To Our Children's Children's Children [Bonus Tracks]

Performer: The Moody Blues
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: The Moody Blues: Justin Hayward, Mike Pinder, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, Graeme Edge. All tracks have been digitally remastered. The Moody Blues: Graeme Edge, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, Justin Hayward, Mike Pinder. Engineers: Derek Varnals, Adrian Martins, Robin Thompson. The Moodies were a prolific lot in the late '60s. This, the post-Denny Laine lineup's fourth album, was the second to be released in 1969. It was the group's most mature, fully realized effort to date, arguably surpassing even the milestone DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED in its elegance and vision. The Moodies were always capable of both songcraft and experimentalism, but this was the first time they combined them both successfully. Mike Pinder's dramatically arcing mellotron is the perfectly complement to the group's lush vocal harmonies, which are colored by rich acoustic guitar textures. Things open on a mind-bendingly psychedelic note with the electrical storm of "Higher and Higher," but soon the waters calm. Justin Hayward's brief acoustic ballad "I Never Thought I'd Live to be a Hundred" is among the band's loveliest tunes, and it leads into "Beyond," an ambitious instrumental that is the Moodies at their most progressive. Throughout the album, the mixture of winningly melodic balladry, poignant folk-rock and ambitious prog-rock leanings combine for what is one of the Moody Blues' most satisfying albums. The Moodies were a prolific lot in the late '60s. This, the post-Denny Laine lineup's fourth album, was the second to be released in 1969. It was the group's most mature, fully realized effort to date, arguably surpassing even the milestone DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED in its elegance and vision. The Moodies were always capable of both songcraft and experimentalism, but this was the first time they combined them both successfully. Mike Pinder's dramatically arcing mellotron is the perfectly complement to the group's lush vocal harmonies, which are colored by rich acoustic guitar textures. Things open on a mind-bendingly psychedelic note with the electrical storm of "Higher and Higher," but soon the waters calm. Justin Hayward's brief acoustic ballad "I Never Thought I'd Live to be a Hundred" is among the band's loveliest tunes, and it leads into "Beyond," an ambitious instrumental that is the Moodies at their most progressive. Throughout the album, the mixture of winningly melodic balladry, poignant folk-rock and ambitious prog-rock leanings combine for what is one of the Moody Blues' most satisfying albums. This latest remastering of To Our Children's Children's Children is essentially a lower-rent reduction of the double-disc SACD/CD "Deluxe Edition" put out by Polydor in Europe in the late winter of 2006. Possibly the SACD market is perceived as too tenuous in the United States, but for whatever reason this single platter release contains only the remastered CD audio -- great sound, to be sure, but no multi-channel surround option -- from that two-disc set's first disc, augmented with highlights from that set's full CD of bonus tracks. This was the group's most advanced album production, on which they carried the concept of the studio as an "instrument" so far, that only one song -- the single "Gypsy," which was the simplest number here, in terms of sound -- ever got played on-stage. Needless to say, the multiple layers of overdubbed sound blossom in all manner of rich tone colors here (and are even more impressive on the SACD version) -- if any Moody Blues album were ever meant for digital audio presentation, it was this one which, thanks to Michael Pinder's ever-advancing electronic keyboards and all of the overdubbing by everyone, is effectively the work of 30 or 40 Moody Blues at times. All of that musicianship, much of it suggested in the sound of the original LP, is closer to the fore now, and well worth hearing in this rather elegant remastering. The main change among the bonus tracks is the elimination of more than half of the December 1969 BBC performance, principally material off the preceding album, On the Threshold of a Dream, as well as that radio performance of "Gypsy"." There's still enough here to please and inform the casual listener, though most serious fans will almost certainly already own the Deluxe Edition with all of this material on it. ~ Bruce Eder

One of rock's longest-running acts, the Moody Blues began as a mid-1960s British R&B band � la the Rolling Stones, turning to psychedelic pop later in the decade. In the '70s, they evolved into purveyors of melodic, classically influenced songs that bridged the distance between progressive rock and pop, a sound they carried through several decades.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.5