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Justin Hayward - Blue Jays Audio CD

A fair review of the Justin Hayward "Blue Jays" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Justin Hayward reviews here, or go back to the Justin Hayward tabs.

Justin Hayward Band: Justin Hayward
Title: Blue Jays
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: This Morning 2: Remember Me, My Friend 3: My Brother 4: You 5: Nights Winters Years 6: Saved by the Music 7: I Dreamed Last Night 8: Who Are You Now 9: Maybe 10: When You Wake Up 11: Blue Guitar

8th Sojourn?
25 stars. Consider that rating about 4. I really like this album. I'm pretty sure the only ones reading this are Moody Blues fans, so I'll go ahead and compare it to their classic seven. I like it less than Days (a little), Children, Question, and Seventh Sojourn, but more than the other three. It is at the low end of the "great" album spectrum.
It's not very diverse at all, meaning that if you're not in the mood for it, it's not going to work. Two tracks ("Nights Winters Years", and "Maybe") rely too heavily on orchestration and thus come off as very bloated. Sometimes this doesn't bother me, and sometimes I skip them.
Overall, Hayward and Lodge are still writing at pretty much the top of their arc(s). Hayward contributes "This Morning", "My Brother", "I Dreamed Last Night" and "Who Are You Now" which are all among his best, while Lodge pens "Saved By The Music" and "You" which are both overlooked "Moody Blues" classics. Arguably, the best track is "Remember Me (My Friend)" (co-written by Hayward and Lodge) which is quite simply the best portrait of friendship, brotherly love, whatever, that I've heard. Wonderful! The other co-write is "When You Wake Up" which kind of just sits there. Far from bad, but a little boring. The single, "Blue Guitar" is good, but really I think the main attraction and curiosity there is the guitar work, which is pretty uncharacteristic of Hayward's usual style.
Overall, I think this is a very welcome addition to any fan of the Moodies classic albums, and is EASILY the best side-project of any MB member. It is also better than any MB album that came after it, though one or two of them come close. .


As an older reviewer
Listening to "Are You Sitting Comfortably?" as I write this review, I am reminded of the emotions I first felt when listening to "I Dreamed Last Night" (seventh song on Blue Jays). Although I listened to the Nights in White Satin and Seventh Sojourn obsessively as a teenager, my interest in the band and the individual members did not go beyond those albums until I married some years ago. The pure joy, raw emotion, and strength of the lyrics on that and other songs on the album come through though stripped bare of the more electronic machinations that marked some of the later Moody songs. I can not write about technique or musical ability; but I know when a Songwriter has reached my soul. Justin Hayward and John Lodge did that in their album and, to my mind, the Blue Jays should have continued to collaborate.


Blue Jays
. Loved this one. . very romantic. Why Nights Winters Dreams wasn't a smash single befuddles me. It is haunting and even without the extravagant lush orchestral finish, the lyrics and melody are spare but perfect. . . so few words. . . so many people's story. .


Less Moodies Still Get It Done...
" Duh! I got on the internet and found out it was Justin Hayward and John Lodge. XM Radio played a couple tracks from Blue Jays, so I jotted down the track titles, and made the notation "sounds like Moody Blues. Having always been a fan of the classic Moody Blues albums, I must say that this compares nicely. Even though it was released 30 odd years ago, it's a brand new Moody album to me. Now if I can only get it away from my wife.


Moody Blue Jays


Sit down, relax, have a glass of a good red wine and enjoy this wonderful album. Excellent album, I did listen to a couple of tracks previously when the album was released but to listen the full CD is an experience, Justin & John voices have always been great and are even better in this album.
.


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