The Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord (1968)

Dan:

Having been spellbound by Days of Future Passed, I eagerly awaited each new Moody Blues album. In Search of the Lost Chord came out in 1968 and I thought it was even better than the previous album. It was a glamorous gatefold single LP with lots of cool artwork and band pictures. It had a couple of catchy tunes that received a lot of air play ("Ride My See-Saw" and "Voices in the Sky"), and it dabbled harmlessly in psychedelic topics on "Legend of a Mind" while also advising that "thinking is the best way to travel." Basically, In Search of the Lost Chord is Moody Blues optimism tinged by Buddhist symbols (a mandala is included with the album and "Om" is the closing chant-like song). Just what the world was ready for in 1968.

The opening "Departure" is a strange but fascinating way to begin any rock album. A low chord sounds and a voice speaks nonsense in a progressively loud manner culminating in a shout that leads into the bombastic "Ride My See-Saw," which almost seems like a joke. But the lyrics reveal this to be the beginning of an escape from the problems of the material world:

My world is spinning around,

Everything is lost that I found.

People run, come ride with me,

Let's find another place that's free.

From there we're led to a meeting with "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" and the "House of Four Doors," both evidence that the search is underway. Side 2 finds the search moving in a positive direction, away from despair and Timothy Leary's pills. With "Visions of Paradise" on the horizon, "The Actor" assumes responsibility for finding the lost chord which is, as we've already guessed, "Om".

While expressing the need for search, the album stops short of elaborating on the reasons for flight. There were plenty of reasons to escape in the 1960s, but the Moodies avoided the kinds of vitriolic social critique that, say, Jefferson Airplane engaged. 

Some may find the Moody Blues and their optimism too Pollyanna-like: 

Visions of paradise, cloudless skies I see

Rainbows on the hill, blue onyx on the sea

Come see. 

But the underlying message is one of a better future within our grasp. I can't argue against the value of an optimistic outlook or the importance of self-understanding. 

Steve: 

I regret that I have never paid particular attention to the lyrics of the Moody Blues (or most bands, for that matter), as I've always had trouble focusing on lyrics in general - even if I can understand the words being sung. I'm often distracted by the words as sounds as opposed to what ideas they are trying to convey, unless they are either very obvious (e.g. Pink Floyd's The Wall) or are the undeniable focus of the work (e.g. Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks). I am, however, very sensitive to instrumental texture and chord changes, as well as the intricacies of song structure in general, and the Moody Blues always offered much to enjoy on those fronts.  

The Moody Blues' orchestral ambition as revealed on Days of Future Passed was no passing fancy. Their success on that project gave them license to become a self-contained orchestra themselves by taking on additional instrumentation and pushing the limits of multi-track recording available to them in 1968. They added sitar, tabla, tympani, cello, saxophone, and harpsichord to their already diverse list of instruments. I'm especially fond of the sitar/tabla stuff - I can gladly listen to sitar music for hours on end (I just bought another Ravi Shankar album the other day, in fact), so I am particularly happy that the album ends with "Om", a song that takes me to my happy place every time.  

One more aspect I love about this album, and about the prime-era Moodies in general, is how the band encouraged each member to share in the singing and songwriting, making their albums a revue of sorts showcasing the different personalities in the band. Typical of the pattern of their albums of this period, this one begins with a Graeme Edge poem ("Departure"), segues into a melodic rock song with hit potential ("Ride My See Saw"), follows it up with a more offbeat quirky song by Ray Thomas ("Dr. Livingstone I Presume"), and continues the unpredictable variety by alternating the different voices, song styles, and personalities throughout the album. I love when a band can boast that kind of versatility -- not many bands in rock history have been able to.