Customer Reviews

Night Flight

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In 1978, Jeff Wayne recruited Justin Hayward to sing and perform on the highly acclaimed "War Of The Worlds" album. Wayne went on to produce the album, including Hayward's single "Forever Autumn", which became a worldwide hit. As a way of saying "thank you" for Hayward's contribution, two years later Wayne returns the favor by producing Hayward's 1980 album "Night Flight".

The title cut is the best song on the album, showcasing Hayward's soaring vocals and recognizable guitar. The next track "Maybe It's Just Love" is light and pretty, however, the rest of the tracks here just don't match up to the creativity and originality of Hayward's previous solo album "Songwriter" from three years earlier. The album features brass and string arrangements, a female group occasionally providing background vocals, and a slight bit of a "disco" beat to some of the songs, but unfortunately these aspects don't carry the album to top notch status. Nonetheless, die-hard Moody Blues/Justin Hayward fans will desire this album to make sure their collection is complete.

If you own Songwriter, than expect more of the same. Played back-to-back the two albums have consistency. This is not a Moody Blues album, however.

Like Songwriter, select tracks here are wonderful and make the album worth getting for fans, though the entire record arc is lovely.


Night Flight, Penumbra Moon, Face in the Crowd all have that special something and those Justin harmonies always get me...

Hayward only wrote six of the songs on this collection and each one of them stands up to every song he's done since. The others don't seem to have the range of emotional urgency Hayward delivers so well - perhaps it's because it didn't pen them. However, it's still a great vocal recording and having all his CD's, I couldn't pass this one up and I'm glad I have it. The additional bonus tracks of, "Bedtime Stories" is just additional filler, but the live rendition of "Forever Autumn" is excellent and hard to find.

Hayward only wrote five of the songs on this collection and each one of them stands up to every song he's done since. The others don't seem to have the range of emotional urgency Hayward delivers so well - perhaps it's because it didn't pen them. However, it's still a great vocal recording and having all his CD's, I couldn't pass this one up and I'm glad I have it.

Justin Hayward is one of the greatest, yet most underrated, singer-songwriters of the last half-decade.

Now having said that, in "Night Flight" he seems at the mercy of producers who don't know quite what to do with him. It's as if they want to turn him into sort of a new-age Tony Bennett.

If they had succeeded, I'd give this album only 3 stars. But Mr. Hayward's work is wonderfully distinctive and unique and his vocals, phrasing, and guitar (ah, those guitar solos -- rising from the deepest, darkest places in the soul) manage to shine through the listless production.

Album is worth owning, but don't expect the insight or impact of Moving Mountains, View From the Hill, or Songwriter.

I am a huge fan of Justin Hayward, but this is definitely not his best CD. He has written so many classic songs, but the only great song on this CD is "Night Flight". The others are okay, not bad. If you are a fan of Justin, then this is worth adding to your "collection".

"Nightflight", originally released back in 1980 while the Moody Blues were recording "Long Distance Voyager" is the closest that Justin ever came to disco pop on an album. Still, this plays superbly and the songs are strong and rich, even though Justin only wrote a few of them. This is, honestly, my least favorite of his solo albums, but it is still a great album on its own and needed by any Moody Blues fan.

I've lstened to just about everything Justin Hayward has written and performed. This is not his best. His 1996 release, "The View From The Hill" is a much better collection of his work.

This is a Jeff Wayne venture (War of the worlds) in which Justin sang "Forever Autumn". But no song on the album has the impact of that song. They thought the colaboration would carry on after . This is not the Justin we all know from the Moodies, but his lyrics are still romantic. The best albums are still "songwriter" and "view from a hill" I'm sorry but this album has no depth.

This album is always referred to as the "disco" album due to the use of synthesizers and such, but it is really a nice album. Justin does wonderful work here and it is one of my favorites. Don't miss it!