Every Good Boy Deserves Favour [LP] [Vinyl]

Though this 1971 release was issued at a time of enormous commercial success for the Moody Blues, EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR contains some of the band's most adventurous music. The band had recently discovered the Moog synthesizer, and its presence is felt on much of the album. The opening "Procession" instantly sets this collection's experimental course, landing like a spacecraft among reams of cascading synthesizer before evolving into a soundscape of cricket chirps, thunderclaps, and tribal chanting. The next three minutes contain one of the most cathartic sonic explorations the band has ever put forth.
Other standout tracks include "After You Came," which features tessellated vocal layering and bluesy guitar work; "Emily," a song that John Lodge wrote for his daughter; and the rapturously symphonic "You Can Never Go Home." Rich, complex, powerful, and beautifully produced, EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR brings together all of the Moody Blues' best qualities in one album, standing as the culmination of their fine '60s work, and the standard-bearer for the music to come.