Question of Balance [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

The Moody Blues

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 1997)
• Original Release Date: 1970
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Polydor / Umgd
• ASIN: B000002GQJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,050 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably their best, February 23, 2000

By	J. McCranie (Brunswick, GA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another mellotron drenched and excellent album, June 7, 2006

By	Jeffrey J.Park (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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).

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Wild Exploration of Environmentalism!, August 19, 2000

By	Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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!