The Other Side of Life

The Moody Blues

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1986
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polydor / Umgd
• ASIN: B000001FJP
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,614 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pop Goes The Moodies, August 28, 2003

By	Alan Caylow (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The Moody Blues' 1986 album, "The Other Side Of Life," is easily the most polished, radio-friendly offering in their whole catalog, but it's still a very good Moodies album, and I remain pleased to this day that it was a big hit for them, too, their last US Top Ten album. "The Other Side Of Life" has an 80's gloss of keyboards and synth drums, and yet, the music is still great fun, and the Moodies' knack for tuneful singing, songwriting and performing remains intact. Guitarist Justin Hayward's "Your Wildest Dreams" was the big hit song from the album, and it's a nice little number, but my favorite tracks on the disc are other songs that come from Justin's pen, including the excellent title song, which is a marvelously spooky 7 1/2 minute pop-rocker, the sweet "I Just Don't Care," and the catchy pop of "Running Out Of Love," co-written with bassist John Lodge. Also worth mentioning are "The Spirit," co-written by keyboardist Patrick Moraz & drummer Graeme Edge, and Lodge's fine power ballad finale, "It May Be A Fire." Excellent pop from beginning to end, "The Other Side Of Life" is a charming Moody Blues album.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Moody Blues album or Patrick Moraz album?, June 17, 2001

By	"mb971" (York, PA USA) - See all my reviews

My father bought this CD several years ago, but never listened to it (other than "Your Wildest Dreams"), so I listened to it for the first time about a year ago, and at it was a bit disappointing at first. Moraz did not seem to have much input as to the direction of the band's music...until now. I still wonder what Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge did while Moraz was playing with his synthesizers, electric keyboards, and whatever other stuff he used to make this mess. On LDV and THE PRESENT, Pinder and his Mellotron were noticeably replaced by Moraz and his aforementioned junk, but the results were still pretty good. Here, Moraz went way too far, and the results significantly worse than anything else. Although the album is pretty heavily influenced by Moraz, it will actually grow on you. If you listen to this album expecting the original Moody Blues sound with synthesizers, you won't be disappointed. "Your Wildest Dreams," "The Other Side of Life," "I Just Don't Care," and "It May Be a Fire," are actually pretty good songs. However, the other five will take some time to get used to. For fans of the classic MB and only the classic MB, stay away from this, but if you're willing to accept the heavy influence of Moraz, it isn't bad.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Moodies' worst album, February 15, 2001

By	Matt Walsh (Pepperell, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This is the album where the horrid, cheesy, predominant musical influences of the 80's grabbed the Moodies by the necks, and what results is shallow, irritating and forgettable tunes that are not worthy of this truly great band.

I give it 2 stars instead of 1 because 1) "Your Wildest Dreams" is a great song and 2) this album's two singles brought the band considerable commercial notoriety, which helped keep interest in the band among the general public alive.

This really is a sad album though. Ray Thomas is entirely absent, Graeme Edge is virtually absent, and former Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz is way too dominant here, infesting the album with whiny, incessant, excessive electric keyboard playing. The song "Talkin' Talkin'" is a great example of this; Moraz's playing is the equivalent of him scratching his nails against a chalkboard. His playing was perfectly nice on "Long Distance Voyager" and "The Present," but I'm guessing he didn't have much influence in the band, and stayed in the background mostly. Here he's given freedom to experiment and all hell breaks loose.

John Lodge is at his worst here. His contributions includee "Talkin' Talkin'", a couple of boring, forgettable ballads and a braindead, monotonous rock and roll tune called "Rock and Roll Over You," which mostly consists of the senseless lyric "Like a rock I'm gonna roll over you" OVER AND OVER AGAIN for almost five minutes.

I Know "The Other Side of Life" was a hit, and its the only vaguely listenable song on the album save for "Wildest Dreams," but I still don't really like this version. The song is annoyingly monotone and far too long. It's MUCH better live; try the "Night at Red Rocks" recording, which breathes some life into a seemingly dead song.

As for the rest of the album... "I Just Don't Care" is perhaps the most unremarkable ballad Justin Hayward has ever written for the Moodies, and "The Spirit" and "Slings and Arrows" are absolutely awful. The next two albums definitely had their share of problems, but they shine brightly compared to this one.