Every Good Boy Deserves Favour [Import]

Track Listings

1. Procession

2. Story in Your Eyes

3. Our Guessing Game

4. Emily's Song

5. After You Came

6. One More Time to Live

7. Nice to Be Here

8. You Can Never Go Home

9. My Song

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Japanese reissue of their classic 1971 album. Packaged in a miniature gatefold LP sleeve. 2000 release.

Tracks:

Procession
The Story In Your Eyes
Our Guessing Game
Emily's Song
After You Came
One More Time To Live
Nice To Be Here
You Can Never Go Home
My Song

Album Details

Digitally Remastered - Nine Tracks Procession, the Story in Your Eyes, You Can Never Go Home and More.

Customer Reviews:

Did Myself a "Favour" Buying It!!.......2007-06-07

I had read all the reviews describing this album as being slightly dark, so I was a bit unsure as to how I would like it. I needn't have worried: my beloved boys didn't let me down, not at all. With the exception of one track (that will remain nameless) EGBDF is the incomparable Moody Blues at the apex of their power, talent and creativity. I'll briefly touch on the four songs that REALLY blew me away, though there are several other really great tunes. At this point in my musical journey, I have to say this is probably my favorite of the "core 7" MB albums.

I'm going to start off with a veritable Justin Hayward gushfest here: 'The Story in your Eyes'. Oh my word, what a pure delight this song is. Yes folks, Mr Hayward knows how to rock it out! What- and how many- adjectives can I use to adequately describe it? BRILLIANT, MASTERFUL, AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL, SMART, come to mind. This song is simply a showcase for Hayward's phenomenal talents as a singer, songwriter and guitar maestro. "And the sound we make together is the music to the story in your eyes". Pray tell, who else writes intelligent yet beautiful lyrics like this? NOBODY!! The music, beat and tempo are great as well, carried along by Graeme Edge's terrific percussion work and John Lodge's oh so hard-driving bass. Mike Pinder just flat out tore up the keys on this one. Heck, they ALL shine on this gem!! If I have one MINOR complaint, it's that this song is nowhere near long enough- give me just two more minutes of it, PLEASE!

The hard-rocking 'After You Came', superbly written by Graeme Edge, was a VERY pleasant surprise. It should have been named 'Another Way To Fall', because of the catchy chorus: "I've reached the top of my wall. I've found out another way to fall". I love the overall sound of this lively ditty and the musicianship is blazing hot. The way the guys all trade lead vocals is simply fantastic. I was almost squealing with girlish delight to hear John's lovely vocals totally dominating in several places- way to go Lodgie! This song is tailor-made for his voice. But all the Moodies flat sang- and played- their hearts out on this one. Way to write a song Graeme!

On to the two offerings from the fab Mr John Lodge. First off: 'One More Time To Live'. This one took me a few listens to "get" it, as it's just too much to take in all at once and fully comprehend it. At first I didn't quite see how the chorus of very loudly spoken words fit in, but now I realize that it works beautifully with the heavy subject matter. This might be John's deepest, darkest song. This powerful tune, written well over 30 years ago, is so relevant to today's troubled world that John could have put it to paper yesterday. You've outdone yourself John and you should be darned proud of this song!
I've deliberately saved John's other number, 'Emily's Song', until last. This song hits very close to home with me and at times, frankly leaves me an emotional wreck. You see, I had no relationship with my biological father. Since my earliest childhood memories, I have wanted and dreamed about having a kind, loving man such as John Lodge for my Dad. To have your daddy love you enough to write and sing about his little girl is too precious and painful for me to put into words. I just hope and pray that Emily Lodge knows how truly blessed she is to have such a father, and that she returns that love to him. John, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for sharing all your beautiful words with the world. You truly are a very special human being.

In closing, I'd just like to say that this album is a must-have for anyone who appreciates classic/progressive rock at its finest, created by the most amazing band to ever bless this Earth with their music.

Running out of new ideas for psychedelia.......2007-02-25

Every good boy deservese favour, from 1971, by the Moody Blues, was their sixth straight psychedelic album.

The album is a worthy addition to your collection. However, as the title to my review suggests, my feelings towards the album are "it's ok".

It begins with a run-down of all possible music styles they can think of, which is makes for a pleasant enough track, but seems like a desperate idea for a song. The album then gets into the main body with the awesome rocker 'The story in your eyes' which has a rollicking riff and hearfelt vocals from Justin Hayward. Although really whiney, 'Our guessing game' is a decent enough song, though the only real fresh idea is some experimentation with vocal arrangements. Another smashing track follows in the really soft, pleasant 'Emily's song', a pretty John Lodge number featuring a well-timed cello riff. The album really changes pace with a hard-rocking 'The Wall' by Graeme Edge. Since it's an Edge number, the other four Moodies take turns on the vocals. Again, it's a bit negative "I've reached the top of my wall, I've found another way to fall" which kind of detracts from being a hard-rocking song, but it's a cool track.

The real problems with this album show up on side two. John Lodge's 'One more time to live' is really emotional and melodic, though the chorus is shouting words such as "Communication", "Creation", etc. that were first heard in "Procession". Then the album really suffers with Ray Thomas' "Nice to be here". It's not a bad song, only drags on too long, but I just feel as though we have heard this all before. It's followed by a sultry Justin Hayward ballad "You can never go home" which, again, is the sort of thing we've heard before.

I suppose the reason I'm being so hard on this album is my bitter disappointment with the last song, "My song", the only songwriting appearance by Michael Pinder. Pinder's song's are usually something to look forward to, but this song is simply a note for note copy of "The voyage/Have you heard". I don't know why it strikes me so much, but because it's such a copy of such a mezmerising classic, I can't feel it can only ever be there for teh sake of taking up space. The lyrics are nice, though. But a lot of the material on this album seems all to similar to what they've done before.

I think by now (1971) they had run out of ideas on the psychedelia theme and with this album they were more or less sticking to the genre as they had nowhere else to go. Their next album was a huge departure and ventured more into singer/songwriter pop and introspective folk.

To sum up, this album is a pleasant listen, but seems uninspiring as it doesn't take you many places that you haven't been before. That said, I hope you enjoy the album - brendan

Every Good Moodie Album Deserve To Be A Classic?.......2007-01-30

This one is a good album and I like the concept but it hasn't stuck with me like the previous 2 no matter how many times I've listened to it, I think I may have been Moodied out after the first classic 5 albums.

The band's great and underrated album.......2006-12-21

This has always been a favorite of mine. This, however, seems to be almost the forgotten album out of the classic seven. Unlike Seventh Sojourn an album with really great songs but doesn't hang together well all the way thru. This one is a classic from beginning to end. This is a darker album than most Moody Blues albums and that might have something to do with the fact that this is not as widely regarded as some but don't let that put you off this is a classic.

In Search Of The Musical Chord..........2006-12-15

...Progression. Or should I say Procession as in the lead off track? This is my personal bestest favorite Moody Blues album and the one I would declare part of my 10 must have on a desert island albums. Why? If you have read Dustyart's review of To Our Children's...Children you will find I am in total agreement as to the qualifying peak of Moody Blues albums. Lost Chord, Threshold, and Children were truly composed with 5 brush strokes of pure genius, painted together as a whole of one mind in conceptualization and magical psychedelia unparalleled by anything else they would do. Days of Future Passed kicked off this "new" Moody Blues that became the "core seven" ending in 7th Sojourn of course. Days is brilliant classical-rock. Question of Balance held together as an environmental concept, an "awareness" album, and then came the 5 notes of musical procession EGBDF (the mnemonic aid for the lines of the treble clef). 7th Sojourn ended up being a wave good-bye, a loose "sailing journey" where the ship disappears over the horizon, seemingly never to return. The Moody's "broke up" but then returned for an aptly titled Octave, with Pinder barely hanging on to the vessel. With the close of that album, penned by Pinder, he never sailed that ship again. The reasons for that are evident on this album with his contribution(s) here.

Though EGBDF is loosely a "concept album" dealing with "music" as it's centerpiece, the songs offer some personal insight to a few of our shipmates, including the opener Procession, written by all five. It is the only Moody Blues song with the distinction of being written by all members of the group. Procession uses musical challenges to illustrate the evolution and history of music from the "desolation" of empty space, to "creation" in whatever scientific/religious view you take it, to "communication" (musical beginnings were in sounds used to convey messages between species), and from it's rudimentary drummings beginnings through eastern and occidental classical forms to electronics and rock. by this means, each member contributes his insight to the musical progression.

As with all core seven Moodies, the tracks run together with no breaks and at the peak of rock guitar, Procession breaks into the top-40 hit single The Story In Your Eyes, one of Hayward's best rocking guitar and harmony vocal songs, perhaps even his best by some votes. I personally love the song lyrically, poetically, and musically. It balances a solid rock edge with beautiful vocals and heartfelt emotions. The short but sweet lead guitar solo demonstrates Justin's almost effortless talents in straight forward rock and roll.

Ray Thomas follows up with an autobiographically introspective number that tugs at the heartstrings with piano, mellotron, drums, and electric guitar. Lodge and Hayward accent Ray with terrific harmonies. This song has an ebb and flow as a tide and as in other Thomas songs, tinges the listener with salt and sand.

Emily's Song by John Lodge was written for his daughter, newly born before this album went into production. Couple that with the fact that the metre and rhyme scheme are highly reminiscent of Emily Dickenson poetry, and John has created one of his most beautiful songs that dwarfs many of his later efforts.

After You Came is a Graeme Edge penned heavy-on-percussion rocker with John on lead vocals, harmonies from Michael and John overdubs. As a solid rocker, Justin provides some great lead guitar and the ending of this track left us old timers clamoring to get to side two of this masterful work!

One More Time To Live is my reason for keeping this album in my top ten. Musically and lyrically, it is a return to the opener of the album. John Lodge has penned (in my humble opinion) the best Moody Blues song ever with this one. The song begins with the sweetness of Emily's Song but quicky enters a middle eight not matched in any other MB composition. Using the motif of Desolation, Creation, Communication, created earlier, John provides a progression from chaos to tranquility with harmonies and double-up vocals (from Hayward) and growing piano and percussiveness that grabs the listener, riveting you to your seat not once but twice through. Listen to this song if you have never heard it before and tell me it is not a Masterpiece of The Moody Blues! By songs end, you are wasted away, used up, but left with enough heart to go on to the next beautiful track.

Ray Thomas now gives us music as provided by nature with Nice To Be Here. This is one of Ray's best, both lyrically and musically. The mid-tempo is gorgeous, the song is both beautiful and amusing. Every note from flute to mellotron to drumming is spot-on perfect. This song ranks with Legend of a Mind, and, Dear Diary, in creativity alone! Ray brings an energy back to you from your trip with John that your are going to need with Justin's next track.

You Can Never Go Home is a low soft starter that builds to an amazing crescendo. Hayward's lyrics are so sad yet hopeful that if a song is a tearjerker, this is definitely one. His imagery, his guitar work, and his harmonies with John and Michael are immaculate. This is my second favorite on the album and ironically, it is both just as sentimental as One More Time To Live and exactly opposite in mood. Justin's voice is at it's peak of perfection on this album, and this song is perhaps his strongest vocal performance.

EGBDF closes with the Pinder composition My Song, which forbodes his eventual disassociation with the Moodies, and gives us a glimpse into Michaels own spiritual center which he he would take with him to the Stone Canyon Family and would pop up in his solo effort The Promise. This piece of music is intense, heavy on mellotron, heavy on introspective vocals, heavy on chorals, drumming, musical build up, it is all here. The Music that EGBDF centerpieces, is here in it's "all-ness" with Michael introducing us to the music of the spheres that he hears inside, the Melancholy Man gives us his first brief glimpse of the outer-worlders that he chose to follow. As the song fades away, Pinder' keys float into space with the same pitch as they came in at the beginning of the album, returning us again to that cycle which is infamous in Moody Blues recordings.

I am sorry Michael Pinder chose to leave the group, but given the directions that were evident on the next album (7th Sojourn) it is not surprising, and rather than being a messy divorce, Pinder just had reasons for moving on, both spiritually and musically. Justin and John would propel the group into a new direction, but not before Michael slapped down two more heroic tunes on 7th Sojourn and the his one swan-song on Octave years later.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favor is the last "cohesive" MB "concept" album and that is using those terms loosely, since Question is probably the last true concept album they made. This is an album which is difficult to review, but I wanted to entice anyone who has not heard it, or is new to the Moody Blues, to get this album, since some fans, like myself, simply love this album. It is not so dated as their early efforts which relied on the psychedelic movement. The music here is timeless since it is written with musical notation and classic lyrical efforts in mind. It is an album which attempts, and succeeds in, creating a musical journey about musical journey. If you are a fan of the late Moody Blues (80's and recent) then this album will be a shoe-in for you. If you have recently discovered The Moody Blues, are young and adventurous and already Chord, Threshold, Children, and perhaps even Days familiar but have not ventured into the 1970 Moody Blues, this here album is the transition point. It has the best of both worlds. There is not one weak track. Every vocal is perfect, every song is a "10" by my vote, I just happen to like two special ones above the others, so they get a 10 and a half! The only failing of this CD is that unlike with the old gatefold album covers, you don't get a 13" by 25" foldout of the gorgeous cover that Phil Travers created, the album cover was a work of art itself.

So if you are a Good Boy (or Girl) who loves the Moody Blues, you Deserve to treat yourself to THIS Favour! It may even become your Favor-Ite!

Average customer rating:

every good boy deserves favour
Excellent! Great! Beautiful! Delightful! Fantastic! ~ Deluxe Edition!:)
INTENSE re-mastering...
Quadraphonic realized!
There's More...(We Hope) !!

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
The Moody Blues
Manufacturer: Umvd Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Seventh Sojourn
Live at the BBC: 1967-1970
Question of Balance
To Our Children's Children's Children
On the Threshold of a Dream

ASIN: B000MGVCFO
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Tracks:

Procession
Story in Your Eyes
Our Guessing Game
Emily's Song
After You Came
One More Time to Live
Nice to Be Here
You Can Never Go Home
My Song
Story in Your Eyes [Original Version][#][*][Version]
Dreamer [#][*]

Customer Reviews:

every good boy deserves favour.......2007-07-10

in the 1960's and early 1970's the moody blues were in a league of there own for inspired, inticate and creative popular music. This album continued the high standard of there earlier albums. This album in SACD is superb and the standard of production is stunning and lends itself brilliantly to this remastering technology. It sounds as if the band is present and performing in front of you.

Excellent! Great! Beautiful! Delightful! Fantastic! ~ Deluxe Edition!:).......2007-06-28

*The following comments are in regard to the bonus tracks on this release. To read my opinions on the original content of this album, check out my review under:
"Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" by The Moody Blues (Audio CD - 1997) - Original recording remastered

Here is what I enjoyed about each of these outstanding bonus offerings...

"The Story in Your Eyes" (Original version):
Either this was a slightly slowed-down version of the final version or the final version was speeded up a tad ... Either way, a nice job on the heavy mellotrons on the choruses. The vocals made the song sound like a BBC remake, featuring the original instrumental track. At the end of the track, you can hear a voice that sounds like Denny Laine chanting in falsetto (Ala "From The Bottom Of My Heart, I Love You" from "The Magnificent Moodies"), but it's hard to tell who's voice it really is! A really catchy version of this rockin' Justin Hayward classic. :)

"The Dreamer:"
This composition, featuring Ray Thomas on vocals, would have fitted nicely on his "Hopes, Wishes, And Dreams" album, as the music style sounds closer to his solo effort than a Moody Blues song ... Still, it's an impressive haunting and driving tune, and makes for a nice "Thomas Trilogy" on this release, along with his two "E.G.B.D.F." compositions, all unique in sound, but all fantastic in their own way. :)

*Something I forgot to add to my original review of this album was that the opening chant of "DESOLATION," from "Procession," would make for an amusing ring tone for a cell phone, if there isn't already a sound file of this available! Imagine hearing this on somebody's phone while waiting on line at the bank or grocery store?! :)

Just like the 1997 CD remaster of "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour," this Deluxe Edition also featured a topnotch remastering job! I would recommend this release to any Moody Blues fan or collector. Thanks for reading! God Bless... :)

INTENSE re-mastering..........2007-04-24

This review is based on the CD portion of the disc only.

If you are hoping these "deluxe editions" will sound even better than the re-mastered discs of `97 you will be disappointed. The old re-masters sound much more pleasant to the ears than these "deluxe" discs. Doing a side by side comparison, using top of the line monitors, these "deluxe" versions don't come close to the last round of re-masters which breath much better. The "deluxe" versions have been once again aggressively compressed, which means, by the time you've reached the middle to later stages of the album (depending on the album), you may experience some ear fatigue. The sound is unrelenting and it changes the original dynamics. I felt like I was hearing a whole new mix, which is a sign of over compressing. Has the music industry gone compression mad? Or, were the Moodies worried that their back catalogue (the holy seven) lacked musical muscle, and super charging it with heavy compression is the answer? Or even both?

The bonus tracks were interesting to hear, but not really important unless you are a Moodies fanatic. The booklet's in this "deluxe" series were all a little redundant, you'll be reading a lot of the same text from booklet to booklet, and the picture selection was a bit lacking in imagination in my opinion. Also, it states in the booklet, there's a track 12 which wasn't to be found on my disc.

In conclusion, after hearing all of these "SACD Deluxe Editions," I'll be keeping my old (1997) re-masters, after all, they still look and sound great. Perhaps the other two layers of these "deluxe editions" will be rewarding, but if you still haven't bought any of these yet, you are way ahead of the game.

Quadraphonic realized!.......2007-04-21

This gem from 1971 includes some of the Moody Blues best works. The stand-out cut for this hybrid SACD is the amazing, "Procession", in which the Moodies attempted to document the progression of music through the years. In stereo, it was always a revelation, but in surround sound the original quadraphonic mix is reproduced with exquisite clarity and definition. The song literally dances around the room. The entire album exudes new life through this new mix - however, the center speaker does not emit sound; only the four individual speakers (left and right front and left and right rear), plus the subwoofer. The unreleased bonus tracks are a welcome surprise, with the original version of, "The Story In Your Eyes" at an extra half minute added. It's more of a `free' mix towards the end sounding more like a tight `jam'. The Hayward/Thomas addition of "The Dreamer" is a pleasant song and this is the first time it has been available. Note that the bonus tracks are in stereo only; an unexplained mystery on an album mixed for multi-channels. Also note that the bonus song, "After you Came" listed on the booklet does not exist on the CD - a major faux-paus!

Please note that all Moody Blues Hybrid SACD's do not reproduce the front central channel - a result of the original quadraphonic tape mixing

There's More...(We Hope) !!.......2007-04-14

I love this recording, and it's (at least) twice as good in Quadraphonic ! Thank you, Polygram ! If you're a Moodies fan, BUY IT ! 'Nuf said-you know you're getting a gem here...But you might not know this---- Where's the SACD re-issue in 5.1 of "Blue Jays" by Justin Hayward and John Lodge ? Still to come ? and soon (I hope) ? We need to make some noise, fellow fans...BECAUSE-It was briefly available as a Quadraphonic 4 channel reel-to-reel tape, just as all the Moody Blues albums through "Seventh Sojourn" except "Magnificent Moodies" (1st LP) and "In Search of the Lost Chord" (3rd LP) were. Well, ALL the Moody multi-channels have been re-issued as SACDs, so where's the re-issue in 5.1 of "Blue Jays" ? THIS ALBUM WAS THE BEST MULTI-CHANNEL RELEASE by ANY artist I'VE EVER HEARD ! Also, Ray Thomas' "From Mighty Oaks" was a matrix-encoded Quadraphonic LP record release, so there should be some discrete master tapes of that in the vaults, too...Let's hope we see SACD re-issues of both of these wonderful 'solo' releases, as well !

Average customer rating:

Excellent! Great! Beautiful! Delightful! Fantastic! :)
The Most Progressive Moody Blues Release
much ado about... what?
An antidote to cynicism
This is a great CD!

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
The Moody Blues
Manufacturer: Mobile Fidelity
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Question of Balance
In Search of the Lost Chord
Days of Future Passed
Seventh Sojourn
To Our Children's Children's Children

ASIN: B000000IUD
Release Date: 1995-09-12

Tracks:

Procession
The Story In Your Eyes
Our Guessing Game
Emily's Song
After You Came
One More Time To Live
Nice To Be Here
You Can Never Go Home
My Song

Customer Reviews:

Excellent! Great! Beautiful! Delightful! Fantastic! :).......2007-06-29

To start off, what a topnotch remastering job on this splendid release! :)

Back in the days when I was discovering the music of The Moody Blues (About the 6th grade, in the late 1980's, for me), my parents put together a Moody Blues mix tape from the songs off of the vinyl albums in their collection, for road trips in the car. The cassette included this really cool-sounding rock song with mellotrons and pianos featured in it, and the tune reminded me of "Question" and "Lovely To See You," which I already knew at the time ... Of course, the song turned out to be "The Story In Your Eyes," my favorite song on that mix tape, at the time, and I went through all of my parents' records to discover that the song came from "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour!" Sound-wise, the "church-like" choir of backing vocals on the choruses are outstanding, and sound similar to the background chanting on "Nights In White Satin." The "clanging" of the pianos, near the end of the track, really packs a punch too, and a nice job on the stereo separation of Justin Hayward's well-sung double-tracked vocals (Best experienced through headphones)!

Backing up a bit, I found "Procession" amusing, and wanted to dissect it piece by piece, by commenting on my favorite pieces ... The Moog synthesizer that opens up the album has such a futuristic quality to it that I don't think you could possibly reproduce such a sound effect for any video game or techno sound recording! Gotta love those "bubbling" sounds! You don't need an alarm clock when you first hear The Moodies shouting, "DESOLATION!" The group shout just comes out of nowhere and is one of the most startling moments on a Moody Blues recording (Next to the thunder effects heard on "Say What You Mean," from "Keys Of The Kingdom") ... The band executes their line to perfection, just as the listener is becoming comfortable with the "Pillow Of Winds" (To quote Pink Floyd from their "Meddle" album, also released in the same year!) sounds, previously heard ... It's like The Moody Blues summoned the bursts of thunder and rainfall that follow their opening shout! Notice that the "E.G.B.D.F." piano chords pan across the stereo field, beginning on the left stereo channel and ending out on the right channel (Another headphone treat!). Originally, I thought that Graeme Edge's electronic drum kit was a set of state-of-the art bongos! They are right on the beat and make for yet another stereophonic delight! The sitar excerpt reminds me of some of George Harrison's work on the late 1960's Beatles albums, mainly "Love You To," from "Revolver" and some of the incidental music on the "Help!" soundtrack ("Another Hard Day's Night"/"The Chase") ... The flute piece reminds me of some of the musical interludes in the "Monty Python" series ... Strange thought, I know, but it still sounds lovely. :) The harpsichord section makes me think of Colonial times, and the buildup at the end of the track sounds like something that would inspire Queen to create their musical style of "God Save The Queen," from "A Night At The Opera!" Gotta love the "Halloweenish" organ followed by the double-tracked electric guitar that leads into "Story!" A fantastic job on this opening piece to the album!

The piano in the intro to Ray Thomas' "Our Guessing Game" really grabbed me, right from the start ... You would have thought that Mike Pinder would begin singing the song, as he did following the piano piece that opened up "My Song," later on! Sounded like a symphonic piece to me ... What a marvelous melody! There is great continuity with the stereophonic sound of the double-tracked lead guitar between the solo that ends out "Procession" and the solo heard on the instrumental break of "Guessing Game," as well! The Moodies sound psyched as they all pitch in on the choruses, too. :)

Nice job with the xylophone effects on "Emily's Song," probably John Lodge's softest, most delicate tune ... The powerful cellos really bring the rest of the instrumentation together so well. Glad to find that this tune received recognition on the "Collected" best-of triple disc compilation, as it was not featured in the "E.G.B.D.F." portion of "Time Traveller." The live version of this song, on the "Red Rocks" set, is equally enjoyable, by me, I might add. :)

Both acoustic and electric guitars dominate Graeme Edge's "After You Came," and as any true Moody Blues fan can tell you about this song, it is a successful team effort from all of the vocalists ... John Lodge really sounds like he's getting into singing his parts of the song when he hums briefly during the final chorus on the track! While "Time Traveller" ignored this outstanding rocker, the song rightfully received recognition on both the "Voices In The Sky" and "The Universal Masters Collection: Classic Moody Blues" compilations. :)

John's "One More Time To Live" captures all kinds of moods, and starts off and ends out on a pleasant sounding note ... The intensity on the choruses is well delivered, in both the vocal and instrumental departments ... Sound wise, the choruses make me think of a thunder storm and the soft parts remind me of the calm before and after the storm! Nice job on the way the flutes that ended out this tune blended in with the flutes that open up the next tune, by Ray Thomas...

"Nice To Be Here" sounds like a mellow version of "Another Morning," from "Days Of Future Passed," and the melody reminds me a little bit of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," by The Beatles, at a couple of points!. :) While Ray indicates that this song takes place during the day ("...Lying in the sun"), I can't help but feel that the tune has a "nighttime" feel to it (The mellow instrumentation), in which the animals in the woods get together to perform their tune while all humans are far away, and home, fast asleep. :)

Justin's "You Can Never Go Home" takes me back to "Never Comes The Day," from "On The Threshold Of A Dream," with the song starting off softly then rocking on the choruses ... On both occasions, Justin superbly showcases both the soft and powerful styles of his vocals. He also delivers a nice soft touch of his electric guitar on the "I lie awake for hours"/"Weep no more for treasures" parts of the song. Nice job on the cheerful harmonizing during these same sections of the tune, as well!

On Mike Pinder's closing track, "My Song," the tune starts off like a classical piece, featuring topnotch piano playing, then we hear Mike singing in his most dramatic style on the "Love can change the world" section of the song, in similar fashion to his singing style during the fadeout to "Melancholy Man," from "A Question Of Balance." The harp-like effects and marching drums that take the listener into the instrumental portion of the song blew me away, as did the variety of mellotron sounds that were featured! When the song becomes silent, we can hear the "smog" effects that were first heard throughout "On The Threshold Of A Dream," mainly from "In The Beginning." The heavily echoed breathing, in the background, sounded spooky ... Could it have represented the "life in other worlds?" The breathing did have an otherworldly sound to it! Pretty neat effect on the sound effects that ended out the song, as it was the opening sound effect in "Procession," played in reverse! This reminded me of how Pink Floyd's "The Wall" began and ended, featuring the same sounds! Thanks to the fadeout on Mike's track, we do get the impression that this is indeed "a song that never ends!" In addition, isn't it amusing that the very first song on the following album, "Seventh Sojourn," was written and sung by Mike? Imagine how "My Song" would have sounded if it morphed into "Lost In A Lost World," in the space between the fadeout of the former song and the fade-in of the latter song! This concept would have been further proof in carrying out "a song that never ends" ... Just an impression I had between the two Pinder tunes. :)

For me, this is a good album to listen to late in the evening, right before going to sleep ... It must also have something to do with the nighttime setting on the album cover, but much of the instrumentation creates a "dreamy" atmosphere on this recording, most notably the mellotrons, so it's a nice album to relax to. "Boy," I'm in "Favour" of "Every Good" (Or should I say "Great!") Moody Blues song on this "Deserving" of praise album! Thanks for reading. God Bless... :)

The Most Progressive Moody Blues Release.......2006-04-09

This CD is likely the least well-known of the classic 7 Moody Blues releases. This CD is also likely the most progressive and experimental of the classic 7, which is saying a lot considering how well regarded "Days of Future Passed" is as one of the first, if not the first, rock concept albums, and one of the first progressive rock albums.

As with most of The Moody Blues first 7 albums, this CD also has a concept, albeit a somewhat loose concept. In this case, the concept is the evolution of man and his society, and whether and how that society might survive. As you can imagine, the tone of the album is relatively downbeat and somber.

The opening track is perhaps the most progressive Moodies track of any Moodies album, "Procession." This song is nothing less than the encapsulation of the evolution of man from man's primate ancestors to today. This song is one of those that have earned The Moody Blues comments such as heavy-handed, pretentious and overblown. Certainly the song attempts to summarize our history with three words: desolation, creation and communication. The music that goes with these three little words is nothing less than art, simple, building in complexity as the piece progresses until the last moments in the song when the song becomes crescendos of guitars, organs and drums, underscoring the complexity of modern life, leading into the next number.

While the next song, "The Story in Your Eyes", seems to try to dispel the downbeat opening, the lyrics have the stanza:

But I'm frightened for your children
That the live that we are living is in vain
And the sunshine we've been waiting for
Will turn to rain

These lyrics add to the general gloom of the opening number, and furthering the theme of the album, which is whether mankind will yet survive. While the lyrics have their downbeat portions, the music is fast and is the song that is closest to mainstream rock on this album. This song was also the one chosen to be the single released from this CD.

The next song is one of Ray Thomas' mellow numbers, but again the lyrics include hints of a darker future:

Wonder why we try so hard
Wonder why we try at all
You wonder why the world is turning around
When in the end it won't matter at all

Before you get the feeling that you should just lie in bed for the rest of your life comes "Emily's Song," which was written about a baby girl. This song is again mellow, a fairy tale of song. There is chamberlain and percussion to give a vaguely cheery lullaby feeling to this song. The most charming theme is that by living through our children we gain a perspective on the world that we've lost as adults (so true!). The song suggests that we can regain what we've lost by being with our children, and letting them pull us into their world. Is it any wonder that grandparents like grandchildren?

"After You Came" is a fascinating song when viewed in the perspective of previous Moodies albums. The song seems to suggest that many of the otherworldly lyrics from the previous Moodies albums were unrealistic, and the Moodies, as well as their listeners, needed to regain their earthly perspective. This theme was even more explicitly captured in the lyrics of the next album, "Seventh Sojourn," as the Moodies worked harder to undo the sometimes cult following the achieved due to their intensely spiritual earlier albums.

Just when you think the album is heading somewhere upbeat comes "One More Time to Live", a reprise to the first song "Procession," detailing the host of man's sins and emotions, trying succinctly to express all the things that man could think, and perhaps should think, but also perhaps realizing that the solution requires philosophies and determination that can not be revealed in a simple song.

Before the album takes itself so seriously that you achieve a dire funk, "Nice to Be Here" gives us a fantasy to relieve the stress of thinking too deeply. Ray Thomas has a penchant for creating songs like this one, which are one part childhood fantasy, one part philosophy, and one part longing for escape, a cute and clever song that somehow fits.

The last two songs on the CD seem to relate to each other, and though they are sung in a mellow, almost downbeat, fashion, the lyrics suggest a way out for mankind. "You Can Never Go Home" by Justin Hayward is full of soaring instruments and vocals, and tells us that we are another step toward the future. The song is a love song, but it is a love song with dual meanings that fit into one person's love, and the meaning that love has for the future of man.

"My Song" by Mike Pinder is a fitting conclusion to this album, and makes you wish the album would have gone on for another disk. Mike sings:

Where did I find all these words
Something inside me is burning
There's life in other worlds
Maybe they'll come to earth,
Helping man to find a way.

Mike's other lyrics suggest that he is having a hard time telling us all his thoughts and concerns, and he's ready to take any help to sort it all out, even if it's those extraterrestrials that so many of us talked about in the late 60s and early 70s.

This album has never been considered a "great" album. Yet, the album tries to explain where mankind is, how we got here, and perhaps, where we might go. Only a group like The Moody Blues could tackle such an impossible subject in a mere 40 minutes. If you are feeling heavily introspective and mellow, and you are looking for mood music, spin this CD, and you'll find that 40 minutes just wasn't enough.

much ado about... what?.......2004-07-07

The Moody Blues have always intrigued me, but never hooked me. Since I'm not musically trained I'm really in no position to critique the musical attributes of their compositions, but I will say that the band can often sound much more compelling than what they are saying in their lyrics. Even the title and cover art, which give allusions to the mysteries of childhood, create more wonderment than tangible meaning, and you wander off wondering if THAT'S what the meaning of the album is. Certainly the Moody's are the Kings of the Concept Album. Perhaps if they had received less acclaim for 'Days of Future Passed' they could have broken out of that self-imposed box prior to 'Seventh Sojourn'.

'Every Good Boy Deserves Favor' starts out wonderfully, if you overlook 'Procession' as an actual song, and regard it as an experimental, Beatlesque mix of random sounds. The acual music breaks open with the classic 'The Story In Your Eyes', such an engaging, well-structured, empowered song that it simply does not give the rest of the album a chance. While there are other worthy songs on the disc, there is no question that it is 'downhill from here'. The next three songs are strong, with 'Guessing Game' offering a graceful melody and thoughtful lyrics, 'Emily's Song', which was released as a single in the United Kingdom could be mistaken for Simon and Garfunkle fare (that's a compliment), and 'After You Came', being the only legitimate rock song on the album save 'The Story...', features interesting lyrics and simply rocks real nice.

The remainder of the album may remind you of college basketball before the shot clock showed the grave to the slow-down game. 'One More Time To Live' starts out promising, but segues from relaxing images of an English garden, "look out in the hedgerow...", to a chorus of cacophonic pronouncements such as "desolation", "pollution", "revolution" and "starvation". I suppose there is a point in it, but it's not aurally appealing, and perhaps it wasn't meant to be.

Sometimes the faux depth of meaning is more deliberate and playful, as in the cheerful, even psychedelic imagery offered in 'Nice To Be Here', which plays on life scenes reminiscent of The Beatles 'Being For the Benefit Of Mr. Kite', such as "Jack Rabbit loudly drumming", "a mouse played a daffodil", and "the frog's guitar solo". It is playfully entertaining, and the music is a fit complement to the message.

'You Can Never Go Home' and 'My Song' drearily close out the album, with the former offering abstract lyrics such as "High above the forest lie the pastures of the Sun, where the two that learned the secret now are one". The latter, as with several other songs on 'EGBDF', is mired in hippie-think messages such as "love can change the world, love can change your life", and even reaches so far as "There's life in other worlds, maybe they'll come to Earth, helping man to find a way". Beam us up, Scotty.

It's a shame to have to tolerate the 'down-side' to 'EGBDF' in order to own 'The Story In Your Eyes', 'Emily's Song', and 'After You Came'. Perhaps a compilation CD or a good live disc of the band is the wiser choice... The liner notes are sparse and no lyrics are included, though they are available on-line and can help to make the listening experience more coherant.

An antidote to cynicism.......2000-04-20

To be a Moody Blues fan, world-weary, jaded eyes must be forgotten. The band's greatest strength, and the one thing that most sets them apart from their contemporaries, is the fact that they write from a childlike perspective--honest, hopeful, and free of cynicism.

"EGBDF" is a thematic album, very similar in construction to 1969's "To Our Children's Children's Children." But whereas "Children's Children" has the feel of "2001: A Space Odyssey," "EGBDF" has more the feel of an English garden. "The story in your eyes" is the only hit off the album, but all the songs are wonderful, and the album was meant to be enjoyed as a whole. "Emily's Song" is a charming love song from a parent to a young child. "One more time to live" is the only political song on the album, yet is more poetry than protest. "Nice to be here" by Ray Thomas is a rollicking, colorful children's song, a good companion piece to "Floating" from the Children's Children album.

The best treat on this album, though, is Justin Hayward's "You can never go home," which contains some of the best lyrics he's ever written, perfectly accented by his plaintive vocals. Finally, Michael Pinder's "My song" serves as a satisfying epilogue to the rest of this lovely album.

Anybody who likes the Moody Blues, or just desires a change of pace from the heavy beats and angry cynicism of today's music, would be well-advised to buy this album.

As a footnote: Young people today will never know one of the greatest pleasures that came from owning vinyl albums: Cover Art! And the Moodies' were the best. The cover for "EGBDF" was adapted (I'm pretty sure) from a watercolor painting called "Der Krystal" by the German artist Sulamith Wulfing.

This is a great CD!.......2000-03-13

Can't say much except that this is a great CD! I doubt that this review would even be helpful to anyone but all I can say besides getting it is that it comes highly recommended! Some may not like it but it hardly deserves only 1 star and if you do rate it as 1 star, you are either very pretentious or just ignorant to good music. Maybe one should start getting britney spears instead?

Average customer rating:

Excellent! Great! Beautiful! Delightful! Fantastic! :)
The Most Progressive Moody Blues Release
much ado about... what?
An antidote to cynicism
This is a great CD!

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
The Moody Blues
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Question of Balance
In Search of the Lost Chord
Days of Future Passed
Seventh Sojourn
To Our Children's Children's Children

ASIN: B000001F62
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Procession
Story in Your Eyes
Our Guessing Game
Emily's Song
After You Came
One More Time to Live
Nice to Be Here
You Can Never Go Home
My Song

Customer Reviews:

Excellent! Great! Beautiful! Delightful! Fantastic! :).......2007-06-29

The Most Progressive Moody Blues Release.......2006-04-09

much ado about... what?.......2004-07-07

An antidote to cynicism.......2000-04-20

Anybody who likes the Moody Blues, or just desires a change of pace from the heavy beats and angry cynicism of today's music, would be well-advised to buy this album.

This is a great CD!.......2000-03-13

Average customer rating:

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Moody Blues
Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

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General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000BRHZ14
Release Date: 2001-12-11

Average customer rating:

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
The Moody Blues
Manufacturer: Universal Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Classic Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

To Our Children's Children's Children's
Days of Future Passed
Question of Balance
Seventh Sojourn
In Search of the Lost Chord

ASIN: B000056FBY
Release Date: 2001-03-20

Tracks:

Procession
Story in Your Eyes
Our Guessing Game
Emily's Song
After You Came
One More Time to Live
Nice to Be Here
You Can Never Go Home
My Song

Album Description

Japanese reissue of their classic 1971 album. Packaged in a miniature gatefold LP sleeve. 2000 release.

Album Details

Japanese version digitally remastered in a LP style sleeve cover.

Average customer rating:

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Moody Blues
Manufacturer: Msi Music Corp
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Psychedelic Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0002BA9Z8
Release Date: 2002-08-22

Music Review:

Music Review

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Music Review

Bark [Import]

Scryabin: Piano Concerto Op.20, Piano Sonata No.1, etc.

Sessions; Mennin; Blackwood

Schubert/Brahms: Lieder

Summertime [CD-single]

Song of the Earth and the Stars

Take It to the Hole [Explicit Lyrics]

Black Jack

Let Your Ghost Go

1. Procession
2. Story in Your Eyes
3. Our Guessing Game
4. Emily's Song
5. After You Came
6. One More Time to Live
7. Nice to Be Here
8. You Can Never Go Home
9. My Song