Customer Reviews

Question of Balance (Reis)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Okay, let's start off by addressing some of the complaints that most people have. As far as the bass being mixed too low on this release I have to say after owning this in every lp and cd edition that the bass was always a bit lower on this album than on some of the other Moodies albums. The mix itself is from the original quad lp versions done by producer Tony Clarke in early 1972. The quad mixes were different in order to take advantage of the four way split instead of the regular stereo two way split. This meant mixing the album differently from a conventional stereo album. Many of the "effects" that are in the backgroud of the stereo version are turned up here changing the overall "balanced" sound of the album in order to give the best quad sound. As far as the music itself, this album has a much more basic feel than the band's last, To Our Children's Children's Children which might have had in part something to do with the fact that it wasn't the big hit the band wanted at the time it was released. That was the first released for their label Threshold. The opening song Question had been released on single a few months before this album's release and had become a big hit for the band. This album includes many Moodies classics and doesn't have a bad song on the release. Songs like Question, Melancholy Man, And The Tide Rushes In, and It's Up To You sound just as well today as they did back when this album was released. If you like the Moodies, you'll love this album.

"Question Of Balance" was a high-hitter for the Moody Blues and with this set, not only do you get the fantastically crisp sound of SACD, but they have finally released some rare tracks. All the bonus and alternate mix tracks are of fine quality and the difference may be as subtle as additional back-up vocals or extra instruments. Here is the complete list:

Question
How Is It (We Are Here)
And The Tide Rushes In
Don't You Feel Small
Tortoise & The Hare
It's Up To You
Minstrel's Song
Dawning Is The Day
Melancholy Man
Balance

Extra songs:
Mike's Number One (Bonus Track)
Question (Alternate Version) (Bonus Track)
Minstrel's Song (Original Mix) (Bonus Track)
It's Up To You (Original Mix) (Bonus Track)
Don't You Feel Small (Original Mix) (Bonus Track)
Dawning Is The Day (Full Original Mix) (Bonus Track)

No previous Moody Blues album has contained such rare BBC sessions, outtakes and alternate mixes. The differences are subtle but many include backup vocals, new instruments and a different pacing to the songs. One needs no other recording of this classic album. The box is half plastic and half cardboard which might not last as long as a regular CD package. However, the liner package notes are exhaustive with many new pictures and a complete history.

(Note: This is an SACD mix made from the original quadraphonic tapes. The extra songs are the original remastered quadraphonic tapes - not SACD).

I've read all the reviews here on QOB and am amazed that no one has mentioned what truly destroys this album. DISTORTION! I'm a pro recording engineer and have always been aware this moodies album suffers terribly! The Master crossfaded tape is horribly distorted. It also seems down a tape generation. Most engineers just splice the crossfades 'tween tracks into the master takes to avoid degradation of the body of the song... but I'm not convinced that road was taken by evidance in the dull muddy overall sound. The song 'The Balance' is absolutely destroyed with distortion!
If you listen to the bonus tracks on this sacd release (non-crossfaded full versions) you will here a major improvment in fidelity and NO DISTORTION! The bass is clean and round and all things are musch more well defined. If they cared about this record they would re-assemble it using these pre crossfaded versions and do the crossfades digitally..It needs to be rescued!!!!I've bought this album way too many times to be cheated like this again! Now that I know the clarity is there but they won't make it right! I'm disappointed and even pissed that they keep serving this fine wine in a old dirty plastic cup! Why don't they care???

I think this is probably the best album by the Moody Blues, although I have only a few of them. I think that there are no weak songs, and each member wrote or co-wrote least two of the ten songs.

This is also a great job of remastering. It sounds much better than the original CD.

The LP originally had the end of a track overlapping with the beginning of the next track. Side 1 of the LP ends on a fairly loud note, and side 2 started with some quite and delicate acoustic guitar notes. The original CD release overlaped these as well, to stay in the spirit, I suppose. However, I didn't like it that way. The nice guitar part on track 6 was obscured, and the LP had been designed with a pause between the sides. The remastered version restores a few seconds of a pause between tracks 5 and 6, making it more faithful to the original LP.

This 1970 release saw the Moodies simplifying the approach taken on the 1969 concept album To Our Children's, Children's, Children, which was an album that explored the possibility of spiritual enlightenment through space travel. Notwithstanding, while A Question of Balance may have had both feet planted on the Earth, it was no less "cosmic".

There are some fantastic songs on this album including my favorite piece Question, And the Tide Rushes In (Ray's best piece in my opinion), Its Up to You, Dawning is the Day, Mike Pinder's spacey and haunting Melancholy Man, and The Balance. The acoustic guitar and most importantly, the mellotron with string setting are used a lot on this album, which give the songs a very...well...melancholy feel. There are some lighter moments too though, especially with upbeat and whimsical songs like The Tortoise and the Hare, so it is not all doom and gloom. The Moodies would continue with this formula for the next two albums, which would conclude with Seventh Sojourn in 1972.

This remastered version has pretty good sound quality and loads of liner notes by members of the band.

A Question of Balance is very highly recommended along with Days of Future Passed (1967), In Search of the Lost Chord (1968), and To Our Children's, Children's, Children (1969).

As with their earlier concept albums, the opening cut of this final of the several 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 of rescuing the environment in a world wildly out of control. 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 mysterious number introducing the now-familiar concept of individuals feeling helpless and impotent in the face of the mindless corporate and technological forces polluting the environment and despoiling the earth. 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 decrying the destructive tendencies of science and technology. 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 rights and ways of being life-affirming in the age of the machine.

This is classic stuff, with the lyrics, melodies, and extremely artful arrangements supporting the search for identity. My favorites here are "Question", which was a huge popular hit for them, "It's Up to You", and "And The Tide Rushes In". 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", "To Our Childrens' Childrens' Children", and finally to this 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!

Call me disappointed in this SACD 5.1 mix. Maybe its the Quad source masters used. Overall this just isn't one of the better SACD 5.1 surround releases I've heard. Especially disappointing after recently hearing the Dire Straits Brothers In Arms SACD. Or compared to the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon which is another excellent SACD 5.1 mix. The music contained on this CD is a 5 star for sure, but I can't give this version more than 4 stars due to the relatively weak 5.1 mix. The biggest issue here is the bass. It's almost non-existent, barely able to register on my subwoofer. Once again this may be a result of using the old QUAD masters for this SACD.

There are some interesting things to hear in the mix especially coming from the rear surround speakers, but overall it doesn't improve the listening experience from the remastered stereo mixes. At times some basic guitar sounds seem to be buried while other unexpected sounds are very prominent. There are still two reasons to buy this cd over the previously released stereo remasters from the late 90's; 1) the SACD stereo layer on this CD is excellent even on a non-SACD player. 2) bonus tracks are nice. If you already have the remastered stereo edition from the late 90's I just don't think this is a worthwhile purchase. If you are buying it for the first time I guess I would prefer to have the bonus tracks and the stereo mix on this CD. That would be my only reason for recommending it except of course if you are a Moody fanatic with a SACD player you will probably want it, too just to hear the contrasts with previous versions and the opportunity to hear it in a different light.

In "A Question of Balance," the Moody Blues explore the meaning and major questions of life in lyrics and music, without excessive orchestral overlays but with no shortage of elaborate vocal harmonies. Some of the group's music fits into the category of "rock" only within loosely defined parameters, but when they do the more lively stuff they do it well, here with the very-hard-driving acoustic guitar in the opening title (sort of) cut, as well as "Tortoise and the Hare" and "It's Up to You." But the Moody Blues have their own sound -- perhaps "Minstrel's Song" with its "love is all around" is in a darkhorse sense the quintessential song of these Anglo-Saxon instrumentalists. Still, the best tracks are probably two beautiful songs: "And the Tide Rushes In" and "Dawning Is the Day." Also top notch is "Question," but the lyrical, romantic middle part makes the song incoherent. The finale, "The Balance," contains sweeping imagery/statements comparable to those at the end of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," suggesting some self-absorption in the album. But these and the overall lyrics are still interesting, and "A Question of Balance" bears witness that the Moody Blues are among the most musically talented and very most listenable groups.

Being in my opinion one of the best (and my personal favorite) albums The Moody Blues has ever put out, I was extremely surprised to find that this CD hasn't gotten one review so far. I'll make this review short, but this album has amazing songs with some very beautiful melodies. Highly recommended.

This album weaves a magical sonic trail through your imagination. Perfect for listening in good headphones, this is one of the best of early '70's psychedelia. The Moody Blues were at that time definitely not your average pop group, sounding at times more like a troupe of Rennaisance artisans than rock musicians. The Mellotron of Mike Pinder and guitar tracks of Hayward and Lodge were, as usual, simply stunning, the melodies simple but dense with nuance and feeling. (Personally I think you should buy a copy of all their albums, but they are my favorite band ever so I'm a bit biased.)