The Moody Blues "Timeless Flight" box set

[SMiLE Brian]

His songs on the "core seven" are some of the most thought provoking music I have listened to. The cougars are too dumb for the "melancholy  man". I would love to see Mike play the voyage for those weirdos.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I'll never forget at the Red Rocks show in 92 watching some old cougar with the worst hair I'd ever seen dragging a huge framed oil painting of Justin's face across the parking lot..... I can't imagine she went home disappointed that they didn't do Melancholy Man....

[SMiLE Brian]

Yikes...       Got anymore cougar horror stories?

[Jason]

Have any of you guys checked out the solo albums yet?

[SMiLE Brian]

Is Ray's box worth buying?

[Lonely Summer]

A shame, I watched a documentary from the 1980s that whitewashed Mike out of the group's history. I hope he does some promo work for the box set.

There's a more recent one, circa 2006, that includes him. I think all the guys are in it except Ray. Even Denny Laine is included.

[Jason]

Is Ray's box worth buying?

Considering it's the first-ever remastering of his albums with bonus tracks, definitely.

[SMiLE Brian]

Which Moodies solo albums should I buy? I am totally unfamiliar with the solo catalog.

[Jason]

Which Moodies solo albums should I buy? I am totally unfamiliar with the solo catalog.

Start with Blue Jays (Justin and John), Songwriter (Justin), From Mighty Oaks (Ray), Natural Avenue (John), The Promise (Mike), and Kick Off Your Muddy Boots (Graeme).

[SMiLE Brian]

Thanks, I will check those out. I am a little wary of a Graeme Edge solo album though....

[Jason]

Well, they are more Adrian Gurvitz as he sang on both of them, but Graeme's all over the songwriting.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I like a lot of those solo albums and even love some of it, but my problem is: each of these guys gets old on their own. Even Justin. It's like breaking a puzzle apart and taking a couple pieces home and trying to enjoy them on their own. The whole puzzle together is what works....

[Jason]

Yeah, it was always the case that the band was bigger than the guys themselves. At least with the solo albums during the hiatus they didn't necessarily try to do solo albums "by X of the Moody Blues". I don't think any of the solo albums have any particular "Moody" flavor to them. Granted, some work better than others, but that's to be expected. I think the most successful and consistent of the albums released during the hiatus are clearly Blue Jays and Songwriter. The rest are basically "fans only" types of deals.

[SMiLE Brian]

I like a lot of those solo albums and even love some of it, but my problem is: each of these guys gets old on their own. Even Justin. It's like breaking a puzzle apart and taking a couple pieces home and trying to enjoy them on their own. The whole puzzle together is what works....

I have to say I got that vibe during my limited listening of the solo catalog. Octave is almost like a solo sampler album.

[sparkydog1725]

I'm a fairly recent convert to The Moodies. I frankly thought they were a load of rubbish back in the day except for a couple of tunes. . When I purchased the SACDs I started to really appreciate them, even their sillier moments. I heartily recommend "This Is The Moody Blues" as an introduction to the band. You can easily find the 2-CD set used for peanuts; great overview that flows as beautifully as their individual albums. The "Time Traveler" box is also very good but pricier.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Which Moodies solo albums should I buy? I am totally unfamiliar with the solo catalog.

Start with Blue Jays (Justin and John), Songwriter (Justin), From Mighty Oaks (Ray), Natural Avenue (John), The Promise (Mike), and Kick Off Your Muddy Boots (Graeme).

The remastered version of Mike's Among the Stars" is great!  The remaster really brings out the Mellotron sound.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Did anybody buy the remasters of the first 7 albums with bonus tracks? Released only in Europe??? I did. 5.1 SACD mixes too.  I hope the box set is just not those thrown together with some video DVDs.

[Jason]

The box set is due to be released June 3 in Europe and June 4 (MY BIRTHDAY!!!) in North America.

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/the-moody-blues-timeless-flight-massive-17-disc-box-set/

[SMiLE Brian]

I am excited for this!

[SMiLE Brian]

The box set is due to be released June 3 in Europe and June 4 (MY BIRTHDAY!!!) in North America.

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/the-moody-blues-timeless-flight-massive-17-disc-box-set/

Interesting comment from that page:

Mychael says:
March 28, 2013 at 09:07
According to interviews in PROG magazine the set will (for the first time) include the original first stereo mix of “Days Of Future Passed” in full. All previous CDs used a remix from the 70s with markedly different passages (only two or three songs from the original mix appeared on the first Moodies box set).

[Jason]

http://store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/rock/boxset-moody-blues-timeless-flight-box-set-2013/invt/0600753429785/?utm_source=Moody+Blues+Fan+Pages&utm_medium=website+and+social&utm_campaign=moodyblues

Tracklist is finally released...and I'm a bit underwhelmed.

The first five discs are basically the "best-of" portion with the "rarities" sprinkled in. Thing is, the "rarities" are nothing new to seasoned collectors, and have been released before on the 2006 Classic Seven reissues and other compilations. If you're still listening to the 1987 or 1997 CDs, this will be a welcome addition. Six of the CDs are live. The first is from 12/12/69 at Royal Albert Hall, which is the same concert used for Caught Live +5. The second is the fabled Blue Jays live recording from December of 1975, which has never been heard before. The third is a selection of tracks from a 5/25/79 concert in at the Seattle Center Coliseum, which was originally aired on the radio across the United States from promotional vinyls, and later became the source of the bootlegs. The fourth and fifth discs are from a 12/3/83 concert at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles. The sixth disc looks like a series of highlights from when the group toured with symphony orchestras.

[SMiLE Brian]

I am kinda disappointed myself....

[Jason]

I guess it'd be worth it to have the official copies of the concerts, since there are innumerable sources of the 1979 and 1983 gigs, all in varying quality. Luckily I was able to acquire a copy of the 1979 gig dubbed from the original broadcast vinyls. The 1983 gig I have in a pristine 1.25ips recording from WNEW-FM in New York.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

http://store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/rock/boxset-moody-blues-timeless-flight-box-set-2013/invt/0600753429785/?utm_source=Moody+Blues+Fan+Pages&utm_medium=website+and+social&utm_campaign=moodyblues

Tracklist is finally released...and I'm a bit underwhelmed.

The first five discs are basically the "best-of" portion with the "rarities" sprinkled in. Thing is, the "rarities" are nothing new to seasoned collectors, and have been released before on the 2006 Classic Seven reissues and other compilations. If you're still listening to the 1987 or 1997 CDs, this will be a welcome addition. Six of the CDs are live. The first is from 12/12/69 at Royal Albert Hall, which is the same concert used for Caught Live +5. The second is the fabled Blue Jays live recording from December of 1975, which has never been heard before. The third is a selection of tracks from a 5/25/79 concert in at the Seattle Center Coliseum, which was originally aired on the radio across the United States from promotional vinyls, and later became the source of the bootlegs. The fourth and fifth discs are from a 12/3/83 concert at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles. The sixth disc looks like a series of highlights from when the group toured with symphony orchestras.

Have to agree.  Nothing I don't have on the Studio CD side. Not being a big live album fan, I'll pass and save my money for MIC.

[Summertime Blooz]

Yeah, it was always the case that the band was bigger than the guys themselves. At least with the solo albums during the hiatus they didn't necessarily try to do solo albums "by X of the Moody Blues". I don't think any of the solo albums have any particular "Moody" flavor to them. Granted, some work better than others, but that's to be expected. I think the most successful and consistent of the albums released during the hiatus are clearly Blue Jays and Songwriter. The rest are basically "fans only" types of deals.

What I've done is make up several "lost Moody Blues albums' by collecting the solo albums and a few rarities and hashing them together into a nice flow. The tracks even overlap just as they would on a Moodies album. It's quite enjoyable to listen to their solo work in this way since the music is good, but a lot better when you mix it up into that Moody Blues stew. I even made album covers using Phil Travers artwork:
   
If anyone would be interested in checking these out just let me know.