Album of the Week: "On the Threshold of a Dream" Moody Blues

Week beginning 12th May 2008

 

This week chosen by S Sgt Chris Hynes from Hohne, Germany

 

Monday: I'm the beginning/Lovely to see you          Tuesday: So Deep Within You                                 Wednesday: Lazy Day                                            

Thursday: Never Comes The Day                               Friday: Send Me No Wine

 

Where this album's predecessor IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD dipped deeply into Eastern-flavoured psychedelia, THRESHOLD is more of a straightforward rock record. Things open up experimentally enough, with a spoken-word vignette over electronic drones, but this leads straight into one of the Moodies' poppiest, most up-tempo songs, "Lovely to see You", which would remain a concert favourite for decades. Even notoriously theatrical flautist/vocalist Ray Thomas keeps his eccentricities in check on his effective ballad "Dear Diary".
Keyboardist Mike Pinder takes a surprisingly lascivious vocal turn on the anomalous, leering rocker "So Deep Within You". Justin Hayward provides the lion's share of ear-tickling moments with pretty folk-rock tunes such as "Never Comes the Day" and "Are you Sitting Comfortably", while the most adventurous piece "Have you Heard/The Voyage" extends over three discrete tracks, featuring complex instrumental passages and lush harmonies. THRESHOLD doesn't come off as an attempt to cater to the mainstream, it's just a more song-based, less exotic recording than its predecessors.