1986 studio album by the Moody Blues
Professional ratings| Review scores |
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| Source | Rating |
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| AllMusic |   [2] |
The Other Side of Life is the twelfth studio album by English progressive rock band the Moody Blues, released in April 1986 by Polydor Records.
This was the first Moody Blues album since 1978's Octave, and only the second since 1969's On the Threshold of a Dream, not to be released by the Moodies' custom label, Threshold Records. Beginning with this album, and continuing through 1999's Strange Times, albums would be branded "in association with Threshold Records".
Writing
The title track was inspired by the atmosphere in the London neighborhood surrounding the studio where the band recorded the album. Justin Hayward remembers, "It came about because of where Tony’s studio was, right in the middle of Soho in London and what we would do after we finished recording and [what was happening in] the clubs up and down Water Street. It's a part of London and a part of the world that I hadn’t seen since I was 16 or 17 years old when I first came to London. So I wanted to express that in the song and it was a very odd kind of place and an odd sort of atmosphere, where Tony had his little haven of peace and serenity in the middle of this madness in the middle of London. That definitely came through in the song."[3]
Production
The Other Side of Life was the third recording with Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz and the first for flutist and vocalist Ray Thomas not to play a major role. The main songwriters were vocalist/guitarist Justin Hayward and bassist John Lodge, with only one song, "The Spirit", composed by Moraz (his only songwriting credit with the band) and drummer Graeme Edge. The music on the album is characterized by the heavy use of synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines, to the point that it could be classified as synth-pop, a sharp change in style for a band that had stood at the origins of symphonic rock.
The album was recorded at Good Earth Studios in London and produced by Tony Visconti. Visconti would also produce the group's follow up, Sur la Mer. Bassist John Lodge remembers working with Visconti, and his help using computers to produce the record: "They are interesting albums for me because Tony Visconti, he was a producer, as against Tony Clarke who was a friend and a producer. I became a very good friend of Tony Visconti's, anyway. But it was a time of computers and certainly I think the control of songs went into the control room, instead of being controlled by the artists in the studio. That was a different period of time but he made great records for us. He showed me a lot of things about how to work computers and that stayed with me."[4]
Reception
Anthony DeCurtis in his review for Rolling Stone suggested that the album for the most part "plays to the Moodys' longstanding musical strengths: luscious symphonic textures, rich, stately melodies and densely overlaid vocal arrangements" and praised the band for successfully avoiding pompous lyrics, which he felt were present only on "The Spirit".[5]
Midder critic Will Fenton rated three songs from The Other Side of Life – "Your Wildest Dreams", "The Other Side of Life" and "Running Out of Love" – as being among the Moody Blues top seven of all time.[6] On the other hand, Allmusic critic Bruce Eder found the title track to be "more lugubrious than lyrical" and described "Running Out of Love" as "a terrible song with a great chorus."[7]
Daily Oklahoman critic Chuck Davis described "Rock 'n' Roll Over You" as "a rollicking, upbeat, great-sounding rocker."[8] New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung critic Tom Labinski said that the song "is bouncy enough and picks up steam as it goes."[9] Eder said that it "ultimately runs about a minute too long for its own good, and mostly succeeds in recalling older (and better) hard rock numbers by [John Lodge], such as 'Gemini Dream' and 'Steppin' in a Slide Zone.'"[7] "Rock 'n' Roll Over You" was included in the soundtrack for the film The Karate Kid Part II.[10]
Personnel
The Moody Blues
(1) Note: After Patrick Moraz was fired from the band, the Moody Blues claimed that he was never a member of the Moody Blues, and simply a sideman/contract player, a mere hired musician. Moraz sued the band for breach of contract and royalties owed to him as a full member of the band, and in 1992 the court ruled in his favor.
Technical personnel
- Tony Visconti – producer, engineer
- Alwyn Clayden – art direction, design
- Bruce Gill – design
- Michael Hoppen – photography
- Karl Lloyd – illustration
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