Search - The Moody Blues :: The Singles+

"The Singles+" ... Kind of! :)

Kevin Martinell KevyGuy | Dunmore, PA USA | 06/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A pretty good Moody Blues compilation. I did, however, have a few criticisms on this one. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not too big on the edited down versions of some of the songs ... I suppose that this release was meant to show that these are single edits of the full versions (Ex. "Blue World," "The Other Side of Life," "I Know You're Out There Somewhere"), in keeping with the theme of the album's title.



The song selection from the "Denny Laine" period was pretty good, but it should have also featured the rarities "You Don't (All The Time)" and "He Can Win" as well.



Also, according to the booklet from the now out-of-print "This Is The Moody Blues" CD, the discography section lists quite a few B-sides of singles that weren't featured on this collection, including, "Another Morning," "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume," "So Deep Within You," "Out And In," "After You Came," and "My Song" (Fortunately, 2007's 3 CD Moody Blues compilation, titled "Collected," gives the first two tracks, mentioned above and both written by Ray Thomas, the recognition they should have received on "The Singles+"). It's a shame that none of these tracks were included, as well. I was also disappointed that both "Time Traveller" and this release excluded the rarities, "Really Haven't Got The Time," "Leave This Man Alone," and "A Simple Game." :(



In order to put some more "meat" on "The Singles+," I thought it would have been a great idea for this compilation to follow the same formula as the two greatest hits CD compilations of "The Beatles" ("The Red Album:" 1962-1966 and "The Blue Album:" 1967-1970). In this case, one CD set could have been devoted to the "Go Now" period, the early singles featuring Justin Hayward and John Lodge, and all of the tracks that were released as singles, during the "Classic 7" period. The second set could have featured all of the single releases from "Octave" onward, as there were even more B-sides off of the later albums which were also ignored on this release (Ex: "22,000 Days," "Sorry," "The Spirit," "Miracle"). There was also an edited version of "No More Lies" that was featured on "The Universal Masters Collection: Classic Moody Blues" that would have made a nice inclusion to this compilation, too.



Some of the editing wasn't very professional, either ... For example, CD #2 opens up with a mix of "Melancholy Man" taken from "This Is The Moody Blues." The problem with this version is that it was originally cross faded with "The Story In Your Eyes," on "T.I.T.M.B," so on "The Singles+" you can hear a snippet of the tail end of "Story," in the intro, as it fades away ... Coincidentally, the very next track on "The Singles+" is indeed "Story!" Unfortunately, though, this release chose the 2:52 edit (which is the "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" mix, faded out a few seconds earlier, as heard on "Time Traveller"), and not the single version that appeared on releases such as "Legend Of A Band" and "Gold," which is a tad longer than the mix from "E.G.B.D.F." Also, "Steppin' In A Slide Zone" is edited down in an odd place, on this collection, so I would have preferred the edit from the "Out Of This World" compilation over this one ... It was a more professional edit job than the one featured here. Same goes for the edit of "Melancholy Man," also from "O.O.T.W." That mix could have easily been chosen over the "T.I.T.M.B" mix. In addition, while I have never seen nor heard the single mix of "Blue World," the mix featured on "The Singles+" is edited out of order, in regard to the different verses, and you can tell where the song was edited by the way the tambourine and some of the synthesizers abruptly start and stop ... Was this really how the single release sounded? Very unusual!



Having said all that, there are some plusses to this release. Ever since "Time Traveller" was released, it's nice that at least "Fly Me High," "Love and Beauty," "Cities," and the "Days of Future Passed" vinyl mix of "Tuesday Afternoon" are all featured on this collection ... For anyone who is tight on money and can't afford to buy "Time Traveller," you can still acquire these songs on this set ("Collected" features each of these tracks, as well!). :) I also liked that the track list included "Lovely to See You" and "Dear Diary," which would have made for a great single release, at the time ... I guess that's why there's a "+" in the title of this album! The rare single version of "Question," previously heard on the "Voices In The Sky" compilation, was also a nice inclusion. For some strange reason, the full version of "The Voice" is featured on this collection, and not the edited version (Also from the "Voices In The Sky" compilation), but that's actually a plus, for me! :)



"Anthology" and "Gold" make for better 2 CD Moody Blues compilations over this set, IMO ... I believe that these other 2-disc releases are better sources for those who are unfamiliar with The Moodies and want to acquire some of their songs ... The "Collected" import is another fine introduction to The Moody Blues. One minus, in regard to "The Singles+," is that those who choose this release as their first MB album will be missing out on the full, original versions of many of the songs that are available in their proper formats on the original albums and other compilations.



While I think this compilation needs some fine-tuning, there is still a great song selection/variety featured. Thanks for reading! God Bless...:)"

Moody Blues - The Singles +

Alex B. Clough | Plano, Texas | 02/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's a shame to hear the few folks that did whine about this collection. I have many SACD and MFSL copies of The Moody Blues CDs as well as several of their compilations. In that light, I still feel that this compilation is a very good value with songs that cannot be found on any other compilation. In addition, this collection has versions that are not readily available. The quality is very good, and the price would not be much of a risk for anyone!! So, for anyone who wants to enjoy the Moody Blues, give this a shot!!"

Good Music, Crappy Radio Edits

Jason F. Johnson | Duluth, MN USA | 06/17/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Granted, if you purchase a compilation called "Singles," you might expect to get the single versions, i.e., the edited versions for people with short attention spans. There's also something to be said about having "clean" copies of these songs, without the early Moodies' frustrating habit of overlapping the tracks with the neighbouring songs. Personally, the edits make me barf, but that's just me. If you're just a casual listener, you probably won't mind or know the difference, and you'll have more songs than you would if these were the extended versions.



But... when I saw this "Singles" compilation, I thought, "FINALLY! They put the vinyl version of 'Cities' on CD!" Nope. Hunt down the 7" vinyl version of "Cities," found on the B-side of "Nights in White Satin"--by which I mean the 1971 re-issue of the single. It's clearly a different (and in my view, superior) mix to the "bare bones" version here (previously available on "Prelude" and elsewhere,) with Justin's unenhanced vocals and without the lavish bass. I know some people will prefer it that way--there is something to be said about the excesses of production in late '60s Brit rock--but it make me pull my hair out when they missed another chance to release this classic properly.



Again, that's probably a little inside for the casual fan to care about. But if you already have the album versions of these songs and you want a more portable anthology, do what the rest of us cheap buzzards do: Burn yourself your own copy of favourites."