The Moody Blues With The London Festival Orchestra – Days Of Future Passed

While this was not the first album by The Moody Blues, it was the first album to feature Justin Hayward, and John Lodge, and it was the one that put them on the map. It was also an album that was more or less commissioned by the band's label to showcase the Deram Sound System and it's ability to record in stereo. Yeah, that was a thing once upon a time.

Released in 1967 this was a heady time for musicians and new and emerging technology. Earlier in the year The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper and suddenly there was a new way to craft an album under the guise of threading the songs into a cohesive ... concept. Thus, the concept album was conceived. Working in this newly discovered vein, The Moody Blues went big with their second release. Collaborating with The London Festival Orchestra the band was able to craft pop songs that were intricate and lush and still contemporary, at least contemporary as it was in 1967. Truth be told, some of the arrangements sounded like they were arranged by Frank Chacksfield. No slander to the legendary Mister Chacksfield, my mum to this day practically melts when she hears "Ebb Tide."

This era of the '60s though is just out my reach in terms of first hand memory. This was before my time, although the echoes would reverberate though the bands who came after. There were no classic rock stations when I was a kid, and it would be later that I'd hear songs like "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)" and of course "Nights in White Satin" and they would feel like old friends. 

Listening to this now, it's a very strange experience. The string arrangements are at times a little jarring and of an earlier time but somehow the juxtaposition of the modern elements provided by The Moody Blues is really quite something. It's like listening to a soundtrack where there is no film as a reference point. You have to conjure your own images.

The showstopper is Justin Hayward's "Nights in White Satin" the addition of the strings and orchestra is an integral part of the song. If the desire was to showcase "a fusion of pop composition and classical writing" this was the song to do it. The song had it all and the emotional impact of hearing the crescendo as the orchestra brings the song home is still pretty breathtaking.

I'd only ever heard a couple of the pieces from this album, out of context (I have their 1974 This is the Moody Blues). I really wasn't sure what to expect. It was an experience and one that was pretty cool. It's also very dated, and while I can totally appreciate the technical aspects, and even really enjoy the arrangements - even the spoken work bit, there's something about this that just hasn't stood the test of time. Make no mistake, the two big songs are incredible, and still are ... but the album itself is more a curiosity now than anything.

It was an amazing achievement and I'm really glad to have it in my collection.