Customer Reviews

Promise

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very good album, it's very pleasant. I was surprised how crisp and down-to-earth it sounds, production wise. It's actually folk music that's very spiritual and only slightly exsperimental, though often melodic. 'I only want to love you', which may not necessarily be a love song, is my favourite track. His vocals on the song are good and it has a great melody. There's some acoustic gospel tinges on this album and there's a jazzy number (track four). The last three songs (message/seed/promise) are more psycehdelic.

The lyrics are all about Mike's spiritual journey, though some could be interpreted as love songs. None of the songs are bad.

This album is a departure from the Moody Blues "sound". It is not as complex and polished. Consequently, it took me some time to appreciate it. The finale is truly amazing and rivals the best of the early Moody Blues. However, the rest of the album is good if not great. I would recommend it for any fan of the positive and the beautiful!

I bought this album when it was first relesed in the 70's. It is what the Moody Blues are suppose to sound like. Thoughtfull lyrics, warm string sounds with a touch India. (Sitar, wind instruments). Every song is good while most are great. The song " The Promise" is Mike Pinder in true Moody form. This CD(album) is by far the best solo album from a Moody member. It shows what the Moody Blues are missing in their music today.

This album would easily have been a Moodies album, minus the female backup vocals. If you're into the most mystical, explorative traits of the Core 7, it's all here. Surprisingly, Mike voice is very alive and flourishes here. On the classic 7 a deep, mostly limited vocal presented, though intentionally. On this album he's alive, and energetic.

This album lacks a musical or editorial intro but makes up for it in the middle. The album arc feels much like Good Boy and includes a rather deep and spacey Mike poem. This is #2 behind Blue Jays for the Moodies hiatus, to me. Very colorful and deep, as Mike always is. Played it only once and was totally absorbed. Paints a picture of what could've been...

As good as any Moody Blues CD. The themes are deep & meaningful-very spiritual & in tune with the man & the universe. The music is excellent with varied rhythms for each song, even catchy. I have no negatives whatsoever for this Cd!

This album is a masterpiece brought to us by the most underrated Moody blues member. All the elements are there from the lush profound lyrics to the smooth sounds and sonic rhythms. Mike Pinder is by far the best member the moody blues had i am also a HUGE Justin Hayward fan as well. This album proves that Pinder was a key member who brought key elements to the band. I only wish there was more to savor but i can always go back in the archives to his moody days and listen with joy. This album is a must have for any true moody blues fan! Awesome Creative and truly Great work form a musical genius. Mike you are a great one.

The Moody Blues lost a key part of their sound when Pinder split from the band, and although there have been some good songs since, in my opinion they haven't been as consistently good as on their first 8 albums. But this LP reminds me of every part of every Moody Blues record that I didn't like, and I'm a HUGE fan. The lyrics here are quite good, but good music this album is NOT. It's also not well produced and the background singers are dreadful. If Michael Pinder had been hoping for this to launch his solo career it certainly tanked. This album has only two things going for it: It's rare and it has nice cover art.

During the Moody Blues' mid-'70s hiatus, Mike Pinder put out his first solo album with "The Promise" in 1976. If you're a big fan of his Moody Blues work and are coming to this album looking for more from where that came from, you may be in for a surprise, because Pinder definitely turned a musical corner here. At times, the sound is still quite lush, but this is basically mid-'70s soft rock with little of the symphonic sound of the Moodies--it seems Pinder used the Mellotron mostly for 'ornamental' effects, and he actually went with an Arp synth for the 'string' sounds on "You'll Make It Through". Additionally, there's very much of a jazz flavor to the flute-laden "Someone To Believe In", as well as a heavy gospel vibe on "You'll Make It Through" and on the coda of "Free As A Dove". Pinder's vocals are generally mellow and typically earnest, though occasionally they're a bit shakey and at times slip over into sappiness. Certainly, Pinder's talent for engagingly tuneful songwriting is solidly on display on a majority of the songs here--the uptempo "Free As A Dove" is wonderfully melodic and has a contemplative instrumental break with a great, harmonized guitar line, although the good-timey coda does go a bit overboard; "You'll Make It Through" is uplifting; "I Only Want To Love You" is a little sappy, but still endearing; "Carry On" is breezy and quite catchy; and "Message" is stately and has a dreamy quality, although it suffers from some fairly overwrought lyrics. And that leads to another problem--the onslaught of New Age-style lyrics is overkill, especially considering how corny some of them are, as on the pompous spoken-word piece "The Seed". He really gets carried away on the largely dull, 6-minute title track, and that really hurts considering the shortness of the main album portion--less than 32 minutes. This CD version is lengthened with the inclusion of 2 bonus tracks which aren't listed anywhere on the package and were recorded much later than the rest of the tracks--unfortunately, one of them is an inferior re-recording of "One Step Into The Light" done in a late '80s adult contemporary style; the other is the mellow, nicely tuneful "Island To Island", a very pleasant tune, though it's a bit toothless. If you love Pinder's work with the Moodies, you will reap some rewards from this album--it's certainly not a disaster, but "The Promise" is an album that really feels like a frustrating missed opportunity.

1. Free as a Dove
2. You'll Make It Through
3. I Only Want to Love You
4. Someone to Believe In
5. Carry On
6. Air
7. Message
8. Seed
9. Promise

This is a fantastic album! I recommend it even if you didn't like the Moody Blues. My personal favorites tracks are the jazzy "Someone to Believe In", the meditative "Message" and the instrumental "Aire" (which I don't see listed??). This is much more upbeat then some of Pindar's earlier work, such as Melancoly Man, Lost in a Lost World, etc. I bought this LP at least 15 years ago (back when there were LPs) and I can testify that it stands the test of time. Buy the CD before some executive decides to quit producing it.