094: The Moody Blues - A Question of Balance (1970)
“It was quite refreshing, actually, doing the A Question of Balance album … getting back to that place where we could just get a bunch of songs together with a bit less instrumentation going on, that we could just sit around in a room and play.”
—Justin Hayward
After going more than a full calendar year without covering a Moody Blues album, Discord & Rhyme has reverted to its truest self with this episode on A Question of Balance, the 1970 album that the band created after realizing they needed to start recording more songs they could actually play live. Join us as we discuss the band’s most democratic and often weirdest album, one where the band tried to figure out how to make the transition from the 60s to the 70s and tried to make sense of all of the world’s problems simultaneously. They didn’t completely succeed with either of these tasks, but they did a fine job nonetheless with both, and this made for an interesting album that we had a fun time talking about.
Miscellany
In the biblical book of Acts, chapter 27, the apostle Paul is shipwrecked in Malta, and the sailors throw all the wheat overboard in order to lighten the ship. They did not quite fill the sea with grain, however.
If you need further evidence that Mike Pinder was the coolest of the Moody Blues, he was reportedly the only member of the band to be memorialized by the Plaster Casters.
We got a lot of information about the making of A Question of Balance from the Winter 1996 issue of Higher & Higher.
According to an interview in Bass magazine, John Lodge’s inspiration for those super busy bass lines he loves came from the boogie-woogie piano style of people like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
We still haven’t found out for sure whether the Moody Blues ever toured with a Moog, but it seems unlikely, since it had many of the same tuning issues as the Mellotron. Amanda watched the film of their Isle of Wight concert and there were no Moogs detected; “Melancholy Man” had assists from Ray Thomas and Justin Hayward to substitute for the Moog noises and it’s a fantastic performance.
Whenever we cover the Moody Blues next, which will definitely happen at some point, chances are we’ll venture past the core 7 period and hit you with those tasteful Moraz synths.
Other links
The official Moody Blues website (moodybluestoday.com)
The band’s complete 1970 Isle of Wight performance (YouTube)
Glen Campbell performs “Question” (YouTube)
“Ninja kick the damn rabbit!” (YouTube)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Phil Maddox (moderator)
Rich Bunnell
John McFerrin
Amanda Rodgers
A Question of Balance tracklist
Question
How Is It (We Are Here)
And the Tide Rushes In
Don’t You Feel Small
Tortoise and the Hare
It’s Up to You
Minstrel’s Song
Dawning Is the Day
Melancholy Man
The Balance
Other clips used
The Moody Blues:
Mike’s Number One
Gypsy
Gypsy (Caught Live + 5 version)
Question (1989 version)
Question (single mix)
Eternity Road
Minstrel's Song (Live at the Isle of Wight version)
New Horizons
Nothing Changes
Question (Live at the Isle of Wight version)
Others:
England World Cup Squad - Back Home
Heart - Crazy on You
Glen Campbell - Question
Insane Clown Posse - Miracles
Large Professor - The Break
Jan Harvey - It’s Up to You
Takeshi Tateishi - Level Start (from Mega Man 2)
Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine
Paul Mauriat - Melancholy Man
Gökhan Abur - Yalnız Adam
Band/album personnel
Justin Hayward - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin
John Lodge - vocals, bass
Ray Thomas - vocals, flute, tambourine
Graeme Edge - drums, percussion, ASMR on "Don't You Feel Small"
Mike Pinder - vocals, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, piano, harpsichord, maracas, acoustic guitar
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
The Moody Blues - And the Tide Rushes In (this episode only)
You can buy or stream A Question of Balance and other albums by the Moody Blues at moodybluestoday.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.