The Moody Blues are no strangers to orchestral accompaniments to their works. For those who are familiar to The Moody Blues, you'll remember the elegant output of “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon” in its dominant orchestral setting. While this setting is certainly not the defining aspects of the band, it is an integral part made more so by their later, more fuller productions.

The orchestral elements are very evident in this live set by The Moody Blues performed at Colorado’s beautiful and popular Red Rocks amphitheatre. The show took place on September 9, 1992 and was meant as a celebration of 25 years since “Nights in White Satin” first gained acceptance. However, the show ended up being a representative piece of what a marriage of rock and orchestration could produce.

The Moody Blues produced many albums of rock classics that steadily developed toward a richer sound environment that didn’t have the electronic component that Yes utilized. The Moody Blues dared to be different, instead incorporating real live orchestral music. They went on to generate their own unique fusion quite successfully for years after with a string of high charting albums and yielding as many singles as possible.

The Deluxe Edition of The Moody Blues: A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra begins with a full overture, a more complete version than the original single CD of the same title. This lead serves as an introduction to The Blues, and, although long, is somewhat fitting. The accompaniments are lavished on every song but do not detract from the performances. They do not because we are used to The Moody Blues and their styles.

Every song that brought notice to the Blues are in this set. There were also peripheral songs such as “Lovely to See You”, one of my personal favorites and one that I regularly seek out. The vocal range of Hayward is pretty phenomenal considering the age of the band. By this stage, most bands are unable to reproduce anything with any degree of accuracy that even comes close to being considered passable. Not the Blues. They are in as fine a form as can be. The band’s harmonies are perfect and contagious. No one who has heard this set will come away disappointed. It could even be said that The Moody Blues are better; more mature. While this set showcases them in ’92, I’d bet that they sound just as good today.

Spread out over two discs, this Deluxe Edition brings out the fullness of the show by letting the sound become stage centred. By that, I mean that you get a very clear mix thanks to expert remastering of the set. The crowd noises do not overtake the songs until the end of the performance; effectively giving you a front row set at this momentous show. The additional tracks on this expanded edition are material culled from the same show although from another source (bonus CD). The bulk of the songs are from the original single CD while the remainder comes from a limited edition bonus CD that was included in the Time Traveller Box Set. An edited version of the Overture was found in the original single CD release. As a matter of fact, this 2CD Deluxe Edition is what this set should have been all along. I cannot imagine having some of the essential songs included here left off the original. It doesn't seem natural. But it does now.

Live discs are a mixed bag for listeners. Its either the material performed is widely re-interpreted and therefore, a shadow of the original or the music is faithfully reproduced as it is on this set. But no matter your stance on live albums, this one captures the essence of The Moody Blues.

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The Moody Blues

A Night at Red Rocks
with The Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Deluxe Edition

Released: March 04, 2003
Origination Year: 1992
Time: 1:05:02 - Disc 1
Time: 1:03:18 - Disc 2
Tracks: 23
Produced by: Bill Levenson
Engineered by: Tom Garneau
Mastered by: Jeff Willens at Universal Mastering Studios - East
Style: Live
Format: CD
Enhancement: Remastering
Label: Polydor/Threshold
Website:
www.moodyblues.co.uk

Overture w/Excerpts ***
Late Lament *
Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon) *
For My Lady *
Bless The Wings (That Bring You Back) **
Emily's Song **
New Horizons **
Lean On Me (Tonight) *
Voices In the Sky **
Lovely to See You *
Gemini Dream **
I Know You're Out There Somewhere *
The Voice *