Caught Live +5

To start off, what a topnotch remastering job on this splendid release! :)I was so glad when "Caught Live + 5" was finally released on CD, back in 1996! When I had a copy of the album on cassette, and compared it to the vinyl release, I was shocked at how much material was edited out of the cassette version ... I guess it was a matter of fitting the entire album onto the cassette, but thank goodness the CD featured the unedited full versions of the live songs, as heard on the vinyl release. I was also impressed that all of the material between the two original records fit on a single CD!For the live portion of the album, "Gypsy" was a great way to open up the act, and it really rocked ... Both the mellotron and lead guitar really grab the listener's attention, here!"The Sunset" sounded awesome on this release, and since the mellotron was really powerful, on this occasion, I call this the "To Our Children's Children's Children" rendition of the song! :) Notice that, on this track (and also on "The Dream"), Mike Pinder's voice is more audible on the left stereo channel, within the stereo field ... This reminded me of the stereo trick used on the earlier recordings of The Beatles (Ex: "Day Tripper"/"We Can Work It Out"), where the voices were offset to one of the stereo channels!On "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume," you can hear some amusing screams, here and there, probably by John Lodge!Both "Never Comes The Day" and "The Voyage" feature magnificent mellotron solos from Mike, near the end of each track. On the latter composition, the mellotron replaced the pianos from the original version, but the piece was played just as well, here!The harmonies of John Lodge and Ray Thomas are great, as they sing the bridge to "Peak Hour" twice. Mike's mellotron solo is outstanding, once again.The Moodies really rock well on both the bridge and ending of "Tuesday Afternoon!""Are You Sitting Comfortably?" features some well-done flute and mellotron solos.Mike delivers Graeme Edge's poem, "The Dream," in an enthusiastic way, and I love the way he recreates the wailing sounds of the mellotron for the backdrop, sounding much like the original version!On both parts of "Have You Heard," I liked the "gust of air" effects in-between the individual lines in the song, as well as the group effort of each of The Moodies chanting in their own way, in unison, near the end of Part Two.The closing sequence of the live set was nice, featuring "Nights In White Satin" (More great harmonies from John and Ray on the "Oh, how I love you," parts), "Legend of a Mind" (An amusing mellotron track during the "Along the coast..." part of the song), and "Ride My See-Saw" (Featuring powerful drums from Graeme in the intro, as well as an amusing count-in, sounding more like "Fee... Fo... Fee... Fee," rather than "One... Two... Three... Four!").To me, the "+5" tracks are just as enjoyable as any of the material from the "Classic 7" albums. :)"Gimmie a Little Somethin'" sounds like it was recorded during the same recording sessions as "Dr. Livingstone, I Presume" or "House of Four Doors." There are some nice flute tracks in-between the verses, and I like the ascending notes on the piano and mellotron during the chorus ... Great stereo mix with excellent separation of the different instruments and vocals, too (Best experienced through headphones)!Both "Please Think About It" and "Long Summer Days" feature wonderful harmonies and piano tracks."King and Queen" has a similar rhythm track to "Legend of a Mind," once the chorus kicks in. I enjoy this Justin Hayward track as much as "Voices In The Sky" and "The Actor" ... The acoustic guitars and mellotrons really stand out on this track, as well as Graeme's drumming on the chorus and during the fadeout!"What Am I Doing Here?" features a lot of layered soaring mellotron tracks, making it sound like a selection from "Children's Children!" I like the piano and additional mellotron pieces during the fadeout, plus Graeme's thunderous drumming, especially near the end of the track, is outstanding!To finish up, I enjoyed "Caught Live + 5" just as much as the "Classic 7" albums ... That's why I gave it the nickname "Classic 8" in my review title! The album was like an addition to the other amazing albums from the same time period. :) Thanks for reading! God Bless... :)

NOTE: This is an edited version of my original.This is a great collection of early MB's live recordings, tracks 1-14 that is. I thought all the live songs were fantastic, especially Lodge's 'Peak Hour' and 'Ride My See Saw'(awesome version!) and Pinder's 'Have You Heard/ The Voyage'. Hayward's "Nights" is a great one too, almost as good as the Isle of Wight performance. The live versions of these four fabulous songs alone are worth the price of the whole CD in my opinion.On to a few of the 5 studio tracks. J. Lodge's 'Gimme a little somethin', the lead sung by Hayward, is a short but good tune. John's fab falsetto soars on the chorus parts. 'Please think about it' is one of the most "non-melancholy" tunes I've ever heard by Mike Pinder and I really, really liked it! Pinder's voice sounded so very good on this one. "Happier" tunes suit his vocals, I think. No, it's not THAT upbeat of a song, but it IS for a Pinder tune- lol! The harmonies are fantastic as well, reminds me of the 1950's style. Justin's 'Long Summer Days' is mostly sung by him in that somewhat lower register of his that I have always loved. Harmonies are great as well as the pretty melody. Hayward's 'What am I doing here" is a bittersweet poignant tale of lovers, heroes.... and death. Justin and mates' vocals and playing perfectly suited the tone of the song.I had read a critique somehwere(maybe here?) that this album sounded like a recording of a Moody Blues rehearsal. I beg to differ with that charge most vehemently. If these live tracks of Prelude are a Moodies rehearsal, then this album REALLY speaks volumes as to just how wonderfully talented these men truly are. I'd love to "catch them live" any day of the week.

This was in fact my first introduction to the Moody Blues. I remembered the album cover from a review I had read several years earlier, and as a result I had bookmarked the image as something to include amongst my wishlist as a must listen. Unlike some of the other posters comments here, I did not find the recording deficient in any way, and the material presented (overall) made me wonder why this wasn't my favorite band of all-time.Of course, my subsequent purchase of "Days Of Future Passed" only helped to further cement my conviction on this point. Imagine the eye-opening experience I had yet ahead of me when I listened to their albums up until "Seventh Sojourn" at which point it seemed that the magic had somehow wore-off, and they would go on to seemingly state 'were not going to do any heavy-stuff anymore. In fact, if anyone asks you "I'm Just A Singer In a Rock & Roll Band." Prior to this point they were absolutely Gods!

Review of CD: I for one think this is easily a worthy addition to any ones collection, even for a casual fan as a snapshot in time back to an earlier time when the Moodies were more ernest in their less commercial performances. Note: I have seen the Moodies live at least 7 times overs their most interesting career). That said, this " remastered" recording is not as it seems as the studio would have you think. This CD is still the original release, unchanged and not a new remaster. I own the first CD release from years ago and is virtually identical to this most recent release. My early copy also claims "remastered" but the unanswered question to this day is remastered from what? The 8 track hand held recorder? In any event, buy it if you never owned it before, but do not think of this as any upgrade because that it aint and that's for sure. I even owned the original LP release years ago and I know what I am talking about.

Having been a Moody Blues fan for more years than I care to admit I decided to buy this one to complete my collection of CDs.I remember hearing the vinyl version a long time ago and thought how good it was.Unfortunately it disappoints as the quality isn't overly good (but then it's live) most of the songs have all been heard before - its only saving grace are the +5 songs that have previously been unreleased.But it's still a Moody Blues Album!.

this is a great album, very pleased to have it in my collection again.

Brilliant as always I have liked them since the 60s and now my Mother has also bought one of theirs after I recommended it to her

Excellent music and good quality.

Great CD that I first bought on vinyl in 1977.