On the Threshold of a Dream [Extra tracks, Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import, Original recording remastered]

The Moody Blues | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 18, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 1969
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Ume Imports
• ASIN: B000E8NQUE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,749 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Released in 1969, just eight months after In Search of the Lost Chord, Threshold continues the Moody Blues's journey as cosmic seekers but in a less exotic manner. Here, Justin Hayward packs away the sitar and the band has swept most of the mystical and Eastern influences under the Kilim rug, replacing them with a science-fictional search for meaning and futuristic production methods. As on two earlier albums, Graeme Edge regales listeners with esoteric poetry, this time adding a whimsical, ironic edge to his ponderous verse. The songs have also undergone a similar overhaul, allowing the band's talent for melody to overcome the psychedelic whirls that embellished the earlier albums. John Lodge's assertive bass takes control of the bucolic "Lovely to See You," Roy Thomas's deceptively cheerful "Dear Diary," and the upbeat "Lazy Days," which also contains an unexpected lyrical sting. Indeed, the entire album is underpinned with a wistful melancholy as the grandiose rockers capture the bittersweet fleeting moments of the '60s. --Jaan Uhelszki

Product Description

SACD/Hybrid. Digitally remastered digi-pack edition with the the original stereo mix with added tracks along with an expansive booklet containing sleeve notes are rare photographs. 'On the Threshold of a Dream' features 9 bonus tracks. Universal. 2006.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enter the Dream, June 10, 2002

By 

Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing" (Columbus, Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On the Threshold of a Dream (Audio CD)

"On the Threshold of a Dream" followed "In Search of the Lost Chord". This album has a darker feel to it than "The Lost Chord," which periodically became lightly whimsical ("Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" as an example) and was generally upbeat.

"Threshold" begins with a somewhat paranoid interchange between several characters that in a few short sentences explores individuality in modern computerized society. While Graeme Edge is generally upbeat in that he says that as individuals we can "...perceive the web they weave and keep on thinking free," the sinister tone of "Big Brother's got your number" starts the album off darkly. From this beginning, the other songs in the album are now interpreted by this initial tone. Furthermore, the closeout by the last three Mike Pinder selections, "Have You Heard" parts 1 and 2 and "The Voyage," end the album in a melancholy fashion that also reflects on the other tracks, of which many are melancholy themselves.

In spite of the dark mood of the album, it is still great for those times when you are a bit moody yourself. For some reason I enjoy listening to this album when it's raining outside, or when I'm feeling down. You would think that the album would drive me further into the depths of depression, but it does not. Instead, it tends to make me think about why I am depressed and ultimately overcoming those issues cheers me up. Okay, it's a little weird, but it works for me.

How is the album? Very good. This album was again experimental and further associated the Moodies name with progressive rock. The dialogue at the beginning of the album and "The Dream" by Graeme Edge seguing into "Have You Heard Part 1", followed by "The Voyage" which then takes you back to "Have You Heard Part 2", while being a signature feature of Moodies albums, was still very new to the world in 1969. While the music is very mellow, even for 1969, it was also in some ways more dreamily psychedelic than "In Search of the Lost Chord". As examples, the aforementioned Mike Pinder selections, "Never Comes the Day" by Justin Hayward, and "Are You Sitting Comfortably", an awesome way-too-short song by Justin Hayward and Ray Thomas. This album is great for a bottle of good wine, a dimly lit room, perhaps some black light posters (seriously!), and whatever else you want to add that fits the mood.

The lyrics are often cryptic in this album, for example, just what the heck do the lyrics of "Never Comes the Day" by Justin Hayward mean anyway? One enjoyable feature of Moodies lyrics are that that is exactly the point of the lyrics: they are intentionally cryptic. Yes, they meant something to the authors. However, the authors are often vague enough to allow you to interpret them to fit your own life. The Moodies have traditionally been able to make lyrics sufficiently vague that they can easily be interpreted to fit your needs, while making very listenable songs that don't really have to be interpreted. I believe this album may have been the best of the classic 7 to achieve both these abilities for a majority of the songs. A very interesting approach that works well for the Moodies that others have not been able to pull off nearly as well or at all.

Graeme Edge, as noted above, has two selections on this album. I truly enjoy "The Dream", which may be Graeme Edge's very best "poem monologues" on any album by the Moodies. There is a lot of symbolism and true blues in this poem that is the perfect lead-in for the three Mike Pinder selections following.

Ray Thomas authored "Dear Diary", "Lazy Day" and coauthored "Are You Sitting Comfortably" with Justin Hayward. "Are You Sitting Comfortably" is by far the best of the three, and I think is the best song on the album. "Lazy Day" is likely the most whimsical song of this CD, and perhaps the least blue.

Mike Pinder, in addition to the last three songs, also penned "So Deep Within You," a love song about knowing what's in your lover's heart. This song is very beautiful and easy to understand. Mike's contributions to this album are consistently good and among the best of the album.

John Lodge wrote back to back love songs, "Send Me No Wine" and "To Share Our Love". Both are fast-paced (for this album), and both are good. "To Share Our Love" is the better of the two, and exploits John's voice well.

Justin Hayward, in addition to the excellent "Are You Sitting Comfortably", also wrote "Lovely to See You", which is a song of friendship helping alleviate the blues (which you may need after listening to this album!), and "Never Comes the Day", which I think is a song of love, but it's mixed with other concepts that are difficult to put my finger on. Regardless, it's a good song.

If you are a Moodies fan, buy this. If you are not, and want to listen to something different, buy this. Is it dated? A little perhaps, but not a lot. The lyrics are about concepts that transcend time. This album is incredibly mellow. It is the third album of the second incarnation of the Moody Blues, and the last album by the Moodies to be this spacey and psychedelic. After this they begin to tackle issues of the environment and how we treat each other and our role in the universe. This album is very unique and should be part of the reason to induct the Moody Blues into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (why that hasn't yet I haven't the foggiest clue). It is fitting that this album was released in 1969, a fitting close to an exotic decade.

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as earlier releases? Really?, July 16, 2006

By 

Dennis Hawley (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On the Threshold of a Dream (Audio CD)

I hadn't really planned on writing a review of this CD until I read the recent (July 14, 2006) review by 'Micaloneus'. His review raised some interesting points, and was so at variance with other reviews that I was intriqued, so decided to offer my own take.
First off, I do not own the previous remastered versions of this or any other Moody Blues 'classic seven', so I cannot refute his claim. I am, however, able to respond to his primary criticisms.
The reviewer states that the original 'dynamics' have been compromised by excessive compression, resulting in 'ear fatigue', and that earlier releases sound more like the vinyl LPs, preserving the dynamics originally engineered. He also claims that the MFSL gold discs sound 'better' (at least on a Deep Purple record, so I presume he means on other titles as well). I happen to own a MFSL gold disc of 'Threshold', so I sat down and played it from start to finish, followed by this hybrid SACD version (played on a high-quality stereo, as I do not own an SACD player). I came away with a totally different perception. While the gold disc did sound a bit more like the vinyl record (I once owned over 2,000 LPs, including 'Threshold'), it does, then, have a bit of a 'warmer' sound (for want of a better word). Is it 'better'? Not in my book. In a direct A/B comparison, the hybrid SACD version sounded fuller, with much more separation and clarity. For example, on the fade-out on 'To Share Our Love', the refrain is barely audible on the gold disc, but is clear as glass on the hybrid version. I was able to pick up instrumentation on the hybrid that was buried in the gold disc. For me, the effect of listening to the hybrid was much more like being in the recording studio vs. listening to a record of that recording. No comparison. Also of note is the fact that of the 13 songs on the album, 9 of them had different playing times on the MFSL gold discs compared to the hybrids, ranging from one to seven seconds variance.
On the point about 'ear fatigue'...well, perhaps Micaloneus has a much more discerning ear than me; when I finished listening to the hybrid (which included all the great bonus tracks), I didn't get 'ear fatigue', but rather got a strong desire to play the hybrid release of 'In Search of the Lost Chord' immediately afterwards. Which I did.
On his general criticism of money-gouging regarding these hybrid releases, I disagree. They're only a few bucks more than a standard CD, and given the superior sound quality and first-rate bonus cuts, to me they're a bargain.
I do agree somewhat about the cover art. A better job should have been done in reproducing the depth of color found on the original albums.
Lastly, I cannot share at all his scathing declaration: "Shame on anyone involved in this SACD Deluxe Edition project," since Justin Hayward and John Lodge themselves oversaw the transfers. Instead, I praise them.
It is interesting to note that the exact same (verbatim) review by Micaloneus is found for each of the hybrid SACD titles of the Moody Blues. It seems as if a 'copy-and-paste' approach was taken, which raises questions as to whether all of the CDs were actually played.
If he and others are satisfied with the earlier remastered versions, then that's great. As for me, I cannot imagine any iteration of these great albums sounding any better than these superlative hybrid SACDs.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Classic Set On SACD!, April 18, 2006

By 

Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On the Threshold of a Dream (Audio CD)

The Moody Blues have re-released their albums as Remastered and a few in DTS, but finally they are now available in Hybrid SACD. This version is a keeper including some very rare and enormously well mastered and remixed songs.

These include:
In The Beginning
Lovely To See You
Dear Diary
Send Me No Wine
To Share Our Love
So Deep Within You
Never Comes The Day
Lazy Day
Are You Sitting Comfortably
Dream
Have You Heard - Part One
Voyage
Have You Heard - Part Two

Extra Songs:
In The Beginning (Full Version) (Bonus Track)
So Deep Within You (Full Version) (Bonus Track)
Dear Diary (Alternate Mix)
Have You Heard (Original Take)
Voyage (Original Take)
Lovely To See You (BBC Top Gear Session 2/18/69)
Send Me No Wine (BBC Top Gear Session 2/18/69)
So Deep Within You (BBC Tony Brandon Session Mono 4/2/69)
Are You Sitting Comfortably (Mono Version)

No previous Moody Blues album has contained such rare BBC sessions, outtakes and alternate mixes. 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. This means the extra songs revert back to stereo on your SACD player).