The ‘Sistine Chapel of Popular Music’ – A Recommendation

The sound of one band will always remind me of my childhood. I grew up listening to the music of The Moody Blues because they were my Dad’s favourite band. I have seen them live three times – twice in Oxford, once in New York, and they have never disappointed. Indeed, I expect they are a primary reason for my love of good music. Nonetheless, I have rarely listened to anything beyond 15-25 of their ‘greatest hits’; songs such as ‘Nights In White Satin’ and ‘Question’ which are instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the music of the late 60s or early 70s. That is, however, until recently when I have begun to realise how stupid it is to listen to odd songs of a band known for the brilliance of their albums (yes, their albums; whole albums from start to finish – a remarkable thought for the iTunes generation).

The music of The Moody Blues has always been grand and ambitious. They were the first rock band to record an album with a full orchestra - Days of Future Passed, released in 1967; and in 1971, upon the release of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, the magazine Rolling Stone described them as the ‘Sistine Chapel of popular music’. The Moody Blues were masters of the concept album, writing collections of songs which together told a story – the LPs were meant to be played from start to finish, and often had no clear breaks between tracks. Their ‘core seven’ albums are particularly notable for this quality, and are considered true works of art by many. Often seen as part of the progressive rock movement of the late-60s, The Moody Blues even stood out from that crowd, as bassist John Lodge commented:

“[The progressive rock movement] was still really singles-orientated in 1969 and we were an albums band. We were using different people at the studios as well. We’d now almost taken over one of the classical studios at Decca – the ‘big room’, as it was called – whereas everyone else was using the normal rock’n'roll studios. We were in there 24 hrs a day, and sometimes we’d have it for three months, concentrating on albums. All our LP’s were cut by classical engineers, because their equipment was far better and more harmonious than that of the people who were cutting pop records”.

The Moody Blues did have quite a lot of success with their singles releases, but this has been outweighed many times by their albums, which have accumulated over 55 millions sales worldwide (at a conservative estimate). They have had 18 platinum-selling records, and their back catalogue continues (apparently) to accumulate around half-a-million sales a year. As such, I thought it appropriate that I begin to listen to some full Moody Blues albums… and, for some reason, I began with their fourth album, the 1969 release, To Our Children’s Children’s Children:

Coming out in the same year that Neil Armstrong and his mates landed on the moon, To Our Children’s Children’s Children is written around the concept of space, and more generally, the advances of the human race. The album is quite frankly incredible, and far surpasses anything else I’ve listened to recently in terms of musical or thematic creativity. From the grand opening track ‘Higher and Higher’ — a vast evolving soundscape featuring spoken word poetry, a chanted chorus, and an excellent guitar riff — to the final song, ‘Watching and Waiting’ — a gentle ballad typical of Justin Hayward — there are no gaps in the music, just 40 minutes of changes and evolutions from lavish symphonic orchestrations, to gentle acoustic folk, to straight-forward rock. Instrumentally, the album meanders through the usual guitars, pianos and flute to sitars, harps and many other more unorthodox instruments, not to mention the plethora of noises emanating from Mike Pinder’s mellotron. The vocal mixes, heavily overdubbed on several tracks, are thick and lush. Overall, however, the album is remarkably balanced, bearing in mind that all five members contributed to the writing. None of the band’s massive hits are on this record, but the album as a whole is a phenomenal listen, and 40 minutes very well spent. What’s more, it still sounds absolutely fresh, new and contemporary 40 years after its original release!

I have a pretty big music collection for someone my age, but for me, what makes The Moody Blues stand out is the strength of their melodies, many of which are interesting in their complexity, even more of which are beautiful in their simplicity. But I can’t convince anyone who is reading this of the quality of this album. GO OUT AND BUY IT (I think, digitally remastered, it is about £5 on Amazon right now – seriously, £5!). If you are a true lover of music you will surely find something to like here, and more than likely you will find much to love. But be sure to listen to the whole thing all the way through, without stopping, or you’ve missed the point. As for me, I’m going to spend the next year working my way through the other six of The Moody Blues first seven albums, as well as buying this one for several unenlightened friends of mine!