"Question" | ||||
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Single by The Moody Blues | ||||
from the album A Question of Balance | ||||
B-side | "Candle of Life" | |||
Released | 24 April 1970 21 November 1989 ( Greatest Hits version) | |||
Recorded | 24 January 1970 1988 ( Greatest Hits version) | |||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||
Length | 5:44(Album version) 4:55 (Single version) 5:45 ( Greatest Hits version) | |||
Label | Threshold | |||
Songwriter(s) | Justin Hayward | |||
Producer(s) | Tony Clarke (Original version) Anne Dudley, Justin Hayward, and John Lodge ( Greatest Hits version) [1] | |||
The Moody Blues singles chronology | ||||
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"Question" is a 1970 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by guitarist Justin Hayward, who provides lead vocals. "Question" was first released as a single in April 1970 and remains their second highest-charting song in the UK, reaching number two and staying on the chart for 12 weeks. The song reached number 21 on the Billboard Top 40 in the USA. [2] It was later featured as the lead track on the 1970 album A Question of Balance . The single also features the song "Candle of Life" on its B-side, which was from the Moody Blues' previous album To Our Children's Children's Children .
Hayward pieced the song together from two unfinished songs, which accounts for the change of pace in the middle of the song. [3] [4] [5] Hayward said that:
Sometime before we taped the album, we [documented] "Question", which was a song that I didn’t have on Friday night for a [recording] session [the following] Saturday. But, by the morning, I had it and it was recorded very quickly. [6]
"Question" is one of the Moody Blues' most popular songs, and has been included in virtually all of their compilations and live albums. In addition, the song was re-recorded (along with "Isn't Life Strange") in the studio with the London Symphony Orchestra (who in 1978 had released an orchestral cover of the song) in 1988, for the Greatest Hits album.
Cash Box described the song as starting "with a guitar intro in the Who manner" that "[churns] up instant listener interest from the start" and then "alters midway to become a brilliantly presented ballad in the [Moody Blues'] own tradition." [7]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso rated it as the Moody Blues' greatest song, saying that the merging of two unfinished songs "achieve[d] this perfectly calibrated sense of emotional turbulence." [3] Classic Rock critic Malcolm Dome rated it as the Moody Blues' 3rd greatest song, saying that it "offers a powerful message that still retains an ability to emotionally move you." [4]
Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated it as the Moody Blues' 5th greatest song, saying that it "featured one of the greatest acoustic guitar openings of any classic rock track in history" and that the "killer vocal" and "the dynamic time change in the middle of the track" add to its status. [5] Kachejian also noted that Graeme Edge's drum fill after the line "Why do we never get an answer when there’s knocking at the door" "catapulted the song into classic rock history." [5]
Former Marillion singer Fish covered the song as one of his personal favourites for his album Songs from the Mirror , released in 1993. [8] In 2010, Nada Surf covered the song on their album "If I Had a Hi-Fi."
Chart (1970) | Peak position |
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Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [9] | 9 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [10] | 25 |
Canada ( RPM ) [11] | 8 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [12] | 9 |
Ireland (IRMA) [13] | 1 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [14] | 1 |
New Zealand ( Listener Chart) [15] | 7 |
UK Singles (OCC) [16] | 2 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [17] | 21 |
The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of drummer Graeme Edge, guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine, keyboardist/vocalist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ray Thomas, and bassist/vocalist Clint Warwick. Originally part of the British beat and R&B scene of the early–mid 1960s, the band came to prominence with the UK No. 1 and US Top 10 single "Go Now" in late 1964/early 1965. Laine and Warwick left the band by the end of 1966, being replaced by guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist/vocalist John Lodge. They embraced the psychedelic rock movement of the late 1960s, with their second album, 1967's Days of Future Passed, being a fusion of rock with classical music that established the band as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock. It has been described as a "landmark" and "one of the first successful concept albums".
David Justin Hayward is an English musician. He was the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Moody Blues from 1966 until that group's dissolution in 2018. He became the group's principal vocalist and its most prolific songwriter over the 1967–1974 period, and composed several international hit singles for the band.
"Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album Days of Future Passed. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and number 103 in the United States in 1968. It was the first significant chart entry by the band since "Go Now" and its recent lineup change, in which Denny Laine and Clint Warwick had resigned and both Hayward and John Lodge had joined.
"Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year.
"The Voice" is a song written by Justin Hayward that was first released on the Moody Blues' 1981 album Long Distance Voyager and also as its second single. The song continued the success of previous single "Gemini Dream", becoming a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 15 in October 1981. The song had previously topped the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for four weeks during June–July 1981. The song also reached No. 9 in Canada.
"Ride My See-Saw" is a 1968 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by the band's bassist John Lodge, and was first released on the Moody Blues' 1968 album In Search of the Lost Chord. It was the second of two singles from that album, the other being "Voices in the Sky".
"I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" is a 1973 hit single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues, written by the band's bassist, John Lodge. It was first released in 1972 as the final track on the album Seventh Sojourn and was later released as a single in 1973, with "For My Lady" as its B-side. It was the second single released from Seventh Sojourn, with the first being "Isn't Life Strange", which was also written by Lodge.
"For My Lady" is a song written by Ray Thomas that was released on the Moody Blues 1972 album Seventh Sojourn. It was also released as the B-side to the single "I'm Just a Singer ".
"Tuesday Afternoon" is a 1968 song written by Justin Hayward that was first released by English rock band the Moody Blues on their 1967 album Days of Future Passed and later released as a single.
"Your Wildest Dreams" is a 1986 single by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues, written by Justin Hayward. The song was first released as a single, and later released on the Moody Blues' 1986 album The Other Side of Life.
"I Know You're Out There Somewhere" is a 1988 single by the English rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by guitarist Justin Hayward, and it is the sequel to the Moody Blues' 1986 single "Your Wildest Dreams", also written by Hayward. It is the band's final Top 40 single in the United States, peaking at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Gemini Dream" is a song written by Justin Hayward and John Lodge that was released by The Moody Blues on their 1981 album Long Distance Voyager and also as the lead single from the album. It reached number 12 on the US Hot 100, as well as number 1 on the Canada RPM Top 100 Singles chart. It ranked as the 28th biggest Canadian hit of 1981.
"The Story in Your Eyes" is a 1971 hit single by the English rock band the Moody Blues. Written by the band's guitarist Justin Hayward, it was first released as a single with "My Song" on the B-side, and then on the 1971 album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour shortly after.
"Isn't Life Strange" is a 1972 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues Written by bassist John Lodge, it was the first of two singles released from their 1972 album Seventh Sojourn, with the other being "I'm Just a Singer ", also written by Lodge.
"Steppin' in a Slide Zone" is a 1978 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was the first single the Moody Blues had released in five years, after the band's temporary hiatus. It was written by bassist John Lodge, and was released a month later on the album Octave. The song peaked at number 39 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 41 in Canada.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues, released in 1989. The band recorded new versions of "Isn't Life Strange" and "Question" with orchestration by the London Symphony Orchestra. The arrangements were overseen by Anne Dudley, who also produced the recordings with Justin Hayward and John Lodge. In 1990, only a year after its original release, the album was re-released as Legend of a Band: The Story of the Moody Blues with different artwork to coincide with the release of the home video documentary of the same name.
"The Other Side of Life" is a 1986 single written by Justin Hayward and first released by The Moody Blues in May 1986 as the title track on the album The Other Side of Life. It was released as a single in August 1986, the second single released from the album, the first being "Your Wildest Dreams". After its release, it became a modest success in the United States, making #11 and #18 on the adult contemporary and mainstream rock charts respectively. It also reached #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Blue World" is a 1983 single by the Moody Blues written by Justin Hayward. It was first released in the UK as the lead single of the album The Present in August 1983. It was released as single in the US in the Fall of 1983. "Blue World" was one of three singles from The Present, with the others being "Sitting at the Wheel" and "Running Water." The single's cover is a pastiche of the painting Daybreak by Maxfield Parrish.
"No More Lies" is the second single released from the Moody Blues 1988 album Sur la Mer. As a single, it charted at #15 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1988. Like the album's previous single, "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," "No More Lies" was written by Justin Hayward.
"Let's Pretend" is a song by Raspberries, released in March 1973 as the second single from their second LP, Fresh. It was written by band leader Eric Carmen, who also provided the lead vocals.