Moody Blues Royal Albert Hall

Hall of Fame is a live album by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It was recorded at a concert performed at the Royal Albert Hall, which included backing by a live orchestra. The album was released on 8 August 2000. It is the second Moody Blues live album to feature a live orchestra, with the first being A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. This is the last live release to feature Ray Thomas. A decade on, all but "Overture" and "Legend of a Mind" appeared on the budget release Live at the Royal Albert Hall with the World Festival Orchestra released by Sony Music Custom Marketing Group in the United States. Backed by the large string ensemble, the Moody Blues perform a cross section of their hits, both new and old. Included here are such songs as "Tuesday Afternoon," "The Story in Your Eyes," "Nights in White Satin," and more.

The Moody Blues’ fifth album, To Our Children’s Children’s Children, will be reissued as a 4CD+blu-ray deluxe edition with new spatial audio and stereo mixes, in addition to rarities and live performances. Issued in November 1969, the album was the first on the band’s on own label, Threshold Records and had a space exploration theme (inspired by the July 1969 moon landing). The one and only single ‘Watching and Waiting’ wasn’t a hit but the album performed well on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at No. 2 in the UK.

As a venue, the Royal Albert Hall in London is the stuff of legend. It is so elegant it inspires greatness in performers no matter the discipline, as well as rapt and supportive attentiveness in audiences. Some of its past performers have included Frank Sinatra, a double bill by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Bob Dylan, to name a few. It therefore goes without saying that the weight on Cinematic Orchestra mastermind Jason Swinscoe to pull off something grand for a recording and video document of this CO performance was considerable. In order to accomplish this feat, he swelled the ranks of his group to over 40 members, including the entire 24-piece Heritage Orchestra! Vocalists Heidi Vogel, Lou Rhodes, and Grey Reverend are all present to reprise their roles from various selections on studio recordings. Original Cinematic Orchestra turntablist PC returned to the fold for the evening as well…

"Hall of Fame" is a live album by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It was recorded at a concert performed at the Royal Albert Hall, which included backing by a live orchestra. The album was released on 8 August 2000. It is the second Moody Blues live album to feature a live orchestra, with the first being A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. This is the last live release to feature Ray Thomas. A decade on, all but "Overture" and "Legend of a Mind" appeared on the budget release Live at the Royal Albert Hall with the World Festival Orchestra released by Sony Music Custom Marketing Group in North America.

The famous Red Rocks venue plays host to The Moody Blues on this DVD that offers a standard full-frame transfer. The English soundtrack does a fine job of capturing the music. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, making it quite difficult to recommend this disc to anyone who is not already a fan of the band. Some of the songs performed include "Nights in White Satin," "Days of Future Past," and "Tuesday Afternoon."
The Moody Blues, as they came to be known, made their debut in Birmingham in May of 1964, and quickly earned the notice and later the services of manager Tony Secunda.

A regular fixture on the pop charts throughout the '70s, the Moody Blues roared into the '80s with this tremendously successful record. In fact, the album sounds only slightly different than its predecessors; the synthesizer textures are heavier (thanks to former Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz), but the band's flair for catchy, melodic compositions is still very much in evidence. In retrospect, songs like "The Voice," "Talking Out of Turn" and "In My World," while solid, don't exactly measure up to such all-time Moodies classics like "Ride My See-Saw" or "Tuesday Afternoon." Still, this is probably the last truly consistent album the band ever made…

This is a great compilation. Starting with the sixties tune "Go Now," when the group was in it's infancy, the CD just continues to go through the essential repertoire. The Moody's, along with The Beatles and Procol Harum, were an integral part of bringing rich, symphonic arrangements to Rock. This CD is a marvelous showcase of that phenomenon. They are also one of the best synthesizer groups ever, as well. Only ELP and Yes can compete in that category. ~ Bruce Kendall