Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Moody Blues, The
Label: Polydor Records
Release: 1986
Running time: 41:54
Rating: 3/5
With »The Other Side of Life« in 1986, prog rock giants The Moody Blues made one of the most important albums of their career. Thanks in part to producer Tony Visconti, it gave them a full-on sonic facelift and won them a new generation of fans, even if the new, far more synthpop-leaning direction alienated some longtime devotees of the British rock legends. After the relative commercial flop of the previous album »Present« (1983), where only the singles did half-decently, the band wanted to take on the younger bands for the radio charts of the day and stay commercially relevant through the eighties, and with »The Other Side of Life«, one of their best-selling albums, they pulled it off completely. Sadly, between the heavy use of synth textures, drum machines and sequencers, there wasn’t much of the classic The Moody Blues sound left, so the synthpop makeover was almost total.
Every single member of the band bowed to the sonic trends of the day, so hunting for a designated culprit for the sonic and lyrical sell-off of the ‘intellectual heritage’ would be pointless. Drummer Graeme Edge was almost unrecognizable on most of the tracks, having thoroughly given in to the drum machine. Flutist/vocalist Ray Thomas’s role was seriously cut back, almost to the symbolic level, contributing just harmonica and a few backing vocal harmonies here and there. Keyboardist Patrick Moraz, on the other hand, was totally obsessed with ‘synthesizing’, with the keyboards mostly playing a purely supporting rhythmic role, so his virtuoso chops had a hard time really shining through. Both lead singers, especially guitarist Justin Hayward, adapted superbly to the new trends vocally and did their job just as they should. The lyrics suffered quite a bit from the new commercial direction too, with the former mystical, socially critical and spiritual themes giving way to assorted love outpourings that often came off as saccharine.
The most telling proof of this album’s commercial nature is that the solid but unspectacular opener »Your Wildest Dreams«, sung and written by guitarist Hayward, became their biggest hit in the US since »Nights in White Satin«, helped along by a colorful, award-winning video that got heavy rotation on MTV. With its synthetic rhythm, »Talkin’ Talkin« is light years away from the classic Moody sound, unless you count the traditionally superb vocal harmonies. The next track, »Rock ‘n’ Roll Over You«, sung and written by bassist John Lodge, ended up in the American film ‘The Karate Kid, Part II’, probably helped by its pentatonic-flavored main motif, so it got plenty of exposure with the ‘MTV generation’. Hayward’s sugary ballad »I Just Don’t Care« surprisingly didn’t make a bigger commercial splash, and the same goes for »Running Out of Love«, which was made straight for playing on the AOR-oriented radio stations of the time.
The title track, a classic Hayward power ballad with a love-themed lyric but done to a synthpop recipe, was yet another big hit on American soil. Still, »The Other Side of Life« did have the odd nice surprise rooted in their symphonic prog past. A prime example is the excellent »The Spirit«, where the Moodies awaken (for a very short while) even three-part harmonies and build epic choruses. Artistically, it was definitely the album’s best moment, written together by Moraz and Edge, who proved that even in the band’s most commercial era it was still possible to create top-notch prog rock anthems. The remaining two tracks, the funk-flavored »Slings and Arrows« and the splendidly sung power ballad »It May Be a Fire«, offer much lighter pop material, the kind that dominated most of the album.
»The Other Side of Life« was a well-deserved hit on the synthpop scene of the day, even if next to the classic achievements of the pioneers of symphonic progressive rock it comes off as almost tragicomic. The mission to conquer the so-called MTV generation was admittedly a roaring success, but longtime The Moody Blues fans had a hard time accepting that their favorites had sacrificed the lion’s share of their songwriting and instrumental brainpower. »Sur la Mer« (1988) followed a similar direction to »The Other Side of Life«, the next studio project under Visconti’s production baton, and it became yet another vivid example of what can happen when a legendary band with a magnificent body of work denies its original soul and surrenders to an unbridled chase for commercial success.
Lineup
Justin Hayward – guitar, vocals, keyboards, drum sequencing
John Lodge – bass guitar, vocals, keyboards, drum sequencing
Ray Thomas – harmonica, percussion, backing vocals
Graeme Edge – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Patrick Moraz – keyboards, arrangements
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Barry Radman – additional programming and sampling
Production
Tony Visconti
Tracklist
1. Your Wildest Dreams (4:50)
2. Talkin’ Talkin’ (3:55)
3. Rock & roll Over You (4:50)
4. I Just Don’t Care (3:25)
5. Running Out of Love (4:25)
6. The Other Side of Life (6:50)
7. The Spirit (4:14)
8. Slings And Arrows (4:29)
9. It May Be a Fire (4:56)
