| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Blue World | | | | ||
| 2. Meet Me Halfway | | | | ||
| 3. Sitting At The Wheel | | | | ||
| 4. Going Nowhere | | | |||
| 5. Hole In The World | | | | | |
| 6. Under My Feet | | | | ||
| 7. It's Cold Outside Of Your Heart | | | |||
| 8. I Am | | | | | |
| 9.Sorry | | | | ||
Like many other art-rock regroupings of the 1980s, the saga of the reconstructed Moodies has more than its fair share of artistic tragedy.
In 1978, longtime member Mike Pinder left the group in circumstances which have not been fully clarified to this day. Some sources say that he simply didn't want to tour for the album; others suggest that he was losing his grip on reality at the time; still others suggest that he was unhappy with the quality (and commercial direction) of the album [regarding the latter point, who could blame him?]. The group recruited Patrick Moraz as his replacement, and some time thereafter returned to recording new material.
In retrospect, perhaps the most surprising aspect of this regrouping was that the first new album -- Long Distance Voyager (1981) -- was actually fairly good. This turned out to be something of a fluke, however ... and, with The Present, their decline was in effect once more.
It should be common knowledge that the Moodies had long since ceased to be musical innovators by this point -- the band that made history with "Nights In White Satin" was now content to warble through tepid ballads and absurdly bad rockers for the superficial world of '80s pop-radio (now known as "lite FM"). The Present isn't the worst album in the MBs catalogue (a few kernels of musical decency pop up here and there), but its material clearly falls into this category, for the most part.
One curiosity about this album is that, despite its commercial nature, not a single one of its ten tracks appears on the Legend Of A Band disc that was released near the turn of the decade. The album did yield two Top-100 singles in America (including "Sitting At The Wheel", which made No. 27), but obviously fell short of some expectations in so doing. Which isn't to say that it differs much from subsequent MBs releases.
Before the music on the album is discussed, it may also be worthwhile to give a few brief words to the significance of the title. The Present is apparently not named in reference to any temporal plateau, but to the two figures on the front cover of the album -- an Adonis figure presenting a sylphlike woman with an "X" (signifying the tenth album by the group), all in parody of a Maxfield Parrish work. The irony of such a cover being released with such a title in 1983 should be clear to most readers, of course.
Musically, the album begins with "Blue World", a synth-pop number derived from the pen of Justin Hayward. The best that can be said of this number is that it's half-decent pop from a musical standpoint, with Hayward and Moraz each getting a few decent hooks in. Even here, though, two problems present themselves: (i) while Ray Thomas may be doubling Moraz on this track, it's really not clear if he has any significant role here (or, for that matter, on most of the album, (ii) not for the last time in the Moodies's catalogue, the listener is left to wonder if the bass sound is keyboard-generated. In terms of lyrics, Justin seems to be running on autopilot -- walking through the cosmic motions without any real sense of direction. The result isn't totally horrific, but it yields an image of a group not really trying anymore. Not that this is much of a surprise, of course, in retrospect. [This was the second single from the album, and made #62 in America].
"Meet Me Halfway" is a little bit better, despite its "cocktail pop" background (there's no question that Moraz could produce such fodder on cue, and Hayward's lead work over this isn't exactly of a high dynamic level either). The actual song is of an overly "safe" nature, and is not significantly different from the previous number. That said, the guitar texturing towards the end is fairly good, and the entire thing is at least enjoyable on a basic level. Moraz completists probably won't be pained by this one.
I really wanted to like "Sitting At The Wheel", a synth-rocker that seems only slightly derivative of "Gemini Dream". Moraz begins the track with a fairly aggressive line, and Lodge appears in better voice here than in many other tracks of recent years. Unfortunately, the sheer stupidity of most of the number sinks the entire thing -- the lyrics are just inane, and the song doesn't really develop much beyond the main hook (a few Morazian tricks aside). For some strange reason, the vocals in the chorus remind me of Elliot Easton (anyone who's heard Change No Change and survived will probably know of what I'm speaking). This one could have been a contender, I suppose.
"Going Nowhere" almost seems like too much of an easy target as regards the general direction of The Moodies at this point, and is moreover somewhat ironic in that the godawful dinner-music beginnings actually do develop into something marginally better by the time the track ends (the synth colouring at the very end increases the rating of the track somewhat). The Shatner-esque intonations in the vocals don't exactly make the strongest argument for the merit of the number, though, one way or the other (and is anyone surprised that Thomas was given the least "important" track on the first side for his vocal spot?). There's just not much to talk about here.
The second half of the album begins with a fairly decent song-intro, entitled "Hole In The World". This number features some eerie synth noises, march-step drumming from Edge, leads from Moraz and Hayward (who provides a nice, low-key guitar solo), perhaps some identifiable bass work as well (Lodge did write the number, I suppose). The actual song which follows -- "Under My Feet" -- isn't as good, but still counts as one of the better moments on the album. The vocal harmonies in the chorus are the leading feature of this number -- they may grate at first, but they have a certain charm. The quality of the track improves somewhat by the end as well, with "Hole In The World" is reprised slightly. Yes fans might note the slightly Hovian lick towards the end as well.
What does it say when Lodge's tracks are, on average, actually better than Hayward's for this album? This is probably something of an anomaly in the MBs catalogue, but the rather low quality of the two Hayward tracks on "Side B" (as it was in those days) is enough to bring this strange truth into being. With a title like "It's Cold Outside Of Your Heart", the listener may actually be surprised to learn that even a modicum of quality exists in the resulting track -- this, however, is almost entirely due to the somewhat Howe-esque line which introduces the track (and that may be more a matter of the tone than anything else). The actual song is rubbish -- the same ballad that Hayward's been writing for years whenever he has space to fill (and with a vaguely countrified feel this time, at that). Moraz adds a few funny sounds at the end, adding a bit of irony to the track (but not enough to make any real difference).
And this leads to "Running Water", an even more tragic manifestation of the same problem. After a lead-in similar to John Lennon's "Imagine", Hayward lays out a dismal formal-pop-ballad of the sort that he's unfortunately become notorious for. The prosaic drum fade-in only adds to the monstrosity, and Moraz's solo is just rather sad. About the only interesting thing about this track is its title.
Ray Thomas's role within the band has been a point of controversy for some time now -- to judge by the notorious Red Rocks show, he doesn't actually have any real purpose in the band anymore. It's probably safe to assume that contractual guarantees are about the only thing securing his employment, an assumption made all the more tempting my the fact that his songs appear last in the playing order on both Long Distance Voyager and The Present. Nonetheless, the listener can at least feel secure in the knowledge that RT is performing on these particular tracks -- and, besides which, the brief "I Am" is actually one of the more entertaining moments on the album on its own terms.
Featuring a combination of synthesizers and discernible flutes, this number is a relic from an earlier time -- a psychedelic poem that seems completely out of place in reference to the other material here (not that this is at all a bad thing, of course). Granted, the dated lyrics are a bit much, but the novelty of hearing Hayward's voice suddenly gain an element of harshness during his chant of "I am the sun, yes I am the sun" is enough to balance out these problems. Thomas's whispered poetry isn't precisely good, but it fits in with the insanity of the track fairly well.
Unfortunately, "Sorry" isn't quite as good. After another "Imagine"- esque intro, the group leads onward to an unspectacularly middlebrow song. The Beatles influence is quite obvious, but even this isn't really a point in its favour -- the song barely seems to be happening, for the most part. And with an anthemic line such as "Sorry is a word that only seems to mean forgive my yesterdays", it doesn't take too much of a leap in logic to realize that Thomas was reaching beyond his grasp in terms of the group's cosmic sensibilities (though at least he was still reaching). Those curious about the "harmonica" credit in the liner notes will be interested to learn that it makes its appearance here.
The Present probably won't totally alienate any MBs fans (or any Moraz fans, for that matter), but there's no reason for non-completists to buy it.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 30 Jun 1998)