Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98666 in Digital Music Album
• Released on: 2004-07-26
• Running time: 4436 seconds

Customer Reviews

Good performance, but BAD editing!
I have followed The Moody Blues since 1981, and have them live several times. When I listened to this CD I was impressed by the overall sound quality and performances, which are far superiour to their last live recording, the somewhat sloppy and rushed "Red Rocks". This time The Moodies are much more coordinated and comfortable with the orchestra, and it really shows. However, thre are some downsides to this album. Firstly, two of the tracks are heavily edited (butchered!) "Isn't Life Strange" is missing the entire second verse, in an obvious, glarring edit job! And worse yet, the only Ray Thomas song featured on the entire album, "Legend of a Mind" is literally chopped in half! "Legend" is missing Ray's great extended flute solo that has been a highlight of all of those Moody Blues shows that I have seen over the years! It was this "solo" section that really made the live version of "Legend" different and more exciting that its 1968 studio version, now this great concert moment is completely lost! Another downside to this album is the song selection. Not that there are any BAD songs here, but this is almost the exact same track listing as the "Red Rocks" album from several years ago, and even the "Greatest Hits" album! At the show from which this CD is taken, The Moodies played John Lodge's classic "Steppin' In a Slide Zone", the energetic "Strange Times", and Graeme Edge's new "spoken word" piece "Nothing Changes" Why were these songs not included in place of songs that have already been featured on BOTH of The Moodies official live albums? ("Caught Live" being the other) Wouldn't this be a better "value for the money" for those who collect every Moodies release? I'm glad to see that at least three of the new songs from 1999's "Strange Times" HAVE been included here, "English Sunset", "Haunted", and Lodges beautiful "Words You Say", which really makes good use of the orchestra. But why were the other new tracks not included? I believe that some of the famous "oldies" should have been set aside to make room for some tracks that we haven't heard live before. Also, room needed to be made for the COMPLETE version of Ray's "Legend Of a Mind", which was NOT featured on the "Red Rocks" CD in ANY version. All in all, this could have been an excellent album, and is one up to a point, but I will always feel let-down and dissapointed when I hear those incomplete versions of "Legend" and "Isn't Life Strange".

The best things come in small packages
Moody Blues performances have always been about the music - no gimmicks, no fake emotions - and this is fine a collection from their recent tour when, once again, they were in fine form. For a foursome of some 35 years, unlike many other 'troopers' peddling muscial nostalgia, the Moodies' new songs stand up to the old favourites, especially 'Haunted" and 'Words You Say' - indeed few other bands would risk playing 25% new songs and dropping some of their back catalogue from their act. Sure, there are numbers we wanted to hear and it's sad that the solos in 'Singer in a Rock and Roll Band' and 'Legend of a Mind' had to be cut to fit on the CD, but this is a great performance and, while some may think the reaction of the English audience quiet, at least it was genuine and from the heart. The recording is crystal clear and a rich, bassy sound unlike the more lacklustre, thin and muffled sound of 'Red Rocks'. The Moodies still have much to offer, both in terms of recording new material and touring - long may they keep us on the threshold of our dreams.

Tough on the Ears
I've always enjoyed all the Moodies "live" material (Red Rocks, Caught Live +5, radio concerts, bootlegs,) and especially Hayward's solo release "Live in Capistrano". This is by far the worst "live" material this classic band has ever released.

Why? First of all, blame the band itself. They're overworked from all their concerts; this CD lacks any kind of energy or enthusiasm by the members. Outside of "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Haunted", Justin Hayward's voice labors the rest of the show. "I Know You're Out There Somewhere", "In Your Wildest Dreams" and "Story in Your Eyes" are simply awful. Hayward is singing them in a totally different key (and sometimes tempo) to compensate for his overworked voice. And unlike previous "live" material, John Lodge's songs are more tolerable than Hayward's this time around.

The second problem with this CD is on the mixing and production. Because the crowd noise is so faint and the vocals are so far up front, one starts to think this CD could pass for a rehearsal in the studio rather than a "live performance". There's too much bass and very little keyboard as well. The sound could also use more reverb, especially in Hayward's voice. When you attend a Moodies show, reverb is a key ingredient to many of their stage numbers. With this CD, we hear reverb on Lodge's material but not on the others. As a result, many of the songs featured here suffer from a total flatness.

The third problem with this CD is that we're shortchanged on the material. The so-called "Overture" is drastically truncated and how about adding "The Voice" or Ray Thomas' flute solo on "Legend of A Mind". This release is the shortest of all previous Moody Blues "live" CDs. One could easily add another 5 or 6 minutes of material before CD overload. Did they ever consider a double CD?

How disappointing for a band of this caliber to release something so dismal. At least this time, the Moodies didn't plug their merchandise on the sleeve insert like their recent "Strange Times" CD. The packaging of this CD is also scant (no pictures, text, etc.). I'm sure the music critics will have a field day with this release. How sad. Please Moody Blues, start making better musical and business decisions. You have a catalog of exceptional music and you can do better! Making mistakes like this at the end of your career is bad for your reputation.