The Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager (1981) [Japanese SHM-SACD 2014]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 46:32 minutes | Scans included | 1,35 GB
or DSD64 2.0 (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 1,21 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,08 GB
Long Distance Voyager is the tenth album by The Moody Blues, first released in May 1981 on the group's Threshold record label. It was the group's first album featuring keyboardist Patrick Moraz (who previously had worked with bands such as Refugee and Yes) in place of co-founder Mike Pinder, who left after Octave in 1978. Upon release in 1981, Long Distance Voyager became the Moody Blues' second American number one album, and was also the source of the Top 20 singles "Gemini Dream" (#12) and "The Voice" (#15). It also continued their winning streak in their native United Kingdom, reaching #7 there.
Progressive rock bands stumbled into the '80s, some with the crutch of commercial concessions under one arm, which makes the Moody Blues' elegant entrance via Long Distance Voyager all the more impressive. Ironically enough, this was also the only album that the group ever got to record at their custom-designed Threshold Studio, given to them by Decca Records head Sir Edward Lewis in the early '70s and built to their specifications, but completed while they were on hiatus and never used by the band until Long Distance Voyager (the preceding album, Octave, having been recorded in California to accommodate Mike Pinder), before it was destroyed in the wake of Decca's sale to Polygram. In that connection, it was their best sounding album to date, and in just about every way is a happier listening experience than Octave was, much as it appears to have been a happier recording experience. While they may steal a page or two from the Electric Light Orchestra's recent playbook, the Moodies are careful to play their game: dreamy, intelligent songs at once sophisticated and simple. Many of these songs rank with the band's best: "The Voice" is a sweeping and majestic call to adventure, while the closing trio from Ray Thomas ("Painted Smile," "Reflective Smile," and "Veteran Cosmic Rocker") forms a skillfully wrought, if sometimes scathing, self-portrait. In between are winning numbers from John Lodge ("Talking Out of Turn," the pink-hued "Nervous") and Graeme Edge ("22,000 Days"), who tries his hand successfully in some philosophizing worthy of ex-member Mike Pinder. Apart from the opening track, Justin Hayward furnishes a pair of romantic ballads, the languid "In My World" (which benefits greatly from a beautiful chorus heavily featuring Ray Thomas' voice), which distantly recalls his Seventh Sojourn classic "New Horizons," and the more pop-oriented, beat-driven romantic ballad "Meanwhile." In typical Moodies fashion, these songs provide different perspectives of the same shared lives and observations. "Gemini Dream," which was a big hit in the U.S., does sound dated in today's post-Xanadu landscape, but never does the band lose the courage of their convictions. Although the title and the cover art reference the then-recent Voyager space probe, only half of the songs have a "voyager" connection if you apply it to touring on the road; apologetic love songs consume the other half. Still, not everything has to be a concept album, especially when the songs go down this smooth. This album should make anybody's short list of Moodies goodies. And, yes, that's Patrick Moraz who makes his debut here in place of original member Mike Pinder.
Tracklist:
01. The Voice
02. Talking Out Of Turn
03. Gemini Dream
04. In My World
05. Meanwhile
06. 22,000 Days
07. Nervous
08. Painted Smile
09. Reflective Smile
10. Veteran Cosmic Rocker
DSD flat transferred from UK original analogue master tapes by Mick McKenna and Richard Whittaker at FX Copyroom, London, in 2014.
Edited in DSD by Masaru Takagi (SIProject) at Sunrise Studio, Tokyo in 2014.
foobar2000 2.1 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: The Moody Blues / Long Distance Voyager
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR12 -5.33 dB -19.42 dB 5:16 01-The Voice
DR13 -3.92 dB -19.70 dB 7:19 02-Talking Out Of Turn
DR13 -4.46 dB -18.82 dB 4:08 03-Gemini Dream
DR11 -4.30 dB -19.24 dB 7:19 04-In My World
DR11 -5.71 dB -19.12 dB 4:08 05-Meanwhile
DR14 -4.29 dB -20.20 dB 5:27 06-22,000 Days
DR12 -4.87 dB -20.22 dB 5:44 07-Nervous
DR13 -5.03 dB -20.40 dB 3:18 08-Painted Smile
DR11 -8.13 dB -25.13 dB 0:38 09-Reflective Smile
DR11 -4.85 dB -18.62 dB 3:14 10-Veteran Cosmic Rocker
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Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate: 2822400 Hz / PCM Samplerate: 176400 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 1
Bitrate: 5645 kbps
Codec: DSD64
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: The Moody Blues / Long Distance Voyager
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 -5.33 dB -19.42 dB 5:16 01-The Voice
DR13 -3.92 dB -19.70 dB 7:19 02-Talking Out Of Turn
DR13 -4.46 dB -18.82 dB 4:08 03-Gemini Dream
DR11 -4.30 dB -19.24 dB 7:19 04-In My World
DR11 -5.71 dB -19.12 dB 4:08 05-Meanwhile
DR14 -4.29 dB -20.20 dB 5:27 06-22,000 Days
DR12 -4.87 dB -20.22 dB 5:44 07-Nervous
DR13 -5.03 dB -20.40 dB 3:18 08-Painted Smile
DR11 -8.13 dB -25.13 dB 0:38 09-Reflective Smile
DR11 -4.85 dB -18.62 dB 3:14 10-Veteran Cosmic Rocker
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 10
Official DR value: DR12
Samplerate: 2822400 Hz / PCM Samplerate: 176400 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 1
Bitrate: 5645 kbps
Codec: DSD64
Thanks to PS³SACD!
Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 1,87 GB
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