1964- Rock and Roll Band
Originally a rhythm and blues band, converting to richly orchestrated studio albums. The group was heavily influenced by the Psychedelic 60's. They favored downcast lyrics that bespoke a lack of confidence and melancholia; sad-but-not-gloomy melodies. Their music could be described as Progressive Rock, Art-Rock or Psychedelic Rock. They were not afraid to use extensive orchestration and used professional orchestras such as the London Festival Orchestra on several of their albums.
Members included:
They made heavy use of the Mellotron as well as other "wall of sound" techniques. They were more of a studio band, recording many tracks to get exactly the sound they wanted. They did tour extensively, I can only presume they used recordings to back up their live performances. In their current tours, they have an entire travelling orchestra with them. On the To Our Children's Children's Children album, they used very extensive use of a studio technique called "overdubbing" where they had one tape playing and they added a second track on top of it, then a third and so on.
Major Albums:
Bands of similar sound/genre might be Procol Harum, Jefferson Airplane, Yes, King Crimson or Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Sources:
http://www.moodyblues.co.uk/
http://www.frisk.org/rgs/mb.html
http://www.moodies-magazine.com/
Last Updated 01.27.04 | 
