To Our Children's Children's Children

To Our Children's Children's Children
Studio album by The Moody Blues
Released	21 November 1969
Recorded	May–September 1969 at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, England
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	40:15
Label	Threshold
Producer	Tony Clarke
The Moody Blues chronology
On the Threshold of a Dream (1969) To Our Children's Children's Children (1969) A Question of Balance (1970)
Singles from To Our Children's Children's Children
"Watching and Waiting" Released: 31 October 1969

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

To Our Children's Children's Children is the fifth album by The Moody Blues, released in November 1969. It was the first album released on the group's newly formed Threshold record label, which was named after the band's previous album from the same year, On the Threshold of a Dream.

Content

It was inspired by the 1969 moon landing, and the songs centre on the twin themes of space travel and children, with minor-key tonalities and a distinct psychedelic influence. It is the fourth of what are popularly considered the group's "core seven" (or Classic Seven) albums from 1967 to 1972.

The song "Out and In" originally was credited to both Mike Pinder and John Lodge, their only collaboration noted as such; but on the 1997 CD rerelease, Lodge's co-writing credit was omitted.

Release

While the extracted single, "Watching and Waiting", did not do well in that market, To Our Children's Children's Children was critically well received and sold well, reaching number 2 in the UK albums chart^[2] and number 14 in the US.^[3] The album was mixed and released in both stereo and quadraphonic.

The band found most of the songs impossible to perform live, due to extremely lush orchestrations and a great deal of overdubbing. For this reason their following album, A Question of Balance, was more stripped down and basic in instrumentation. This change only lasted for one album and the next, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, saw a return to their earlier orchestral sound.

In March 2006, the album was remastered into SACD format and repackaged as a 2CD Deluxe Edition. In 2008, a remaster for single standard audio CD was issued with the five bonus tracks.

Original track listing

Side One

1. "Higher and Higher" (Graeme Edge) – 4:07 (narrator: Mike Pinder)
2. "Eyes of a Child I" (John Lodge) – 3:24 (lead singer: John Lodge)
3. "Floating" (Ray Thomas) – 3:02 (lead singer: Ray Thomas)
4. "Eyes of a Child II" (Lodge) – 1:20 (lead singer: John Lodge)
5. "I Never Thought I'd Live to Be a Hundred" (Justin Hayward) – 1:05 (lead singer: Justin Hayward)
6. "Beyond" (instrumental) (Edge) – 2:59
7. "Out and In" (Mike Pinder, Lodge) – 3:50 (lead singer: Mike Pinder)

Side Two

1. "Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)" (Hayward) – 3:33 (lead singer: Justin Hayward)
2. "Eternity Road" (Thomas) – 4:19 (lead singer: Ray Thomas)
3. "Candle of Life" (Lodge) – 4:15 (lead singers: John Lodge, Justin Hayward)
4. "Sun Is Still Shining" (Pinder) – 3:40 (lead singer: Mike Pinder)
5. "I Never Thought I'd Live to Be a Million" (Hayward) – 0:34 (lead singer: Justin Hayward)
6. "Watching and Waiting" (Hayward, Thomas) – 4:16 (lead singer: Justin Hayward)

2006 SACD Deluxe Edition tracks

To Our Children's Children's Children was remastered into SACD in March 2006 and repackaged into a 2CD Deluxe Edition.

Extra tracks on the Deluxe Edition are:

1. "Gypsy" (Alternate version) (Hayward) – 4:17
2. "Candle of Life" (Alternate version) (Lodge) – 4:59
3. "Sun Is Still Shining" (Extended version) (Pinder) – 4:07
4. "Gypsy" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Hayward) 3:21
5. "Sunset" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Pinder) – 3:54
6. "Never Comes the Day" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Hayward) – 4:42
7. "Are You Sitting Comfortably" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Hayward, Thomas) – 2:54
8. "The Dream" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Edge) – 0:58
9. "Have You Heard Pt. 1/The Voyage/Have You Heard Pt. 2" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Pinder) – 5:42
10. "Nights in White Satin" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Hayward) – 3:12
11. "Legend of a Mind" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Thomas) – 4:37

2008 Single Standard CD Remaster tracks

1. "Gypsy" (Alternate version) (Hayward) – 4:16
2. "Candle of Life" (Alternate version) (Lodge) – 4:55
3. "Sun Is Still Shining" (Extended version) (Pinder) – 4:03
4. "Have You Heard Pt. 1/The Voyage/Have You Heard Pt. 2" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Pinder) – 5:36
5. "Legend of a Mind" (BBC radio concert 17 December 1969) (Thomas) – 4:33

Chart positions

Personnel

• Justin Hayward – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, sitar
• John Lodge – vocals, bass guitar, harp, acoustic guitar
• Ray Thomas – vocals, flute, tambourine, bass flute, oboe
• Graeme Edge – drums, percussion
• Mike Pinder – vocals, Mellotron, piano, EMS VCS 3, Hammond organ, acoustic guitar, celesta, double bass

References

External links

• To Our Children's Children's Children at Discogs (list of releases)