Customer Rating:  
Summary: The acid test of a new creative direction
Comment: The Moodies would find out here if they'd succeed in a major revamping of their sound. Most Moodies fans know that they started out with Denny Laine at the helm, sounding like if the Rolling Stones were less punky and more bluesy (try "Early Blues"). Then along came "Days Of Future Passed", but that was no indicator of what was to come--concept albums using full orchestra seldom mark a major change. The tend to be a "special treat". Hell, you take out the orchestral and spoken interludes and you end up with a pretty short album. But now it was back to doing song albums. And this one proved that the Moodies we know today were here to stay--a whole new sound under an existing name. Take a Graeme Edge poem that ramps up in intensity until it ends in hysterical laughter and segue into a driving but melodic "Ride My See Saw" and off we go. Next is the elementary school folk sound of "Dr. Livinstone I Presume" where Ray Thomas makes like Stephen Foster. I'll reserve comment on the "House Of Four Doors/ Legend Of a Mind" medley--it was trendy back in those days to see Timothy Leary as a heroic fugure. Then we open side 2 (vinyl version" with Justin Hayward's now-famous baritone in "Voices In the Sky". Keyboardist Mike Pinder gnext gives us "The Best Way To Travel", which has an annoying toot-toot-toot figure in the last verse that makes you think there's a bearing going bad in your player. "The Actor" is by far the best song on the album, proving that you can mix an acoustic guitar and flute and still have a good solid beat. No, Jethro Tull did NOT do it first. I suppose "The Voice/ Om" can be forgiven--those were days when it was fashionable to think that Western culture was an abomination and Eastern was the way to go. Rather than take the "raga-rock" direction, the Moodies did like the Beatles and built this song in that ole Subcontinental style from the ground up. But with the exception of that and the Leary hymn, this was the way they were to go over several albums. And thereby avoiding becoming the "Also-Rolling Stones" and carving a niche with an immediately recognizable sound. Maybe they've never been truly rock and roll in the true sense. Graeme Edge didn't trash hotel rooms. John Lodge didn't get say "I'm sick of being nothing but Hayward's tenor harmony" and walk out for a solo career--he's still there. Ray Thomas didn't die of an o.d.--he retired like any working man. Which is why I can draw my own pension and still listen to the same act I heard on the radio as a college undergrad. Neil Young once said "It's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps", but that ideology only impresses the very young and very angry.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Classic but dated
Comment: This album by the Moodies is a bit dated what with its references to Timothy Leary and so on. Very current at the time but not now. A different world today, unfortunately. However, that said, the usual Moody Blues attention to engineering sound, good melodic lines, and so on.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Moodies Beat the Trends
Comment: Whilst no longer hip in the impressionable world of the rock music cognoscenti the Moody Blues have assembled a body of work over the years that would shame most modern day "great" groups. "In Search of the Lost Chord", from 1968, is one of the best examples of their early work. Psychedelic, melodic, with bucket loads of tasteful instruments & typically melodramatic lyrics, the essential elements of well crafted songs & tuneful vocalising is never lost sight of. If you have a prejudice about this group borne of reading too many "expert" reviews, sign off now. If, however, you enjoy the Moodies, or think you might, this is one that certainly will not disappoint.
Customer Rating:
Summary: In Search of the Lost Chord
Comment: Having worn out my original copy of this cd by the Moody Blues, I am thrilled to have it again. I was fortunate to see the Moodies in concert in Portland recently, and they are better than ever. Their music is classic Rock and Roll. My favorite on this set is House of Four Doors. I plan to see the Moody Blues as often as they play in an area near or in Portland. They are timeless and their music and playing are wonderful, and...they seem like such nice guys!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A timeless classic
Comment: It is hard to believe that this record is almost 40 years old, but it is. And it couldn't have aged any better. It still sounds as fresh, creative, and innovative as it did back in the day. The seven-album run that the Moody Blues reeled off from 1967 to 1972 is quite stunning, and opinions are often all over the map as to what their best of those seven is, but in my mind, it is an easy question to answer. With all due respect to the other six albums, all of which are excellent in their own way, as well, the answer for me will always be "In Search of the Lost Chord."
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