Ed's Moody Blues Appreciation Thread...

Edit: Saw other thread, and that explained that Anthology actually didn't remove the crossfade from "lovely to see you" How are they removing these crossfades? Editing from multis?

 

I posted the thread. Don't know. This Is was remixed from the multis. the cold start could be the same. Yet the rest of the song is the album mix with guitars moving from left to right and back again in the stereo picture.

On Anthology you hear the "A-a-a-a-a-ahs" as In the Beginning ends for 2 seconds in a fade-up and then Lovely to See You starts. It's the same as on the import Singles+.

IMHO, I would love to hear more songs separated like that.

 

Ed, were you going to review "Caught Live plus 5"? And is Live at Red Rocks worth a purchase?

I wish the SACDs would hurry up and come out!

 

Of course! And BLUE JAYS(up next), among other goodies...

The Deluxe Edition has some extra songs not on the DVD, but probably only the diehards care about that...

 

Quote below is from: http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3225&page=3&pp=15

Quote from Justin

March, 2005



This coming weekend I'm spending three days with yet another film crew and an informed (I hope) interviewer, trying to explain my version of the Moody Blues Story. This is for a BBC Series which looks like its becoming a DVD release as well. I say 'my version' because when I see the other guys being interviewed I usually find myself thinking 'I don't remember that bit at all!'

Why is there a seemingly endless fascination with what happened in the late 60's and early 70's? For me, as I write this, there is only the now and what I'm listening to, the guitar I'm playing and the way it makes me feel in the moment. I'm so glad that in those days we mostly resisted doing in depth interviews and' through the keyhole' stuff and concentrated on the music.

But, the reason people are obsessed with those times is occasionally brought home to me in a powerful and moving way. Because Universal are soon to release a collection of our first seven studio albums, along with previously unreleased songs and out-takes, as well as alternate versions of tracks, I was asked by them to approve the 5.1 surround sound parts ,which have been mastered using the original quad mixes done by Tony Clarke and Derek Varnals in the early 70's. I was absolutely stunned listening to them, I was suddenly right back in the centre of the studio floor where we had spent days and nights, had magical, mind blowing experiences, at the same time working very hard to make it all sound and feel right.

To hear backing tracks and vocal sessions separated and truly surrounding me was something I was unprepared for. Within a couple of minutes of the opening bars of Days of Future Passed I was unable to judge the sonic quality of the masters because my emotions had taken over. I don't feel that I, or any of us, should change anything from those mixes. If anyone really wants to know what the Moodies were about, just listen.

With regard to this release though, next week I'm going to Alberto's to hear the original stereo masters of the early albums and to master, properly, the unreleased tracks and out-takes which are in their original, unmixed state. I recently realised how poor the mastering was on the versions of the first seven albums re-released on C.D. in the late 90's, and I would encourage anyone interested to seek out the C.D. versions released by Decca in the 1980's which were much truer to the original records as well as having the proper sleeves. The 90's re-masters were bad re-masters of re-masters of copy masters. Why weren't we paying attention to the quality at the time? Hopefully the new Universal collection will become the definitive, true CD representation of those recordings.


__________________
Tad Bartel
Quadtrade

 

I've never been into the band until lately (I only really knew them before from their '80's "comeback" stuff which always seemed frankly kind of "limp" to me, especially back then as a teenager when those songs were new, maybe my appreciation will grow now) when I started listening to an oldies station on my portable radio during work-outs. They play Tuesday Afternoon and Nights In White Satin, and they just SLAY me, I can't believe what great pop records those are, so meticulously made. So now I'm hooked and going to explore. I'm starting with comps, although I'm most interested in the early work.

There appears to be a 2004 import edition of the This Is The Moody Blues, which looks like the ideal comp for me as it focuses on early years. I've ordered this one and will probably buy Gold to supplement, I'll report back when I get it (them). I will let everyone know if the "new" 2004 edition is remastered and by whom (if the booklet lists it). I have no other Moody Blues to compare against, though. Here's a link to the *potential* "new" version: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1469506&cart=234340685&style=music&Bab=E

I have another supplier that offers This Is at a much cheaper price, but service is sketchy and you never know if they actually have it in stock, or it is what they say it is. If I get it, and it's the new version, I'll be sure to let everyone know where to shop (but for now, I'm keeping mum until I see if they ship the right thing). Cheers.

 

I wouldn't necessarily trust that 2004 edition stuff in that link for THIS IS. AFAIK, this title has never been remastered. Would make a great stereo SACD.....

 

Hi Ed, it's not just that link, it's in a couple other places which makes me believe there *might* be a bona-fide 2004 edition. Order has been placed with secret supplier, we'll see...

 

Interesting comments from Justin Hayward. Apparently he's none too fond of the 1997 remasters. He recommends seeking out the Decca 80's versions - he must lurk here

Btw, just in case he lurks here, how about releasing the original mix of Days of Future Passed on CD? Use a safety copy of the master if need be. Please and thank you!

 

Interesting...the original Seventh Sojourn CD had surface noise during the crossfade of For My Lady/Isn't Life Strange. The 1997 remastered didn't. I remembered this was discussed here, but in searching the forum I couldn't find it.

 

I second that triple over!

 

First of all, that wasn't surface noise, but likely board noise...it can be heard on the original Threshold vinyl, also.

The 1997 remaster likely didn't have it because it was NR'd out, I would guess...

 

Ed,

Thank you for addressing that! Couldn't remember what that noise was that I heard. BTW, great to reply to a Moodies fan who appreciates the group as much as I do! Love this thread!

 

I found the MOFI "Threshold of A Dream" last night for only $7.99. How'd I do?

 

That's what I got mine for!!! In the used bins of Strawberries!

 

good! That one, Days and Lost Chord seem to be the easiest to find (and all worth it) Children's Children and Seventh Sojourn were a little harder for me.
I loved the Moodies back in the seventies, my brothers set up a quad system and Threshold was a blast on it.

 

The bad news: Drat! Turns out there may not be a 2004 remastered edition of This Is Moody Blues, or at least the cheap source I have sent me the old one from '89.

The good news: it actually sounds pretty decent.

The worse news: I really really like this band. Now I have to invest in so many more individual CDs!

 

I think The CD Universe title may be a 2004 reissue not a remaster.

 

Well, I've just ordered 6 of the 1997 remasters of the early albums... In for a penny, in for a pound!

BTW, if you are looking for a cheap source for This Is The Moody Blues, go to www.cdquest.com, it's only $12.04.

 

And now, on to BLUE JAYS, Justin & John's little side project that, at times, does indeed sound like something the Moodies might have done(well, at least some of these songs would have suited the band just fine, others...maybe not). Overall, a good album, nothing spectacular going on, though "I Dreamed Last Night," "Remember Me(My Friend)" and "Blue Guitar"(a bonus track on the CD--it was recorded at a later date when it was deemed there wasn't anything strong enough to follow the first single, and Justin had a song finished, so....)hold up very nicely. Overall, a worthy effort...enough so that everyone was expecting a BLUE JAYS II that may never arrive(although portions of DECEMBER might as well be, since Ray is fully retired).

Tracks:

1. This Morning
2. Remember Me(My Friend)
3. My Brother
4. You
5. Nights Winters Years
6. Saved By The Music
7. I Dreamed Last Night
8. Who Are You Now
9. Maybe
10. When You Wake Up
11. Blue Guitar

 

How is the sound on the CD version of Blue Jays?

 

Ed, a small correction here re "Blue Guitar." It was actually recorded quite a bit earlier than the BLUE JAYS sessions, 1973, and that unusual guitar sound is courtesy Lol Creme and Kevin Godley's "gizmo" device they were playing around with for their massive CONSEQUENCES LP set. Kind of a Hayward/10cc joint single there

 

The recent UK remaster is great! I bought the very first Cd issue of BLUE JAYS in the late 80's..one channel had almost no volume! You can imagine the firestorm that brewed up in the very vocal Moody Blues fan camp!

 

That was an interesting collaboration, to be sure, a shame more didn't come of it...however, the original JAYS booklet notes claim it was recorded(or, perhaps, finished?)after the BLUE JAYS album. Regardless, fine track, and nice that it made an appearance on the GOLD comp....

Correct, but it should be noted Polygram fixed that error fairly quickly, and the 2nd press should sound fine. But used, it's a crapshoot, I'm sure some 1st press duds are still out there somewhere...safest bet is to go for the remaster.

 

Time for CAUGHT LIVE + 5. Tracks 1-14 were recorded on 12/12/69 at the Royal Albert Hall(so the cover says), with 15-19 unreleased odds & ends recorded 1967 & 68.

Listening to this performance now, and given the remote recording situation of the time, it's surprising this sounds as good as it does. The main drawback is that the instruments are not always balanced--that is, we're not likely hearing what the audience heard that evening. But despite all the overdubbing that must have been done for the studio recordings, most of the tracks come off very well indeed. At the time, the surprise here is that, for a December '69 concert, only one song from TOCCC--the opening track, "Gypsy"--is represented, given that the album was released at about this time(it's possible this is a truncated version of the concert, and some cuts were dropped for whatever reasons). "The Voyage" suffers because it's really a Pinder showcase, but live he couldn't do anywhere near what he accomplished in the studio, but it's a good try. "Ride My See-Saw" is the finale(as it is now).

The studio tracks are interesting, but hearing them, easy to understand why they missed the Original 7(as "A Simple Game" also did). "Long Summer Days" is the oldest Moodies performance to be released in stereo, if the listed recording date(5/19/67)is to be believed. Mike Pinder's "Please Think About It" was recorded 6/29/67, and for all the world sounds a lot like the Pinder/Laine Moodies(check out the backing vocals--right out of their playbook!). Two early '68 songs, "Gimme A Little Somethin'"(3/17)and "King And Queen"(2/3) would have made a logical followup 45 to "Nights In White Satin"--"Gimme" has 'single' written all over it--but alas! Neither would have fit LOST CHORD, obviously, all the more reason the trigger should have been pulled. That leaves "What Am I Doing Here?," which, while it might have worked somehow in the context of ON THE THRESHOLD(or at the least, made a fair B-side)was also left in the can until '77.

1. Gypsy(Of A Strange And Distant Time)
2. The Sunset
3. Dr. Livingstone, I Presume
4. Never Comes The Day
5. Peak Hour
6. Tuesday Afternoon
7. Are You Sitting Comfortably?
8. The Dream
9. Have You Heard(Pt. 1)
10. The Voyage
11. Have You Heard (Pt. 2)
12. Nights In White Satin
13. Legend Of A Mind
14. Ride My See-Saw
15. Gimme A Little Somethin'
16. Please Think About It
17. Long Summer Days
18. King And Queen
19. What Am I Doing Here?