What does anyone think of Patrick's contribution to the Moody Blues - did he revitalize that band, was he wasting his talent with them, or a little bit of both? You can clearly hear his influence and style on a number of things the Moody Blues did when he took over from Mike Pinder, the original mellotron maverick. There are some tasty bits where you know its him, especially on The Present, the most Yessiest MB album if you think about it. Sitting At The Wheel reminds me of Going For The One song a bit. Even hits like Wildest Dreams - the synth intro wouldn't be out of place on a Yes album. There are Moraz moments, you just have to dig for them a little on the few albums he was on. I rank them thus:
1) The Present - especially on side two, some real Moraz moments. Hole In The World and Sorry come to mind. This album must have flopped, I don't ever recall anything from The Present in the setlist of any later MB concert I ever saw. The band dropped this album from their memory banks like Yes did with Talk. It's an underrated record.
2) Long Distance Voyager - spacey synths on Talking Out Of Turn, and some real identifiable playing on the two big hits from the album. Probably the most liked album by that version of the Moody Blues. He made them more futuristic, something they never had before. Sure they could be psychedelic and adventurous before, but never really futuristic. To me, they were more inner space than outer space.
3) The Other Side Of Life - some good 80's playing with intros and such, but some cheese too. The title track has some good enough Moraz moments throughout. He's using some of the 'boards you hear on some of his solo albums of the same era like Time Code. Wildest Dreams seems mostly centered on Moraz and Hayward. Nice intro.
4) Sur La Mer - I saw this tour. This album has a little less Moraz elements, though you hear it in spades on I Know You're Out There Somewhere and maybe a few other subtle bits. He's a little toned down for this album.
5) Keys To The Kingdom - by this album in 1991, Moraz was out. We may have heard about all the legal rigamarole surrounding that. He only appears as a guest on a couple of spots here and his contribution isn't really noticeable on this somewhat pleasant but middle of the road MB album, so naturally I rank this last.
Any thoughts?
1) The Present - especially on side two, some real Moraz moments. Hole In The World and Sorry come to mind. This album must have flopped, I don't ever recall anything from The Present in the setlist of any later MB concert I ever saw. The band dropped this album from their memory banks like Yes did with Talk. It's an underrated record.
2) Long Distance Voyager - spacey synths on Talking Out Of Turn, and some real identifiable playing on the two big hits from the album. Probably the most liked album by that version of the Moody Blues. He made them more futuristic, something they never had before. Sure they could be psychedelic and adventurous before, but never really futuristic. To me, they were more inner space than outer space.
3) The Other Side Of Life - some good 80's playing with intros and such, but some cheese too. The title track has some good enough Moraz moments throughout. He's using some of the 'boards you hear on some of his solo albums of the same era like Time Code. Wildest Dreams seems mostly centered on Moraz and Hayward. Nice intro.
4) Sur La Mer - I saw this tour. This album has a little less Moraz elements, though you hear it in spades on I Know You're Out There Somewhere and maybe a few other subtle bits. He's a little toned down for this album.
5) Keys To The Kingdom - by this album in 1991, Moraz was out. We may have heard about all the legal rigamarole surrounding that. He only appears as a guest on a couple of spots here and his contribution isn't really noticeable on this somewhat pleasant but middle of the road MB album, so naturally I rank this last.
Any thoughts?
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