"On The Threshold Of A Dream" by THE MOODY BLUES – April 1969 UK Fourth Studio LP on Deram Records in Stereo (May 1969 in the USA) with Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, Graeme Edge and Mike Pinder (July 2008 UK Universal UMC/Deram Expanded Edition CD Reissue With New 2006 Remaster and Nine Additional Previously Unreleased Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Comes The Day..."

The fourth album in their Voyage gave The Moody Blues their first UK No. 1 and broke them Top 20 in the American Billboard Rock charts – a huge LP win for Decca's experimental label Deram Records back in the spring of 1969.

 

Hardly surprising then that "On The Threshold Of A Dream" was singled out for a prestigious SACD Reissue in 2006 overseen by leading band member Justin Hayward. This 2008 follow-up is therefore the Standard Stereo CD Remaster so to speak and part of a whole series of reasonably priced single CD reissues – all pumped up with tasty bonus material, most of which is unreleased. Are you sitting comfortably - then here comes the day...

 

UK released 15 July 2008 - "On The Threshold Of A Dream" by THE MOODY BLUES on Universal UMC/Deram 530 662-5 (Barcode 600753066256) is a 1CD Expanded Edition Reissue and Stereo Remaster of their 1969 UK fourth studio album with Nine Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks and plays out as follows (68:19 minutes):

 

1. In The Beginning [Side 1]

2. Lovely To See You

3. Dear Diary

4. Send Me No Wine

5. To Share Our Love

6. So Deep Within You

7. Never Comes The Day [Side 2]

8. Lazy Day

9. Are You Sitting Comfortably?

10. The Dream

11. Have You Heard (Part 1)

12. The Voyage

13. Have You Heard (Part 2)

Tracks 1 to 13 are their fourth studio album "On The Threshold Of A Dream" - released late April 1969 in the UK on Deram DML 1035 (Mono) and Deram SML 1035 (Stereo) and late May 1969 in the USA on Deram DES 18025 in Stereo only. Produced by TONY CLARKE – it peaked at No. 1 in the UK and No. 20 on the US Billboard Charts. The STEREO MIX is used for this CD Reissue only.

 

BONUS TRACKS (Alternate Versions, Out-Takes & BBC Radio Sessions):

14. In The Beginning (Full Version, 3:26 minutes, LP Version is 2:07 minutes)

15. So Deep Within You (Extended Version, 3:32 minutes, LP Cut 3:07)

16. Dear Diary (Alternate Vocal Mix, 4:01 minutes)

17. Have You Heard (Original Take, 3:51 minutes)

18. The Voyage (Original Take 4:37 minutes)

19. Lovely To See You (2:26 minutes)

20. Send Me No Wine (2:39 minutes)

Tracks 19 and 20 recorded 18 Feb 1969 for the BBC Radio 1 John Peel "Top Gear" Show

21. So Deep Within You (3:06 minutes)

22. Are You Sitting Comfortably

Tracks 21 and 22 recorded 2 April 1969 for the BBC Radio 1 "The Tony Brandon Show" and is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

 

THE MOODY BLUES was:

JUSTIN HAYWARD – Vocals, Guitars, Cello and Mellotron

JOHN LODGE – Vocals, Bass Guitar, Cello and Double Bass

MIKE PINDER – Vocals, Mellotron, Hammond Organ, Piano and Cello

RAY THOMAS – Vocals, Harmonica, Flute, Tambourine, Oboe, Piccolo and Synth

GRAEME EDGE – Vocals, Drums, Percussion, Synth

 

The big draw for fans here is going to be the ALBERTO PARODI and JUSTIN HAYWARD Remasters from original Deram tapes done in 2006 for the SACD Reissue – here reissued as a sort of 2008 Standard Stereo CD Remaster Edition (2006 is the copyright date on the CD, whilst 2008 is the release date on the rear inlay). The Audio is really excellent throughout. Another highly experienced and much-praised Remaster Engineer PASCHAL BYRNE (of The Audio Archiving Company) has done the Bonus Material - again sweet.

 

Anybody who bought the British pressed LP back in the 1969-day will remember with real affection its look – that glossy laminated gatefold sleeve and the 12-page lyric/illustrations book inside. While this CD can't of course reproduce the Red for Mono and Blue for Stereo indicator hole on the rear sleeve of the gatefold on the booklet (leave that to the Japanese SHM-CD reissues with their faithful artwork) – fans will be glad to see that the 24-page booklet reproduces the 12-page LP libretto in its entirety and the bulk of the inner gatefold artwork too. The band actually fought with Deram who were concerned that the elaborate LP booklet (with a liner note by musical impresario Lionel Bart entitled "And They All Lived Happily Ever After") would add two-pence cost to the LP and put some purchasers off – thank God The Moodies prevailed because surely that chunky presentation made the album feel like an event rather than just another release. Throw in some period photos and comprehensive liner notes from Esoteric's MARK POWELL – and you get the gist – this is a quality reissue through and though (five serious men and their Producer). To the music...

 

The album opens with the short Graeme Edge penned "In The Beginning" – all building keyboard Space 1999 soundscapes followed by a spoken passage – Edge going all computer nutty in his 'I Think Therefore I Am' vocal passage (face piles of trials with smiles man). That very particular brand of Moodies Pop/Rock follows on the Hayward-penned "Lovely To See You" – the electric guitars panning expertly across the speaks – the upbeat tune underpinned by acoustic rhythm and a wall of voices (don't know why Deram didn't chose this as the LP's go-to 45 release). Ray Thomas kicks in with the first of three writing credits on the album - "Dear Diary" – his warbling vocals run through devices while that flute, double bass, acoustic and piano float out through your speakers (been just like a dream) – a sweetly remastered tune.

 

Immediately into the John Lodge penned rapid-paced acoustic strummer "Send Me No Wine" – four of the boys providing a mulch of voices behind that ever-present Mellotron (Hayward, Lodge, Thomas and Pinder). Lodge gets his second and last songwriting shot on the album with the guitar-rocking "To Share My Love", but again I have always felt it sounded like 1966 instead of 1969 in its naïve poppermost vibe.

 

In "Never Comes The Day", Justin worries that if she only knew what was on his inside, she wouldn't want him at all. Beginning so quietly, I've loved this track for years – the almost McGuinness Flint English Folk-Rock jaunt to it – a tremendous cut with that Harmonica backing feeling like it has more muscle and those slowed-down acoustic pieces further in - really clear. Hardly surprising then that Deram thought it had Radio potential and placed "Never Comes The Day" with the lesser B-side "So Deep Within You" on a 45-single in April 1969 (Deram DM 247 in the UK and Deram 45-85044 in the USA). But its chop-change structure seemed to do for the release and it barely registered in the UK, making only No. 91 in the US Billboard Singles charts. The LP followed only three weeks after the 2 April 1969 UK 7" single with a B-side that was on the album, so with nothing new, that too probably downed its chances of a success. Shame really, because I think the A-side is one of those lost masterpieces of the late 60ts. Speaking of the flipside (and the Side 1 finisher), with its castle by a stream lyrics and its penchant for overdone Mellotron melodrama, "So Deep Within You" always felt like a skip to me (others love it though).

 

Harmonica, Cello and Acoustic Guitar all beautifully clear on the Sunday afternoon pastoral feel to "Lazy Day" – the second Ray Thomas tune on the album and one that may be too fay for the hardened ear pallets of 50+ years. Flute and soft Acoustic picking fill the Camelot/Merlin spell casting "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" – again the Remaster gorgeous on this pretty fan fave (a co-write between Justin Hayward and Ray Thomas). Graeme Edge gets his second and last poem-song contribution to the "On The Threshold Of A Dream" album with his "The Dream". While it might have been No. 1 material back in let's-give-everything-a-go 1969, its spoken-poetry backed by wailing Mellotron notes is pretty much my number one avoid in 2022.

 

The album proper ends on an eight-minute-or-so three-parter from Mike Pinder - "Have You Heard" broken into Part 1 and 2 - with those centred by an instrumental "The Voyage". This melodic trio is surely why the album is still held up as a passion by fans – their earlier more twee moments on Side 1 countered by this almost Procol Harum Prog Rock Medley – especially in the playing dexterity that permeates the instrumental passage (that Keith Emerson-type piano solo is brilliant). It returns to the you-and-I-belong-in-the-same-world idea for the Part 2 and ends the album on a happy high (how very 60ts) and the floating synth bit that opening Side 1.

 

I hadn't expected much from the Bonuses but how brilliant would have been to have had the Extended Version of "In The Beginning" open the LP – that one-minute and 19-seconds extra somehow making it so much more substantial. You can hear why the Alternate Vocal of "So Deep Within You" wasn't used – while the playing is up to muster – the voice is off. Can't say I hear much difference in the Alternate Vocal to "Dear Diary" but I like it. But for Prog-tastic chaps like me, the prize here is the Original Take of the instrumental "The Voyage" which is slightly extended to 4:37 minutes and feels proper epic. There's more than a rough-in-yer-face to the John Peel and Tony Brandon BBC sessions – good, but not something I'm going to be playing a whole lot of.

 

I'd be the first to admit that parts of the "On The Threshold Of A Dream" album (dare we say it) and its Symphonic Rock haven't aged as well as many would like to think (modern-day ears may wonder how this made it to No. 1 at all). 

 

But if you're a Moody Blues fan, and you need this densely produced artifact of 1969 in your life, then look no further than this superbly presented threshold...