Moody Blues "Question of bal." CD or SACD vs Vinyl

M. Pinder has released some of his own stuff as well as his son. I haven't heard any of it.

I agree that Justin is a fantastic songwriter, vocalist and has one of the sweetest guitar sounds ever. I was fortunate to catch Justin doing his solo tour (in 1996, I believe) at the Birchmere in Arlington, Va. He did the classic Moodies stuff along with solo efforts including several cuts from The View From the Hill album. I enjoyed the older Moodies concerts more than the more recent ones. They miss a lot without Pinder and Thomas vocals. Also the synthesizers are just not a as mellow as the mellotron /chamberlain. Pinder was the master, as he also worked for the company in his early years. Although he has not done anything lately, his albums "The Promise" and "Among the Stars" are nice. Again with the early Moodies, it was the vocals and Pinder & Thomas were as important as Hayward and Lodge. Unfortunately these days, Lodge's vocal are very erratic and in a couple of concerts attended, just plain bad. Solo efforts from Hayward, (Songwriter, Moving Mountains, and The View from the Hill) and Hayward - Lodges (Blue Jays) are also great.

I have "The Promise" on vinyl. Pinder/Moodies fans would like it. Very "astral" with some nice melodies and flourishes. The recording is nice as well.

Also have both Ray THomas albums on vinyl (From Mighty Oaks and Hopes, Wishes and Dreams). THey lie somewhere between older and newer Moodies albums in nature. There are a lot of very good songs performed and produced immaculately with Ray' voice in prime vibrato form. These songs are very MOR in design overall but will make you feel good if you listen carefully. There is a piece with calliope on HWAD that is very interesting from an audiophile perspective.

I also like Graeme Edge's solo works, "Kick Off Your Muddy Boots" and "Paradise Ballroom" very much each. These have a more rock/blues orientation than the typical Moodies solo album. He teamed with guitarist Adrian Gurvitz on these. Gurvitz is a very talented guitarist and there are many very excellent guitar riffs on these albums that few have ever heard. The albums suffer a bit with Gurvitz's vocals perhaps but the playing is so good you may not care.

Lodge's "Natural Avenue" is a very nice listen from start to end. Lodge never had the best voice for leads, but he does the job here and most every song is quite good. ALso excellent sound and production on this one.

I'm familiar with Hayward's "Songwriter" and "Night Flight" solo works. These are OK but, a bit too poppish and MOR overall. I tend to miss more in Justin's solo works I've heard compared to his work with the Moodies. Many like "View From A Hill" and consider that his best, but I have not heard it (its on my "buy" list though).

Of course then there is Hayward and Lodge's solo effort "Blue Jays" which many consider to be on par with the best of the Moodies works, and holds a very distinctive place in the adult-oriented, classic pop/rock archives. It is a most wonderful artistic work with immaculate production and sound with orchestral and vocal harmony flourishes that help round out the sound nicely on a good system. Highly recommended.

I am and have been a large Moody Blues fan since the late 60s. My first concert was at the LSU assembly center early 70s and the last was just a few months ago at the intimate venue of Beau Rivage in Biloxi. By far the best of the number of shows i've seen was at Audubon Park in New Orleans during the early 90s a full 3 plus hours of Moodys magic music at a super out door show.

My preference lyes with vinyl but i have heard the Moodys in all formats. For me vinyl has the best music delivery, sound and feel. IMO

What was mentioned above is so true enjoy the Moody Blues any way you can. They please me as much now then the first time i heard them many years ago. I love them Moodys and by this thread so do most of you so drop the needle or press the button and enjoy some of the best classic rock music ever recorded.

MAPMAN,
Well put. I echo your comments, BUT do yourself a favour.GET Justin's "Moving Mountains", "View fron the Hill", "Classic Blue" (he does covers of others great work like "stairway to Heaven", "Blackbird",etc.) and his DVD "Live in San Juan Capistrano" You won't be disappointed!!!