The Moody Blues In Search of the Lost Chord – Gold 180g Review
Vinyl surface noise: 3 (pressing flaw)
Dynamic Range: 4-
Stereo Imaging: 4
Image depth/perspective: 4-
Overall frequency response: 4-
Please see here for my comments on reviewing albums.
Track List:
- Side A:
- Departure
- Ride My See-Saw
- Dr. Livingstone, I Presume
- House of Four Doors
- Legend of a Mind
- House of Four Doors (Part 2)
- Side B:
- Voices in the Sky
- The Best Way to Travel
- Visions of Paradise
- The Actor
- The Word
- Om
The Moody Blues are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May of 1968. They have released 16 studio albums of which this one is their third. It hit silver in the UK and gold in the US rising to position 5 in the UK charts. The album spawned two singles; Voices in the Sky and Ride My See-Saw.
The original album was recorded between January–June 1968 at Decca studios, London and released on the 26th July 1968 on the Deram label. This latest release was mastered by Joe Reagoso at Friday Music Studios using the original Deram records tapes.
This limited edition single disc is available on 180 gram translucent gold audiophile vinyl. It is 33 RPM and was released on the Friday Music label, arriving in a gatefold double pocket jacket with the original full-color album artwork.
Reviewed using a Hana SL, MC cartridge, Entre Lentek head amp and MX-VYNL pre-amp.
See here for my vinyl playback hardware and system.
Unfortunately this will be shortest review of any vinyl album to date.
While the pressing was perfectly flat, concentric and had a very clean surface appearance, there was a clouded area within the translucent gold vinyl that extended from the outside track to the inside track. This area caused a crackling noise to be generated on the RHS channel almost every time the stylus passed through it. It was particularly bad on the A side and borderline acceptable on the B side. If it wasn’t for this pressing issue the vinyl sounded very quite, with few pops and clicks on either side.
A first quick listen showed a significant lack of dynamics, with both a restricted bottom and top range frequency response. Supposedly, this album was mastered from the original DERAM analog tapes!! Imaging and depth were moderate with vocals having little presence. Kit high hat and cymbals were dull, the snare was weak and kick drum impact and the bass lines were generally quite limp. Keyboards etc. sounded fine but the whole recording lacked any “life” to it, sounding very compressed.
The music and its performance were fine but this is no audiophile album by a long stretch.
Unfortunately I was unable to get a replacement for the album as it is backordered by all my suppliers, including Elusive Disc from who I purchased it. They accepted the albums return, sending an RMA and return label to me and crediting my account. IF I re-purchase this album I shall update this review.
Even IF the pressing problem did not exist I would not be able to recommend this album based upon its technical merits, other than to die-hard Moody Blues fans who desperately needed a copy. The album may be pressed on audiophile vinyl but if the pressing process, QC and source are poor you end up with a release that is no better than the original back in 1968.
See my other vinyl reviews here.
Purchase from Elusive Disc. – Now backordered – 9/17/2024.
Related posts:
What a disappointment! The 1968 Moody Blues deserve better than this! Although my memory is that these great but complicated Moody Blues songs often sounded “processed”. We didn’t care back then because we were stoned, but I wonder if clean dynamic sound is available here, pressing flaw aside.
Hi Jerry,
I have a lot of Moody Blues albums and I was born in Birmingham, England! So I was rather looking forward to listening to this and filling out my collection.
So yes, I was very disappointed and was a little wary when I purchased this gold translucent disc pressed by a company I had never heard of. Pressing issue aside, if this disc was re-mixed and mastered from the original multi-track masters tapes then either the original recording was very poor, and compressed, or the mastering engineer did a really poor job. Or of course the tape could have been a poor copy/duplicate of the original master…who knows? Either way it sounded very lack luster and for me detracted from the groups performance. I may give it another try when the album returns, but for now I will be using the refund to buy a Mo-Fi remastered, and about to be released, copy of Santana Abraxus on supervinyl. At least every Mo-Fi album I have ever purchased, and I have a lot, have arrived as a pristine pressing with generally excellent audiophile sound quality. A review will be forthcoming.
Thanks for popping by.
Regards
Paul