Product Description

Legendary British rock group The Moody Blues are captured live performing many of their international smash hits backed by the World Festival Orchestra. Recorded live at the famed Royal Albert Hall on May 1, 2000. 81 minutes.

Songs:
1. Overture
2. Tuesday Afternoon
3. English Sunset
4. Words You Say
5. The Story in Your Eyes
6. I Know You're Out There Somewhere
7. Haunted
8. Your Wildest Dreams
9. Isn't Life Strange
10. I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
11. Nights in White Satin
12. Legend of a Mind
13. Question
14. Ride My See-Saw

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8897 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-11-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 81 minutes

Amazon.com
With graying baby boomers becoming key underwriters of viewer-supported television, a staid Public Broadcasting System grudgingly acknowledged the existence of rock & roll in the 1990s. The Moody Blues, via their somewhat heavy-handed, 1993 concert video A Night at Red Rocks, were among the first Woodstock generation acts to end up in constant rotation during affiliate pledge drives. The band's PBS follow-up, Hall of Fame, is an improvement overall. Taped at London's Royal Albert Hall early in 2000, the Moodies' more freewheeling performance this time mixes satisfying selections from their catalogue of hits from 1968 to 1972 with a few Top 40 entries released in the late '80s ("I Know You're Out There Somewhere," "Your Wildest Dreams"). The sheer pleasure of watching the core quartet of Ray Thomas, Justin Hayward, John Lodge, and Graeme Edge ease their way into Mellotron masterpieces from Days of Future Passed, as well as the trippy curiosity of "Legend of a Mind" and the dizzying pop mutations of "Ride My See-Saw," is a study in grace. Backed by the once-fictional London Festival Orchestra (credited as a key musical collaborator on Days), the band eschews grandiosity for a pointed but delicate yearning, and whips up its typically stately tone of cosmic romanticism. The frenzied joy of a mixed-age audience brings smiles to the Moodies' faces and a sometimes-unexpected vigor to their vocals--catch Ray Thomas's booming "Welllll!" during every chorus of "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)"--which helps to make this program a treat to watch repeatedly. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

It Could've Been So Much Better
For the casual fan of the Moody Blues, this DVD (and the accompanying CD release) is just fine. It shows you where the Moodies are on the Threshold of a New Millennium.

But for a long time (33 years) fan such as myself, the DVD is a disappointment. Technically, the DVD is fine; sound and audio are great. The band looks great, and sounds wonderful.

Having seen the band on tour in '99 and 2000 in support of the Strange Times CD, I am too keenly aware of what was LEFT OFF the DVD: 1. Graeme Edge's spoken word coda to the orchestral overture. This has been a staple of the Moodies' concerts over the last decade, and to eliminate it was a bad artistic decision. 2. Graeme's moving song from Strange Times, "Nothing Changes." In many ways this song is the summation of the Moody Blues from 1967 to 2000 and should've been included. 3. The exclusion of "For My Lady," which is the only other song Ray Thomas does in concert anymore. The other song gets discussed... 4. ...now. As an earlier reviewer noted, how and why in the world was the instrumental break from "Legend of a Mind" edited out? This amazing exchange between Ray and keyboard whiz Paul Bliss is often the musical highlight of a Moodies show. It's unthinkable that this would be cut from the video.

As noted by another reviewer, the DVD is only 80 minutes long. Since we know that one side of a DVD can hold nearly 3 hours of material, it makes no sense to this fan why these cuts were made.

Strange Times, indeed.

Great performance!!! :)
This is the way that The Moody Blues were meant to be heard-- live with a full orchestra! I just saw this performace on PBS, and now I definitely want to get either the DVD or the VHS, and probably the CD as well. The Moodies have been around for a long time, and are clearly energized here. They even move around a bit here and there, which is something that they never used to do before. They even pose for the cameras sometimes while they play! They definitely had a lot of fun doing this, and it shows.

The "Overture" that begins the show is a five-minute, orchestra-only medley of parts of some of their best-known songs, including "Nights In White Satin." Then the Moodies take the stage, and commence with "Tuesday Afternoon." Although lead singer and guitarist Justin Hayward's voice sounds a bit rusty at the beginning (he doesn't quite have the voice he used to have, but that's understandable), he does warm up nicely during the song, and is able to hold the two crucial long notes. With the orchestral accompaniment, one fondly remembers the wonderful original version from their breakthrough album DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED. The band then effortlessly glides thrity years into the future with a recent song called "English Sunset." This song is a bouncy, uptempo homage to the Moodies' homeland, and shows that they can still write good songs that bear their distinctive mark while sounding new and fresh at the same time. It is a very good song indeed. Next, co-lead singer and bass guitarist John Lodge gets his turn on a nice ballad called "Words You Say." His voice has apparently held up VERY well over the years, with not much sign of wear and tear at all. Then, they do a good version of their hard-rock classic "The Story In Your Eyes." Next comes the upbeat late-80's hit "I Know You're Out ThereSomewhere" which deserves its place as a Moody Blues classic. They do this song just as bouncily as they did back in 1988.

I could go on and on through every track here, but I want to conclude now by singling out their live version of "Isn't Life Strange" for praise. Originally recorded in 1972 for the non-orchestral SEVENTH SOJOURN album, they and the World Festival Orchestra inject new life into it, and make me wonder why this song hadn't been originally recorded this way in the first place. The drummer, Graeme Edge, has a great time with this song, as his arms go flying, pounding out extra drumbeats in the harder parts.

Very last note: when they finally do their all-time classic "Nights In White Satin," they skip over Graeme Edge's spoken poetry section, which kind of disappointed me a little. However, they still do a wonderful version of this song anyway. Overall, if you love The Moody Blues like I do (and I've been listening to them for 25 years now), this is a tape you should get. Otherwise, get the DVD. Either way, don't miss out on this incredible peformance. The Moody Blues are back, and they are still great!!

Excellent and Superb Performance!
I saw this concert on PBS for the first time last month and it totally blew me away! It rocked and the intensity of the band was awesome! They have certainly gotten better and better with time. They certainly know how to touch a person's heart and soul. The Moody Blues were awesome at "RED ROCKS", but they're performance at "ROYAL ALBERT HALL" was better then awesome simply EXCELLENT! I'd give them 10 stars if I could. ~~Moody Blues Fan Forever!~~