The Moody Blues - Octave
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Free Music Notes for Octave
Free Music Review: a fine album if you can get past the passed
Hit: 4 Stars
I like this album. A lot.
Now, in fairness, this is when I *started* listening the the Moody Blues. Saw them promote it in concert. In fact, it's my favourite Moodies album.
Yes, it's somewhat radio-friendly. What of it? The last four tunes flow nicely and weave a splendid sonic tapestry. Driftwood is one of Hayward's finest tracks. And Lodge's opening number is delightful.
No, it's not a theme album. But I find that it has aged better than it's 60's & early 70's siblings. It's good, solid, minimally pretentious pop music.
So there. Nyah nah nah boo boo.
Free Music Review: Too little, too late
Hit: 2 Stars
After six long years without fresh Moody Blues music (their solo work in the interim certainly doesn't count), I jumped at "Octave" when the LP hit the stands back in the summer of '78. I tried, I really tried, I so WANTED to enjoy it. I eagerly sought out the trademark blends, the right instrumentals, the right SOUND.
Well, a fair try, this LP was, but it just didn't happen. Collectively, "Octave" clunked, excepting one track, "One Step Into the Light" by Mike Pinder.
Pinder's departure from the band after "Octave" was a sad closing of the door on my interest in anything the band did from there on. I listened from a distance, even saw them in concert in 2001 -- alas, Pinder's balding pate so noticeably absent on stage and my evening's enjoyment so incomplete. I've come to appreciate his talents as true Moody Blues more than any of the others. Not to disparage Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge. Every one of them deserves favour as a true artist in a sea of wannabes. But Pinder best put forth the dream-like sound, the mood, the close-your-eyes-and-listen elements untethered to a 3-minute time limit. Such qualities had withered by the time "Octave" came out and were altogether dead on all of the band's subsequent albums.
Truly, we were spoiled with the above lineup's seven masterpieces, not to mention Phil Travers' fantastic cover works, from '67 to '72. By the late '70s and especially into the shallow '80s, the threshold was met and the sojourn was over. The days and future of such quality work had passed. I feel fortunate to have experienced those works of art during that classic period. The real beauty, the balance if you will, is they're still with us and, I hope, gaining a new audience, our children and their children, in search of the lost art of the classic Moody Blues.
Free Music Review: Not your parent's Moodies
Hit: 3 Stars
This album usually gets high praise (for having all the original members) or absolutely shrugged off as unworthy. But it's neither. It's less a serious, focussed effort than a transition album from their old sound to the newer poppy 80s sound. It's got songs that show how each of them has developed musically over the years, with mixed results. Despite the fact that there is no transition of albums from 1972 to 1978, through the years, all of the group's members were taking in the new musical developments, picking bits of it that they liked and incorporating it into their own music. Had the Moodies stayed together possibly we would have heard their sound EVOLVE to what it was in Octave, or at least something close. Not only had years passed but there was significant parting of the ways philosophically for members of the group, unfortunately Pinder got fed up with things and left halfway through the making of this album. Patrick Moraz was hired to help finish off the album with the now somewhat dejected band, and as a competent keyboardist certainly would have been an asset to the band. I don't even mind the direction the band went in, it had to change, and I actually liked their albums until TOO MUCH keyboards and sequencing (which are absolutely smashing when used wisely) put an end to what I thought was their creative strengths - putting together music by carefully choosing what sounds they needed for each well-written song instead of churning out 3 chord bubblegum songs with lyrics more childish sounding than when they actually were teenagers. There's no mellotron on this album - the spacey mood that crude late 60s sampler keyboard imparts is entirely gone at this point, but I'm sure the band members were beginning to sober up somewhat by now, and just weren't INTERESTED in writing stuff along those lines, which is all they had been doing for years. I suspect they were not doing it so much for the money anymore either, they already had experienced that and fame as well, so they were more interested in writing songs that would bring in money to their record label and allow them to tour and at least, as a band, make more money than they spent (artists traditionally make their money from tours, not records, so I would imagine this was their plan). There is no real mood (besides an overall tinge of regret) to this album, the production seems a bit distracted and the sound veers from one extreme to the other. I think there was some disagreement with Tony Clark at that time too, but he's listed as producer of this album.
Ray Thomas probably comes off worse on this album - 'Under Moonshine' is a somewhat dated orchestration backing a pleasant enough song, with a bit of sadness expressed about someone departing, who had good and bad points, but will be sorely missed *cough* "I'm Your Man" on the other hand, is a very frightening bit of 70s cheese, that has not aged well. Well, I guess that's a bit harsh to say. Nothing on this album is really AWFUL but there are some very cloying moments.
Graeme Edge surprisingly has a good song (though the ending shamelessly copies Moonage Daydream). An upbeat, rocking song, lyrics sound like they're about his son, with good guitar work by Justin throughout and some nice piano flourishes during the fadeout.
As for Pinder, he has one song with "One Step Into The Light" which outlines his religious beliefs and trust in a higher power. The song is actually not bad, a lot of it feels like it was added after Pinder had left, around his vocal line. The guitar in it, in particular, in parts feels a bit disjointed and like its in the mix to hide a flub or something. When Pinder sings "play my mellotron for you", the strings that immediately follow do not seem to be mellotron but some kind of a string synthesiser, a keyboard that had been developed by then that was cheaper and more reliable than a mellotron, though less of that spooky character.
John Lodge has picked up some 70s cheese as well, with the meaningless "Stepping In A Slide Zone" at least presenting a good time feel, "these boys can still rock" start to the album. As some reviewers have noticed, it is rather a gimmicky sound compared to their stuff on TOCCC or any of their classics. Survival is getting pretty cloying (but that rot had set in with "minstrel's song") and a strong hook saves it (just barely) from sounding like something Barry Manilow would do. The orchestra in it is at least more reminiscent of their older classical outings, than the more R&B strings in "I'm Your Man". R&B is somewhat explored in the odd "Top Rank Suite" which is a bit surprising until you remember they always had a bit of R&B influence in their songs from John Lodge. "Ride My Seesaw", "Just A Singer", "Simple Game", to name a few. Lots of inspired backing vocals and simultaneous different harmonies, and the result is actually the best of his three songs. The saxamaphone makes it authentic though somewhat cheesy.
Probably because it's co-written by the hitmeister Justin, who rescues this album with his superb guitar playing throughout and his excellent singing. Plus the fact that he writes a good song or two. "Had To Fall In Love" is a teeny bit dull, but still a beautiful song with close harmonies, probably the best harmonies on this record. "Driftwood" was the hit, and it's a pretty good song too, a bit on the poppy side but still undeniably classic. Moraz provides a nice string background without intruding very much on the band's sound at this point. A mellotron would have given that song a completely different feel, for the worst IMO. "The Day We Meet Again" is the album's emotional high point, it is also pretty obviously about Pinder though it never gets too specific. It sounds rather wailing at times, and it ends the album off with a rather mournful mood.
Free Music Review: badly produced
Hit: 3 Stars
This has always been an album I loved, but it hasn't aged particularly well, and I find weaknesses and murky production everywhere. 'Driftwood' is a beautiful song, but it is over-produced, with saxophone doodling (no need for it), and too many instruments at one time. Why not leave it simple? 'Survival' similarly i a gorgeous song, but there are so many things going on at once and it goes very out of tune at the end. A shame. The highlight for me is Mike Pinder' 'one step into the light', gorgeous mellotron passage and a nice melody. Jutin Hayward also has the very beautiful 'had to fall in love', which is an acoustic folk song, wiht Ray on harmonica.
It is a nice album and very mellow in places, but I feel with the next two albums, the Moody blues definitely reasserted themselves.
Free Music Review: 'Octave' IS a good album.
Hit: 4 Stars
I wasn't a fan of the Moodies when they released their "core seven" albums, as I was just a kid. I became a fan in 1981 with the huge success of 'Long Distance Voyager'. Since then I have went back and discovered the earlier MB material. I have always heard from fans and critics alike that 'Octave' wasn't a good album, just "wasn't The Moody Blues", whatever that means. Come on "early only Moody" fans: we all grow and change, no one stays the same. The passage of time has a way of doing that to us all. The Moody Blues aren't exempt from this basic law of life.
In my humble(or not so)opinion, this is a VERY good- not a great- album. There are several fantastic songs to be enjoyed here. Starting off is John Lodge's 'Steppin' In a Slide Zone.' This is a really hard rocking number with a very deep double meaning. Being a HUGE Lodge fan I guess I am slightly biased when I say this but I can't understand how this awesome song got so overlooked when it came out. The very beautiful 'Had to Fall in Love' is a classic Justin Hayward masterpiece that he could have written/sung in his so-called 1960's "heyday". 'Driftwood' is another gorgeous ballad of his. It too is vintage Moody Blues with that very distinctive Hayward/ Lodge harmony. 'Survival' is another great one from Lodge- not one of his usual up-tempo rockers- but still a catchy tune with, what were to my heart, very meaningful lyrics. Ending the album is another beauty from Hayward: 'The Day We Meet Again'. This is Justin doing what he does best- singing his heart out on a poignantly beautiful song. I always enjoy hearing from Ray Thomas and his two offerings 'Under Moonshine' and 'I'm Your Man', didn't fail to satisfy me. I love the man's voice and think he is so overlooked as a singer/musician. Okay let's see: that's 7 out of the album's 10 songs that I really liked. Not too bad a percentage I would say.
Well folks, that's my take on 'Octave', a very good Moody Blues album. I would recommend it to anyone, Moodies fan or not. To you "core 7 only" folks: give it another listen or two. You may be surprised to discover that the eighth Moody Blues record is just as good as anything they did on the previous seven.