This Is The Moody Blues

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This Is The Moody Blues
This Is The Moody Blues.jpg
Compilation album by
Released25 October 1974 [1]
Recorded8 October 1967 – 15 August 1972
Genre Progressive rock, psychedelic rock
Length94:18
Label Threshold
Producer Tony Clarke
The Moody Blues chronology
Seventh Sojourn
(1972)
This Is The Moody Blues
(1974)
Caught Live + 5
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [2] Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg

This Is The Moody Blues is a two LP (later two CDs) compilation album by the Moody Blues, released in late 1974 while the band was on a self-imposed sabbatical. Though all of the songs were previously released on albums (with the exception of "A Simple Game" which was a 1968 B-side), several of them are heard here in distinctly different mixes. Like the Moody Blues albums of the time – but unlike most compilation albums, including later Moody Blues compilations – the songs on this album segue seamlessly, without silence between tracks. On the original LP, this was true of the songs on each side; when the album was remastered for CD, each disc was also blended, so that "Legend of a Mind" segues into "In the Beginning", and "Watching and Waiting" segues into "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)".

Contents

The album was the first release to provide a separate name for "Late Lament", the symphonic coda and spoken poem that closes "Nights in White Satin".

This Is The Moody Blues was a commercial and critical success, reaching #14 in the United Kingdom and #11 in the United States.

Original track listing

Side One

  1. "Question" (Justin Hayward) (from A Question of Balance , 1970) – 5:39
  2. "The Actor" (Hayward) (from In Search of the Lost Chord , 1968) – 4:11
  3. "The Word" (Graeme Edge) (spoken poem from In Search of the Lost Chord, remixed over instrumental "Beyond" from To Our Children's Children's Children , 1969) – 0:51
  4. "Eyes of a Child" (John Lodge) (from To Our Children's Children's Children) – 2:34
  5. "Dear Diary" (Ray Thomas) (from On the Threshold of a Dream , 1969) – 3:56
  6. "Legend of a Mind" (Thomas) (from In Search of the Lost Chord) – 6:37

Side Two

  1. "In the Beginning" (Edge) (from On the Threshold of a Dream) – 2:06
  2. "Lovely to See You" (Hayward) (from On the Threshold of a Dream) – 2:35
  3. "Never Comes the Day" (Hayward) (from On the Threshold of a Dream) – 4:39
  4. "Isn't Life Strange" (Edited version) (Lodge) (from Seventh Sojourn , 1972) – 5:32
  5. "The Dream" (Edge) (from On the Threshold of a Dream) – 0:52
  6. "Have You Heard? (Part 1)" (Mike Pinder) (from On the Threshold of a Dream) – 1:23
  7. "The Voyage" (Pinder) (from On the Threshold of a Dream) – 4:08
  8. "Have You Heard? (Part 2)" (Pinder) (from On the Threshold of a Dream) – 2:08

Side Three

  1. "Ride My See-Saw" (Lodge) (from In Search of the Lost Chord) – 3:32
  2. "Tuesday Afternoon" (Hayward) (from Days of Future Passed , 1967) – 4:04
  3. "And the Tide Rushes In" (Thomas) (from A Question of Balance) – 2:54
  4. "New Horizons" (Hayward) (from Seventh Sojourn) – 5:06
  5. "A Simple Game" (Pinder) (B-side to UK "Ride My See-Saw" single, 1968) – 3:18
  6. "Watching and Waiting" (Hayward, Thomas) (from To Our Children's Children's Children) – 4:21

Side Four

  1. "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" (Lodge) (from Seventh Sojourn) – 4:11
  2. "For My Lady" (Thomas) (from Seventh Sojourn) – 3:54
  3. "The Story in Your Eyes" (Hayward) (from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour , 1971) – 2:45
  4. "Melancholy Man" (Pinder) (from A Question of Balance) – 5:05
  5. "Nights in White Satin" (Hayward) (from Days of Future Passed) – 4:33
  6. "Late Lament" (Edge, Peter Knight) (from Days of Future Passed) – 2:33

Charts

Chart (1974-1975)Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [3] 2
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [4] 22
UK Albums (OCC) [5] 14
US Billboard 200 [6] 11

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [7] Platinum100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [8] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [9] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Moody Blues</span> English band

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".

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<i>In Search of the Lost Chord</i> 1968 studio album by The Moody Blues

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<i>To Our Childrens Childrens Children</i> 1969 studio album by the Moody Blues

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<i>Seventh Sojourn</i> 1972 studio album by the Moody Blues

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nights in White Satin</span> 1967 single by The Moody Blues

"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.

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<i>Caught Live + 5</i> 1977 live album by The Moody Blues

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<i>Prelude</i> (The Moody Blues album) 1987 compilation album by The Moody Blues

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<i>Greatest Hits</i> (The Moody Blues album) 1989 compilation album by The Moody Blues

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Pinder</span> British musician

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References

  1. "BPI".
  2. Eder, Bruce. This Is The Moody Blues at AllMusic
  3. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3924a". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  4. "Charts.nz – The Moody Blues – This Is The Moody Blues". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  5. "The Moody Blues | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  6. "The Moody Blues Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  7. "Canadian album certifications – The Moody Blues – This Is The Moody Blues". Music Canada.
  8. "British album certifications – The Moody Blues – This Is The Moody Blues". British Phonographic Industry.
  9. "American album certifications – The Moody Blues – This Is The Moody Blues". Recording Industry Association of America.

Discography