A Question of Balance

A Question of Balance
Studio album by The Moody Blues
Released 7 August 1970
Recorded January – June 1970 at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London
Genre Progressive rock, folk rock
Length 38:41
Label Threshold Records
Producer Tony Clarke
The Moody Blues chronology
To Our Children's Children's Children
(1969)		 A Question of Balance
(1970)		 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
(1971)
Singles from A Question of Balance
  1. "Question"
    Released: 24 April 1970
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [1]
Rolling Stone(favorable) [2]

A Question of Balance is the sixth album by The Moody Blues, released in 1970. The album was an attempt by the group to strip down their well-known lush, psychedelic sound in order to be able to better perform the songs in concert. Released in 1970, the album reached #1 in the United Kingdom and #3 in the United States.

In March 2006 the album was remastered into SACD format and repackaged with six extra tracks. In 2008 a remaster for standard audio CD was issued with the same bonus tracks. The cover was changed slightly to hide the face of Colonel John Blashford-Snell who had objected to an image of an explorer wearing a pith helmet and wielding a Webley .455 pistol on the cover of the original LP, which he felt was derived from a photograph of himself. The relevant part of the cover was changed to show a generic individual in response to his law suit.

Original track listing

Side One

  1. "Question" (Justin Hayward) – 5:40 (lead singer: Justin Hayward)
  2. "How Is It (We Are Here)" (Mike Pinder) – 2:48 (lead singer: Mike Pinder)
  3. "And the Tide Rushes In" (Ray Thomas) – 2:57 (lead singer: Ray Thomas)
  4. "Don't You Feel Small" (Graeme Edge) – 2:40 (lead singers: Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas; whisper by Graeme Edge)
  5. "Tortoise and the Hare" (John Lodge) – 3:23 (lead singer: John Lodge)

Side Two

  1. "It's Up to You" (Hayward) – 3:11 (lead singer: Justin Hayward)
  2. "Minstrel's Song" (Lodge) – 4:27 (lead singer: John Lodge)
  3. "Dawning Is the Day" (Hayward) – 4:22 (lead singer: Justin Hayward)
  4. "Melancholy Man" (Pinder) – 5:49 (lead singer: Mike Pinder)
  5. "The Balance" (Edge, Thomas) – 3:33 (narrator: Mike Pinder)

2006 SACD Expanded Edition Bonus Tracks (also 2008 remaster)

  1. "Mike's Number One (Previously unreleased)" (Pinder) – 3:36
  2. "Question (Alternate version)" (Hayward) – 6:08
  3. "Minstrel's Song (Original mix)" (Lodge) – 4:35
  4. "It's Up to You (Original mix)" (Hayward) – 3:19
  5. "Don't You Feel Small (Original mix)" (Edge) – 3:02
  6. "Dawning Is the Day (Full original mix)" (Hayward) – 4:36

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Position
1970 UK Albums Chart[3] 1
Billboard 200 3
Danish Albums Chart[4] 7
1975
Danish Albums Chart[5] 17

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1970 "Question" UK Singles Chart 2
Billboard Hot 100 21

The "Question" single released in North America was a 4:55 edit of the song, in a substantially different mix from the album version that eliminated many of the Mellotron overdubs featured in the latter.

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  3. ↑ "Number 1 Albums – 1970s". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. ↑ http://danskehitlister.dk/?song_id=6402
  5. ↑ http://danskehitlister.dk/?song_id=2197

External links

Preceded by
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel		 UK Albums Chart number-one album
22 August 1970 – 12 September 1970 		Succeeded by
Cosmo's Factory
by Creedence Clearwater Revival
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