Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971)

WARNING!!

These reviews are given in the spirit of a personal editorial and of personal opinion. If you would find yourself offended by these views and criticisms within the body of these reviews, please do not read further. It is not our intention to offend or injure someone's views on their favourite band. We wrote these as one-time fans who now, after many years, revisited these albums and wanted to write fair and unbiased reviews of The Moody Blues' material. If indeed, a member of The Moody Blues does happen to read these reviews, please take into consideration that these are simply opinions. These reviews present an alternate perspective.
Thank You,
Shawn and Andrew Dow,
March, 2007

Album Review by Andrew Dow

Album Review by Shawn Dow

Album Review by Andrew Dow

The Moodies now had another hit on their hands with "Question" and album sales were starting to really increase. Interestingly, the Moodies sales peaked in the U.K. with "On The Threshold of A Dream" and slowly came down, but in the U.S. their sales slowly rose up the chart. This album would show the Moodies introduce the chamberlin, a device similar to a mellotron, but could more accurately produce the sounds of an orchestra as well as other electronic sounds. The "E-G-B-D-F" is actually a way for kids to remember an augmented chord and the notes of the scale. Another way to remember, "Every Good Boy Deserves Favor" is "Every Good Boy Does Fine".

This album takes a real swing downwards in tone, taking a hint from "A Question of Balance". Here we will find the Moodies in full flight as the pompous windbags they really were. Preachy, hoaky and derivative, the Moodies move towards the sandbox in their childhood infancy. Lots of little songs in a childhood theme. Let the goofiness begin!

Procession: The album opens with the bands first and only group composition. Another neat opening from the band of a slowly descending keyboard soaring through the universe, I imagine. We then have the Moodies orating to a desolate landscape, "Desolation", then "Creation", with rain and thunder. Then the notes E-G-B-D-F. There's the concept folks! The Moodies tackle the creation of the Earth! Then we have "Communication", with drums and cavemen "Ugh-ing" out a melody to evolve into different forms of music. Didn't they do this with "House of Four Doors?" Indian sitars play with Thomas sputtering out some of his off-key flute. Then a baroque guitar/flute duet turning into a harpsichord in the classical style. Then Pinder winds things up with a mad scientist organ solo evolving into... His mellotron. That's the whole point of music! The Moody Blues! Then Hayward pulls out a guitar for the rock movement itself. The piece borrows from concrete musical concepts using the sounds of lightning and thunder, rain, etc, but what are they doing with it really? Showing the evolution of the world is easy to point out, but this all goes into the idea that these guys are "showing us the way", so to speak. This is what we believe so it's what YOU should believe? The Moodies are our messengers, just like in "Melancholy Man" and "The Balance". Preachy pseudo-babble again. They think this must be real high-concept stuff. For it's almost 5 minute running time, it's not much of a piece of music, let alone an instrumental one.

The Story In Your Eyes: After "Procession", we get a nice little diddy with Hayward's ready-made hit single. It's got a nice little guitar run in it, but the chorus is so pompous and the lyrics tap into the hippy-deal again, "I'm frightened for your children. That the life that they are living is in vain?" A downer deal again and the song gets tired in its delivery. The piano "da da do do" is terribly sarcastic here by Pinder. The solo at the end would have been nice if it were allowed to continue, but all the wailing voices in this song tire it out. Drudgery.

Our Guessing Game: Thomas' first tune starts out calm and rational enough. Speaking of tall ships sailing and all, but then the song goes into its disjointed chorus with its tinny drums and falsetto delivery. Then a middle 8 with what sounds like an early electronic snare drum sound. Then the guitar solo by Hayward merely repeats the vocal line. Not exciting stuff. The song then falls back into its slow intro and grandiose close. The opening sounded so nice, but it is ruined by the caterwauling and disjointed playing by Edge. Lets not forget the constant tambourine use. Someone yank that thing out of Thomas' hand already! The song keeps repeating to pad out the tune and is silly.

Emily's Song: Lodge penned this tune in honor of the birth of his daughter Emily, and its really a lullaby. The song would have been nice on it's own, if not for the cellos and eerie mellotron in the background, but even still the song repeats itself so much, I'm bored 2 minutes into the song. Then a vibraphone solo repeating the main theme twice, makes this guy want some sleep. Monotonous.

After You Came: An acoustic guitar opens this little diddy by Edge, with it's start-stop opening moving with each member of the band giving lead vocals. The vocals are so mashed together in a chorus, I can barely make out anything of what they're saying. The guitar playing comes through somewhat, but its buried in the mix. The song has many changes in it, but it only repeats itself again and again. Monotony reigns so far on this album. A harmonica comes in at one point just before the guitar solo and sounds dumb, then a country hoe-down guitar solo before the band grunges out at the end in a horrendous jam with Edge doing a terrible Keith Moon imitation.

One More Time To Live: What the hell is this! A song with some structure and melody? Lodge surprises me with this one. This tune stands out as probably the best thing Lodge wrote through the whole "classic seven" Moodies albums. The has a slow build-up to a revisit of "Procession", only now they have a two-part vocal melody to complement it. This out-epic's even Pinder's haphazard drivel. The song comes off with some authority, like these guys know what they're doing! It reminds me of something off of "To Our Children's, Children's Children". Too bad this tune wasn't on that album, it would have gotten 4 instead of 3 1/2 stars! Even the repeat has a nice little harp line to accompany it. The Moodies instill some drama and dynamics in this tune. I just can't help writing good stuff about this tune. They even take the hippy jargon by simply stating what's happening and not commenting on it with the heavy middle section. I like Lodge's chugging bass line throughout the middle section. The song returns to it's serene opening for a final resolvement. This is a classic Moodies song.

Nice To Be Here: The Moodies go back to the sandbox and infantile wonderment with Thomas' long and silly childrens song. More hoedown in order with Hayward's guitar breaks. Thomas reveling in "I can see them, they can't see me" tapping into the hippy-trip out group. "He's out of sight?" Really, Ray! The song carries on so long with its childish imagery it just groans out with it's dull delivery. At 4 minutes, I simply grow weary of this foolishness and the songs constant babble of nonsense.

You Can Never Go Home: Ain't it the truth, eh, Justin? Hayward goes for the hanky with this lamentable song. The song starts nicely, but slowly swells to a super sappy crescendo, "Memories can never take you back home". The chorus with its little keyboard anthem I like, then it degrades into the "Ahh's" with Lodge's falsetto impersonation. The "I lie awake for hours", section shows Hayward's best vocal performance on the album. With a nice fuzz guitar throughout the rest of the song. The song is so sectional and disjointed it sounds like four little songs all thrown together. The song has nice moments, but no cohesion, no central idea to move it ahead. Nice bits and pieces, but no solid substance.

My Song: Of course, Pinder's sole song on the album MUST be a song of mammoth and epic proportions. Pinder comes out of the gate singing His "little song". He tells us of how he has seen the world and goes into Beatle mode of how the world only needs love. Then it starts getting dramatic, talking of a burning inside and how he thinks there is life on other worlds. This section has a nice guitar ending until it builds to a groaning to a delay filled military snare drum. Then, all is quiet and we hear breathing and the sounds of space, or is that an obscene phone call? A flute/guitar bit here is nice, disturbed by Lodge's wailing falsetto. The song then builds up a bit with a chorus repeating the wailing. Then a great slow crashing chorus of "ahs" and terrible drumming. This plodding mess is so hammy and terribly executed by Edge on drums it makes me want to take back all my compliments about his playing on "Question" and "Higher And Higher" This overly dramatic sequence goes on too long and just grates on the nerves. Finally the song decides to simply repeat the opening groaning mellotron riff and Pinder comes back to tall us "I hope well all be a family in perfect harmony, a planet with one mind". That's socialist talk! Pinder is telling all of us, his followers, what he hopes, much like Jesus I guess. Then the song ends out with a fade-out to outer space. Maybe Pinders' a scientologist? All this talk of life on other planets and how they'll come to Earth to help us find our way. Naïve philosophy at Pinders finest, showing us how much of a drip he actually is. The song simply goes into the record books as Pinder's most pompous creation next to "Melancholy Man".

Summary

They are not enough bad things I can say about this record. Thankfully I'm limiting my comments to keep from repeating myself too much. The Moodies really did it this time around, pounding out terribly executed songs in a haphazard fashion, not to mention all the preachy crap on "My Song". They almost wanted to be seen as visionaries and to be followed by the masses. They thought so much of themselves on this album and the fans ate it up. The album charted up to number 2 in the U.S. The Moodies found their following and they were willing to lead them, and they were in America.

The only song worth note on this album is "One More Time To Live", the best Lodge song for this period in my opinion, but Lodge's tale was only just beginning; he would soon find his own little niche in Moodies history and morph into the biggest ego of all!

The albums recording doesn't help things either, mixed almost to a dull mid-range with a terribly muffled high-end, I don't think even remastering it would help.

The Moodies success was massive in the US, but it didn't make a lot of a mark in the UK, where other progressive rock acts like Yes, ELP, and King Crimson started to steal some of the wind from their sails in the UK.

Star Rating (out of 5)

* out of *****

Album Review by Shawn Dow

Watch for an upcoming Review by Shawn Dow