Customer Reviews
Looking to the Future - By: Mr. Peter Steward, 19 Nov 2008 
Some of my albums take on an almost mythical proportions due to not being played regularly. Sometimes the legend of an album will far outweigh its reality. So I returned to Days of Future Passed for the first time in many years & found it an interesting introduction to the group. Denny Laine was long gone & here we were faced with a fusion of classic music with pop/rock & poetry (the kaftan effect). At times it tips the nod to Gershwin's An American in Paris & at others is an amalgam of styles. Somehow it maintains its freshness & never lapses into dull repetition.
It doesn't take too much imagination to see how the band would move from this classical phrase into more mythical areas.
Still good in the future - By: Mark Kibble, 28 Aug 2008 Back in the late sixties, early seventies the only Moody's record in my collection was the single version of 'nights.....', however I did have access to a couple of their albums. I can't profess to be their biggest fan but having picked up half a dozen of their albums on the cheap (another record shop closure), I find their melodic mix of pop, rock & on this album classical orchestration very relaxing & in places uplifting. The obvious highlight of is 'Nights in white satin' which is one of the few songs that seemed to appeal to a cross section of listeners regardless of their personal taste in music, & along with Procol Harums 'Whiter shade of pale' has become one of the most remembered songs of the sixties.
A fine album, which forty plus years on still sounds fresh, & a damn sight better than the fare on offer today, mainstream or otherwise.
In the begining, there was Rock and Roll.... - By: Mr. K. Gibbons, 29 Oct 2007 
....then came The Moody Blues Days of Future Passed. And forty years on they're still doing it. This is the first, but not the best. There is no such thing as "the best" Moody Blues album. This is special because of the mix of Classic & Rock music. Forget how it came about - the Deram new stereo system etc - just listen to the music. The lyrics, the tunes, the harmonies, the poems. Wonderful, wonderful music. And the climax is Nights in White Satin. Not just because it's an alll time classic "single". But because of the "whole piece". To fully appreciate Nights in White Satin, you need to hear it here, on the album. And stay listening as the track moves gently into the closing poem. Beautiful.
An imaginative gem - By: Paul Rance, 27 May 2007 The first of the great Moody Blues concept albums. Only seven tracks in alll, but several are split into two parts or more, & the mostly clever, sometimes irritating, orchestral links mean there's a lot packed into an album of just over 40 minutes.
This is an album structured around a day. The first track is a lush orchestral piece, from The London Festival Orchestra (who are featured throughout), entitled 'THE DAY BEGINS', with snippets of tracks from the album, & an illuminating poem.
Justin Hayward's clear, lilting voice comes bursting through in the lustrous 'DAWN: Dawn Is A Feeling'. 'THE MORNING: Another Morning' is a whimsical song, bolstered by some lively flute & a rhythm which sounds, paradoxicallly, like a childlike marching song.
'LUNCH BREAK: Peak Hour' rocks, & is significantly heavier than anything previously, with loud bass to the fore.
'THE AFTERNOON: a) Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)' is a gorgeous track, with Hayward's ethereal vocals & Mike Pinder's Mellotron giving the track an eerie quality, followed by a lively middle, & back again. 'THE AFTERNOON: b) (Evening) Time To Get Away' begins with a stark kind of beauty, & then goes into a happy clappy phase, & then into some impressive falsetto, & rich Mellotron phases.
'EVENING: a) The Sunset' is a fine mix of an Indian-sounding rhythm & orchestral music. 'EVENING: b) Twilight Time' throbs, & hurls us over with its vibrancy.
'THE NIGHT: Nights In White Satin' closes the album. 'Nights In White Satin' needs no introduction as one of the true gems in the history of rock music. Lyricallly & musicallly it's about as flawless as it gets, & if 'Go Now' sealed the group's fame, this song sealed their immortality - at least as long as rock music is listened to anyway. And for those of you who've only heard the single, the album version gives you a thoughtful, reflective poem, & a gong to finish (just like a later classic, 'Bohemian Rhapsody'). Like the album cover art by David Anstey, this album can seem different every time you view it/listen to it. Though, I prefer to draw a veil over where the inspiration for the title 'Nights In White Satin' came from. Not romantic at alll!
- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.
essential listening... - By: John Corcoran, 28 Jul 2004 It's incredible to listen to this album & think that it was originallly recorded as an experiment - an opportunity to test out a new style of studio recording & at one stage possibly not even to be released - in much the same way that 'Nights in White Satin' was originallly not for single release because of its apparently prohibitive length (let alone being considered capable of becoming a chart hit on two separate occasions), an idea that in this day of occasionallly feature-length releases (step forward Bryan Adams, Meat Loaf, Oasis et al) seems positively ridiculous.
'Days of Future Passed', the Moody Blues' first genuine studio album also saw the coming together of their classic line-up, following the first single 'Go Now' & departure of guitarist Denny Laine. It was put together as an archetypal concept album in a similar vein to the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, whilst alllowing Decca to test their new 'Dynamic Sound System' recording studio method at the same time. The idea of having a rock band combining with a full orchestra, songs with fully scored interludes & links might have seemed ludicrous & extravagant at the time, but the result certainly only justifies the latter description & illustrates perfectly both the bravery & musical confidence of the band.
If one ignores the overblown & close to disastrous start to the album bestowed by 'The Day Begins', Days of Future Passed flows through & over you like one long magical performance. The contribution of Peter Knight & the London Festival Orchestra sits comfortably alongside & between the more conventional songs of the Moody Blues; indeed, a certain amount of the magic of tracks such as 'Tuesday Afternoon' & 'Nights in White Satin' is lost without the 'classical' contribution. As a recorded work, the album comfortably transcends time - even in these days of extensive digital production - as illustrated by the enduring popularity of its most famous track.
A magnificent work - in some ways, the Moody Blues would never surpass this debut album - & a must for any self-respecting fan of either the band, the decade or the genre.
