Days Of Future Passed

Progressive rock, art rock, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, symphonic prog. Popurrí raro. Un megahit. Venga, un 4 por el megahit.

Redan när jag såg albumet så visste jag att det skulle bli full pott. Ibland bara vet man. Har bara hört en handfull låtar innan med Moody Blues men jag får nog börja utforska dem lite mer.

*Days Of Future Passed*, one of the very first prog-rock albums of all time (if not *the* first) starts kind of slow -- in keeping with its conceptual "program" of narrating a day of city life in 1967, as seen through the gaze of one single protagonist. Introduced by the very lush and very sickly-sweet, grand strings of the London Festival Orchestra, lining up most of the melodies of the song that are about to follow, the thing conveys the impressions of a well-off urbanite slowly waking up, and then watching the sun rise over his garden with a mug of coffee in his hand. From the start you understand that the classical orchestrations are about to glue all the songs in the album together. They may sound a little quaint, retrospectively, but when the main melody of "Nights In White Satin" takes flight, right before Graeme Edge's short poem at the end of the first track, you know some wonders will happen at some point. But more on that at the end of this review... The protagonist then dashes to work (unless he's a rich hippie going to see some friends in town, I haven't checked the lyrics in a while). The music does not exactly dash somewhere yet, though. "Dawn Is A Feeling" and "Another Morning" are a little too saccharine, and the sentimental orchestration doesn't help either. Fortunately, the record finally hits its stride for the restless "Lunch Break: Peak Hour", courtesy of new band member John Lodge. And from that point on, the music becomes truly magical. And crucially, it also becomes livelier. Inside "The Afternoon", second hit single "Tuesday Afternoon" makes the mellotron take center stage (who needs real strings to create a mood in this "modern age", ha ha?), with a circling, hypnotic main hook nicely complemented by Justin Hayward's suave vocals. "Evening: The Sun Set / Twilight Time" (written by original band members Michael Pinder and Ray Thomas) sees the protagonist going out to a Indian-inspired, psychedelic night out, probably joining hip circles in a smoky club. "Shaggadelic!!!", Austin Powers would probably let out! That mellotron is still there, unwinding like a snake on the quite experimental "The Sun Set", to my utmost joy. And the driven and yet surprisingly stern "Twilight Time" sees the sixties youngsters invading the dancefloor as if it was a matter of life or death -- a very serious affair that needs to be solved before the night ends. Some transitory orchestrations surge again, and by that point, you welcome them as if they were a balm in your soul. It's like taking a London cab to the next party. The moon is now high, just like your spirits. The whole thing feels like a time travel back to the sixties, which can only add to the overall charm of the musical offerings. And then, the pinnacle, the legendary "Nights In White Satin"... Rarely has a song potentially describing a guy "getting lucky" sounded so damn epic or cinematic. That terrific vocal melody... That terrific ascent towards the heavens before the main hook... Those terrific arrangements... The mellotron is on fire, Justin Hayward's voice is suave as ever, and the whole orchestra joining in is just icing on the cake. People mostly remember The Moody Blues for this slow ballad, and without it, this LP would lose 40% of its power of attraction, there's no fretting about it. Yet the whole album is a great adventure, and given its primordial place in the prog rock pantheon, I do agree it needs to be in this list. Two years later, King Crimson would ignite the next, more convoluted stage of the prog rock odyssey with *In The Court Of The Crimson King*. But I guess that's a story for another time, kiddies... 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5/5 for the musicianship and production values + 4.5/5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 106 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 116 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 250 ---- Hey Émile, j'ai répondu sous Demon Days ET ta sélection pour la users list ! 🙂

In high school and college (late 80s and early 90s) I got into The Moody Blues and discovered this rather amazing example of an ambitious 60s project that resulted in "The Afternoon" - which apparently became "Tuesday Afternoon" as a single out of the context of the album - and Nights in White Satin. Hearing these in the context of the album added to my enjoyment of these songs. Something along these lines should be on your "before you die" list, and this is an excellent selection!

I spent a couple of tries on this, wondering if I'd got the right album. There's three versions listed on Tidal, and people talking about White Knights in the reviews (which is not listed as a track) really threw me off the scent. I actually thoroughly enjoyed this - the wide-set stereo included.

This is classified as one of the earliest prog albums and one of the earliest concept albums, and as a result it sounds both ahead of its time but also of its time. The concept is about the flow of time in a day, starting with daybreak and ending with night time. I know this band is a prog rock band so I expected something a bit different, it's definitely prog but there's not much rock here! It's primarily baroque pop some tracks are more on the baroque end but it's mostly pop. This is a very calm, and melancholic album. The orchestration is very lush and sounds like the kind of classical music you'd hear in a musical or a Disney movie at times, usually to transition away from the meat of the songs. I like these elements though, definitely add some flair to the album and allow it to flow a bit smoother. I think it generally does a good job of fitting the mood of the day. Should it be in the main list: Yes, it manages to do something before most other acts, but also still be of high quality. Top 3 songs: Dawn, Afternoon, The Night

I liked Days Of Future Passed a lot more than I expected. It really isn't prog as I know it, it's definitely more a concept album but it's put together really well, the musicianship is magnificent, it carries a story, the orchestral elements work really well, it's a strong 4/5 to me, falling short as it faded a bit towards the end and didn't hold my attention so much.

Some personal history with this album. I knew the Moody Blues from a young age, from the clasic-rock ubiquitous Nights in White Satin and from an honest to god K-Tel greatest hits vinyl LP my sister ordered by mail. But this one in particular I actually own on a pretty care worn and shabby LP. It was gifted to me by a beloved High School Senior English teacher in my little midwest rural town, who retired after my own senior year, two decades and change after this album came out. At the end of that last year of his teaching career, he was distributing various odds and ends he'd kept in his room, and he handed this to me without much comment or explanation. I've maybe listened to it 3 or 5 times before now, and not for years. Somehow it was still profoundly familiar. That former teacher is gone, 21 years now. Anyway. I suppose this will get bagged on pretty hard by many. It is thoroughly a product of its time and production, the hokey spoken word framing, early synth sounds and mellow orchestration, the rather heavy handed concept theming, capped off with a big ol' gong crash. I like it, and will esteem in perhaps above its station, and if that's half nostalgia, oh well.

Maybe because yesterday I got a long prog rock album, I enjoyed this a bit more but it's still a curious mix. I think it works at times and other times it sounds like a musical is taking place while they are playing. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the list: 4/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No

Another album I've completely forgotten wasn't on the original list. A prog classic, arguably one of the most historically important albums of the genre. Also just really fucking good. 4/5.

Prog pop is an interesting concept

Excellent.

One of my favorites in my youth. Sounds a bit corny now but is still excellent.

I'm a bit surprised this wasn't on the original list. Definitely groundbreaking in the way it incorporated orchestral music. In retrospect, some of it works really well, but some of it is almost cringey. There are a handful of really great songs - Tuesday Afternoon, (Evening) Time to Get Away, and Nights in White Satin - and a fair amount of filler. For all its flaws though, I still have to give it 4 stars for pushing the boundaries of the time into new and exciting directions that opened the door for many prog rock masterpieces to come.

I liked the mix between prog rock and the classical music, but at the second half of the album, I hot a bit bored

Classic rock album that really needs to be on the orginal list.

Na

Oh calm down.

Knights in White Satin is the standout song. The others are fascinating and dramatic but Knights is the only one you could imagine on a mix tape.

I can see what this LP is going for, but the execution feels too jumbled and strung out to land effectively. The slow, melodramatic orchestral bits don’t gel at all with the traditional rock tracks and ultimately drag the album down. Enjoyed the more straightforward songs on the back half, wish the band had stuck to that path throughout rather than mashing two very different sounds together.