Nothing in the early part of the Moody Blues‘ discography hints at what was to come later.
Starting as a British R&B group inspired by the U.S. music charts and the wave of popularity following the Beatles, the band featured drummer Graeme Edge, singer and guitarist Denny Laine, keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas and bassist Clint Warwick.
They scored a No. 1 U.K. hit with 1964’s “Go Now!,” but within a couple of years, Laine and Warwick were gone, to be replaced by singer and guitarist Justin Hayward and singer/bassist John Lodge. In 1967, the revised lineup recorded an innovative fusion of pop, classical and psychedelic music that paved the way for the evolution of progressive music in the years that followed, Days of Future Passed.
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The next several years were a whirlwind of similar and ambitious records built on a conceptual center, spoken-word narration and instrumental interludes: In Search of the Lost Chord (1968), On the Threshold of a Dream (1969), To Our Children’s Children’s Children (1969), A Question of Balance (1970), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971) and Seventh Sojourn (1972).
As you will see in the list below of the Moody Blues Albums Ranked, the group persevered through personnel changes and shifts in popular tastes in the decades since those recordings. Even after deciding to stop making new music in 2003, they continued touring for another 15 years, revisiting those classic records that were an important part of the era.
The Moody Blues Albums Ranked
From British R&B contenders to symphonic art-rock pioneers, the band’s history spans decades.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
