In Search of the Lost Chord is a concept album around a broad theme of quest and discovery, including world exploration ("Dr. Livingstone, I Presume"), music and philosophy through the ages ("House of Four Doors"), lost love ("The Actor"), spiritual development ("Voices in the Sky"), knowledge in a changing world ("Ride My See-Saw"), higher consciousness ("Legend of a Mind"), imagination ("The Best Way to Travel"), and space exploration ("Departure"). Space exploration would go on to become the theme of the Moodies' 1969 album To Our Children's Children's Children, inspired by and dedicated to the Apollo 11 mission. The mysterious "lost chord" of the title is revealed to be the mantra "Om" (in the last stanza of Graeme Edge's poem "The Word").
According to keyboardist Mike Pinder, the title was inspired by Jimmy Durante's humorous song, "I'm the Guy that Found the Lost Chord," itself a reference to The Lost Chord by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
After using the London Festival Orchestra for the interludes (but not the songs) on Days of Future Passed, the Moody Blues played all instruments themselves - approximately 33 - on In Search of the Lost Chord. Indian instruments such as the sitar (played by guitarist Justin Hayward), the tambura (played by keyboardist Mike Pinder) and the tabla (played by drummer and percussionist Graeme Edge) made audio appearances on several tracks (notably "Departure", "Visions of Paradise" and "Om"). Other unconventional (for the Moodies) instruments were also used, notably the oboe (played by percussionist/flute player Ray Thomas) and the cello (played by bassist John Lodge, who tuned it as a bass guitar). The mellotron, played by Pinder, produced many string and horn embellishments.
Sessions for the album commenced in January 1968 with the recording of Thomas's "Legend of a Mind". The song's title does not appear in the lyrics, which are about LSD advocate Timothy Leary.
Having already experimented with spoken word interludes on "Morning Glory" and "Late Lament" on Days of Future Passed, the Moody Blues tried the practice again on In Search of the Lost Chord, on the Graeme Edge-penned pieces "Departure" and "The Word". The latter was recited by Pinder, who was the primary reciter of Edge's poems on this and other Moody Blues albums. "Departure", which escalates from mumbling to hysterical laughter, is a rare example of Edge doing his own recitation.
In Search of the Lost Chord peaked at #23 on the US album charts upon its release in July 1968. It reached #5 in the UK. Neither of the two singles from the album, "Ride My See-Saw" nor "Voices in the Sky", charted in the top 40 on the Billboard charts, although the latter reached #27 on the UK singles chart.
In March 2006 the album was remastered into SACD format and repackaged as a two-CD Deluxe Edition.
In 2008 a remaster for single standard audio CD was issued with the nine bonus tracks.
In the Q and Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #37 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".In Search of the Lost Chord is a concept album around a broad theme of quest and discovery, including world exploration ("Dr. Livingstone, I Presume"), music and philosophy through the ages ("House of Four Doors"), lost love ("The Actor"), spiritual development ("Voices in the Sky"), knowledge in a changing world ("Ride My See-Saw"), higher consciousness ("Legend of a Mind"), imagination ("The Best Way to Travel"), and space exploration ("Departure"). Space exploration would go on to become the theme of the Moodies' 1969 album To Our Children's Children's Children, inspired by and dedicated to the Apollo 11 mission. The mysterious "lost chord" of the title is revealed to be the mantra "Om" (in the last stanza of Graeme Edge's poem "The Word").
According to keyboardist Mike Pinder, the title was inspired by Jimmy Durante's humorous song, "I'm the Guy that Found the Lost Chord," itself a reference to The Lost Chord by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
After using the London Festival Orchestra for the interludes (but not the songs) on Days of Future Passed, the Moody Blues played all instruments themselves - approximately 33 - on In Search of the Lost Chord. Indian instruments such as the sitar (played by guitarist Justin Hayward), the tambura (played by keyboardist Mike Pinder) and the tabla (played by drummer and percussionist Graeme Edge) made audio appearances on several tracks (notably "Departure", "Visions of Paradise" and "Om"). Other unconventional (for the Moodies) instruments were also used, notably the oboe (played by percussionist/flute player Ray Thomas) and the cello (played by bassist John Lodge, who tuned it as a bass guitar). The mellotron, played by Pinder, produced many string and horn embellishments.
Sessions for the album commenced in January 1968 with the recording of Thomas's "Legend of a Mind". The song's title does not appear in the lyrics, which are about LSD advocate Timothy Leary.
Having already experimented with spoken word interludes on "Morning Glory" and "Late Lament" on Days of Future Passed, the Moody Blues tried the practice again on In Search of the Lost Chord, on the Graeme Edge-penned pieces "Departure" and "The Word". The latter was recited by Pinder, who was the primary reciter of Edge's poems on this and other Moody Blues albums. "Departure", which escalates from mumbling to hysterical laughter, is a rare example of Edge doing his own recitation.
In Search of the Lost Chord peaked at #23 on the US album charts upon its release in July 1968. It reached #5 in the UK. Neither of the two singles from the album, "Ride My See-Saw" nor "Voices in the Sky", charted in the top 40 on the Billboard charts, although the latter reached #27 on the UK singles chart.
In March 2006 the album was remastered into SACD format and repackaged as a two-CD Deluxe Edition.
In 2008 a remaster for single standard audio CD was issued with the nine bonus tracks.
In the Q and Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #37 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".false2025-11-07 20:20:44In Search of the Lost Chord19681968-07-261968-07-2642Progressive RockPsychedelic Rock111727224502991927f6e-675d-4bcb-9c29-0fe47878a8c3774666d2-2064-4d6c-856c-f8cda0aaf9f0e817037c-2c6b-34be-a860-b51957f7e82a/media/data/media5/Music/The Moody Blues/In Search of the Lost Chord/folder.jpgThe Moody BluesThe Moody BluesThe Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of drummer Graeme Edge, guitarist and vocalist Denny Laine, keyboardist and vocalist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ray Thomas, and bassist and vocalist Clint Warwick, with Edge being the group's sole continuous member throughout their entire history. Originally part of the British beat and R&B scene of the early–mid 1960s, the band came to prominence with the UK No. 1 and US Top 10 single "Go Now" in late 1964/early 1965. Laine and Warwick left the band by the end of 1966, being replaced by guitarist and vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist and vocalist John Lodge. They embraced the psychedelic rock movement of the late 1960s, with their second album, 1967's Days of Future Passed, being a fusion of rock with classical music (performed with the London Festival Orchestra) that established the band as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock. It has been described as a "landmark" and "one of the first successful concept albums".The group released six more albums and toured extensively until they went on hiatus in 1974. Their records from this period were among the most successful in the progressive rock genre and produced FM radio hits such as "Nights in White Satin" (1967; charting again in 1972), "Tuesday Afternoon" (1968), "Question" (1970), "The Story in Your Eyes" (1971), "Isn't Life Strange" (1972), and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" (1973). After resuming activities in 1977, Pinder left the following year and was replaced by Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz, formerly of Yes. In the 1980s they took on a more synth-pop sound, having hits with "Gemini Dream" (1981), "The Voice" (1981), "Your Wildest Dreams" (1986) and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" (1988). "Your Wildest Dreams" made the Moody Blues the first act to earn each of its first three Top 10 singles in the United States in three different decades. Moraz departed in 1991 followed by Thomas in 2002; Thomas died in 2018. The band's last studio album was the Christmas album December (2003), after which they decided against recording any further studio albums. However, they continued to tour throughout the 2000s and later reunited periodically for events, one-off concerts, short tours and cruises, until Edge's retirement in 2018; he died in 2021.
The Moody Blues have sold 70 million albums worldwide, including 18 platinum and gold LPs. They produced 16 studio albums, six of which made the US Top 20 (with two reaching No. 1) and eight of which made the UK Top 20 (with three reaching No. 1) In 2018, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for "over 50 years of exhilarating and significant music that has influenced countless musicians and rocked fans around the world."