Every Good Boy Deserves Favour

Bruce Beatlefan (July 28, 2012)

"Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" is the sixth Moody Blues album in their "classic seven" progression of 1967-1973 (their seventh album overall). It is perhaps the most obscure of the seven albums, with one major hit and eight other songs which have made their way into few, if any, Moodies compilations. Nevertheless, this album is strong from beginning to end. Each member brings strong musical ideas into the sessions, and although there is no cohesive "theme" which ties together the songs as there had been in previous Moodies albums, each songwriter's traits and styles are familiar enough to fans for an overriding theme to not be necessary at this point--it is still an album that only the Moody Blues can compile.

By now the fan of the group is intimately familiar with the style each member brings into his songs, and this album is satisfying in the way that the members expand on these styles: Justin Hayward contributes perhaps the hardest pure rocker of his career, the stirring concert favorite "The Story in Your Eyes", John Lodge gives us a heartfelt, happy lullabye for his baby daughter "Emily's Song", Ray Thomas is familiarly whimsical in "Nice to Be Here", a known quantity, but adds also to a new emphasis on adult feelings in his pensive song "Our Guessing Game". Graeme Edge puts a 28-year moratorium on his spoken-word poetry and surprises with a full-fledged rocker ("After You Came") that provides the finest opportunity for the ensemble sound of the group playing together. Michael Pinder is the least adventurous in exploring new sounds, but is impressive in wrapping the album up with the thoughtful, ambitious "My Song". Starting off the album is a curious group effort "Procession" that segues spectacularly into the album's big hit, and filling out the remainder of the album are strong efforts "You Can Never Go Home" (Hayward) and "One More Life to Live" (Lodge) hearkening to familiar and comfortable sounds from these artists.

The songs are fewer and the album does not contain the "gimmicks" that served to tie together earlier Moodies efforts. But the songs are still meticulously and lavishly produced and the attitude remains hopeful, uplifting, calling for the highest and best in human aspirations. "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" is a worthy and representative album from the Moody Blues.