New Moody Blues Album for 2016, only on Spotify.

I bet that got your attention, if you are a Moody Blues fan. Well it’s not quite a new album, but it is as close as we are likely to get.

The Album that Never Was (2016) by The Moody Blues

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Background

The Moody Blues have not recorded a new studio album since “December” which was released in 2003. However, the individual members (and ex members) have continued to write and record during that period, especially since 2010. Because that material is so current I have used it to compile “The Album That Never Was”, which is available as a playlist on Spotify, or you could assemble the tracks yourself if you have them in your library.

Tracks were taken from:

• Spirits of the Western Sky - album by Justin Hayward (2014)
• 10,0000 Light Years Ago - album by John Lodge (2016)
• The Trouble with Memories - single by Ray Thomas (2010)

All of the songs mirror quite a similar theme - looking back on life and career and give a flavour of what the studio album recorded after Strange Times might have sounded like. As a bonus track you could add Simply Magic from 10,000 Light Years as this includes Ray Thomas on flute and Mike Pinder on Mellotron (it is not available on Spotify which is why I didn’t include it).

The rationale for choosing the songs started as:

• 10 tracks because Strange Times had around 10 full songs, as did Sur La Mer. 10 tracks seems to work. It just seems to be the number that works.
• Opening with an upbeat Hayward number because most recent Moody Blues albums have.
• Include 5 Hayward, 4 lodge, 1 Thomas song if they are available
• Ignoring the re-recordings on Spirits of the Western Sky which were done for the Moody Bluegrass album and the remixes of old recordings as they are not new material.
• Working with what bits of 10,000 light years were available on Spotify, as the whole album isn’t.
• Treat it as an LP with two sides needing suitable running orders.
• End the album with something reflective, but hopeful.

In the end this didn’t quite work out and I opened with “In my Mind” by John Lodge which has a big rock introduction featuring Chris Spedding on guitar. I think this bookends quite well with the extended orchestral version of One Day Some Day which closes the album. The order of the other songs is partly based on key signature and time signature. It doesn't flow perfectly and the instrumentation is quite different between the source recordings, but it is as good as we are going to get I think.

Track Listing

Side 1

In My Mind(Lodge)
Lazy Afternoon (Hayward)
In Your Blue Eyes (Hayward)
The Eastern Sun (Hayward)
Love Passed Me By (Lodge)

Side 2

On The Road to Love (Hayward)
The Western Sky (Hayward)  
10,000 Light Years Ago (Lodge)  
The Trouble With memories (Thomas)
One Day, Someday - extended orchestral version (Hayward)


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