The Moody Blues: Time Traveller Boxset (1994)

I have been a fan of the Moody Blues since "Days Of Future Passed" and have most of their albums on either vinyl or CD so most if not all the songs in this boxset I had heard many times before. With that being said, I picked this boxset up anyway just to add to my music library. For anyone who would like to dive into what the Moody Blues are, this four disc collection is the right place to start. The Moody Blues are a so much more than just "Nights In White Satin" and "I'm A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)".

Beginning with the single "Fly Me High" (released just prior to DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED) and concluding with "Highway" (an outtake from The Moody Blues' 1991 KEYS OF THE KINGDOM), TIME TRAVELLER documents the recorded output of The Moody Blues. Included in the 4-CD set is a 48-page booklet containing essays, detailed credits and photos.

This four-disc set effectively chronicles the long, varied career of the Moody Blues. The history of the Moody Blues as most fans know them began with the arrival of Justin Hayward and the release of DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED. This pioneering effort was one of the first progressive rock albums. A concept piece featuring a suite of songs linked together both musically and thematically, it also broke ground in its adept marriage of rock group and orchestra. The orchestral sound was expanded even further by Mike Pinder's use of Mellotron. This album, well-represented here, not only set the Moodies on a path they would follow for years, but also proved enormously influential to subsequent prog-rockers like King Crimson and Yes.

As the band progressed, their sound expanded to include pop, psychedelia, folk, and hard rock. The key element of their sound, though, remained the orchestrated ballad. The band's '80s comeback--a phase successfully chronicled here--found former Yes member Patrick Moraz replacing Pinder, and the band stripping down its sound for a more radio-friendly, synth-laden sound. Aside from the mid-'60s Denny Laine period, all the band's phases are covered here, and a handsome, detailed booklet is included in the bargain.

Time Traveller CD DISC 1:
1. Fly Me High
2. Love and Beauty
3. Cities
4. Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon)
5. Nights in White Satin
6. Ride My Seesaw
7. Legend of a Mind
8. House of Four Doors
9. Voices in the Sky
10. Best Way to Travel, The
11. Actor, The
12. In the Beginning
13. Lovely to See You
14. Dear Diary
15. Never Comes the Day
16. Are You Sitting Comfortably
17. Dream, The
18. Have You Heard Part 1
19. Voyage, The
20. Have You Heard Part Two

Time Traveller Songs DISC 2:
1. Higher and Higher
2. Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)
3. Eyes of a Child
4. I Never Thought I'd Live to Be a Hundred
5. Beyond
6. Out and In
7. Candle of Life
8. Never Thought I'd Live to Be a Million
9. Watching and Waiting
10. Question
11. Don't You Feel Small
12. It's up to You
13. Minstrel's Song
14. Dawning Is the Day
15. Melancholy Man
16. Procession
17. Story in Your Eyes, The
18. One More Time to Live
19. You Can Never Go Home
20. My Song

Time Traveller Album DISC 3:
1. Lost in a Lost World
2. New Horizons
3. For My Lady
4. Isn't Life Strange
5. You and Me
6. I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
7. This Morning
8. Remember Me, My Friend
9. My Brother
10. Saved by the Music
11. I Dreamed Last Night
12. When You Wake Up
13. Blue Guitar
14. Steppin' in a Slide Zone
15. Driftwood
16. Day We Meet Again, The

Time Traveller CD DISC 4:
1. Forever Autumn
2. Voice, The
3. Talking Out of Turn
4. Gemini Dream
5. Blue World
6. Sitting at the Wheel
7. Running Water
8. Your Wildest Dreams
9. Other Side of Life, The
10. I Know You're Out There Somewhere
11. No More Lies
12. Say It With Love
13. Bless the Wings (That Bring You Back)
14. Lean on Me (Tonight)
15. Highway - (previously unreleased)

Personal:
Justin Hayward (Guitar, Vocals)
John Lodge (Bass, Vocals)
Graeme Edge (Drums)
Ray Thomas (Flute, Vocals)
Michael Pinder (Keyboards)
Patrick Moraz (Keyboards)
Denny Laine (Guitar, Bass, Vocals)
Clint Warwick (Bass)

Album description in italic courtesy cduniverse.com.