Labels

Prog Magazine Top 100 Prog Albums of All Time Challenge. Album #95 To Our Children's Children's Children by the Moody Blues.

Originally posted to FB on September 21, 2023...The only one typed using my phone.... see the info below the review.
Link to original post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/qmS8pE2tHURhiKkd/?mibextid=oFDknk



Prog Magazine Top 100 Prog Albums of All Time Challenge. Album #95 To Our Children's Children's Children by the Moody Blues.
When sharing your thoughts about this album, use the following scale to indicate how familiar you are with the album:
0- Never heard anything from this album, totally new to my ears.
1- I might have heard a song on occasion, or I know a big hit from the album but not the full album.
2- I've listened to the full album a few times, but it's been a while. Slightly familiar with it.
3- I listen to this album periodically, fairly familiar with it.
4- I have listened to this album many times. I know it inside out. Very familiar with it/expert level
I will post links for anyone who needs them to be able to stream it in the comments below. Remember, no matter what your experience level with the album going in, please listen to the album before commenting. I will post album #94 on Monday.
Enjoy! (And be nice!)


(From the comments)

So, I would say I'm at a level 1 on this one. Probably have heard a few songs on occasion, but never the whole album. Surprised that it's the only Moodies album on the list.
OK, Track 1...Higher and Higher....
Yeah, I recognize this one. Good track. Energetic opener. Hayward jamming away under the spoken word lyrics. And the ascending chorus of "Higher....and Higher...and Higher!!" is cool.
Track 2.. Eyes of a Child....
Begins VERY softly. Acoustic guitar, mellotron and harmony vocals slowly crescendoing to the chorus. Sounds slightly familiar in the chorus. Would not be surprised to find that this had been a single release.
Goes straight into Track 3... Floating...
More up tempo....lol, would not sound out of place being sung by Peter, Paul and Mary....some of the chord changes really remind me of them. Nice track, some interesting drum accents by Greame Edge in the later portions of the song.
Now into Track 4...Eyes of a Child, 2...
More rocking than the first part...
Track 5...I Never Thought I'd Love to be a Hundred...
A very brief introspective acoustic ballad...nice song, but very short.
Track 6.... Beyond...
Starts out reminding me of "Peak Hour" from Days of Future Passed....
Nice John Lodge bass line....with Ray Thomas's flute...then a very different mellow section before returning to the original feel.... keeps fading in and out between the high tempo sections and the almost ambient Mike Ponder mellotron sections. A bit of an odd arrangement....then directly to...
Track 7....Out and In...
A quintessential mid-tempo Moody Blues track. Very heavy on the mellotron here. By the way, I am in a peaceful setting while listening, and this music fits well (I'll elaborate more later in a separate comment).
Track 8.... Gypsy...
A little harder rocking here, but still heavy on the acoustic guitar and mellotron. Pinder loved his mellotron...lol.... another signature Moody Blues sounding song here.
Track 9... Eternity Road....
I can see why the MBs were often treated almost like gurus who knew all the answers. The songs here have that sense of mysticism and "finding ones true self". This track fits that we'll... Hayward had a nice melodic harmonized guitar break in this one. Nice flute parts on the closing part of the song.
Track 9... Candle of Life....
Continuing the pattern of going from one song straight into the next...right along the same lines as the previous track...I mean the melody is different, but the feel is pretty much the same, along with the thematic lyrics.
Track 10...Sun is Still Shining....
Indian flavors here, some sitar in the mix....
The vocal phrasing reminds me of another MB song... Lovely to See You Again my Friend.... especially in the verses. Building a crescendo before it fades out at the end...into
Track 11...I Never Thought I'd Live to be a Million... Acoustic finger style.... echoing the similar track from earlier in the album...even shorter, I think.
Track 12... Watching and Waiting...
This title sounded familiar.... might have heard it before.... mellow ballad....this is a seriously chill album...
The rhythm and tempo pick up slightly about half way through, before coming back down again.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS...
A pretty good album, quintessentially Moody Blues all around... however, after the big dramatic intro of Higher and Higher, it kind of settles into a lot of "sameness" as it goes along. No songs I didn't like, but got a slight bit boring towards the end for me...I think I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5....
BTW, I would have expected Days of Future Passed to be the representative MB album on this list, if there was only going to be one album on it...that album is one of the real "prog before we knew it was prog" albums of 1967, along with Sgt. Pepper and Piper at the Gates of Dawn....also would have liked to have seen A Question of Balance on the list....

Then:

Ok...about the setting where I listened and wrote my review...my wife Allison Rich had to attend a class in Jackson, Mississippi today as per her Principal's request, so that she could be able to train her colleagues at her school on the info. So I took the day off to bring her to Jackson, which is about 2 hours south of Greenville. While she is in her class, I went to LeFluer's Bluff State Park in the area... parked and listened....scene pictured below....




 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment