The Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager (1981)

NUMBER ONE ALBUMS WEEK (MAY 5-11, 2014)

I've never heard a Moody Blues album before today. Other than the two radio singles and cool album cover, I know nothing about this one. Pressing play; let's do this:

I was expecting prog rock, and while there's some of that here, there's also a solid, carefully constructed pop album more along the lines of ELO than Nights In White Satin. Wonderfully arranged, engineered, and produced, the whole thing sounds good. Late last year, on another music blog, I wrote these words:

The Voice – The Moody Blues, released August 1981, Pop #15, AC #16, Mainstream Rock #1. Love it. I can’t tell you how many times I almost bought the Long Distance Voyager album. I have no idea why I didn’t pull the trigger on that one.

Argh - coulda woulda shoulda. Even saying "better late than never" isn't making me feel any better because 15 year old Mark would have loved this album. Ah well, nothing I can do about it now except move this disc out to my truck's CD player and add it to my list of "summer albums."

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "the group is in prime form here"
• Rolling Stone (★★★½): "should warm the hearts of their veteran cosmic fans"
• CashBox: "classy AOR material"
• Stereo Review: "fans will welcome their capable, assured return"
• Record Mirror (★): "dull"
• RPM Weekly: "History just keep repeating itself insofar as the Moody Blues are concerned."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #1
• Billboard Rock: #1
• CashBox: #1
• Rolling Stone: #1

Tracks: My favorite track is Gemini Dream, closely followed by The Voice.  They were the singles for a reason.  I'm also digging In My World, Nervous, and Veteran Cosmic Rocker.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Gemini Dream takes me back to the summer of 1981, when I didn't have anything better to do than ride my bike, buy comic books, and compete on the local swim team. Good times.