Customer Reviews

Paradise Ballroom

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WARNING : All CDs on Lake Eerie label are bootleg! The real Paradise Ballroom CD is on the Threshold label.

After 1973, The Moody Blues decided to take time off from recording and touring. It was during this time that each of the members took on their own recording projects, generally because each member had extensive experience recording and producing studio music.
The Moody Blues drummer, Graeme Edge, formed the "Graeme Edge Band." He collaborated with Greg Prato, Adrian Gurvitz and many other musicians. The results included two studio albums, "Kick off Your Muddy Boots" and "Paradise Ballroom," released in 1975 and 1977 respectively.
Try a web search on the search key "adriangurvitz." I found additional mention of "Paradise Ballroom" in a short mention of haitus solo work out on a popular web encyclopedia within the Moody Blues entry. Also look for short notes on websites you can find with your preferred search engines.

I think I recall correctly from sleeve notes on my earliest vinyl copy that the studio recording and mixing involved multiple studio locations, (both sides of the pond) with the horns having been added in Nashville.
From dvd interviews of the Moody Blues members, I've formed the impression that Mr. Edge is not much interested in a reprint of the "solo work." There are so many personal dynamics in funding and producing an album, that frequently getting the music out in a retail product is a huge undertaking. Afterwards, copyrights for subsequent reprints may be challenged legally by the contributors. Sometimes funding a reprint is a problem.

On various playback equipment, which generally did not include audio bandwidth equalizer controls, I think sometimes that the mix of vocals and horns seemed to sound harsh or imbalanced on some of the tracks. But, I always enjoy the compositions of lyrics, instruments, and tempo. In my opinion, "Paradise Ballroom" is definitely a rocking album. The choruses were fabulous, and Graeme Edge absolutely wails on the title track "Paradise Ballroom," "All Is Fair In Love," "Human," and "Caroline."

I searched and searched for a cd reprint, and was often led to believe that there was a short print run that included "Be My Eyes." This track may have also been released as a "B-side," on a "Paradise Ballroom" single. I finally found a Russian reprint (bootleg) on a web posting from St. Petersburg.

1. Paradise Ballroom
2. Human
3. Everybody Needs Somebody
4. All Is Fair In Love
5. Down, Down, Down
6. In The Night Of The Light
7. Caroline

8. Be My Eyes (on some limited print run copies)

Why no track listings? Why no information about the musical genre? Is this the genuine label these artists used? Having a serious lack of product info, who would want to buy this? Give us something we can work with here. For any real Moodies fan, it would be a total let down to buy this CD expecting to hear Moody Blues music. It takes a die-hard, hard-core Moody Blues fan to buy something simply based on loving what they did as a group, without any idea of what they were into musically as separate individuals. With no samples to listen to and no track listings on which to base a decision prior to purchase, I will pass. So far, all there is to recommend this is some album art that is nice.

Side One

1. Paradise Ballroom
2. Human
3. Everybody Needs Somebody

Side Two

4. All Is Fair in Love
5. Down, Down, Down
6. In the Light of Night
7. Caroline