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Screen13 · 11-13-2012, 01:02 PM

Lush production, hooks by the dozen, nice but occasionally cliche lyrics, and those poems you either like or laugh at (I'm part of the later). It's iconic, but it also helped unleash the pretentiousness that passed as meaningful in Pop Music. Still, "Nights in White Satin" is a damn good song, and possibly my favorite of the Heyward/Lodge Moodies, the top of a very good list. Shoving my cynical side away for a moment, it's a good album.

In short, the Mk2 Moodies formula starting to really work.

You could say that it was a good Date Album for the time, or something to show off that huge stereo system...or both.

The unsung star of the album for me was Producer Tony Clarke, who worked for Decca and had ideas that helped bring the band over to it's quality music wing, Deram, who was looking for a few modern acts. Using the Deramtic Sound System, a then-innovative system for a time that was filled with a lot of experiments in sound, the mix of band and orchestra with the quality of the songs was a right fit for what the label was aiming for. This album saved a good band already headed for the "Where Are They Now?" file, and having the right image for the music style also helped.

For the albums market of '67 already sparked by Sgt. Pepper, the growing US FM Rock Radio market, and those looking for adventurous sounds that did not go too much into the demonic freak out world, this hit the spot perfectly. It was a gamble that has to be applauded. They could have been great go-to Soundtrack musicians, but thankfully fate pointed them to the charts and stages where they belong.

There were to be more adventurous Moody Blues albums, but this is the iconic breakthrough.

Here's a good page describing Deram's Discography and the "Deramic Sound System." A very familiar face will great you at the top of the page, but his greatest successes were not with them. The DSS series had a fitting end with the Moodies next album - the label's iconic "system" with it's star band.

Deram Album Discography

11-13-2012, 01:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
Screen13 Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 1,388	Lush production, hooks by the dozen, nice but occasionally cliche lyrics, and those poems you either like or laugh at (I'm part of the later). It's iconic, but it also helped unleash the pretentiousness that passed as meaningful in Pop Music. Still, "Nights in White Satin" is a damn good song, and possibly my favorite of the Heyward/Lodge Moodies, the top of a very good list. Shoving my cynical side away for a moment, it's a good album. In short, the Mk2 Moodies formula starting to really work. You could say that it was a good Date Album for the time, or something to show off that huge stereo system...or both. The unsung star of the album for me was Producer Tony Clarke, who worked for Decca and had ideas that helped bring the band over to it's quality music wing, Deram, who was looking for a few modern acts. Using the Deramtic Sound System, a then-innovative system for a time that was filled with a lot of experiments in sound, the mix of band and orchestra with the quality of the songs was a right fit for what the label was aiming for. This album saved a good band already headed for the "Where Are They Now?" file, and having the right image for the music style also helped. For the albums market of '67 already sparked by Sgt. Pepper, the growing US FM Rock Radio market, and those looking for adventurous sounds that did not go too much into the demonic freak out world, this hit the spot perfectly. It was a gamble that has to be applauded. They could have been great go-to Soundtrack musicians, but thankfully fate pointed them to the charts and stages where they belong. There were to be more adventurous Moody Blues albums, but this is the iconic breakthrough. Here's a good page describing Deram's Discography and the "Deramic Sound System." A very familiar face will great you at the top of the page, but his greatest successes were not with them. The DSS series had a fitting end with the Moodies next album - the label's iconic "system" with it's star band. Deram Album Discography Last edited by Screen13; 11-13-2012 at 01:08 PM.