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HOPES WISHES AND DREAMS
THOMAS, RAY
1976 , UK
, EAN CODE 5013929736221 - EURO 13.00
Label: ESOTERIC RECORDINGS
ALBUM REVIEW
I don't understand why this album is generally regarded as inferior to From Mighty Oaks. It's actually closer to how I expected that album to sound, in that it's earthier and contains more flute and acoustic guitar. To me, It simply feels more like a Ray Thomas record- whereas its predecessor tended to sound like some '70s band with Ray Thomas singing for them, but being creatively detached, otherwise. It was also a little over produced and cheesy in parts. "One Night Stand" and "Keep On Searching" are the only songs that really fall prey to the tendencies of the last album, but that's only because they have such loud female backing singers. Otherwise, they're nice up-tempo songs, even if they're a little bit of their time. The improvement in this record is, I think, due to Nicky James -Ray Thomas' songwriting partner on both releases- contributing material that better caters to Thomas' vocal/musical style. "Carousel", in particular, could have been a Moody Blues song- sounding almost like a lost part of the "Veteran Cosmic Rocker" suite of Long Distance Voyager. Also, the orchestration is a bit more smoothly integrated with the band, where before it was a bit heavy-handed and over the top. I consider this a pinnacle of the Moodies' hiatus-period solo albums- better than Blue Jays, even. But I'm probably alone in thinking that. (Big_Pimpin - Rate Your Music)
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