Live at the Isle of Wight 1970

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
In 1970 The Moody Blues were at their creative and commercial peak. After reinventing themselves from their R&B roots to a much more sophisticated sound, between 1967 and 1970 they released five albums, four of which hit the Top 5 in the UK with two of them going to No.1. They enjoyed similar success in the USA where four of the albums hit the Top 20 and the other was just outside. At the end of August 1970, shortly after the release of their album "A Question Of Balance", The Moody Blues took to the stage of the Isle Of Wight Festival in front of an audience estimated at over half a million. This CD makes that performance available for the first time.

Album Description
In 1970 the Moody Blues were art their creative and commercial peak. After reinventing themselves from their R & B roots to a much more sophisticated sound, between 1967 and 1970 they released five albums, four of which hits top 5 in the UK, with two of them going #1. They enjoyed similar success in the US where four of their albums hit the top 20 and the other was just outside. At the end of August 1970, shortly after their release of their album 'A Question of Balance', The Moody Blues took to the stage of the Isle Of Wight Festival in front of an audience estimated at over 1/2 million. This CD makes that performance available for the first time.

Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

better than +5 overall August 29, 2008
25 out of 25 found this review helpful

If you like your classic Moodies in the raw, and are a big fan of the Caught Live + 5 sound, you will love this. If you want the studio sound, best to stick with your Core 7 Cds. Better yet to consider this CD as a unique stand alone piece of art and sonic history, since it is not at all a copy of CL+5.(One is enough).
Its speaks to the strength of the songs themselves and the ability of the Moodies to work out different presentations of the same songs so that they work both in the living room with your headphones as well as to an outdoor venue with 600,000 people, of course not without some rearrangements. Unlike Justin Hayward, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. As a result of not being able to include the studio crossovers and fadeouts, the Moodies were "forced" to write at least a couple minutes of original never before released intros and endings to songs like MS and Tortise, and for that alone I think its worth getting this CD. If you ever wanted to dance to Minstrels Song but were afraid to try, you can do so easily to this boogie-friendly version.
Regarding the sound, Gypsy and Tuesday Afternoon are delightfully grungy, with some growling guitar down in the TA mix. Generally, it is a kind of boomy and bass heavy sound on the rock passages, and all the guitar parts are up in the mix, and Justin even hits a few good distorted notes in there somewhere. On the other side, there are some really great pin-drop passages, where the sound is really clean and intimate. Quite an achievement I think to effectively present some really crushing hard rock with some quiet songs in that setting.
Pinder fans will like the vocal mixes, he is very prominent, and unlike +5, John's falsetto is not, so the four part harmonies have that nice deep men's chorus roar ala on I'm Just A Singer, and there is nothing like the See Saw vocal imbalance on +5. In fact the harmonies are close considering the conditions, and on songs like Sunset, Melancholy Man, Are You Sitting, and some other spots the lead vocals sound much closer miked and recorded than some +5 songs. The drumming from Graeme Edge, which in the studio was often restrained and low in the mix, is powerful, raw, upfront, and really gave the live songs a consistent backbone here, even when the vocals and mellotron were out and in at times. He really comes up with some great fills live to replace all the overdubbed piano and mellotron parts that they couldn't take with them to the stage.
I've always preferred the live version of The Dream/Have You Heard to the studio, and its really a highlight here. You really get a sense of how big the mellotron sound was on this more than on the +5 HYH, especially on the entended transition from Are You Sitting to the Dream,
and the big tron swoops going into the Voyage. On this version, there is a heart-beat like rhthym in the Voyage, some audience reaction, some mellotron, and it all makes for some great tension and anticipation.
It is an uneven recording and presentation, and even comparing it with Caught Live is an apple/orange thing; For example, on the +5 Sunset the mellotron swells and growls like a living beast, and here it for some reason it is flatter and more subdued, yet the accompanying vocal is stronger and closer than on +5. Anyway, it is great to have two live Moody Blues discs from their classic period to compare; I say get them both and edit the best parts from each in the studio in your mind.

3 out of 5 stars

Nice...not Great September 2, 2008
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I wanted very much to like this live offering more than I actually did. The sound quality is fairly muddy, but given the live recording technolgy of the day, the engineers did a credible job. As for the music itself, live renditions of songs composed by Mike Pinder are quite welcome as Pinder has been on the "outs" with the band since the 70's. Long time fans will appreciate a set list that is varied from what we've come to expect from the band.
Justin Hayward, as always, seems both relaxed and focused for his leads on classics like Gypsy, Tuesday Afternoon, Are you Sitting Comfortably and Nights in White Satin. Edge keeps a great beat throughout and his drumming appears to be a bit more upfront in the mix giving the music more of a rock feel.
So 3 stars out of five? The Moody's have set high standards in the past and this offering, some 40 years old, doesn't meet the high expectations I've come to expect from them. Hope the coming DVD compliments the audio and the sum of the two exceeds the results of this CD.

3 out of 5 stars

Have you heard? August 28, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

Like the Beatles, the guys in Moody Blues were popmusicians who turned into visionaries, thanks to their experientments with entheogenic drugs. Even writing a tribute to the illustrious (and reckless/irresponsible) Timothy Leary. And like the fab four they found their true environment in the studio, writing complex, yet catchy and engaging songs with intelligent, often spiritual lyrics.

But whereas Beatles never tried to recreate their works live, Justin Hayward & co. did their best. And as this recording from Isle of Wight demonstrates, they didn't really succeed in recreating their music on the stage (probably they should have had some extra musicians on board), and in truth none of the tracks sound as good as the studio versions.

The playing is sloppy in places, the vocals ragged. On the other hand there is a beautiful, optimistic, purple hazy atmosphere, and the songs, except the downright embarrasing "Minstrel's Song", have stood the test of time very well. Justin H.s are of course classics: "Tuesday Afternoon", "Night's In White Satin", but also his lesser known songs like "Never Had A Dream" and "Are You Sitting Comfortably" are aeustrious gems. Also Mike Pinder's "Melancholy Man" and "Have You Heard" sound moving and relevant. "Legend Of A Mind" of course a psychedelic classic.

The tapes have been mixed by Justin H. himself, which unfortunately hasn't been able to compensate for all defects of the masters.

For fans only - or for anyone interested in 'the hippy era' - but they will get an intersting historic document with definite glimpses of still artisticly relevant music and an enjoyable hour of pleasant, high aiming music.

4 out of 5 stars

RARE MOODY's CONCERT FINNALY ARRIVES September 16, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Someone stated the audio quality is a buit 'muddy". Look, there are very few complete SETS from the 60's released legally on The Moody Blues. I have heard the CD and it is NOT muddy. It is the best sound they could get using the equipment available. NO, it is not 'digital', not DTS, not 5.1 surround. It is bare, analog, and RARE!! Songs with MIKE PINDER! Melancholy MAN, TORTOISE AND THE HARE!!! COme on...this is VINTAGE material. This is the best quality possible. It's GOOD. Not Great. As far as the PERFORMANCE, it's pretty good considering it was at the awful and awfully crowded ISLE OF WIGHT concert that was plagued with drugs, police, people crashing the shows, and just plain hippie psychededlicia gone wrong. So this is a GOOD performance for the circumstances!!

Now--here is even BETTER NEWS__THIS SHOW WILL BE RELEAAED ONTO DVD in 2009!!! I do not know if the ENTIRE SET will be on DVD (due to what film derterioration problems were encountered) but a good portion of this show will be on DVD by FEBRUARY!! Look for it with some bonus features with MIKE PINDER himse3lf!! (I don't excpect him to pull out the old Mellotron and PLAY "Simple Game" -Don't you WISH!!). Too bad the Moody's live shows of the 60's are so limited in release. I will TAKE THIS. It is decent.

5 out of 5 stars

The waiting is finally OVER!!!! September 30, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

As a die-hard Moody Blues fan, I represent a large number of fans that have waited many years for this release. Moreover, the DVD soon to come represents an extremely rare look at this band in it's 'dream era' of the original 5 members, who helped shape the course of Progressive Rock with their first seven ground-breaking albums.

This was in no way a perfect performance from the Moodies, but it's easy to overlook that for the gems contained herein. In 1970, 600,000 people at the Isle Of Wight witnessed the largest rock festival in history, and this band could hold their heads high with other established 'Monsters Of Rock,' like Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, the Who, and Emerson Lake & Palmer, just to name a few that performed at that amazing 3-day epic event.

Highlights for me are songs like the tender "Never Comes The Day," a song so sweeping and cross-generational in it's beauty that as a teenager, even my mother was drawn to this band! Melancholy Man, is as well, a bittersweet, insightful glimpse into the mind of Mike Pinder, who has always served to mirror my own angst in a world that has so much beauty and tragedy side by side. Despite it's morose tone, it's truly a song of hope. Ray Thomas' "Legend of a Mind" is an especially strong version, and as an ode to friend Timothy Leary, is also a testiment to the power of Ray's amazing voice.

But my favorite part, what many refer to as the "Are You Sitting Comfortably" suite, is the showcase of a Moody show in this time period. It likens to a dream sequence in it's panoramic display of drama and majesty. For anyone who, in their youth, has spent quality time lying on a bed with their heads between two stereo speakers, perhaps with colorful lights and incense abounding, this is a prime remembrance of floating away with the music. As the lead song segues into Graeme's poem, "The Dream" and further into Mike's "Have You Heard" you have the epitome of the Moody Blues sound, the eerie orchestral strains of the mellotron taking you on a quite pleasant journey into inner space. You can't listen to it all without feeling like, on some level, you'd been there at Afton Down, mellowing out with a few hundred thousand of your closest friends!

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