Remarkable Studio Sound From Their Peak Period
In recent years a number of live albums have been produced with less than stellar coverage of the bands peak period music recorded in studio decades earlier. This album is the perfect collection of best songs in studio form -- the way they are meant to be heard. I have 7 tracks rated four star, and 2 rated five star. That is remarkable.

An Ace of an Anthology! :)
For me, the "Moody Blues Anthology" is a wonderful double CD, just like "This is The Moody Blues." This compilation is like a condensed version of "Time Traveller" with the addition of "Go Now."

It's nice that this set includes the full versions of "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin" (with the orchestra, contrary to the shorter mixes featured on "The Best of The Moody Blues"). These are my favorite mixes of the tracks, featuring the "Days of Future Passed" CD mix of "Tuesday Afternoon" and the "Days of Future Passed" vinyl mix of "Nights." It's also nice to see that, on this occasion, "Nights" gives mention to "Late Lament," written by Graeme Edge, on the song list (Previously noted on the "Prelude" and "This is The Moody Blues" CD's).

The "Best of" mix of "Ride My See-Saw" is on here, so there is no cross-fade from the "Departure" track, on "In Search of the Lost Chord" ... This mix begins with the count in. There is just one Ray Thomas track on this release, which is "Legend of a Mind," one of my favorite Ray Thomas compositions (and awesome to listen to through headphones). Then, we get "Voices in the Sky," which should have appeared on the 1985 best of compilation featuring that song title as the name of the album!

Two more Justin Hayward tunes follow from "On The Threshold of a Dream," including, "Lovely to See You" and "Never Comes The Day" ... I love the way the first of the two songs is faded in, because we hear the choir and mellotrons that end out, "In The Beginning," from the original LP, a really cool effect.

Up next are three of my favorites, from "To Our Children's Children's Children," the 'mellotron-driven' "Gypsy," "Candle of Life," and "Watching and Waiting," and from "A Question of Balance," the original LP mix of "Question" appears, along with "Melancholy Man," which are two of the album's highlights.

It was also a treat to hear the single mix of "The Story in Your Eyes," originally from the "Legend of a Band" CD, which is a few seconds longer than the mix heard on "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour."

From "Seventh Sojourn," the two John Lodge classics, "Isn't Life Strange" and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" end out the first disc. The original version of "Isn't Life Strange" appears here (not the remake on "Legend of a Band"), and "I'm Just a Singer" starts off with the loud, crashing drums, not the cross-fade from "When You're a Free Man," from the original LP. It was also a treat to get one more tune from "Sojourn," Mike Pinder's, "Lost in a Lost World."

Opening up the second disc is Justin Hayward and John Lodge's "Remember Me, My Friend," from "Blue Jays" ... Notice that the opening guitar riff lasts only three bars instead of four ... This is because the opening riff was cross-faded with the synthesizer from "This Morning," as heard on the "Blue Jays" album, so it was edited out.

"Blue Guitar," also makes another appearance on a "Best of" compilation, and it's a nice bridge between the "Blue Jays" track and the material from "Octave."

"Stepping in a Slide Zone" and "Driftwood" appear from "Octave," but because of the length of the CD, both songs are edited down a bit, with the sound effects from the intro to "Slide Zone" missing, and "Driftwood" fading out about a half minute earlier than the full version on "Octave."

Justin Hayward's "Forever Autumn" follows, creating a nice bridge between the timeline of "Octave," and "Long Distance Voyager."

From "Long Distance Voyager," the full length hits, "The Voice" and "Gemini Dream" are heard on this collection (Not the single edits from the "Voices in the Sky" compilation), but there is an edited version of John Lodge's "Talking out of Turn," which I first heard on the earlier CD version of "Voices in the Sky."

Excerpts from "The Present" include, "Blue World" and "Sitting at the Wheel." Once again, as heard on "Time Traveller," the end of "Blue World" is cross-faded with the intro to "Sitting at the Wheel."

From "The Other Side of Life," both the title track and "Your Wildest Dreams" appear ... While I was disappointed that "The Other Side of Life" didn't appear on "The Best of The Moody Blues," I'm glad to see that it is featured in this collection. :)

The pairing of "Sur La Mer's" "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" and "Keys of the Kingdom's" "Say it With Love" were nice, as they are played in the same chord, but a big surprise I've noticed was that the mix of "Bless the Wings That Bring You Back" was taken from the CD single mix of that track ... This mix features the orchestra, and lasts about four minutes instead of five. Until this release, this mix of "Bless The Wings" was very rare, so I'm glad it made a reappearance here.

The final track, "Highway," makes a reappearance here, since the "Time Traveller" Box Set, which debuted this tune ... I'm glad this track received some recognition, once again. :)

There was just one criticism I had on this release ... This was in regard to the edited down versions of "Driftwood" and "Talking out of Turn," which are better suited for the 2 CD set titled "The Singles+" (I'm not big on edited down songs, and those were two fine songs that should be left at their regular length). Since the full length mixes of the songs wouldn't fit the length of the overall CD, I would rather see them replaced by shorter songs like "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" and "This is The Moment." It's a shame that there was only one Ray Thomas composition that appeared on this collection ... At least two of his songs could have been featured, so I think "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" would have been a nice choice, too.

On the whole, this is an excellent double CD compilation for The Moody Blues, with a great selection of songs and outstanding sound quality. The inside of the CD booklet, featuring the two different colored planets behind the track list, made for a visual treat, as well! Thanks for reading! God Bless... :)

Shouldn't the sound quality be there for an "anthology"?
The only reason this does not get 5 stars is due to sound quality. Yes, it is a great capture of their work. But I was disapponted by the sound quality. It sounds like the original CD releases, and not "remastered" to current standards. I am not saying they need to re-do the mix from the original tapes (although that would be great), but the sound quality is not all there in my opinion. My guess is that there will likely be another more up-to-date collection that will get released sometime in the future that is remastered properly. Until then (whenver "then" may be), buy this one.

NEVER GOT IT
AFTER ORDERING THIS CD I WAS INFORMED THAT IT WOULD TAKE ALMOST 2 MONTHS TO GET THIS CD. THE WEEK IT WAS DUE TO COME I RECEIVED AN EMAIL STATING THAT IT WAS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND THE ORDER WAS CANCELLED.

Mesmerizing Moodies
The Moody Blues 'Anthology' is a thorough treat for Moody's fans. It contains all that it should, and, even some songs it shouldn't, but it is selective enough for those of us who love being transported by the groups esoteric words and uplifting music. Objectively, they are uneven here. The 'Best of' collection is really the same collection, pared down to one CD and actually has the same basic picture on the disc cover. While the shorter version is better, the longer 'Anthology' is more satisfying.

The Moodies made a successful classical-rock fusion. Before Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and others, they were masters. When they went fast-forward, they couldn't be beat. "Ride My See-Saw," "Story in Your Eyes," and "I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock-and-Roll Band)" are magnificent. The second song is as close to perfection as they get. Lyrically, they can either mesmerize or mystify. At their best, their free-association works; at their worst, they inspire giggles. The quieter songs are also a mixed bag. Either way, they mean to take us to a higher plain. "The Candle of Life" is so beautiful with crystal-clear production that they make other songs sound murky. The lyrics work well, too. In contrast "Lovely to See You" is magnificent musically, but could easily be parodied. What randomness goes into seeing a neighbor, noticing the neighbor will "even the score with your[his/her] eyes," and observing casually the prophecy that "all the empires will turn to sand". For that matter, as grand as "Question" is, the listener is trasported from greed, hate, and war to domestic problems. But, in all fairness, for the abrupt shifts in the Moody's lyrics, the significant other can uplift one from issues of world misery. "Lost in a Lost World," conversely, does well lyrically, but is less engaging musically. "Forever Autumn," on the other hand, gets it all right. It is a beautiful classic with focused lyrics that work. Another highlight is "Legend of a Mind," which is a very intricate tribute to LSD legend, Timothy Leary. While this reviewer prefers to trip vicariously via the music and at a safer harbor (ie drug free), the music comes close to transporting us without the use of dangerous drugs. Musically, it is subjectively even better than their other magnum opus, "Nights in White Satin". "Melancholy Man" is another portrait, although more enigmatic. It is difficult if it is confessional or third-person, but the mysticism seems to get mixed into the cross-hairs of depression. (It seems like an alien who becomes "The Fool on the Hill" if it isn't autobiographical.) Mostly, the editing is sound for the collecion. 'Anthology' wisely leaves behind works from other collections, including the trite "Dear Diary"--even if that one ends on an atomic note. It also leaves plenty of opportunity to collect their original albums.

The first disc is more worthwhile than the second, but, again, for fans, one can't get enough. "The Voice" and "I Know You're out There Somewhere" demonstrate that their legend didn't end after the early seventies. Much of the production is more modern than their earlier work, but not all of it is as good. "Stepping in a Slide Zone" is just like "Driftwood" for the album. Overall, again, "Best Of..." is a five-star representation, but 'Anthology' shows that their catalog deserves elaboration.