After a very creditable British R&B pop album that yielded the hit single “Go Now” The Moody Blues went through some personnel changes and directional realignments that resulted in them being invited by Deram Records to create a rock+orchestra version of Dvorak’s New World Symphony to demonstrate new recording techniques. With full support from producer Tony Clarke the band instead deployed the London Festival Orchestra as collaborators on their own suite of songs, works they’d been honing in practice and on tour for over a year. The result was Days Of Future Passed, a gently trippy mediation on an average day that deftly joins rock, pop, and orchestra into a rich and satisfying whole.
Being released only a few months after Sgt Pepper, the LP is seen by many as the first truly progressive rock/pop album. At the very least it is a prominent, colourful signpost towards what was to come. With a timeless single—”Nights in White Satin”—and a psychedelic classic the equal of anything from that storied year—”Peak Hour”—Days Of Future Passed marked a new era for The Moody Blues and helped usher in a time of boundless vision and ambition in British pop.
While clearly aware of the Beatles, Days avoids anything approaching mimicry. The overture sets the stage with restrained orchestral strokes before the melodic “Dawn is a Feeling” gently wakes us up. Written by keyboardist Mike Pinder, it anticipates the many well-crafted vocal arrangements that flowed from the band’s multiple songwriters for the next five years (during which they released no less than seven fine LPs). There’s an air of optimism and opportunity in this Summer of Love lyric as it picks up on the spiritual/mystical themes so beloved of the Moodies.
“Another Morning” has a good dollop of the whimsy found in many of Ray Thomas’s songs. Thomas provides the flute part, adding to the innocent feel of the song.
“Peak Hour” is my favourite part of the album. Written by John Lodge, it has a bass part that McCartney would have been delighted with plus a paisley punch that never overpowers the rocking momentum of the song. If you like British psychedelia and this one has slipped past you, seek it out.
Justin Hayward had already written “Nights in White Satin” and was committed to the concept of a day in the life of an ordinary person. “Tuesday Afternoon” is the first example of a Moody Blues song shifting tempos and moods within a song; it works wonderfully with this café latte arrangement. Released as a single, it did well in the USA despite confusion over title variation on the LP cover: “Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?).” When you hear the album as a whole, with its transitions and segues, it all makes perfect sense (in a somewhat hippy-ish kind of way). Back in the day I was somewhat put off by the Lounge Music elements of the orchestral arrangements and certainly some are rather too close to Harrods background music. But mostly Clarke’s contributions enhance the songs, adding a plush cloak to the Moody’s vibrant raiments.
With “The Sun Set”—sprinkled with Eastern percussion and graced by a stately dance between flute and orchestra—we move into the evening. The neatly crafted psychedelia of “Twilight Time” leads into “Nights in White Satin.” It is perfect; reflection followed by melancholy. Both of these characteristics are figural across the Moody Blues albums that follow.
The abundance of songwriters in the band is fully on display in Days Of Future Passed, with care being taken to ensure each song is distinctive. If some moments sound ‘of their time,’ perhaps we can find a little generosity towards the ideals of love, personal growth, caring for the world, and non-violent societal change. I mean, we’ve totally nailed those over the ensuing fifty-eight years, haven’t we?
THE MOODY BLUES — DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED [DERAM UK 17 NOVEMBER 1967]
SIDE ONE
1. The Day Begins
- "The Day Begins" (Composer, conductor, arranger: Peter Knight; Vocals: Mike Pinder)
- "Morning Glory" (Writer: Graeme Edge; Vocals: Pinder)
2. Dawn: "Dawn Is a Feeling" (Writer: Pinder; Vocals: Justin Hayward, Pinder)
3. The Morning: "Another Morning" (Writer: Ray Thomas; Vocals: Thomas)
4. Lunch Break: "Peak Hour" (Writer: John Lodge; Vocals: Lodge)
SIDE TWO
1. The Afternoon
- "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)" (Writer: Hayward; Vocals: Lodge)
- "(Evening) Time To Get Away" (Writer: Lodge; Vocals: Lodge)
2. Evening
- "The Sunset" (Writer: Pinder; Vocals: Pinder)
- "Twilight Time" (Writer: Thomas; Vocals: Thomas)
3. The Night
- "Nights in White Satin" (Writer: Justin Hayward; Vocals: Hayward)
- "Late Lament" (Writers: Hayward, Edge, Knight; Recitation: Pinder)
*
In honour of John Lodge
B: 20 July 1943, D: 10 October 2025
vinylconnection.com.au 
Days of Future Passed was such a beautiful album, I remember playing the whole thing over and over in my 20s, way back then. Nights In White Satin deserved the kudos it received, but many missed out on the beauty of the whole album. Thanks for the reminder. RIP John Lodge.
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Glad to have evoked fond memories, Rosie. ☀️🌛
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I’m glad you set aside ‘prejudice’ against Harrod’s Lounge Music.
I can now declare this a favourite Prog album without feeling too red-necked about it.
Obviously I think this is a great review.
Thank you,
DD
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More cravat and Pimms than red-neck, DD. Chin Chin old chap!
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Bring on the caviar
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Reading Vinyl Connection’s homage/review of this Moody Blues album re-kindled some pleasurable memories of it’s sublime musicality. The written descriptions of the tracks were so evocative there was no need to turn on the stereo. The songs were playing along in my head. A strange sensation but each tune was powerfully recalled. It’s that type of album take it heaven.
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It’s lovely to hear how the Play button in your head was activated, Woody. Thanks for sharing that. “Sublime musicality” sums it up neatly.
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Bruce my arithmetic suggests it’s 58 years since Days of Future Past was released.
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That mistype ages us all by a decade, which is scarcely what we want. Thanks Woody!
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Spot-on review, and spot-on sarcasm in the last sentence. Love your verbiage, Bruce: “paisley punch,” “café latte arrangement,” “plush cloak.” That’s good writing. I’ve always loved the Moodies. Saw them twice in the mid-80s, and Lodge (RIP) was the most exuberant onstage. He obviously loved playing live. “Ride My Seesaw” – Justin Hayward’s greatness notwithstanding – is my fave song of theirs. Lastly…the Moodies were the only rock/pop band my late father liked (along with the…gulp…Eagles), which says something about their expansive appeal.
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Thanks for this wonderful response, Pete. Yeah, it was a snarky finish, and not one I’d planned. Hearing some of their lyrics (I played 4 albums over the weekend) I think there was some part of me felt desperately sad that the promise of ’67 has morphed into where we are now. It came out indirectly in that punchline. These are the times, right?
Seeing them live in the 80s would have been grand. A couple of big strong hits in that decade.
Lodge’s “Seesaw” is an absolute corker.
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Yes, these are the times, sadly. But not snarky at all…honest and trenchant are the adjectives I’d choose.
Saw them back-to-back summers, on heels of their comeback “Your Wildest Dreams.” My wife was 6 months pregnant for the ’87 show. Perhaps we should have named our daughter, Holly, “Justine” instead!
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“Back in the day I was somewhat put off by the Lounge Music elements of the orchestral arrangements…”
Yeah, this was what put me off the MBs when I was a youngster. I acknowledge some of their great pieces, but the somewhat muzak arrangements were always a little too saccharine for my serious-young-insect tastes. But I might have a nostalgic listen today and see if anything’s changed. Vale John Lodge.
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Yeah. I believed Progressive Rock should have teeth. The Moodies seemed to have a loofah. But you know, a warm bath is quite welcome these days.
Cheers, PM.
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Yeah, genau: we’ve totally nailed those themes over the past 50 years right?
Herrods background music made me chuckle. This record has such a special place in my heart; discovered it really through a podcast series a couple summers ago and then spent a lot of quality time with it listening end to end on headphones when I wasn’t working, over the summer. You honor it well. Thanks for sharing this! Agreed, they kind of over complicated the song titles but in an innocent, hippy-ish way I understand and don’t fault them for.
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Glad you enjoyed it, Bill. Yes, there is something innocent and endearing about it all. That’s there in all those late 60s Moody Blues albums; I enjoy it more these days than I did as an angsty youth!
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A beautiful album. Nights in white satin happens to be my all time favourite song. I know every note and beat intimately. I first heard the song on the British tv show called Heartbeat. The actual episode was called bitter harvest and features the song for a scene at the end where a farm is burning at night. Very powerful scene and, as a usually very easily distracted kid, I was captivated by it and the song has stuck with me ever since. Funnily enough “Go now” was the first record my mum bought when she was a kid.
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Hi IRO. Thanks for visiting and sharing that story. Songs coupled with powerful visuals really stick, don’t they? And of course the entire album is quite evocative, with its journey through the day. Classic 60s.
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