Days of Future Passed

Not to be confused with the X-Men storyline "Days of Future Past". For other uses, see Days of Future Past (disambiguation).
Days of Future Passed
Studio album by The Moody Blues
Released 10 November 1967 (1967-11-10)
Recorded October – November 1967
Studio Decca Studios, London
Genre
Length 41:34
Label Deram
Producer Tony Clarke
The Moody Blues chronology
The Magnificent Moodies
(1965)		 Days of Future Passed
(1967)		 In Search of the Lost Chord
(1968)
Singles from Days of Future Passed
  1. "Nights in White Satin"
    Released: 10 November 1967
  2. "Tuesday Afternoon"
    Released: 19 July 1968

Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by English rock band The Moody Blues, released in November 1967 by Deram Records.[7]

With its fusion of classical and rock elements, it has been cited as one of the first examples of progressive rock.

Background and recording

After two years performing as a struggling white R&B band, The Moody Blues were asked by their record label in September 1967 to record an adaptation of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 for the newly formed Deram Records division in order to demonstrate their latest recording techniques, which were named "Deramic Sound".[7] Instead, the band (initially without the label's knowledge) decided to focus on an album based on an original stage show that they'd been working on. However, Decca recording engineer Derek Varnals disputes this story, claiming that even at the start of the sessions in 1967 there was no intent to record a Dvořák album and that talk of this project did not emerge until the mid-1970s.[8]

Recording sessions for the album took place at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London between 9 May and 3 November 1967.[9] The band worked with record producer Tony Clarke, engineer Derek Varnals and conductor Peter Knight.[5]

Content

The album's music features psychedelic rock[5] ballads by singer-songwriter and guitarist Justin Hayward, Mellotron played by keyboardist Mike Pinder[7] and orchestral interludes by the London Festival Orchestra.[5] The band and the orchestra only actually play together during the last part of "Nights In White Satin."

Music writers cite the album as an early example of progressive rock music.[4][10][11] Bill Holdship of Yahoo! Music remarks that the band "created an entire genre here."[12] David Fricke cites it as one of the essential albums of 1967 and finds it "closer to high-art pomp than psychedelia. But there is a sharp pop discretion to the writing and a trippy romanticism in the mirroring effect of the strings and Mike Pinder's Mellotron."[7] Will Hermes cites the album as an essential progressive rock record and opines that its use of the Mellotron, a tape replay keyboard, made it a "signature" element of the genre.[13] An influential work of the counterculture period,[14] AllMusic editor Bruce Eder calls the album "one of the defining documents of the blossoming psychedelic era, and one of the most enduringly popular albums of its era."[5]

Original and later mix

In 1978 the album was remixed because of the apparent deterioration of the master tapes.[15] Digital releases of the album have used this remix. Some compilations, however, have used the original 1967 stereo mix for some songs.[16] The original mix of the entire album has been transferred digitally, for possible release, but has not been used in favour of the remix.[17]

The ways in which the later mix departs most noticeably from the original are:

Release

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
PopMatters[18]
Rolling Stone (1968)mixed[19]
Rolling Stone (2007)favorable[7]
Spinfavorable[13]
Sputnikmusic5/5[4]
Uncut[10]
Yahoo! Musicfavorable[12]

Days of Future Passed was released on 10 November 1967 in the UK and 11 November in the US. It reached number 27 in the UK Albums Chart[20] and number 3 in the US in 1972. Billboard chart.[21]

Upon its release, Rolling Stone gave the album a mixed review, writing "The Moody Blues [...] have matured considerably since 'Go Now', but their music is constantly marred by one of the most startlingly saccharine conceptions of 'beauty' and 'mysticism' that any rock group has ever affected."[19] The album has since received acclaim – Spin cited it as a classic of progressive rock,[13] and in 2007 Rolling Stone included it in its list of essential albums of 1967.

Days of Future Passed was issued as a discrete Quadraphonic open reel tape in 1977.[22] This master was also used for a 2001 dts 5.1 channel audio CD release [23] and again for the 2006 SACD release referenced below.

Days of Future Passed was remastered into SACD in March 2006 and repackaged into a two-disc Deluxe Edition. This hybrid SACD also uses the source for the 1977 Quadraphonic open reel tape release cited above.[24]

Track listing

Side A
1. "The Day Begins" (5:50)
2. "Dawn: Dawn Is a Feeling" (3:48)
  • (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] — (0:38)
  • "Dawn Is a Feeling" (Mike Pinder) - (3:10) (lead singer: Justin Hayward, Bridge: Mike Pinder)
3. "The Morning: Another Morning" (3:55)
  • (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] — (0:21)
  • "Another Morning" (Ray Thomas) — (3:34) (lead singer: Ray Thomas)
4. "Lunch Break: Peak Hour" (5:33)
  • (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] — (1:53)
  • "Peak Hour" (John Lodge) — (3:40) (lead singer: John Lodge)
Side B
1. "The Afternoon: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?) / Time to Get Away" (8:23)
2. "Evening: The Sun Set: Twilight Time" (6:40)
  • (Intro) (Peter Knight) [unlisted track] — (0:38)
  • "The Sunset" (Pinder) — (2:39) (lead singer: Mike Pinder)
  • "Twilight Time" (Thomas) — (3:23) (lead singer: Ray Thomas)
3. "The Night: Nights in White Satin" (7:24)

Chart positions

Album
Year Chart Position
1967 UK Albums Chart 27[20]
1972 Billboard 200 3[21]
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1967 "Nights in White Satin" UK Singles Chart 19[25]
1968 "Tuesday Afternoon" Billboard Hot 100 24
1972 "Nights in White Satin" UK Singles Chart 9[26]
Billboard Hot 100 2

Personnel

Musicians

The Moody Blues:

Production

References

Reed, John (1999). "Days of Future Passed Re-release liner notes". London, England: The Decca Record Co. Ltd. 

  1. ↑ Murphy, Sean (November 21, 2014). "Masters of the Mini Epic". PopMatters.
  2. ↑ DeRiso, Nick (n.d.). "1967's Best Rock Albums". Ultimate Guitar.
  3. ↑ James E. Perone (2012). The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations. ABC-CLIO. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-313-37906-2.
  4. 1 2 3 SowingSeason (11 March 2011). "The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eder, Bruce. "allmusic ((( Days of Future Passed > Overview )))". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  6. ↑ Will Romano (1 September 2010). Mountains Come Out of the Sky: The Illustrated History of Prog Rock. Backbeat Books. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-61713-375-6.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Christgau, Robert; Fricke, David (12 July 2007). "The 40 Essential Albums of 1967". Rolling Stone. Jann S. Wenner. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  8. ↑ "Sound On Sound (Classic Tracks: The Moody Blues "Nights In White Satin")". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed CD Album". CD Universe. Muze. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  10. 1 2 "Review: Days of Future Passed". Uncut. London: IPC Media: 120. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  11. ↑ Classic Rock, July 2010, Issue 146.
  12. 1 2 Holdship, Bill. "The Moody Blues Reviews". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  13. 1 2 3 Hermes, Will (January 2004). "Essential Prog Rock". Spin. Vibe/Spin Ventures. 20 (1): 48. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  14. ↑ Macan, Edward. (1996).Rocking the Classics : English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195098889.
  15. ↑ "THE MOODY BLUES FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST". Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed Original Mix question". Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "On the Subject of The Moody Blues-Days of Future Passed". Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Sawdey, Evan (23 October 2008). "The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  19. 1 2 Miller, Jim (7 December 1968). "The Moody Blues: Days of Future Passed : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
  20. 1 2 "Moody Blues | Full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  21. 1 2 "The Moody Blues – Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  22. ↑ url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Moody-Blues-Days-Of-Future-Passed/release/7205611
  23. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Moody-Blues-Days-Of-Future-Passed/release/1796417
  24. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/The-Moody-Blues-With-The-London-Festival-Orchestra-Conducted-By-Peter-Knight-Days-Of-Future-Passed/release/1483969
  25. ↑ "Chart Stats - The Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin". www.chartstats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
  26. ↑ Roberts, David, ed. (2005). British Hit Singles and Albums. Guinness World Records Ltd. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  27. ↑ Show 49 - The British are Coming! The British are Coming!: With an emphasis on Donovan, the Bee Gees and the Who. [Part 6] : UNT Digital Library

External links

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