Customer Reviews

The Moody Blues Hall of Fame - Live From the Royal Albert Hall

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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!!

First, let's get the bad out of the way:

This is a very short concert, and to be honest, it may have been better if they would have cut it shorter. Huh? Let me explain. The Moody Blues have a wealth of great material (32 years worth) that they could have brought to this concert. Their choice of songs (maybe more correctly, what they didn't choose) left me scratching my head. Their newest CD, "Strange Times" has enough "A" material to add another 20 minutes to the concert's length alone! And the highlight of this DVD, indeed the band's crowning glory "Nights in White Satin" should have ended the show (excluding any encores).

Some groups pay particular attention to what songs are played and precisely where they are placed, in order to build emotional impact. Pink Floyd's "PULSE" concert was engineered to perfection...a constant building, including the entire "Dark Side of the Moon" album, until the glorious grand-finale (a 3-song encore)...a full 2 1/2 hour, mindblowing concert. The Moody Blues need to pay more attention to this aspect and arrangement.

The editing in this set was often abrupt and very noticeable, and took away from the "live" feel. I understand that applause can be boring, but that's part of the concert experience. One moment I see this band at the end of the stage, and the next they are in front of their respective microphones. This happens frequently and it's very disconcerting. Why the rush? Did someone forget to put money in the parking meter?

Now on to the good:

And there is a lot of good! There are some truly great performances in here, folks, even on material I consider mediocre. I've never heard "Isn't Life Strange", a quirky little number to say the least, sound as good as it did here. I was amazed! "Tuesday Afternoon" is a great opening song, and it was done to perfection. "English Sunset", one of my all time favorites (yeah, I know it's brand new), sounded better (actually MUCH better) in this live performance than on their studio CD release. I didn't think that could be possible.

The group was having fun out there, and their performances showed it. All three (Hayward, Lodge, and Thomas) were in excellent voice, but the Moody Blues calling card is their harmony and blending, and we see it best in this concert -- each giving his part making the whole that much richer and more rewarding. It's like saying, "Attention! Real artists on board."

And finally, "Nights in White Satin". I literally had goosebumps. Tell me another piece so packed with musical emotion and luscious string arrangements. You can't. If the Moody Blues never made anything but "Nights in White Satin", their mark on history would still be etched in stone.

Two other items I cannot leave out, and that was the orchestra and the engineer(s) who mixed the music. They were exceptional, and they made all the difference in the world (again, how could "English Sunset" be that much better live?). Believe me, their efforts are a high-water mark throughout this concert.

So how do I rate "Hall of Fame"? Good question, and I've been giving it much thought. To say that this was a 5-star DVD would be WAY over zealous, considering all that I didn't like about it. And a 3-star rating (average) wouldn't do justice to the sterling performances. So, I guess I'll cop out and give this a marginal 7 out of 10 and a 4-star ranking. Make no mistake, for just the performances of "Nights" and "English" alone, this is well worth the money, and I'm very happy that I have it. The Moody Blues are back, and they are back in a big, big way!

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!~~

I had a smile on my face a mile wide throughout the whole show. It is just amazing how good these guys still are. I recently dug up an old video of an old woodstock like music festival called the Isle Of Wight festival. The Moody Blues were one of the groups along with many others way back in 1970. Thirty years later this band is still going strong. Dick Clark would probably be jealous of Justin Hayward. This guy doesn't look his age and he can write excellent tunes, play a great guitar and sing with the best of them.

Great song selection,(although I wanted many more)superior sound and picture, this DVD is a real treasure to Moody Blues fans of old and new. This could be one of those DVD's that puts VHS users over the edge to break and part with the money for a DVD player. I'm also a Grateful Dead fan and it was "Downhill From Here" that did it for me.

This DVD is second in sound quality only to Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature". The picture quality is awesome. Don't get me wrong. The DTS sound is truly great and the performance is excellent.The orchestra behind the Moody's reproduces their older hits flawlessly. They have a beautiful "full" sound. The video is some of the best I've seen since Yes's "Live from the house of blues". I would have liked to have seen a little more from the female back-up singers. Their presence was not as obvious sonically as (again I must use the Steely Dan DVD) 2 Against Nature but overall the concert is truly a must have and will demonstrate your home theatre system beautifully! Go get it!

Its great to be able to watch the Moody Blues live and this DVD is amazing. The sound and graphic quality is superb. If you are a fan, go buy it!

2 things wrong that keeps this from getting 5 stars: 1) Its not a full concert, with a few notable songs cut out. 2) An unforgiveable edit of "Legend of the Mind" in which over a minute of music is cut out. Have no idea why they did that!

I caught this concert on PBS totally by accident and I'm glad I did. I had all the Moody Blues Albums in the 70's but they went out in the trash with the rest of the vinyl. I loved them then and I fell in love all over again. I particularly got a kick out of it because they are just a little older than me. Time sure has a way of bringing ages closer together. But they can still rock ! It even inspired me to order their latest CD and Seventh Sojourn all over again. I can't get the song "Haunted" out of my head. I think I've played it about 50 times since I got the DVD. Great Stuff.

Is this the Moodies in one of their finest live performances?

Moodies fan for many years. I'm a little wary of their live output due to the ups and downs in quality based on venue, sound reproduction and playlist. However, all thier past performances have, in my opinion, become superceded by this great concert! I've seen them live three times and this has to be the best video of the "classic four"; Hayward,Lodge,Edge,Thomas in great musical company and a sweeping orchestral accompanyment with long-time collaborator and conductor Larry Baird.

The Royal Albert Hall is a fabulous location for that unique Moody megamix and consumate artistry we have come to expect from this British group. All the hits are here with some breath-taking vocals and artistic guitar-work by Justin Hayward, humorous antics and great bass by John Lodge, passionate drum-playing by Graeme Edge and soaring flute solos by Ray Thomas. All that's missing is Mike Pinder and his mellotron, but that's another story. The video quality is also top-notch!

The unrivaled beauty of Moody Blues music is one of the reasons they have endured in our hearts for so long. The music has a timeless quality to it. Listen to the hauntingly exquisite "Nights in White Satin" from the mid-sixties, and compare it to the soothing warmth of "Haunted" from the last few years. Yet, they can also turn on the rock-beat. Check out the extended set on "I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band" and the fancy guitar-licks on Hayward's "Story in your eyes". "Ride My See-Saw" is a merry encore where you can sense the exhilaration and exhuberence of the band.

My favorite song; "I know you're out there somewhere", where the middle section gets a glowing blue-light special treatment from Hayward and some great cymbol-smashes. Even my goosebumps were dancing! A totally enjoyable experience... Moody fan or not, this is a class-act DVD... well worth the time and investment.

Firstly a perfect setting, the Royal Albert Hall.
Justin Hayward's wonderfully emotional voice and superb guitar work.John Lodge's personality, bass work and vocals.Ray Thomas's super voice and flute work & Graham Edge's drums,the band has never been better!Add the orchestra, other musicians and backing singers and what a night in store!To watch true artistes at work gives you goosebumps!One selfish gripe, about 40 minutes too short!!!Brilliant.