The Land of Make-Believe
| Seventh Sojourn | ||||
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| Studio album by The Moody Blues | ||||
| Released | 23 October 1972 (UK) 10 November 1972 (US) |
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| Recorded | January – September 1972 at Decca Tollington Park Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, psychedelic rock | |||
| Length | 39:29 | |||
| Label | Threshold Records | |||
| Producer | Tony Clarke | |||
| The Moody Blues chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Seventh Sojourn | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) |
| Uncut | |
Seventh Sojourn is the eighth album by The Moody Blues, released in 1972.
The opening track, Mike Pinder's "Lost in a Lost World" laments the brutality of revolution and references racial tension. Several songs contain overt political references. "You and Me," like "Question" from two years earlier, alludes to ongoing wars and conflicts, including Vietnam. However, although the album showcases political concerns, in the 1990 documentary The Moody Blues: Legend of a Band, bassist John Lodge described "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" as a response to fans who mistakenly read guru-like wisdom into the Moodies' lyrics. Instrumentally, singer/keyboardist Mike Pinder, in addition to the Mellotron, used a similar keyboard device called the Chamberlin.
Seventh Sojourn reached #5 in the United Kingdom, and became the band's first American chart topper, spending five weeks at #1 to close out 1972.
Two hit singles came from this album: "Isn't Life Strange" (#13 UK, #29 US) and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" (#36 UK, #12 US). However, both songs were overshadowed by the re-release of "Nights in White Satin," which had been first released in 1967. Whereas both singles from Seventh Sojourn made the top 40, "Nights In White Satin" bested both, hitting #9 in the UK and #2 in the United States and gaining the highest American chart position for a Moody Blues single.
As this album proved difficult to record, with a 1973 follow-up quickly shelved after inception, the group decided to go on hiatus after their tour of Asia in 1974 (Mike Pinder's last tour with the group), before reuniting in 1977 for Octave (1978) and its subsequent tour, albeit without Pinder.
In April 2007 the album was remastered into SACD format and repackaged with four extra tracks. "Island", the fourth bonus track, was recorded in 1973 and is an incomplete recording of one of the songs that were intended to be released on the aforementioned follow-up record.
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Wikipedia