The Moody Blues - On the Threshold of a Dream
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Free Music Notes for On the Threshold of a Dream
Free Music Review: Enter the Dream
Hit: 5 Stars
"On the Threshold of a Dream" followed "In Search of the Lost Chord". This album has a darker feel to it than "The Lost Chord," which periodically became lightly whimsical ("Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" as an example) and was generally upbeat."Threshold" begins with a somewhat paranoid interchange between several characters that in a few short sentences explores individuality in modern computerized society. While Graeme Edge is generally upbeat in that he says that as individuals we can "...perceive the web they weave and keep on thinking free," the sinister tone of "Big Brother's got your number" starts the album off darkly. From this beginning, the other songs in the album are now interpreted by this initial tone. Furthermore, the closeout by the last three Mike Pinder selections, "Have You Heard" parts 1 and 2 and "The Voyage," end the album in a melancholy fashion that also reflects on the other tracks, of which many are melancholy themselves.
In spite of the dark mood of the album, it is still great for those times when you are a bit moody yourself. For some reason I enjoy listening to this album when it's raining outside, or when I'm feeling down. You would think that the album would drive me further into the depths of depression, but it does not. Instead, it tends to make me think about why I am depressed and ultimately overcoming those issues cheers me up. Okay, it's a little weird, but it works for me.
How is the album? Very good. This album was again experimental and further associated the Moodies name with progressive rock. The dialogue at the beginning of the album and "The Dream" by Graeme Edge seguing into "Have You Heard Part 1", followed by "The Voyage" which then takes you back to "Have You Heard Part 2", while being a signature feature of Moodies albums, was still very new to the world in 1969. While the music is very mellow, even for 1969, it was also in some ways more dreamily psychedelic than "In Search of the Lost Chord". As examples, the aforementioned Mike Pinder selections, "Never Comes the Day" by Justin Hayward, and "Are You Sitting Comfortably", an awesome way-too-short song by Justin Hayward and Ray Thomas. This album is great for a bottle of good wine, a dimly lit room, perhaps some black light posters (seriously!), and whatever else you want to add that fits the mood.
The lyrics are often cryptic in this album, for example, just what the heck do the lyrics of "Never Comes the Day" by Justin Hayward mean anyway? One enjoyable feature of Moodies lyrics are that that is exactly the point of the lyrics: they are intentionally cryptic. Yes, they meant something to the authors. However, the authors are often vague enough to allow you to interpret them to fit your own life. The Moodies have traditionally been able to make lyrics sufficiently vague that they can easily be interpreted to fit your needs, while making very listenable songs that don't really have to be interpreted. I believe this album may have been the best of the classic 7 to achieve both these abilities for a majority of the songs. A very interesting approach that works well for the Moodies that others have not been able to pull off nearly as well or at all.
Graeme Edge, as noted above, has two selections on this album. I truly enjoy "The Dream", which may be Graeme Edge's very best "poem monologues" on any album by the Moodies. There is a lot of symbolism and true blues in this poem that is the perfect lead-in for the three Mike Pinder selections following.
Ray Thomas authored "Dear Diary", "Lazy Day" and coauthored "Are You Sitting Comfortably" with Justin Hayward. "Are You Sitting Comfortably" is by far the best of the three, and I think is the best song on the album. "Lazy Day" is likely the most whimsical song of this CD, and perhaps the least blue.
Mike Pinder, in addition to the last three songs, also penned "So Deep Within You," a love song about knowing what's in your lover's heart. This song is very beautiful and easy to understand. Mike's contributions to this album are consistently good and among the best of the album.
John Lodge wrote back to back love songs, "Send Me No Wine" and "To Share Our Love". Both are fast-paced (for this album), and both are good. "To Share Our Love" is the better of the two, and exploits John's voice well.
Justin Hayward, in addition to the excellent "Are You Sitting Comfortably", also wrote "Lovely to See You", which is a song of friendship helping alleviate the blues (which you may need after listening to this album!), and "Never Comes the Day", which I think is a song of love, but it's mixed with other concepts that are difficult to put my finger on. Regardless, it's a good song.
If you are a Moodies fan, buy this. If you are not, and want to listen to something different, buy this. Is it dated? A little perhaps, but not a lot. The lyrics are about concepts that transcend time. This album is incredibly mellow. It is the third album of the second incarnation of the Moody Blues, and the last album by the Moodies to be this spacey and psychedelic. After this they begin to tackle issues of the environment and how we treat each other and our role in the universe. This album is very unique and should be part of the reason to induct the Moody Blues into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (why that hasn't yet I haven't the foggiest clue). It is fitting that this album was released in 1969, a fitting close to an exotic decade.
Free Music Review: This is classic Moody Blues!
Hit: 5 Stars
The Moodies stand apart from the rest of the musical world. They've never produced huge commercial hits (even though they are very successful)...their music is more than that. Ironically and sadly, the truth and honesty in their music has always somehow caused the critics to label them as pretentious. Probably because they stay away from pop (or any) formula and write music that touches the truth in us all. This is music created for every generation. Listen, see with your mind and understand.Free Music Review: Pleasing rockers drive this album
Hit: 4 Stars
Threshhold includes more rock songs than the two earlier Moody Blues albums and in this collection they are generally the ones most worth listening to. Justin Hayward's "Lovely to See You" is the best on the album and is superb high-energy, happy, and perfectly executed - an absolute 2½-minute gem. Other good rockers are "Send Me No Wine" and "To Share Our Love", both by John Lodge, and "So Deep Within You" by Mike Pinder. These are easy, relaxed songs, not bound up in the cosmic imagery the early Moodies' are famous for. Justin's "Never Comes the Day" starts quiet but turns into rock, very successfully. Ray Thomas' "Dear Diary" is indeed "moody" and the closest thing to blues this band ever did since their original blues band incarnation, with a great flute solo that more than compensates for the questionable use of distorted underwater-sounding vocals. "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" is gorgeous - one of the most beautiful songs this band ever recorded. It refers to Merlin the magician, who is also visible in the cover painting. Normally I don't care for the Moodies' spoken "poetry", but Graeme's "The Dream" pleases me, both in its seasonal images, and in Mike's eerie, orchestral sound effects. "Have You Heard?" is a beautiful closing song, but marred by being split in two by "The Voyage", a kind of tour-de-force for Mike's mellotron that sounds like an imitation "2001" soundtrack. Not really bad, but out of step with the rest of the album and tiresome after a few listens. The only other song I actually dislike is "Lazy Day", in which Ray evokes the "Sunday Blahs" with such dead-on accuracy it's depressing - and who needs that? Overall, a fine album, with a more relaxed, rocking feel than their earlier efforts. One senses that they had reached the point where they knew they had achieved a gratifying level of initial success, and were enjoying it, not yet burdened by it, as they famously became a few years later.Free Music Review: Music critics never fail to disappoint me
Hit: 5 Stars
It's hard not to rate an "original" Moody Blues album with 5 stars. Their music stands alone in the rock world. It is extremely melodic compositions. It appeals to hard rock underground music listeners, much more so than the "pop rock" listeners of the 60s and 70s. Why is that??? The Moody Blues are so ignored by music critics and so many others. On their numerous lists of the greatest this or that, they barely get mentioned, if at all. Why is that?? Even VH1 has never put out any kind of special on them. (?) Quite frankly, it really doesn't bother me. Mainstream media and fans have missed the boat nearly a million times. This is just another example of where the superficial crowd just doesn't get it. The Moody Blues are super talented. Their music is most appealing and intriguing. Their songs achieved even greater heights back then because of the type of things college kids did to enhance the moment. It was such a nice compliment of mellow, yet heavy melodic sounds in the late night after partying to The Doors, or Deep Purple, or Uriah Heep, or a number of other rock icons of that era.
Threshold of a Dream continues the high standards of their previous material. Impressionable songs for me that quickly come to mind are "So deep within you", "Are you sitting comfortably", and of course, "Have you heard / The Voyage." The latter duo is a heavy trip. Life was fun back then. It's so hard to replicate that feeling anymore.
Free Music Review: almost a threshold, but...
Hit: 3 Stars
As much of a fan as I am of the Moodies, On The Threshold Of A Dream lacked the newly found sweeping flourishes and richness of Days Of Future Passed, and isn't redeemed by the strong melodiesand hippie psychedelia of In Search Of The Lost Chord. Some
fine moments--"Never Comes The Day" was what soft rock was all
about, while "Lovely To See You" displayed a rocking side the
band offered not quite often enough--but the pretentious and
ponderous nature of this incarnation of the band(a far cry from
the "Go Now! days of roughhouse passion) often drowned out their talent(which is, perhaps, why they're not even close to Rock'n'
Roll Hall of Fame induction, despite fair if not spectacular
credentials). Plenty of filler here, I'm afraid, even if it is
well performed and produced(by Tony Clarke, the George Martin
of the operation--did this guy ever produce anything outside the
Moodies?)
All that said, I've always liked their work, even at its
dumbest(like Graeme Edge's ridiculous recitations). Since DTS
is using the four-channel quadraphonic mixes from the 1970's for their audio reissues, might as well do this one as well, as the
mix is not only more open and dynamic, but there are some int-
eresting differences(lengthier fades, sound mixed way up, down or
out compared to the original stereo mix)well worth hearing.
Hell, what I like about DTS audio the most is that it can keep
even an overblown, preening mess like THRESHOLD captivating in
spite of itself.