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54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enter the Dream, June 10, 2002
"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.
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~ The Moody Blues
~ The Moody Blues
~ The Moody Blues
~ The Moody Blues
~ The Moody Blues
by The Moody Blues 
