Track Listing

1. Voice
2. Talking Out of Turn
3. Gemini Dream
4. In My World
5. Meanwhile
6. 22,000 Days
7. Nervous
8. Painted Smile
9. Reflective Smile
10. Veteran Cosmic Rocker

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24644 in Music
• Released on: 2009-03-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this classic 1981 album from the British Pop/Rock band includes one bonus track (the single edit of 'The Voice') and a 16 page booklet. The Moody Blues may not be mentioned in the same breath as The Kinks, The Who, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but they are more than deserving of being compared to those influential bands. From their beginnings in the '60s to the millennium, The Moody Blues have continued to create exceptional music and expand their devoted fanbase with each new generation. Universal. 2008.

Customer Reviews

FINALLY! A Magnificent Re-release of "Long Distance Voyager," by "The Moodies!" :)
There are so many reviews of the albums of The Moody Blues all over the web, so please forgive me if I repeat what anyone had already said or for not being too original in my review. Here is my experience of this remastered edition of "Long Distance Voyager"...

First off, just like the famous early seven CD re-releases by The Moody Blues, whether they be the 1997 remasters or the 2006/2007 expanded editions, we are once again treated to another topnotch remastering job for the CD reissue of "Long Distance Voyager" ... What better candidate to have, when it comes to this task, than Moody Blue band member Justin Hayward?! :) Also, notice how the songs sort of segue together, unlike the original CD release from the 80's, where there would be two or three second gaps between the tracks, so once the last droplet of sound fades from a previous song, the next tune picks up right from that point ... This format takes Moody Blues listeners back to the early albums, when there were no silent gaps between the tracks. I had a feeling that this album would be remastered again, since it was previously remastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, when the limited edition gold CD was released in 1997 ... Usually, albums that are remastered on gold CD's get remastered again, and I'm glad that "Long Distance Voyager" received the recognition it deserved. :)

After "Seventh Sojourn," the latter Moody Blues albums feature synthesizers replacing the mellotrons, as any Moody fan can tell you of course, plus Justin Hayward sings in a more mellow manner than the way he sang on the late 60's/early 70's albums. John Lodge rocks a bit more, at a few points, compared to on the earlier albums (Beginning with "Sitting At The Wheel" from "The Present"). Also, orchestral arrangements grace certain tracks ("Talking Out Of Turn" and "Nervous," from this album). Not so much spoken-word poetry, either, until "Strange Times." Sound-wise, "Long Distance Voyager" is loaded with beautiful heavily-echoed, cooing, and buzzing synthesizer sounds ("The Voice"/"Meanwhile"/"Painted Smile"), layered acoustic guitar ("In My World"/"Nervous"), wild mouth organ overdubs ("22,000 Days"/"Veteran Cosmic Rocker"), and scattered haunting effects (Ex: The intro to "The Voice," Ray Thomas' "Dear Diary-esque" vocals in the middle of "22,000 Days," the atmosphere of "Reflective Smile," and the tail end of "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" with the sitar and backwards vocal). Justin and John also provide combined vocal harmony really well on many of the latter Moody Blues tracks, such as "Gemini Dream." Fortunately, "Long Distance Voyager" features the full seven-minute version of John Lodge's "Talking Out Of Turn," as does "Time Traveller" ... The song just isn't the same when it is "butchered," as it was on compilations like "Anthology" and "The Singles+."

For the bonus track, the single edit of "The Voice" made a nice reprise, after listening to the entire album ... This edit previously made an appearance on the Moody Blues compilation, "Voices In The Sky," from 1984.

There's more ... The CD booklet that accompanies this release is loaded with photos, lyrics, and a history of the band, so you get your money's worth on not just the disc, but with the insert, too! While both the original CD release and the Mobile Fidelity gold CD featured the lyrics and info that was featured on the vinyl release, this expanded release one-ups things by adding the extra info and shots of the band!

This is a very satisfying remastered CD reissue of "Long Distance Voyager!" Congratulations and job well done to Justin Hayward and everyone who worked on this fantastic CD re-release! Now, let's all hope and pray for some remasters of "The Other Side Of Life," "Sur La Mer," "Keys Of The Kingdom," a return of the "This Is The Moody Blues" and "Legend Of A Band" compilations, and also a return of the version of "Strange Times" that featured the bonus tracks, "Highway" and "This Is The Moment" ... Then, I'm sure we'll all be joyous and grateful "Moodies" fans. :) Thanks for reading and God Bless!

~KevyGuy :)
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Meanwhile and far away
This is a great album and it's nice that it's getting a remaster. This album featured several of the Moodies biggest hits: The Voice, Talking Out Of Turn and Gemini Dream which were all over the radio at the time. However, this is one of those albums where every song is as good as the "hits" or better. Meanwhile is one of Justin's really great ballads while Nervous is one of John's best. Graeme's 22,000 is a flat out rocker based on the average life expectancy. The ending of Painted Smile/Refective Smile/Veteran Cosmic Rocker shows why Ray was such an important part of the group. I remember seeing the Moodies several times during this period and these Ray songs (okay, Reflective is Graeme) brought the house down. This was also Patrick Moraz's first album with the band having joined for the Octave tour in '78.

The bonus stuff on this one unfortunately is pretty scant with only the single edit of The Voice.

It's about time, thank you Justin !
I thought this would never be remastered and reissued, and finally this and the Present have finally been done along with Octave (which I still have to get) This is a very well done remastering , and like the other review "Meanwhile" is my favorite track on this cd, but I never heard "the voice" or "Gemini Dream", and even "Talking out of turn" sound so sweet. alot better sound quality than the original cd release. This is definitly the version to get, So to Hayward ,Thank you so much for making a quality remastering.