Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed


Somehow we've stepped into the looking glass and now we have the opposite story of 2112. Instead of threatening to dump Moody Blues for lackluster sales and creative doldrums, Deram said "this orchestra we're paying isn't doing anything productive at the moment, why don't you guys try something more interesting than Pop songs with fully scored orchestral interludes?" It took about 5 years of Tuesday Afternoon and Nights in White Satin in constant rotation to actually catch on, but all of a sudden became a top 10 album in 1972. Bizarre. Anyway, here's Days of Future Passed, the first concept album from Moody Blues, and also one of the primordial ooze puddles from which Prog evolved in the first place. 

I'm not known for being a huge fan of Moody Blues albums, but this is by far my favorite of theirs. I absolutely adore symphonic Pop/Rock, and the melodic material here is super dreamy. Seriously, how freakin' cool would it be to see your local symphony and adventurous Rock band perform the whole thing live? Who am i kidding, that'd probably cost more than building a new strip mall and only like 4 other nerds would attend it with me. If i won the lottery, though, that'd totally be an insane thing i'd do. Oh well, we're long past passing the future these days, so we'll just enjoy a crazy thing some British guys did in the late 60s 'cause they didn't have any better ideas at the time. 

Enough of that mopey junk, the real question is what makes this early or "proto" Prog, instead of just normal Psych-Rock with Orchestra like my beloved Marty Paich used to make? I dunno, it's kind of a uselessly fiddly taxonomic distinction. I guess the actual distinction is that this is a proper concept album released 6 months after Sgt. Pepper. I've voiced my opinion on that latter former album, and i stand by the implication that this one is better. Yes, i don't do that very often, but Days of Future Passed is better than Sgt. Pepper. Before you get all tsk-y about it, remember that i'm "meh" on both bands' albums as albums, and i like Beatles songs better than Moody Blues songs. 

Hey Compy, what did i say last time i brought it up? Oh yeah, i forgot, i haven't unburied him from all the boulders between us. Ok, 9 more tabs on my phone later, this is technically 2 years before In the Court of the Crimson King, so executive decision: the official transition from Psych to Prog goes Sgt. Pepper, Days of Future Passed, In the Court of the Crimson King. That's my story and i'm sticking to it (unless you have a better story, in which case i'll gladly flip-flop because it's a humorous way to end this essay [winky face]).

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