Customer Reviews

In Search of the Lost Chord

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4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD (1968) was the second album by The Moody Blues with Hayward and Lodge, and is still thought to be their best by many. I won't make that claim here; I am such a fan of this beguiling group that I find it exceedingly difficult to single out just one "best" from such a string of great albums. I will admit this has always been one of my favorites. It is a masterpiece that followed a masterpiece (DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED--one of the few rock albums to extensively and successfully employ an orchestra without being the least bit haughty).

IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD is filled with the group's euphoric music, which both explores the cosmos and comforts us with their emblematic, tuneful bliss. There is a remarkable, youthful enthusiasm in both the music and the lyrics, and the album is loaded with songs of unique, psychedelic charm. "Ride My See-Saw" has a mesmerizing groove, but it's intelligently energetic. "Voices In The Sky," "Visions Of Paradise" and "The Actor" are pure ecstasy, with such heavenly mixes of instrumental textures and heartfelt vocals. I don't find "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" inferior in any way; in fact it's delightful (pay no attention to the detractors if you prefer inventiveness over trendiness). "Legend Of A Mind" is as haunting as you could ask for, and the instrumental break from 2:42 to 4:59 still takes me to OMville. "House Of Four Doors" is mysteriously enchanting, beautiful...captivating. This and "Part 2" frame "Legend Of A Mind" perfectly. And, how can any psychedelia-loving soul not delight in "The Best Way To Travel"? The meditative "OM" completes this musical treasure piece in splendid fashion.

The 60s was more than protests and flower power (the media has its way of warping and commercializing everything, including history!). It was a very revolutionary time for music. The music on this glorious album was highly original back then--still is! Nothing sounded like this before the late 60s. I have a tendency to harp on this: the changes--truly creative changes--that took place in the short span of eight years from 1965 to 1973 were extraordinary. That was an amazing time period that produced some amazing works of art. This album is one of them, and I cannot recommend it enough to those who love the stuff.

Cheers,
Murray

With the huge success of their landmark classical-meets-rock album, 1967's "Days Of Future Passed," and it's smash hit single, "Nights In White Satin," the Moody Blues had beaten the odds & successfully transformed from the rhythm & blues combo of "Go Now" fame, to the masterful progressive-rock band known the world over. For the follow-up disc, 1968's "In Search Of The Lost Chord," the Moodies decided to retain the classical instruments from their previous hit album, with one major difference: they would play all the instruments themselves, including cello, oboe, harp, harpsicord, and, for a touch of Indian-flavored music, sitar. "In Search Of The Lost Chord" is arguably the Moody Blues' most psychedelic album, but it is also one of their all-time greats. Bassist John Lodge's rockin' "Ride My See-Saw," and flautist Ray Thomas' wonderful ode to Timothy Leary, "Legend Of A Mind," remain Moody Blues concert staples to this day. There's also Thomas' playful "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume," the experimental delights of Lodge's "House Of Four Doors" (with "Legend Of A Mind" sandwiched within it), guitarist Justin Hayward's beautiful "Voices In The Sky," "Visions Of Paradise," and "The Actor," keyboardist Mike Pinder's spacious "The Best Way To Travel," and the spiritual "Om," and drummer Graeme Edge's fine poetry in the forms of "Departure" and "The Word." Marvelously written, played, & sung by the band, handsomely produced by Tony Clarke, and remastered for superior sound quality, "In Search Of The Lost Chord" remains one of the Moody Blues' finest works.

The opening cut of this first of several concept albums released by the Moody Blues in rapid fire succession tells it all, a provocative, thoughtful, and intellectually fascinating exploration of altered states of consciousness, and a particular focus on the eastern idea of being. This exploration is a quite self-conscious attempt to use the experimental fusion between mainstream rock music and eastern forms started by the Beatles, and no one carried off the exploration 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 concept to the quick transition to "Ride My Seesaw", this is a fast-paced tour of the wide range of the field of psychedelic exploration. ""Legend Of A Mind" is an ironic look at Timothy Leary and his public advocacy of LSD, laughing at the idea while at the same time exploring it in earnest (He'll take you on a trip across the bay.... and bring you back the same day...). "House of Four Doors" is an introduction to "Zen' proper, and to the uniquely eastern ideas of altered states of consciousness and being. "Legend Of A Mind" is a further exposition of Leary and the popular search for consciousness.

The rest of the album focuses increasingly on aspects of the eastern way of perceiving and interpreting reality, and they conduct this exploration within the margins of popular music quite provocatively and very entertainingly. This part of the album is my favorite, especially the evocative "Voices In The Sky", although I also really like "Visions of Paradise", "Om", and "The Word" as well. This is classic Moody Blues material, and they mine this genre in a way uniquely their own. I would start with this album, and work my way deliciously through "On The Threshold Of A Dream", "To Our Childrens' Childrens' Children", and finally to "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!

Just because a disc is an SACD does not mean that it must be multi-channel. SACD is a high resolution format that's CAPABLE of delivering up to 6 channels, but that doesn't mean all SACDs must be multi-channel discs.

The multi-channel mixes on the new Moody Blues SACDs are based on the quadrophonic masters prepared in the 1970s and released on four-channel reel-to-reel tapes. To create 5.1 channels from the original 4 channel masters, a center channel was derived from the front right and left channels and the '.1' subwoofer channel was derived from all four channels by using some sort of low-pass filtering.

In Search of the Lost Chord was never mixed in quad according to what I've read elsewhere, so this release is a hybrid SACD in stereo only. It does not include a multi-channel version.

The first SACD discs ever released were high-resolution stereo only, and could not be played on regular CD players (e.g. Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual"). Multi-channel SACDs were introduced later, and these discs often also include a high-resolution stereo version of the same program on the SACD layer. Hybrid SACDs were introduced to provide backwards-compatibility with regular CD players. These discs have a normal CD layer as well as a SACD layer, and that SACD layer can be stereo only (like the Rolling Stones remasters from 2002) or stereo and multichannel (like the Elton John SACDs that came out in 2003 and 2004). There are even some classical SACDs that have stereo and 3 channel (left/center/right) versions of the same program (e.g. RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence discs that were originally recorded on three tracks back in the late 1950s and early 1960s). Thus ends today's lesson on SACD formats... :)

In Search of the Lost Chord (1968) is one of my favorite Moodies albums and perhaps one of my favorite experimental rock albums of all time, period. My enjoyment of this album stems from the music itself, including the use of soft acoustic textures, loads of mellotron, plaintive vocals, and perhaps more significantly, the sheer innocence of the recording. Although the cover art and lyrics suggest that the Moodies were wrestling with fairly heavy themes including the quest for spiritual enlightenment (at least based upon this Biologist's crude interpretation), they are presented in a manner that engages rather than alienates the listener. With respect to the music, all of the pieces on the album are excellent (even the light-hearted and playful Dr. Livingston, I Presume?) and flow together to form a song-cycle suite of sorts. Of course, in addition to the lighter pieces there are brooding and haunting moments on the album, but they are neither overbearing nor cliche. Towards the end of the album, the listener is treated to very grave spoken parts and Justin Hayward's sitar passages that sound remarkably appropriate, and not the least bit dated (at least to my ears). In spite of the fact that I was a toddler at the time of the album's release, the music and themes presented on In Search of the Lost Chord resonate deeply within me, perhaps moreso during these dark and ugly times. This CD has been remastered and contains liner notes that feature comments by band members regarding the album, along with various and sundry photos, and decent sound quality. All in all this may very well be the Moodies best recorded performance and is very highly recommended along with Days of Future Passed (1967), To Our Children's, Children's, Children (1969), and A Question of Balance (1970).

I have the first two Moody Blues albums in the new 2008 remastered format so far. "In Search Of The Lost Chord" is the most psychedelic of all Moody releases. The new remaster sounds really crisp and clean. The drums sound especially good, compared to previous cd issues, on which they have a muddy sound. Ray's flute sounds brilliant with all the other exotic instruments on this album. There is a certain warmth that is missing on this re-issue. I have read about the use of a "quad" version for these remasters, but the 1997 remasters, to me, hardly beat the first cd issues of these classics from the beginning of the cd era. I always knew they could sound better. The only complaint I have at this point is that the 2008 remaster of "Days Of Future Passed" has really obvious crackling sounds in the master tapes after the song "Peak Hour." But, the bonus tracks, more than anything else, have made these remasters worth their cost. Only four songs from "Prelude (1966 - 1969)" haven't appeared on one of these '67-'68 Moody Blues remasters. "Please Think About It," which sounds like a '50s R&B classic, was always one of my favorites from that collection. "Long Summer Days" was also very good, not to forget "Gimme A Little Somethin'" and "King & Queen." Anyway, I will probably purchase the remaining "Core 7" 2008 remastered Moody Blues cds in the near future. So far, the two I have purchased have been worth the price.

They had done the symphony thing and pulled it off with flying colors. But this follow-up was pure, 100% Moody Blues. Of the 32 (!) different instruments used on this album, every one of them was played by one of the five band members. With this and other albums, they earned the nickname of "the world's smallest symphony orchestra."

This album is a journey, from beginning to end, in search of the chord and many other things. There is a heavy Eastern Philosophical influence, especially on the Mike Pinder contributions (Best Way to Travel, Om.) The songs flow into each other beautifully, making it sound like one continuous song. In every song, the singer yearns for something which that can never be defined in words. Mike Pinder's searing mellotron and Ray Thomas's soaring flute are the definitive sounds of the album.

Of course, this is the album that yielded two of the Moodies greatest and most enduring concert pieces, the rollicking "Ride My See-saw" and psychadelic "Legend of a Mind." Another standout is "The Actor," A Justin Hayward ballad so haunting it is in the same league as "Nights in White Satin." Then there's the lovely "Voices in the Sky," and John Lodge's epic, expermental "House of Four Doors," which samples musical styles throughout history.

This album is absolutely loaded with beautiful, experimental music. Why this band is so often not considered a part of the Prog Rock genre I'll never know.

Okay, yes this seems to be a stereo only SACD but in my humble opinion, it has never sounded better and I know the MFSL versions as well as just about every other version out there. Having grown up around this album, I can honestly say that there are things on here that I've never even noticed before. The echo that Tony Clarke uses on here gives this album an almost ghostly feeling that really comes through on this version. the backing vocals on Voices In the Sky sound like a heavenly cosmic chior. Justin's acoustic has never come across better than it does on this version but really the same can be said for every thing else. Ray's flute on Visions Of Paradise reminds me of light drifting through the cosmos. One of my all time favorite Moodies songs, the Actor sounds so clean and the drums are so crisp that I think I've fallen in love with it all over again. the bonus disc is a wonderful addition and I'm glad that they aqdded Michael's A Simple Game as this was the only problem with the original version of the album as it was only a single B side to one of the songs here. It's also nice to hear Justin try it although Mike's is the keeper. The two outtakes that originally appeared on + 5 actually fit better here What Am I Doing Here and King And Queen have never sounded better. the live stuff is wonderful. It's a shame that the SACD format has gotten such a bad rap with some as I myself would love to see other artists and bands put out more SACD's. Imagine SACD albums by artists like King Crimson and Traffic.

I've bought a number of stereo only SACDs that sounded good, but not noticeably better than the CD.

Happily, that's not the case with this stunning remaster of the Moodies' best album. I've been listening to "Lost Chord" for 38 years, and it's never sounded anywhere near this good. SACD does offer a more precise soundstage (that is, the location of the channels) and a fuller, richer sound, and this is the best example of this I've heard so far.

Like others, I'd have liked a surround sound mix, but with sound quality this good, I can live without it. If you have an SACD player, you should get this disc. As Eric Burdon once said, "It *will* be worth it!"

This second historical musical outing took a break from the orchestral pop of "Days Of Future Passes" and dove into the land of psychodelia and rock & roll. There are numerous special sound effects and fantastic song writing. All is emphasized in the SACD format. Here is a list of the extras on this set.

Ride My See Saw (BBC Top Gear Session 16/7/68)
Tuesday Afternoon (BBC Afternoon Pop Show 7/10/68)
Simple Game (Single Version)
Departure (Alternate Mix)
Best Way To Travel (Additional Vocal Mix)
Legend Of A Mind (Alternate Mix)
Visions Of Paradise (Sitar Mix)
What Am I Doing Here? (Alternate Mix)
Word (Mellotron Mix)
Om (Full Version)
Simple Game (Justin Hayward Vocal Mix)
King & Queen
Dr Livingstone, I Presume (BBC Top Gear Session 16/7/68)
Voices In The Sky (BBC Top Gear Session 16/7/68)
Thinking Is The Best Way (BBC Top Gear Session 16/7/68)

The alternate mixes of "Departure" and "Visions of Paradise" are worth the set alone. This is a true feast for the ears.

(Note: Disc 1 is an SACD mix made from the original quadraphonic tapes, however, for some odd reason, of all the seven original albums, this disc is SACD stereo - not multi-channel! It is not the typical Moody Blues 4.1 mix (the center speaker was never developed from the quad mix). Disc 2 is the original remastered quadraphonic tapes, but mixed in stereo only - not SACD. This is seen as Disc 1 is gold colored and Disc 2 is silver. Also note that because this was originally a quadrophonic mix, the center front speaker is not used).