The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed (Side 2) REACTION/ANALYSIS (including Nights in White Satin)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ค. 2023
- #themoodyblues #daysoffuturepassed
In this #masterpiecefriday edition of #thedailydoug, I'm returning to The Moody Blues to complete my reaction of Days of Future Passed. I published my reaction to side one on March 31, and I'm excited to finish this landmark album.
Songs included in this reaction: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday), (Evening) Time To Get Away, The Sunset, Twilight Time, Nights in White Satin, Late Lament/Resolvement
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Interesting that they were recording it just a mile away from where Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd were simultaneously laying down their first album, and the Beatles were just finishing off Sergeant Pepper the same month. Must have been something in the water.
Wonder what that was????
@@R01120 LSD
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds!!!
The walls are melting again.
I don't know what was in the water but Lucy was in the sky with something shiny.
RIP Mike Pinder -1941-2024 - He’s gone but never forgotten
Been listening to them for 50 years and still get emotional sometimes.
Me too on both counts. They are just that kind of band making that kind of timeless music.
This album is really on a loop as it begins with a gong to indicate the beginning of a day and also ends with a gong to indicate 12 midnight ..then another day begins ... this album was way ahead of it's time and is one of the greatest 'concept' album ever made if not THE best.
Who needs a good friend? ME!!!!
Who needs another opinion on this album I already have my own!@!!!
Love 2 start the day with this one!
So true. Probably THE best concept album.
The Moodies have recorded some of the most beautiful sounds in rock history
I'll die on this hill! lol
I just played the whole album score with John Lodge and the Coachella Symphony Orchestra. I've been principal trumpet with the orchestra for about 7 years. This was a dream come true. I loved that album since junior high school. It was a magical evening at the Rancho Mirage amphitheatre. I've played with many of the old school greats but this especially got to me. We were the only symphony they played with on this U.S. tour.
That is so cool
@@grampytinman3481 I should have added the definite aroma of weed emanating from some of the old hippies in the audience gave everyone a little chuckle.. That didn't occur during the all Disney concert we played last Sunday to end the season. Different crowd altogether.
What a masterpiece - not only launching prog as a genre, but introducing the "concept" album - far more than a simple collection of unrelated tunes. It's a bit sad that John Lodge isn't often mentioned when discussing really amazing bass players. He was always there (along with Graeme), holding everything else together without intruding on the overall flow.
I am so glad to hear this in its original brilliance, and watch your love of complex compositions come through. Bravo, Doug. Days like this are what keep me coming back. Thanks.
There were earlier concept albums within the popular music genre (arguably any opera or classical symphony recorded is a 'concept album') For instance, look up Manhattan Tower by Gordon Jenkins, which tells a story about a man moving to NYC, and finding love and excitement in the Big City. It was pretty popular in its day. Be forewarned, it is a product of its times, and while most of it does not offend modern sensibilities, there are a few moments which are uncomfortable (particularly the only black character, Noah).
The bass is critical to the timeless sound of this album.
Johnny Cash’s *Ride This Train* was a great concept album that came out in 1960.
I’ve heard critics saying that Peter Knight’s orchestral parts are “cheesy” but I think the album would be a whole lot less without them. Parts of it still bring me to tears even though I’ve been listening to it since the year it was released. Thank you for your additional insight.
'Cheesy' is never a good term to use, it suggests a prejudice against a style based on it not being 'hip' now.
But The Moody Blues fully defined their sound after this, they didn't need an orchestra. Peter Knight did do some middle of the road soundtrack music on this. Those who like it probably think very highly of the post-Pinder Moody Blues, but that was geared to MOR US radio most of the time. And many don't find that as characterful and unique as their classic sound.
IMHO the score is typical of what used to be called "light music", and I feel at times the music is dated.
I wouldn't right it off completely though.
There are moments of beauty and so your reaction is entirely understandable.
Comparably, someone in the music press asked composer Paul Williams about writing songs for Carpenters "Aren't they rather vanilla?" he replied promptly "Isn't vanilla a wonderful flavor?" What the critics slam as cheesy largely just means that it is appealing to a broader audience. It wasn't harsh, discordant, experimental, or challenging. It was pleasant, incorporated the Moodies musical themes, served as a bridge and an embellishment that tied all the pieces together. Just what it was supposed to do - and that is good.
When critics say "cheesy" it often means the music is above them, and superior. It is absolutely stunning!
Hmmm... I think the songs themselves are top quality pop/prog/rock with the mellotron pointing to what sounded like the future at the time whereas the orchestral pieces are like they've been lifted from a midrange 50s British movie soundtrack. The orchestra is more successful when they're accompanying the band, imo, but each to their own!
They deserve the HALL OF FAME!!! Listen to all of their albums and you will come to the same conclusion.❤❤👌👍😁❤️😉
They also deserved their time which was edited and shortened to make more time to cover Bon Jovie for tv
They're in. Years ago now.
@@reliantncc1864Here, here. Steve Miller was 100% right about the charade that is the RRHOF.
@@reliantncc1864 and Jethro Tull, ELP, Kansas, etc
@@PaulHilburger . . . and Supertramp, Styx, Boston, and Toto.
"Every Good Boy Deserves Favor" has always been one of my favorites. Well worth a listen!
Me too! 😊
Agreed!
Had the pleasure of seeing the Moodies 23 times and the honor of meeting them all what great humans. This album is still after all this time in my top 10.. Thanks Doug
I grew up in a time where you could hear this song on FM radio in it's entirety. Those days were special.
This is the number one album on my list of all time albums. They took a chance and did something no one else would dare try at that time. An orchestra, a suite from dawn to night. So masterfully done and the rest is history.
Thanks for not interrupting the music from Nights In White Satin to Lament. That poem belongs with the song. When reviewers cut the Lament off from the song, it drives me crazy. I have to recite the poem myself just so that the recording ends correctly.
💯😊
For me, the entire concept is amazing.
If you look closely at the lyrics, you'll notice that each track doesn't only evoke a time of day, but it also portrays a time of life.
The Day Begins is an overall overture reworking themes from some of the tracks throughout the album. You picked up on Nights In White Satin, which preceded Morning Glory. On side 2, pay particular attention to the opening stanza of Morning Glory and the closing stanza of Late Lament, which follows the actual track of Nights In White Satin. Then make note of the closing sound of the album, and recall the slow fade in at the beginning.
To me, the entire The Day Begins section, from opening sound through Morning Glory portrays not only the very early morning predawn time of day, but also a phase before/between life. Keep in mind at least a few members of the Moody Blues were into Eastern philosophy.
Dawn: Dawn Is A Feeling denotes both birth and the awareness of a new life beginning. The lines:
This day will last
a thousand years,
if you want it to
are, in my opinion, crucial to the entire concept. More on that later after side 2.
The Morning: Another Morning depicts childhood. You picked up on the cheerful feeling of the track, and the lyrics portray children's innocence and joy in the moment.
Lunch Break: Peak Hour shows one growing older and taking on responsibility, education, and work. Some of the tones in the orchestral section reminds me of teletype machines back in the day.
This is how I relate to this album. On a surface level, it depicts both a single day and an entire lifetime. But dig deeper, and the opening and closing sounds signify even more, in my opinion.
Side 2 opens with Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?). For me, this is where we begin to see the introduction of spiritual growth and possibly mediation into the concept. Our storyteller is taking the time to search and understand things outside of a mundane day and life. He’s chasing the clouds away and listening to inner voices explaining it all.
This journey goes more in depth in the next album, In Search of The Lost Chord.
(Evening) Time To Get Away broaches middle age and the beginning of doubt and questioning. The quest for enlightenment may continue, but the mundane livelihood toiling and working to this point isn’t bad, per se…
The Sunset returns our storyteller to looking beyond the mundane both outward and inward, while realizing his declining years have begun. And yet there is so much more wonder to discover.
Twilight Time signifies the day/life winding down. The inner spiritual journey starts to take precedence while our storyteller asks us to dream with him awhile.
Nights In White Satin depicts the day/life coming to an end and our storyteller expressing his fear/love/joy in the day/life he has experienced. But, the story does not end there.
Late Lament brings us along as the gloom approaches our storyteller. He recalls significant moments of the day/life and ends asking if it is all an illusion.
Resolvement brings back the orchestra and the ending gong. The day/life has come to an end.
But does it? As Dr. Doug points out, the opening sound is a reverse gong, signifying the cycle beginning again. This makes sense if the concept is a simple as a single day. But, how does it fit into the concept of a lifetime?
The Moody Blues tell us towards the very beginning of the album:
This day will last
a thousand years,
if you want it to
In other words, in my opinion, reincarnation.
The Cold-hearted orb that rules the night verse of both Morning Glory and Late Lament signify to me both nightly sleep in which we dream, and the passage of “existence” between lifetimes where we decide “which is right and which is an illusion.” Then, the gong at the very end and reverse gong at the very beginning if you flip the record immediately back over represent the soul starting over again.
I thank you if you made it this far through this very personal dissection. I do not claim this is what the Moody Blues intended. But, after traveling with them through their Magnificent Seven albums many times through the years, it is what Days of Future Passed has come to mean to me. I appreciate you taking the time to travel briefly with me.
Thank you, your words, thoughts, observations bring home much of what I have felt, feel when listening to these songs, (over the past 50 years) -- the ocean in a drop, a lifetime in a day.
Exactly man. You understood everything.
This is the greatest album ever made. It was thee first concept album, not just a bunch of hits put together. My older brother both this album, and I grew up listening to this album. This band was my "Beatles" moment. Their live concerts never strayed from their music, they played each song like the recordings. I caught them many times live and each time it took me back to my youth.
Man did that bring back the memories, and a few emotional tears as well! Makes me think of my brother John, who turned me on to all this stuff! He lays in a nursing home right now with dementia, and hearing that makes me want to go and play it for him right this minute! I know he’d go back, as I just did! Memories of a bygone era!
Yes!!! Please, play Moody Blues music for your brother!!!!
@@cheryllundholm8779 good call Cheryl! I’m in Florida and he’s in Connecticut, just got back from there. But I send TH-cam links to his ex wife and she plays them on her phone!
Unlike a large portion of the rock genre, I find the Moody's music to be complex - it expands my mind when I listen. Thanks for sharing your expertise in this, Doug.
The early albums hooked me as a teen. To our children’s children’s children was awesome❤
For those of us lucky enough to have heard this ‘back then’ when it’s very concept was beyond anything we had ever heard, this album will always have a special place in the CD collection. We will always hear it with those ears of wonder. It may be a different experience for millennials, their loss of innocence!
Days of Future Passed and the Seventh Sojourn are my two most favorite Moody Blues albums.
There will never be another band as good as them
Probably my favorite album side of all time. It's unbelievably melodic, lyrically meaningful and brilliant.
Thank you for a great reaction to this monumental album. You really pulled out a lot of great insights from this Moodies Masterpiece. Nights in White Satin is one of the best love songs ever written and is a magnificent closer to this album. It also has the most beautiful flute solo in rock history (in my opinion) by Mr. Ray Thomas. I also appreciated that you were able to figure out the gong that ended the album was the same gong that opened the album, but in reverse. I love the words of Graeme Edge's Poem "Late Lament" that bookends this album. "Cold hearted orb that rules the night, removes the colors from our sight...red is gray and yellow, white, but we decide which is right, and which is an illusion." In the darkness, colors blend together and everything becomes shades of gray. That which we know to be true in the light, becomes an uncertain question in the darkness.
My mom bought this album when it came out. I was 5 that year, and many a morning, I got ready for school listening to it
What a way to start the day. Still listen to it some mornings while getting ready for work
The ‘cold-hearted orb’ to me has always been the Moon. In moonlight, colors are washed out to shades of gray.
The original master tapes were damaged after the 1967 vinyl release, and starting with the 1972 rerelease a version of "Evening" was used which had only John's falsetto in the high part. The original master was finally repaired with the 50th anniversary version of Days of Future Passed, and restored the harmony which was in the original of those sections. Please locate that version and have a listen 🙂
I *think* the vinyl copy I sent Dr. Doug is a 1967 copy with the original harmonies. I’m pretty certain it is a repressing, not an original pressing, but I think it was pressed in 1967.
I did buy it used sight unseen online, so I have no idea how well it actually plays.
I always wondered what in the HELL happened to that amazing harmony! My cassette version, which I listened to over and over on my car stereo back in the late eighties, had that low, descending harmony that I liked to sing along with. But when I switched to CDs (after I literally wore that tape out), POOF! - it was GONE! After all these years, I had begun to think maybe I had imagined or misremembered it somehow. THANK YOU for sharing this little tidbit, and solving a mystery that has persisted for me for close to 35 years!
I believe the repairs created a slightly different version. I think vinyl is the original document that we have. I picked up a beautiful copy of the British pressing and more recently, picked up a nearly perfect UK orig pressing. That one will not be played.
@@IllumeEltanin I believe you’re pressing, could be qualified as original, though, perhaps, not, “first pressing“. But yes, that is the original document.
The orchestral sections of this album are utterly superb! This is one of my earliest album purchases along with In The Court Of The Crimson King by King Crimson. Thanks for reacting to this album, one of the greats of all-time.
What a wonderful time to be a child and having so much incredible music to listen to. All kinds of rock, country and R and B. Real people pouring thier hearts and skills into making great music.
First concept album? first time blending classical and rock? Hardly matters, .. it stands on its own as a great piece of art, and always will ❤
"On The Threshold Of A Dream" is my favourite Moody Blues album, followed by "Seventh Sojourn". Sad that Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge are no longer with us.
I made the opening guitar of You and Me into my ringtone
@Brett Lowton. Don't forget their long time producer and "the sixth Moody" Tony Clarke. May he Rest In Peace.
Lost in a Lost World is one of my favourite Moodies tracks. Seventh Sojourn is such a great album!
I always loved Justin Hayward's voice.
You got it, Doug. The beginning and the end loops together in a cycle. Day follows night again. Life and death in a day.
Being born in 1977 Tuesday afternoon spoke to me the first time I heard it on one late night on classic rock radio in the Mid 90's back when I was about 18 years old along with nights in white satin on the movie Casino in the 90's. Recently I found a very good copy of this on vinyl and it always takes me on a spacey psychedelic journey when I listen to it in the man cave over a couple of Bourbons. My stereo components and speakers are restored used gear from 1971 and it feels like I'm traveling back in time when I'm in the zone enjoying and listening to the music. Awesome sound and music, what an enjoyable musical journey. The Doors, Santana, & Pink Floyd were some of the first albums to take me on such an intense musical Journey and now The Moody Blues, cheers from Houston.
Every time i hear Tuesday Afternoon i see the fog rolling in to San Francisco. The music just fits the mood i felt when i visited it around 50 years ago.
This was the album that got me excited about music as more than just entertainment. Thankyou for sharing your reflections on it.
What an album. Loved watching your reaction and analysis. Now, for the greatest Moody Blues album of all-time, check out "To Our Children's, Children's Children". It's the Moodies at their peak, their masterpiece!
Agree. TOCCC is indeed a masterpiece!
I think this album has two themes running through it: The passing of time in a typical 24 hour day, but also the cycle of life. The dawn is birth; the morning is infancy and the pre-adolescent years; lunch hour and the afternoon is the adolescent and young adult years; the evening is the middle age years, and the night is the older years and death. The reverse gong at the beginning represents a man, or woman being born and the gong at the end represents that person dying and leaving this world.
This is genius. One of my favorite bands. Their music puts me in my happy place....
Yes that was the gong! :) The day begins (again).
The collective talent of this band was incredible, they all were multi- instrumentalists!! They lost a big part of their sound when Mike Pinder left after their Octave album. Love this band!!! So F-in creative! Love 💕 them. There will never be another like them!!
Yes, totally agree about Mike and he wrote some great tracks too.
This why we all had headphones💜
If you require further proof of how good Peter Knight was as an arranger, you should listen to his contribution to the Blue Jays album of 1975. A masterpiece!
Another notable contributor to memorable folk/rock music through his arrangements was Robert Kirby, initially gaining recognition with Nick Drake and latterly Strawbs - including keyboards on Nomadness.
One of the most phenomenal prog rock / orchestral creations ever made! Discovered this in college, and we used to put the music on really loud, and everyone would just chill out and lay down all over the couches and the floor, and we'd shut the lights off and just totally immerse ourselves in the music.
Glad you liked it.
Yeah, Moody Blues are indeed one of the pioneers of progressive rock. You can't believe what it was like to witness this stuff come out.
How the band and this album are not considered at the Forefront of progressive rock I have no idea. There has never been an album quite like this but there have been more than a few terrible attempts to Mel's classical and pop music. As far as I'm concerned this is the one success story. Amazing how the four different vocalists managed to sound similar enough that one song connects perfectly with the next. Even the styles of songwriting are different something all Moody Blues fans know and love. A lot of fun watching you react to this classic
I have been listening to this since 1967 and have never tired of it. Still sends chills down the spine and I marvel at the skillful merging of orchestra with band. Supreme work, kicking to doors open to concept and prog. Thanks guys - we owe it all to a MIdlands Brewery (M&B) who sponsored the band at their beginning. So few left as they pass.
Same here. I never get tired of it. Been listening to this probably 1970’ish. I still love it every time.
I saw them in 2007 at Pine Knob Music Theater in Michigan and they were great! Norda Mullen on flute was outstanding. Their energy level was off the charts. They're still touring in 2023.
Justin and John are touring separately with, unfortunately, no known plans to re-unite. The last public appearance by the entire band, less Graeme Edge who was ill, was in Las Vegas in October 2018. I traveled from Connecticut to Las Vegas for that final weekend on the hunch that it was going to be the end. Hate when I'm right. It was the last of about twenty five live Moody Blues shows I had seen. Then, on Graeme's passing two years ago, Justin has been said to declare that the Moody Blues would no longer be. Justin and John present excellent shows. One should see them when the opportunity arises.
I saw them there in 1988. First time seeing my musical god live. Ray Thomas (r.i.p.) inspired my lifelong love of flute playing. The other guys were pretty good, too. lol
Also, thank you for calling it Pine Knob even though it was trying to be DTE in 2007. It was always Pine Knob to me.
@@thomaskowalcky4553 I too was at the last two concerts in Las Vegas in 2018, going on the rumors in the fan community about the band's days coming to an end. Those rumors turned out to be true, and I am so glad I went to see them for the last time. I've been to several of Justin's solo shows with Mike and Julie and now Karmen and they are wonderful, but they're an entirely different experience than the full band was. I was also lucky enough to have been at the Hollywood Bowl for the 50th anniversary of DOFP with the accompanying symphony orchestra.
@@CrankyBeach I knew if that Vegas gig was the end and I did not go, I would be kicking myself forever. Met up with a couple folks I knew from the on line community and had a good time. You might recognize the names if mentioned them. I saw the DOFP show in 2017 nearby in Wallingford, CT right after the band was in Toronto where the DOFP video was recorded. Had second row seats right in front of Norda Mullen. If only someone could convince Justin to do a tour with John before it's too late.... I met John at a solo show in Hartford. A real gentleman!
I got very into this album late one evening on acid visiting friends on Sherman Canal Venice California after coming back from seeing Hair at the Aquarius Theatre.
It was an emotional spiritual kind of awakening for me.
I really enjoy watching the "lightbulb moment" as Doug gradually catches on to the full significance of the gong-crash.
An entire life without hearing The Sunset. It's a great feeling listen to Ray Thomas voice.
Thank you very much.
I enjoyed this video a lot.
One of the best albums ever!
One of the most beautiful songs and arrangements of all time, especially too the orchestral contribution by Peter Knight.
cant wait for this. you've pointed out things in the music i never realized before and ive been a hardcore Moodies fan since 1968. i have no musical theory background but i understand what your talking about as you explain it pretty clearly. i, we appreciate your work and talent!
Stereo had been used for awhile when he Moodies did DOFP, but they were the first group to fully USE it. listening to them on headphones was like an acid trip without the acid.
The album of my youth. Headphones with this LP on the turntable next to the bed. Falling asleep with this playing.
Thank you for the interpretation of the Moody's. Their words and music are how life should be and all the love we should be giving. I love all of them, but Justin is totally amazing with the in site of his words and exquisite music. The combination of all of them, I know I am so blessed to be here in this time when I knew the Moody Blues. I have been blessed to see them numerous times in my life and I named my son, Justin, because of his love of music and I taught him how to play a piano by ear not sight and he is so in tune with the love of music just like his mama. I love the Moody Blues for helping with their words and music throughout my life, You pretty much kept me alive.
Didn't take me long to discover this album when I started playing violin at age 9 in 1970 and it's been one of my very most favorites ever since. Nice to see someone else appreciate it, too!
He makes some very lucid observations. I wonder if he gets just how difficult making this album really was. Crazy for 1967, absolutely amazing. God bless the Moody Blues
'Evening (Time to Get Away)' has always been my favourite song on the LP
Phenomenal music from an absolutely amazing band! 💙
Your expressions say it all Dougie! In the late 90s or so, The Moodies took an orchestra out on tour and performed the entire album live. I saw them at The Hollywood Bowl that year and I believe it was the first time they did that. It was an experience I'll never forget. To witness this live under the stars was truly remarkable!
still gives me chill bumps
I've loved this album since I was in grade school, and I'm 64 now. 🥰 I always think about my experience of great excitement and heartbreaking let down in 5th or 6th grade music class. It was near the end of the year and the music teach did a fun thing where we could bring in a record to play a song we really liked for the class and the teacher might briefly comment something about it. I was so excited to bring in and play Knights In White Satin (all the way to the ending gong) because I thought the kids would be blown away and moved by it's greatness and the teacher would praise me for my excellent selection! Well, nobody was into it and soon all the kids were just chatting a giggling etc. among themselves, and even the teacher had lost interest and was chatting with some kids! (I was thinking "WTAF?!" before I had the words or acronym for the feeling! 🤬😆) I finally elbowed my best friend Andy who was also not paying attention either and said "Listen to this!" and so he stopped and listened for about ten seconds and then tuned to me and earnestly said "Is this supposed to be a spooky song?". 🤦♂sigh . . . . And then the final blow came when the teacher stopped playing the song long before it was over and I pleaded for her to finish it but she said it was too long and we needed to have time for the other kid's songs (which was reasonable for sure) but then she didn't make any comments about the song at all and moved on the the trite pop crap the other kids were into! 😭😤😁
Ouch! So insensitive of them.
I'm 65 and it still rankles when people don't pay the simplest respect.
Better off focusing on the pleasure music like this gives you.
The ending to Knights in White Satin is so special ... how do people come up with this ?
Oh yes I liked your story. Did you enjoy writing it ?
The amount of people that took LSD to this album equals the sand on the sea shore. Some of these songs were released in 1969, at this time I was a 13 year old feral boy in Austin Texas so I was a little young for the LSD craze, but my school chums had older brothers and sisters that were deep into it.
Nights in White Satin...the most beautiful depressing song of the 60s, emphasis on the beautiful. Love this album. I would pay a lot of money to see this recreated live!
It.s out on Bluray and DVD.
Saw the War of the Worlds mentioned in the chat, if you do decide to do this epic album, Doug, please, please find the original 1978 recording, which is how it was intended. Subsequent mixes do not compare!
I'm very much enjoying listening to your review of this album, which I've heard so many times before. Your comments bring old, loved lyrics back to life for me, in a brand new way. Thanks!
I saw the Moody’s in 1985 at Wembley stadium when I was serving in the US Air Force. They played a 3 hour benefit concert and they ended up with Nights In White Satin and Graeme Edge’s poetic ending. 20,00o people in unison spoke those words: Breathe deep the gathering gloom… life changing.
Tuesday Afternoon.. Justin Haywards vocal on this is perhaps the.greatest ever.
Evening is such a gorgeous song. Hard to pick favorite songs with the Moodies, but this would make my list for sure
Their next several albums, although not including an orchestra, are all phenomenal and meaningful, as well as beautiful. None had singles, but all are very worth a listen.
Surely there were singles, "Question" for example, from "Question of Balance, their 6th album. I still have the 7" vinyl of it. Also "I'm Just a Singer" from "Seventh sojourn".
LOVE this album !!!!! I'm sad I missed your first video on this one. I will have to search for it.
Now this is sweet I've been waiting for side two. I'm one of the weird ones that likes to listen to the whole album at once even though side two is so much better...
i'd heard 'days of future passed' while in college (in india) . on an annual visit to the barber shop, waiting to be attended to, i hear this familiar tune come thru an ancient radio: it's in hindi, a song from a bollywood movie of the 50s, maybe earlier. 'When the sun goes down', borrowed down to the melody, the flute interlude... Never figured out the movie in which it featured, never heard it since.
'
Masterpiece! You are correct about the gong. Brilliant album
I wish I could like this more than once since I need to watch it more than once. Proper analysis. Thanks Doug!
Glad you liked it!
A journey through life.....from a child to the grave, perhaps.....at the end, living with regret of what might have been and feeling that in your heart. That is what I got out of Nights in White Satin.
Such a beautiful album. I was actually discussing this album today with a coworker and I had said it's always been in my top 10 and one of a few albums that I can listen to at any time. Then I see Doug has released side 2! Really awesome and cool.
Love this music and your critique. The MBs are magnificent innovators of their time.
I have been waiting for this second part! Thanks, Doug!
Back in 1986 when i was about 15 years old i heard nights in white satin on the radio, and bought the album. Loved it. I then went through my dads LPs and found on the threshold of a dream, and was enthralled by the artistic qualities of their music. The deep meaning of the albums struck a nerve then and still do to this day. Not many albums other then pink floyd can i listen straight through. Thank you for the commentary, i love the analysis and background insights you provide in these reviews.
This is what I love so much about your channel. I get to watch you hear music that I listen to hundreds of times over my life and recapture the joy I felt the first time I heard it.
Masterpiece! Enough said
Thank you for this review Doug, it reassures my faith with this incredible album which has been indelibly stamped on my heart for years as my family played it over and over again. Be well.
Thanks again Doug for your insights on this groundbreaking album. I was only 11 when it was released and didn't 'discover' it until my teen years when I and many classmates were listening to subsequent Moodies albums. I am lucky to have kept the original vinyl, one of the few I kept from what was once a big collection in that format.
Nights in white satin could also be analogous to laying in a coffin on white satin. It matches the motif of the song.
"There you go, man
Keep as cool as you can
Face piles of trials with smiles
It riles them to believe
That you perceive the web they weave
And keep on thinking free”
-Michael Pinder from “In the Beginning”
I have long known what the deal was with the gong. I still think is is such a great way to begin and end that album. Wonderful!
The only time the band and symphony play together is at the end of "Nights in White Satin". Which makes the culmination of the album all the more special.
Mine and my husbands favorite of theirs! WOW what awesome musicians!!! Prog rock before prog!!!
One of the greatest albums of all times. Deserves much more attention then what Beatles or Rolling Stones did way back when.
Great one, Doug!!
In the final part, notice how the mellotron and orchestra blend, play-on, and compliment each other. There has never been anything created like this since this album.
Doug, review 'To Our Children's Children's Children soon. Another top tier album by them.
I bought this album in 1980 when I was young and single and full of ideas and possibilities. A few years ago I gave my vinyl collection to my sons, including this album (they were all on vinyl in those days). Interesting to see how some 'pop' music has transcended the passing decades when everyone thought it would be short-lived. Oh that reminder of my younger days chokes me up.
Fantastic insight to this 2nd half of Days of Future Past. I have had this album since 1967 and never ceases to amaze and you spotted somethings I didn't pick up on. So thank you Doug. Keep up the good work. ❤
Absolutely brilliant
The story behind this album is interesting. Deram records wanted to do something to show off their new sound system. They wanted the Moody Blues to play along with an orchestra to do that, but the band had no interest in playing with the orchestra, they just wanted to record their songs. Peter Knight composed and arranged all of the orchestral parts and they were 'weaved' together with the Moody's songs. I'm sure I'm leaving things out, I forget the exact story, but that's about the gist of it. The band wasn't having much success and wasn't sure if they could keep carrying on until this album became a success. Justin Hayward and John Lodge had just joined the band in late 66 after Clint Warwick and Denny Laine (later a member of Wings) had left the band, and they were revamping thier sound. Before that they had basically been a pop/'R & B' cover band more than anything else. With Hayward and Lodge coming into the band and Pinder discovering the mellotron (he worked at the factory that made them) their whole sound and direction changed. This album changed everything for them.
That's about the gist of it. It didn't take much convincing of Peter Knight to orchestrate the band's songs, rather than Dvořák. They included Hugh Mendl, the project's executive producer, into the "conspiracy" and completed it under the radar of Decca until it was revealed in front of the label's executives. The reaction from many of them was one of consternation: "How are we going to sell this!?" Yet, the band found another champion that day in Walt McGuire, head of London Records (Decca's US label).
As an aside, when the 50th anniversary edition of the Magnificent Moodies was released with additional unreleased material, there are songs from an aborted second album with Denny Laine (and Rod Clark on bass) that seem to lean towards the direction taken in Days of Future Passed; there were hints of psychedelic flavours.
One of my favourite albums which I have on vinyl. First listened when I was about 13/14. The combination of genres within one piece felt dreamlike. Just wonderful.
Love the break down. Favourite since I was a teen. Lucky enough to see them in the early 80's and just saw Justin Hayward in concert. Still sings as good or better as he did 50+ yrs ago.