era, they seemed just as out of step amid the MTV era and the ascendancy of acts such as Madonna, the Pretenders, the Police, et al. By 1981, theyd been tagged by most of the rock press with the label dinosaurs, seemingly awaiting extinction. There were still decent-sized hits, such as Gemini Dream, but the albums and a lot of the songwriting seemed increasingly to be a matter of their going through the motions of being a group -- psychedelia had given way to what was, apart from the occasional Lodge or Hayward single, rather soulless pop/rock. There were OK records, and the concerts drew well, mostly for the older songs, but there was little urgency or very much memorable about the new material. That all changed a bit when one of them finally delivered a song so good that in its mere existence it begged to be recorded -- the Hayward-authored single Your Wildest Dreams (1986), an almost perfect successor to Nights in White Satin mixing romance, passion, and feelings of nostalgia with a melody that was gorgeous and instantly memorable (and with a great beat). The single -- along with its accompanying album, which was otherwise a much blander affair -- approached the top of the charts. They were boosted up there by a superb promotional video (featuring the Mood Six as the younger Moody Blues) that suddenly gave the group at least a little contemporary pop/rock credibility. The follow-up, I Know Youre Out There Somewhere, was a lesser but still impressive commercial success, with an even better secondary melodic theme, and the two combined gave them an essential and memorable pair of mid-decade hits, boosting their concert attendance back up and shoring up their contemporary songbag. By the end of the 80s, however, they were again perceived as a nostalgia act, albeit one with a huge audience -- a bit like the Grateful Dead without the critical respect or veneration. By that time, Moraz was gone and the core group was reduced to a quartet, with salaried keyboard players augmenting their work (along with a second drummer to back up Edge). They had also begun attracting fans by the tens of thousands to a new series of concerts, in which -- for the first time -- they performed with orchestras and, thus, could do their most elaborately produced songs on-stage. In 1994, a four-CD set devoted to their work, entitled Time Traveller, was released. By that time, their new albums were barely charting, and seldom attracting any reviews, but their catalog was among the best-selling parts of the Polygram library. Strange Times A new studio effort, Strange Times, followed in 1999 and the live (at the Royal Albert Hall) Hall of Fame was issued a year later, but it was the 1997 upgrades of their original seven albums, from Days of Future Passed to Seventh Sojourn, that attracted far more attention from the public. In 2003, Ray Thomas retired, and the Moody Blues carried on as a core trio of Hayward, Lodge, and Edge. They were still going strong as a touring band in 2009, the same period in which their live performance from the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was released as a CD and a DVD. That same year, Haywards Tuesday Afternoon began turning up as an accompaniment to commercials for Visa. In 2013, the Moody Blues were the subject of a four-disc box retrospective from Universal entitled Timeless Flight. Biografia di Rosalba Crosilla ( I Moody Blues, assieme ai Procol Harum, Nice, Amazing Blondel, Jethro Tull e qualche altro, hanno avuto il merito di iniziare la breve (ma entusiasmante) avventura del Rock Progressivo, anzi proprio perchè la iniziarono oggi sono catalogati come appartenenti al Proto Progressive. Sicuramente meno incisivi degli altri, non hanno creato una sequela di pezzi storici, di quelli conosciuti anche dai ragazzi che oggi si avvicinano alla musica suonata. Altrettanto sicuramente hanno lasciato ai posteri, bloccato nellempireo senza tempo della musica, Nights in White Satin: questo pezzo sì conosciuto da tutti (anche se forse pochi ne conoscono la paternità). Il brano esce nel 1967, subito dopo esce in Italia la versione dei Profeti e poi quella dei Nomadi che ne sancisce il successo nel nostro paese. Val la pena di fare un inciso per spiegare qualera la situazione della musica in Italia: era il tempo delle cover, di versioni, cioè, in lingua italiana che delloriginale mantenevano solo la musica, perdendo anche gran parte degli arrangiamenti. I testi, poi, erano del tutto diversi. Perchè? Perchè il pubblico italiano non era certamente pronto ai testi dai significati profondi, onirici o esistenziali che fossero: ciò che passava nel gusto italiano erano le storie damore, di gelosia, come nel caso di Ho difeso il mio amore (Night in White Satin). Un esempio pratico? Night in White Satin Gazing at people Some hand in hand Just what I’m going through They can’t understand Some try to tell me Thoughts they cannot defend Just what you want to be You‘ll be in the end (traduzione) Osservo la gente, alcuni sono mano nella mano Esattamente il momento che sto attraversando loro non possono comprenderlo Qualcuno prova a raccontarmi pensieri che non possono sostenere Esattamente ciò che vorrai essere alla fine sarai Ho difeso il mio amore C’era una data lotto di maggio, lei era bella, era tutto per lui. Poi venne un altro, gliela strappa di mano cosa poi sia successo lo capite anche voi. Molto difficile, anche per quei pochi che bramavano i brani originali, sentirli: le emittenti radiofoniche passavano (pure pochino) solo Beatles e Rolling Stones,la televisione idem (ed ancora di meno), i concerti erano molto rari. Unica possibilità era quella di ascoltare i programmi radiofonici stranieri. I Moody Blues prima maniera nascono come gruppo rhythm and blues nella Birningham (Inghilterra) del 1964. Ray Thomas (flauto) e Michael Pinder (tastiere) provengono dai El Riot and the Rebels, gruppo che suonicchiava a livello locale; a loro si uniscono Denny Laine, Graeme Edge e Clint Warwick e, dopo un periodo passato a suonare al mitico Marquee, firmano un contratto con la Decca ed incidono il primo singolo, Steal Your Heart Away che passa del tutto inosservato. Il successo arriverà nel 1965 con il singolo Go now! (che successivamente diventerà album): primi indiscussi nelle classifiche inglesi ed un ottimo piazzamento in quelle americane. Entrambi i brani sono dei rhythm and blues. Calma piatta per un anno durante il quale escono Warwick e Laine sostituiti da John Lodge (ex El Riot) e da Justin Hayward. La nuova formazione inizia a pensare che forse cambiare genere non sarebbe male, così iniziano ad avvicinarsi alla neonata psichedelia, ma la vera svolta avverrà per merito di Michael Pinder e mellotron è la parola magica: Michael Pinder lavora alla progettazione di questo incredibile strumento per la Streetly Electronics, riesce a farsene dare uno (con laiuto sembra del produttore del gruppo Peter Knight) con il risultato che i Moody Blues saranno il primo gruppo ad usarlo. Il singolo di apparizione del mellotron è Love and Beauty, uscito nellagosto del 1967, ma il successo arriva nel novembre dello stesso anno con Nights in White Satin, anche questo singolo, che racconta la storia di una prostituta uccisa per amore da un cliente. Nello stesso mese esce il primo album, Days of Future Passed, inciso con la London Festival Orchestra ed il successo si ripete in grande stile: qualche accenno di rhythm and blues ma soprattutto i semi di progressive e psichedelia si leggono in modo inconfutabile. Successo riconfermato dal secondo album, In Search of the Lost Chord del 1968, poggiato tutto sulle spalle del mellotron visto che la casa discografica non era propensa a sbarsare nuovamente un sacco di soldi per pagare unorchestra sinfonica. Il mellotron se la cava alla grande ed è in perfetto accordo con lanima dellalbum: meditazione trascendentale. Nulla di strano, in questo: lIndia, in quegli anni, era la terra promessa assieme alla speranza di un mondo senza interessi economici e dove la spiritualità avrebbe illuminato coscienze e menti. Le sonorità dellalbum sono ancora di forte matrice psichedelica, si sentono gli influssi dei Beatles anche nelluso del sitar, ma il dado è sicuramente tratto ed i Moody Blues sono ormai più di una promessa. Ma la prosecuzione del primo album arriva con On the Threshold of a Dream del 1969: più intensa limpronta progressive anche nel taglio delle canzoni ed un uso del flauto che a tratti ricorda i Jethro Tull. Limpronta si accentua con il successivo, To Our Children’s Children’s Children, uscito a pochi mesi di sitanza dal precedente: è progressive ed anche se i brani rimangono staccati senza il caratteristico uso delle suite lalbum comunque assume una connotazione di tuttuno che dà continuità ai pezzi. Si arriva alla stasi, dal punto di vista della qualità, del 1970, con A question of Balance, stasi che il mercato non recepisce visto che lalbum si piazza al terzo posto nelle classifiche americane e primo in quelle inglesi. Il successo arrise ai Moody Blues ancora per qualche album, ma in fondo il loro compito per il progressive lavevano già svolto.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 19:11:02 +0000