Customer Reviews

To Our Children's Children's Children

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To Our Children's Children's Children is one of the two most consistent and musically cohesive albums the Moody Blues ever did (the other is "Lost Chord"). If it has a fault it is that the dexterous, subtle electric and acoustic guitar rhythms of Justin Hayward are often overwhelmed with the thick and unsubtle drone of Mike Pinder's mellotron orchestrations, especially on "Out and In", making the album dense-sounding and difficult to digest in a single sitting. There are five absolutely outstanding songs here that merit some description, listed in the order they appear. 1) "Higher and Higher" by Graeme Edge: It opens with a blast of sound - a rocket launch? the "big bang"? - that melts into a choir of voices and one of the most propulsive rock songs ever recorded. The song is also graced by some Moodies humor in the spoken words: "bursting forth with the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes". 2) "Eyes of a Child" is simple and exquisitely beautiful. John Lodge does not hit the bull's eye often, but he does with this song. 3) "Gypsy", by Justin Hayward is simply one of the best adrenalin-pumping rock songs ever by anybody. 4) "Eternity Road" by Ray Thomas climaxes with the best, most exciting instrumental music the Moodies ever recorded, unlike anything any other rock band ever produced. Listen very closely to Justin's barely audible acoustic guitar work in the final minute, as well as his rousing dual-tracked electric guitar solo. Mike Pinder's electronics and Ray's flute are scintillating, and Graeme Edge's drumming is brilliant. Graeme always meets the subtle percussive needs of his bandmates' music, but listen to him on this song and you'll know how good he really is. 5) Closing out the album is "Watching and Waiting" by Justin and Ray. Just be quiet and close your eyes - when the song is over you will feel cheated at having to return to real life. This album was the creative peak of the Moody Blues.

Anybody who's ever criticized The Moody Blues for being too "fluffy" a rock band has obviously never heard this album. "To Our Children's Children's Children" is the Moody Blues' greatest achievement in their long, illustrious recording career, and it is also one of the greatest albums---rock OR otherwise---ever created by anyone. The band's music on "Children" is passionate, soulful, and spiritual, with fabulous songwriting, luscious production, beautiful vocals, memorable lyrics, and phenomenal playing by the band. THIS album truly is art-rock at it's most artful. What "Children" has in mighty abundance is *atmosphere*, and all five band members make wonderful, atmospheric songwriting contributions to the album. Want proof that the Moodies can rock with the best of them? Try Graeme Edge's supreme opener, "Higher & Higher," in which the band literally come CRASHING in through the speakers! The Moodies *totally* shred wallpaper on this thunderous gem (as they do with Edge's other powerful piece, the ominous "Beyond"). John Lodge's excellent "Eyes Of A Child" & "Candle Of Life" are both very lovely songs & certainly among his best. Ray Thomas contributes a pair of dreamy compositions too, the appropriately-titled "Floating" and the soaring "Eternity Road." Mellotron master Mike Pinder leaves a mighty impression with his perfect pair, "Out and In" & "Sun Is Still Shining." And finally, there's the one-and-only Justin Hayward: "Gypsy" is a passionate rocker, "I Never Thought I'd Live To Be A Hundred/Million" is simple but oh-so-sweet, and "Watching And Waiting," co-written with Thomas, is a truly haunting song, arguably Hayward's finest moment on record, and the perfect song to close this perfect album with. The Moodies have always made great music and continue to do so to this day, but "To Our Children's Children's Children" stands as their greatest musical statement, an album with SO much power & emotion that it will leave you awestruck. The Moody Blues made their mark with "Days Of Future Passed," but with "To Our Children's Children's Children," they made their masterpiece.

As with their earlier concept albums, the opening cut of this third of the four such concept albums released by the Moody Blues in rapid fire succession tells it all, a provocative, thoughtful, and intellectually fascinating exploration of a range of problems surrounding the possibility of life in a post-apocalyptic world. It amazes me that most of the other reviewers don't seem to recognize the basic concept of this album, so they trivialize it without understanding its basic premise. As in their previous albums, the Moody Blues use a rock style fusing mainstream rock music and eastern musical forms, and with a singular virtuosity that is spellbinding to listen to. No one carried such musical explorations with more panache and style than the Moody Blues, who, to their great distress, quickly became a kind of cult force in popular culture, making them pop icons overnight.

This is an intriguing album, and a valuable introduction for the uninitiated to the wild range of talents and interests of the various members of the band, and is a showcase for their musical virtuosity. From the opening tension-filled rock introduction of the idea of a world posing the question of how we survive, we suddenly switch to a dream-like sequence of songs set in a time in the future, and anyone seeing the original cover art understood all too well the otherwise implied notion of a world returned to a "Planet of the Apes" type wild and barren world vacated of rampant technology comfortable certainties. It builds on the earlier albums in the sense it follows the countercultural ideas as well as the precepts of outspoken critics of mainstream society like Lewis Mumford and others exploring the possibilities of a world gone beyond what science and technology can provide. The mood of thoughtful exploration of the issue is established, and we are in for another wondrous mind ride that the Moodies were so singularly famous for. The rest of the album focuses increasingly on aspects of this tension with an individual's needs and thoughts and ways of surviving a life of meaning in a post-apocalyptic future characterized by uncertainty and a devastated world.

This is classic stuff, with the lyrics, melodies, and extremely artful arrangements supporting the search for identity. My favorites here are "In The Eyes Of A Child", "Gypsy', and the haunting "Watching And Waiting". As always, they mine the range of modern rock with more panache and virtuosity than anyone else. This is classic Moody Blues material, and they mine this genre in a way uniquely their own. I would start with "In Search Of The Lost Chord", and work my way deliciously through "On The Threshold Of A Dream", this album, "To Our Childrens' Childrens' Children", and the fourth and final album, "A Question Of Balance", which comprises the real close of this phase of their concept album series. All of them are thoughtful, artistically well expressed, and a timeless celebration of what it means to be human. I highly recommend all their albums. Enjoy!

This 1969 album is another favorite of mine from the 1967-1972 period along with the superb In Search of the Lost Chord (1968). The concept on To Our Children's, Children's, Children is (if I am not mistaken), spiritual enlightenment through space travel or, as the lyrics suggest, "...conquering the heavens" - I think in this one instance, technology was being viewed as serving a beneficial purpose (unlike the negative views of technology maintained by ELP for example). The source of their inspiration was the first lunar landing, which (according to the liner notes) had not taken place yet, or was about to take place shortly when the Moodies wrote the album. This was also the last of the lengthy concept albums by the band, and they would change their approach with A Question of Balance (1970), and adopt a "formula" that they would maintain through Seventh Sojourn (1972) before disbanding until 1978.

The (classic) lineup at this point included Ray Thomas (flutes, lead and backing vocals); John Lodge (bass guitar, acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals); Mike Pinder (piano, mellotron, organ, lead and backing vocals), Justin Hayward (electric and acoustic guitars, lead and backing vocals); and Graeme Edge (drums). These guys worked very well as an ensemble and managed to get a very full, symphonic sound. Mike's work on the mellotron (with string setting) really contributed a great deal to the symphonic properties.

Each of the 13 pieces on the album are more or less loosely strung together into a song-cycle suite of sorts. Like many of the albums released during this early period, the music is a very nice mixture of melancholy soundscapes saturated with the mellotron, soft textures generated on the acoustic guitar, and great vocals by Justin and the other members. There is also a bit of experimentation with sound effects (as with the introductory "blast off") and snippets of pieces that weave in and out of the album, thus restating themes at various points. There is also the lighter side of the Moodies, which is nicely represented by the cheery song Floating, which is quite a departure from the very heavy and haunting material that dominates the album. I would have to say that although I love the entire suite, the gloomy and mellotron heavy closing track Waiting and Watching is my favorite piece.

This remastered album is pretty good and features decent sound quality along with snippets of interviews with the band members reprinted in the liner notes

All in all this is an excellent album by the Moody Blues and is very highly recommended along with Days of Future Passed (1967); In Search of the Lost Chord; A Question of Balance; and Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971).

It's thirty-five years now since I started seriously listening to music. My personal life had its ups and downs in these long years; it also reflected the dramatic history of the last decades in Poland and, more generally, this part of Europe. Sometimes I spent hours listening, sometimes I had to live months without music; yet it was always deep inside. Starting my reviews for Amazon (which I find really very thrilling site) I would like to begin with albums that meant the most for me; so there will be mostly 5 stars reviews for the first 50 or so albums :-)
When I think about 60's music, I feel the Moody Blues were by far the greatest. They sure weren't outstanding in terms of virtuosity, their only really revolutionary album was "Days Of Future Passed" (where, as the first rock band ever, they fully succeeded incorporating a symphony orchestra and blending it perfectly with rock). I think the main source of their success was perfect balance: the music was very accessible yet experimental enough (they were pioneers of progressive rock) - the experiments, however, never led to excess. Beautiful harmony vocals were their strength, always elegant and smooth, but (in their prime) always with deep inner sense, far from generic pop. Perfect use of mellotron by Mike Pinder was another big advantage, no wonder they started losing it when Mike left the band. Finally - their lyrics. Some say - too simplistic, full of naive pseudo-philosophy - but I think they fit the music perfectly, and like the music, came directly from their hearts.
I love all early MB albums, and also some later stuff, but I feel TOCCC is really their best, most balanced release. Every song has this cosmic, mystical touch of Universal Harmony, so prevalent in the music of old masters and so absent in today's pop blah blah. It's even hard to rate the individual songs, they are so much an entity that I can't even imagine removing any of them. But let us try:
Higher And Higher - an introduction. Maybe a bit weaker than their other intros, say "Story In Your Eyes" or "Question", but still good and funny lyrics 8/10
Eyes of a Child I - a ballad, beautiful beyond words to describe it, fantastic melody, beautiful refrain 10/10
Floating - a fairy tale atmosphere. One of Ray Thomas' best, in his a bit childish style 10/10
Eyes of a Child II - rocking sequel to the first part. Prefer part one, but brings some diversity to this, overall quiet and relaxed album 9/10
I Never Thought I'd Live To be a Hundred - kind of a short prayer with a guitar (like later Peace from King Crimson's "Wake Of Poseidon"). Nothing special, but it's short and brings some special feeling of, say, speaking to "children's children children" 7/10
Beyond - cosmic instrumental rocker 8/10
Out And In - beautiful slow track, reminds me of Nights In White Satin. Some complain about thick mellotron layer, but I actually love it. 10/10
Gypsy - not typical for MB. Dark, ominous rocker, dark lyrics about "gypsy of a strange and distant time" bring shivers down my spine. Beautiful chorus, everything just great and so eerie 10/10
Eternity Road - the best song of Ray Thomas, period. The guitar solo near the end is beyond words. Again, smart and deep lyrics. I love this song 10/10
Candle Of Life - maybe the best known here (not Watching And Waiting chosen for the single, they should take this or Gypsy). Very romantic with piano and refrain "So love everybody and make them your friends" so simple and so, so true, and so often forgotten. Sure coming from heart. Another highlight 10/10
Sun Is Still Shining - good song, but a little bit less memorable melody and somehow forgettable lyrics. I love Mike Pinder, but it's not his best. 7/10
Watching And Waiting - another slow track. Intended to repeat the success of Nights In White Satin, so chosen for the single. But sure not so memorable, and a bit boring near the end. So, no wonder the single made no success. Still good album ending and fits it perfectly, so deserves 8/10

But, once again, lower ratings of some songs are only relative. Even lower points of TOCCC are masterpieces and most other songs by other artists from this time pale in comparison. Rock can be real art. and this is the proof. Highly recommended.

A masterpiece of lyrical poetry, musical artistry and dramatic cohesiveness. The brilliantly-realized thematic structure, sadly, seems to be missed by many fans as well as critics. The album is a parable about the most fundamental human yearning, a longing for spirituality and, ultimately, the mystery of our place in the universe. The Moodies use spaceflight and cosmic exploration as the metaphoric threads to weave this tapestry, in a brilliantly scripted linear progression through both space (e.g., from Tranquility Base to Eternity Road) and time (from "live to be a hundred" to "live to be a million" to "Watching and Waiting"). From the visceral thrill of a rocketship takeoff ("Higher and Higher"), to the delightful playing-like-a-kid feel of "Floating" (evocative of bounding around on the moon at 1/6 earth gravity) to the dark, driving, human-scale-dwarfing force of traveling through deep space ("Gypsy"), the music progresses from our first halting steps to our nearby cosmic neighbors all the way to deep space, millions of years into the future. "Watching and Waiting" is, of course, not about Justin Hayward's personal loneliness, but rather a song written from the point-of-view of the universe ITSELF (or perhaps a remote virgin planet) "waiting for a friend to play with" -- a lonely cosmic elysian field or undiscovered paradise, unable to achieve meaning until a sentient, living creature can arrive to experience/share it. That a pop songwriter has been able to poetically convey the anthropomorphic notion of what a lonely, unihabited world might be feeling in such deft, subtle, yet deeply evocative terms is amazing. It suggests what many theoretical physicists have already articulated -- that the impulse toward life (and even love) is innate in the universe, and might even define the reason for cosmic existence. "Watching" is a fitting conclusion to this incomparably rich, monumental work of rock artistry. (Side note: some of the critics who trash "Floating" for being trite or "Out and In" for being overproduced have no problem with outright rubbish like "Octopus's Garden", "Mickey's Monkey", "She's So Heavy" or innumerable other worthless throwaways by the Beatles. I suggest that anyone who can't appreciate this album is either tone deaf, emotionally bankrupt, or just not listening. I'm a Beatles fan, but I believe that their work is far more uneven than that of the Moodies, and no Beatles album, with the exception of Sgt. Pepper, even comes close to achieving the grandeur, vision and just plain great music that "Children" does.)

The core of The Moody Blues catalog begins with the IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD, continues through the classic, consecutive releases of ON THE THRESHHOLD OF A DREAM, TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR, and A QUESTION OF BALANCE, and ends with SEVENTH SOJOURN. Without these truly great, psychedelic albums, given the spotty nature of virtually all of their later albums, this band would have been but a footnote in rock music history, if remembered at all. Their first few singles, including `Go Now,' almost don't count, as the personnel lineup was different, and their style was nothing like what was to come. Although DAYS OF FUTURE PAST contains some beautiful moments and includes one of the Moodys' biggest hits, `Nights In White Satin,' it wasn't until the next album, IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD, that the Moody Blues found their groove. Each of the above-mentioned, best records was a concept album, with songs fading one into the next, often connected by brief instrumental and spoken interludes. They all revolved around a particular theme, with IN SEARCH beginning their journey with an exploration of spirituality and various forms of meditation. THRESHHOLD was intense and dreamlike, filled with storybook images of medieval kings & queens, wizards, knights and castles. The summit of the Moody Blues brief climb and subsequent, agonizingly slow and troubled descent was TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, which was like a message from the past to the distant future. The grand sweep of this album is unparalleled in rock music, and is one of THE great concept albums of all time. From its beginning, spoken introduction to its gorgeous and melancholy final song, `Watching And Waiting,' it takes the listener on an unforgettable trek through time and space. Grand orchestral gestures are actually provided by the layering of Michael Pinder's mellotrons and Ray Thomas' flute, plus many other acoustic and electronic instruments and special effects, not the least of which is Hayward's fine guitar work. The wall of sound is thick enough to make Phil Spector proud, and yet there is a quality of air and space that is hard to describe. There was and is nothing else out there quite like this album. The next few Moody Blues records were also quite good, but they became increasingly less focused.

After the only sporadically brilliant OCTAVE, Michael Pinder left the group, and something in its sound was forever lost. The next few decades up to the present provided enough hits to keep the band going, and there was enough good stuff to keep the most loyal Moody Blues fans buying their albums, but after SEVENTH SOJOURN there was never another truly solid effort. Although this is sad, it was probably inevitable. Few of even the best groups have ever been able to produce more than one or two albums as nearly perfect as TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, and the Moody Blues managed to make SIX. If they had retired after SEVENTH SOJOURN, their place in pop music history would still be secure. It's quite popular these days to diss The Moody Blues as an irrelevant relic, and I'm not really surprised. But give me this gorgeous, uplifting, melodic and visionary music any day, over the dark, sinister sounds and egotistical attitude of much of today's music. Call me an Old Hippie; I'll wear the badge with pride as I travel down `Eternity Road.'

Being one of the best "seven classic" called masterpiece albums from the Moody Blues, this is maybe the most introspective and melancholic of them. Nonetheless, it still brings some cheery songs like 'Floating' and the bursting opener, 'Higher and Higher'. One of the best songs bassist John Lodge ever wrote, 'Eyes of a Child' two part song is a magnificent ballad with meaningful lyrics about childhood (part 1) and a very upbeat and short reprise full of voices and rythm guitars (part 2). The very cosmic instrumental 'Beyond' is a very good effort by the "fab five", in a way being a very archaic New Age pioneer. 'Out and In' is a greatly ominous and deep songs with lyrics about the Universe (the central concept of the album, made in 1969, the year man got to the moon). Co-written by John Lodge and Mike Pinder and sung by the las one, this is one of the best songs ever the Moody Blues made, even being an obscure one.


But the most interest lays on the second side of the album. Monothematically subjected about the concept of solitude, starts with a great rocker called 'Gypsy' by Justin Hayward. The following is a highly inspired and elegant tune by Ray Thomas, 'Eternity Road', perfectly sung and with a great guitar work by Hayward at the same time as Ray's singing. 'Candle of light' follows up the solitude concept, with a very dramatic and full of feeling melody sung together by John Lodge and Justin Hayward. The album ends with the extremely beautiful and sad ballad by Justin Hayward, 'Watching and Waiting'. This is one of the song that would eclipse the beauty and the fame of 'Nights in White Satin' if it had had a bit more airplay. Only an extremely honest guy like Hayward can sing and compose in such a delicate and subtle way, and write such honest lyrics. The album is a complete masterpiece and every lover of progressive music as Supertramp, Pink Floyd or Genesis should own it. I do.

Commercially overshadowed by the still-brilliant albums from the Moodies' "Big 7" period ('67-'72) like "Days of Future Passed" and "Seventh Sojourn", this album (TOCCC) is their triumphant masterpiece in terms of production, songwriting and sheer lyrical/musical imagery. None of the major hits are featured on this album, making it the sleeper of the bunch. I, like many others, initially overlooked TOCCC when I first got into the MB's, since it didn't contain any of the big hits -- but that's where anyone curious about the MB's will sorely miss out.

Using the analogy of space flight (the Apollo 7 moon landing which occurred shortly before this album was released) as a fitting analogy to humankind's spiritual evolution, the cycle of life and our place in the universe, TOCCC becomes deeply moving and personal album that is hard to put into words at times. It stikes a chord within my psyche and touches my soul like very few albums have. Here, the Moodies' rock brilliantly (the rocket liftoff of "Higher and Higher" and frenetic psychedelia of "Beyond") while also delving into profound subjects like spiritual growth/introspection ("Out and In"), the meaning of life ("Eyes of a Child", "Eternity Road", "Candle of Life") and intense solitude ("I Never Thought...", "Gypsy", "Watching and Waiting"). To this day, I'm amazed at how they were able to capture lightning in a bottle like they did on this album. They must have been touched by a higher power ... how else can you explain it!

Wow! What a great album! I just finished listening to it for the 10,oooth time and I still love it like I just heard it for the 1st time! I mean it, this is the best album the moodies ever released. I used to have trouble sleeping as a teenager because I was overridden with angst, fear and confusion. Something fundamental changed when I began to listen to TOCCC as I lay awake at night. I felt connected with the artists. I understood their message. I realized that the world out there was SO VERY BIG, but that was O.K. cuz God gave me a small corner of the world to call my own. I was able to relax my worries into concern. I was able to accept 'not fully understanding', and it ceased to be confusion. Somehow it made all the difference in the world to know that someone else out there recognized the beauty in this vast unknowable cosmos. Outer space and inner space juxtaposed on vinyl (now burned to disc!). Truly a deserted island disc if there ever was one!