The Moody Blues - The Other Side of Life
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Artist: The Moody BluesEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: Polydor / Umgd
Soundtracks:
- Your Wildest Dreams
- Talkin' Talkin'
- Rock 'N' Roll Over You
- I Just Don't Care
- Running Out Of Love
- The Other Side Of Life
- The Spirit
- Slings & Arrows
- It May Be A Fire
Free Music Notes for The Other Side of Life
Free Music Review: The Other Side Of Liff
Hit: 3 Stars
This album was a watershed moment for the Moodies. Having survived a change of membership with Mike Pinder (and just as significantly, a producer change from Tony Clark to Pip Williams), they were definitely revitalized by the success of their tour and album for Long Distance Voyager. The Present in 1983, showed a bit of a slow in their momentum, they already seemed to be in 'coasting' mode, with a small but noticeable drop in energy. There just wasn't as much attention paid to detail in comparison to LDV, and the songs were a little weaker, relying on synth gimmickry to carry some of the music. By the time they recorded TOSOL, I would think the record company had definitely noticed that The Present hadn't sold as well (as LDV), I'm sure there were subtle hints to try and sound like 'the latest trend' and in all fairness I'm sure they were listening to what was on the radio (and those days, MTV) and thinking, "we've gotta try that".
They changed producer AGAIN to Tony Visconti, and the direction the band went in was a very obviously commercial one, and what was even then derided as synthesiser soup, but at least one reviewer I remember was kind enough to call it 'elegant techno-slush'. Which it is. Like most of the music out in 1986, it sounds like everything is played by a computer, because it is. Tony Visconti was a big fan of using this method to record (and at times it sounds great, but overall gives the album a cold edge). At this point, there is much less attention to detail and instead lots of keyboard lines that sound more like breezy pop music than their traditional orchestral roles. Patrick Moraz complained that he didn't have much to do because a performance would get determined and recorded, quantized, and he wouldn't have to work on that track anymore. I imagine the drummer would say the same thing. Listen to the evolving textures of "Talking Out Of Turn" or "Meet Me Halfway", played with REAL bands, and using the keyboards to augment and smooth out the sound. Unlike using brassy synthesisers to ANCHOR the sound, as Visconti does in most of these songs, in particular the cruel and unusual "Rock and Roll Over You".
And last but not least, Ray Thomas is absent from this CD, at least to my ears. I don't know if he's singing some backing vocals somewhere but he doesn't have any writing credits or sing any songs. I don't know if this is because he just wasn't interested at the time, or this was influence from the record company (ok, you get 3 bowls of M&Ms backstage per gig, and we'll let you do one song that is not by Justin and John! Just one!).
But still, there is some truly great music here. Their R&B influence has never sounded as good as in "Running Out Of Love", greased up with some oddly fitting progressive rock riffs by Moraz (and an simple, but EXCELLENT guitar solo.) The title track is very good, with a typically excellent vocal hook by Justin and a great guitar solo. "The Spirit" is a strange song, with compelling harmonies, key twists and tempo twists, and one of Patrick Moraz' best solos ever, his manic style tempered by trying to fit into a pop group. "Slings and Arrows" is very odd sounding as well, incorporating a number of seemingly disparate styles (and a ridiculous baritone), but somehow it all works. "It May Be A Fire" is a simple song by John that is at least not as sappy as he can be, but Justin Hayward's soaring guitar leads bring it to life.
As for the rest of the songs, "Your Wildest Dreams" was the hit. It's likeable, has a nice melody, if a bit predictable; the synthesised bass adds to its clarity and gives it a modern feel. Synthesised bass is used to good effect on "I Just Don't Care", which is otherwise a pretty bland song by Justin. "Talkin Talkin" is a bit better, with some half-decent harmonies (and a creative way to end the song!) "Rock N Roll Over You" is a pretty horrid song by John Lodge, who seems to be behind a number of reprehensible 'rockers' in their 80s version of the band. This song was his most wretched attempt so far, but he actually surpassed it on Sur La Mer's "Here Comes The Weekend". Better to invoke Dead or Alive than Bananarama I guess. Maybe the admittedly funky 'bass solo' redeems it.
Overall, this isn't a bad album. It's not comparable to The Present or LDV, let alone their classic 7 albums. But it's still worth listening to, there are more good songs than bad songs. After this album, they just turned to using sequenced keyboards to flesh out their songs and having everything just done by Justin, John, and Tony, and the resulting albums (Sur La Mer, Keys Of The Kingdom) were more suitable for blasting at the Vatican to get Noriega to come out, than listening to for pleasure.
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