The 1981 Listening Post - The Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager

 Reviewed by Jim Erbe

Released: May 15 1981 The Moody Blues Long Distance Voyager Genre: Fog Rock Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Jim’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Highlights: The Voice Gemini Dream I had this album. I didn’t remember it until the first song, “The Voice”, started up and even then I didn’t fully believe it until three or four songs in. But I owned it. On cassette. And I either played it until the tape broke or I unloaded it freshman year during “The Culling,” when I learned I could trade in old records for new ones. In either case, I owned it and then I didn’t. And once it was gone it erased itself from my memory. Thoroughly. So thoroughly, in fact, that a couple of years later when The Moody Blues reentered the zeitgeist with “Your Wildest Dreams,” I can recall eyeing that album with a hard-earned distaste for Prog Rock and asking myself if I really wanted to dip a toe into those waters. I didn’t. So, I came at this album with fresh ears and a persistent sense of déjà vu. Here’s what I found: The Voice – This was the second single, but it was the one that topped the charts. Lush orchestration, driving beat, vaguely new-agey lyrics about finding your inner true north…this would have been musical catnip for me back in 1981. It still is. Talking Out of Turn – Strip off the synthesizer bleeps and blorps and this is a better than average acoustic ballad. I don’t hate it. Gemini Dream – If you told me this was early-eighties ELO, I’d believe you. Delightful. In My World – The first real misstep on this album. It’s not terrible, just kind of rambling and it overstays its welcome. There is a fake-out ending at 4:45 and then the song comes back for two and a half more minutes of random noodling. Full point deduction for not bowing out gracefully. Meanwhile – A brief return to form. A very 70’s sounding mid-tempo rocker. Good. 22,000 Days – This reminds me of stoner friends in college who would latch onto something they think is deep and cannot stop talking about: “22,000 days, get it?” “You gotta make it count ‘cause we all die at sixty, right?” “So, you only get like 22,00 days” This is five minutes out of my life I’m not getting back. Nervous – Good. A little too long and way too Renaissance Fair for my tastes. Painted Smile – This is a weird one. I remember loving this song back in high school. The use of a sad clown as a metaphor for someone beaten by life and love appealed to me, because…you know, moody teen. Also, the fact that Ray Thomas’ voice sounded quite a bit like Anthony Newley I found perversely enjoyable. But, man, this does not age well. To make matters worse, XTC would take this same concept and make the vastly superior “Dear Madam Barnum” eleven years later. Reflected Smile – Spoken word. With Napoleon XIV-level audio effects to make it...I don’t know, edgy? This saves “22,000 Days” from being this worst thing here. Veteran Cosmic Rocker – Apparently, “Painted Smile”, “Reflected Smile” and this song are a mini-suite about a rocker struggling with self-doubts, getting his head right and stepping out on stage again. In that context, this song still isn’t great. It sounded dated in 1981 and has not improved with age. This album was a comeback of sorts for the band. After a seven-year hiatus, old keyboardist Mike Pinder out, new keyboardist Patrick Moraz in, lawsuits filed and court cases won; this album arrived in a whole cloud of drama. The fact that this record came out all is impressive. The fact that it’s mostly pretty good is frankly a miracle. For these reviews, I tend to like to listen to the album a few times. I let it marinate in my brain for a day or two and then come up with an overriding theme for the record. It’s what I do. It’s how I work. I prefer to take on each album as an entire piece. I like to pretend it helps me keep the reviews shorter. I chose to leave my track-by-track notes in this time, because I simply couldn’t treat this record as a single piece. It just will not stick with me. Even now, literally five minutes after my eighth time through the album, I am hard pressed to tell you the difference between…say…“Talking Out of Turn” and “Meanwhile.” I’m having a hard time remembering anything about “Gemini Dream” beyond the fact that I liked it. There are multiple songs I can’t even recall the names of at this point. To be honest, aside from the song I loved and the songs I hated, this album is sort of a sea of sameness for me. While this might be a side effect of my general contempt for Prog Rock, I don’t think it is. For one thing, I like to believe I’m better than that. And for another, I genuinely like large swaths of this record, it just doesn’t stick with me. It didn’t in high school and it still doesn’t today. And that seems a shame. I hate that after all the hurdles The Moody Blues overcame to get this record out, that what they came up with is sort of a musical henna tattoo. It’s fun while it lasts, but after a bit it’s like it was never there. Oh well, for what it’s worth, I’m going to go add “The Voice” and that other one to my Apple library.

The 1980 Listening Post - Justin Hayward - Night Flight

 Justin Hayward - Night Flight

#252

June 13 1980

Justin Hayward

Night Flight

Genre: Soft Rock

2.25 out of 5

Cloying and self-serving soft rock is a challenge for me from jump. Unless it’s got a great hook, ala Kenny Nolan or Alan O’Day, I’m generally a hard sell. 

Without the Moodies, Hayward gives in to his most gauze lensed, fireside warbler instincts. It starts off terribly, with a title track that feels like an audition song for a James Bond rip off flick and then we get to hear the REAL Hayward on “Maybe It’s Just Love”, where he struggles to perform a vibrato that is not in his wheelhouse. I recognize that sound because I’ve tried it many times. I’m not trained but that doesn’t stop me from attempting a vibrato that I can hold until I push it jussssst a bit too long and it falls apart. Fortunately for me, I never tried to record myself doing that. Someone should have stopped Justin. 

And, regarding the faux funk of “I’m Sorry”…no. Just…no. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1N94xa6EI4&list=PLlvn8uktX5Lv6OAK-mEtKXPX4YayF8K3S&index=8

The 1986 Listening Post - The Moody Blues - The Other Side of Life

The Moody Blues - The Other Side of Life

#134/1299

April 9 1986

The Moody Blues

The Other Side of Life

Genre: Rock

3.25 out of 5 

Highlights:

Your Wildest Dreams

Rock n’ Roll Over You

Lowlights:

Running Out of Love

Oh, that opener. It’s like a comfortable blanket made of sweet taffy. I want to wrap myself in it and be shot into space. 

I have a place in my heart for The Moodies. While I owned In Search of the Lost Chord and saw them in concert for Long Distance Voyager, I’ve never sought them out. They were always a bit too edgeless-prog for me. Like if your middle aged Science Teacher uncle wrote his own songs while playing bass in an ELO cover band. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-other-side-of-life/1444220727

The 1985 Listening Post - Justin Heyward - Moving Mountains

Justin Heyward - Moving Mountains

#346/982

September 16 1985

Justin Heyward

Moving Mountains

Genre: Rock

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

One Again

Take Your Chances

Goodbye

The first time I ever went to a record store on a Saturday morning to get tickets to a concert was, if memory serves, for The Moody Blues’ The Voyager. 

I have no idea why we thought this would be something we HAD to go to but we did. I have no memory of the actual show at Madison Square Garden except that, until this record, I recall that I went. 

Unless, and this is entirely possible, I didn’t and this is a false memory. Only John and Jeff know. Or maybe they were part of this fever dream wherein a man believes how 15 year old self went to a concert that he didn’t attend. 

I don’t know.

I had, and sort of adored, In Search of the Lost Chord but not much else by them. I certainly had no idea that there was any Heyward solo records. 

I wouldn’t have pursued them had I known. 

I probably dreamt that concert. 

Now I wish i didn’t even write about it. 

This album is so pleasant I can’t even. It reminds me of all the things I liked about The Moodies with very little of the pretension. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOuY0QN3zn0&list=PL94gOvpr5yt0kjXy47LTneLp7xZ9InUfe

The 1983 Listening Post - Moody Blues - The Present

Moody Blues - The Present

August 28, 1983
Moody Blues
The Present
2.5 out of 5

Highlights:
Blue World
Sitting at the Wheel

I *think* I went to see Moody Blues after the Voyager album had that surprise hit. I actually can’t recall. I remember talking about going to see them with my friend, John, but, for the life of me I can’t recall if I went.
That’s sort of Moody Blues for me. I sort of remember their music but it doesn’t really impact me.
I didn’t even know they had put out another album after Long Distance Voyager. What might’ve sounded progressive and cutting edge in 1968 now just sounds like Grandparents rock, the kind of thing you’d hear at The Playboy Club in the Catskills. The thing is, The Moodies know what they’re doing. They are consummate musicians. I wonder if they ever toured with ELO cuz this sounds like Electric Light’s Older Cousin’s Orchestra.