voyager album cover

The Golden Record

Launched in 1977, both Voyager spacecraft carry a unique 'time capsule' along with them into interstellar space.

A Kind of Time Capsule

Pioneers 10 and 11, which preceded Voyager, both carried small metal plaques identifying their time and place of origin for the benefit of any other spacefarers that might find them in the distant future. With this example before them, NASA placed a more ambitious message aboard Voyager 1 and 2, a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.

The Golden Record Cover

The record's protective cover includes with instructions for playing its contents, finding Earth in the cosmos, and dating how long it has been in space.

What's on the Record?

The record features images and a variety of natural sounds, such thunder, birds, musical selections from different cultures and eras, and spoken greetings in 55 languages.

History and Manufacturing

Many people were instrumental in the design, development and manufacturing of the golden record.

Discover More Topics From NASA

Images on the Golden Record

The following is a partial listing of pictures electronically placed on the phonograph records which are carried onboard the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft.

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ABBA, ‘Voyage': Album Review

To say a new ABBA album in 2021 is a daunting prospect is as obvious as saying the group members are, or at least were, blonde.

It's been 40 years since the Swedish quartet's last set of new material, The Visitor . There have been seismic generational shifts in the world during the interim before Voyage , but ABBA have remained a kind of Northern Star of pop: Their popularity has only grown thanks to the Mama Mia stage musical and films, among other moves in the culture.

So, this is a return that's been hoped-for but unexpected, one of those hell-freezes-over propositions that seemed far enough from the realm of possibility to even be a fantasy. But rest assured that after four decades Voyage is decidedly  not your grandparents', parents' or older siblings' ABBA – and it's probably more than we asked for, or expected, from their return.

Like the eclipse that's hinted at on its cover, there's a darkness and sobriety that permeates these 10 tracks, even in peppy moments such as "When You Dance With Me," "Don't Shut Me Down," "Just a Notion" and "No Doubt About It."

These are largely songs about loss and recrimination; it's the women who take it on the chin here, too, taking blame for the failings of their relationships, acknowledging that " he's too good for me, that's the one thing I know for sure " and asking " do I have it in me? " to be worthy of the reunion. " You're not the man you should have been/I let you down somehow ," goes the refrain to "I Can Be that Woman," shading a sense of hope against the specter of damage done.

It's as if creative chiefs Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus have been waiting to release 40 years' worth of enduring enmity after their divorces from Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, respectively, and receive some degree of vindication through having their own words sung back to them.

Musically, Voyage only hints at the exuberant pop joy that ABBA are best remembered for. "Keep an Eye on Dan" is Andersson and Ulvaeus' take on the synth-pop that came after ABBA's split, while "No Doubt About It" is Voyage 's designated rocker and "Don't Shut Me Down" winks at the disco flavor of "Dancing Queen."

Those are tempered by lushly orchestrated odes ("I Still Have Faith in You," "Bumblebee," "Ode to Freedom") and paeans such as "Little Things," a sweet-tempered lullaby that's finished off by a children's chorale.

After all that, the austere album closer "Ode to Freedom" feels a bit cryptic. Freedom ... from what? The relationships? The specter of ABBA? Or from all those requests for the group to reunite? " It's a fleeting thing ," Faltskog and Lyngstad sing. " That's why where is no ode to freedom truly worth remembering ."

Perhaps if they choose to keep looking, ABBA could choose to continue their Voyage , even if they're saying they won't.

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From the manufacturer, abba "voyage" cd.

ABBA , one of the most successful pop groups of all time, will release their new studio album Voyage on Friday 5th November, their first album in nearly 40 year!

The band commented, “ It’s been a while since we made music together. Almost 40 years, actually. We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it. They say it’s foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we’ve recorded a follow-up to “The Visitors”. To tell the truth, the main inspiration to record again comes from our involvement in creating the strangest and most spectacular concert you could ever dream of. We’re going to be able to sit back in an audience and watch our digital selves perform our songs on a stage in a custom-built arena in London next spring. Weird and wonderful!”

Voyage will be ABBA’s first studio album since The Visitors , which was released 30th November 1981, hitting the #1 spot in the UK, Sweden and five other countries. The album was one of the earliest albums in history to be pressed on CD format. Voyage also comes nearly five decades after the band’s debut album Ring Ring , released in 1973.

TRACKLISTING

1. I Still Have Faith In You

2. When You Danced With Me

3. Little Things

4. Don’t Shut Me Down

5. Just A Notion

6. I Can Be That Woman

7. Keep An Eye on Dan

8. Bumblebee

9. No Doubt About It

10. Ode to Freedom

Track Listings

Editorial reviews.

Voyage is ABBA's first new studio album in 40 years.

Product details

• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 5.79 x 0.35 inches; 2.82 ounces
• Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Capitol
• Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2021
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ September 2, 2021
• Label ‏ : ‎ Capitol
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09DYT6SGJ
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #1,740 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)

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You, Too, Could Own a Copy of the Voyager Golden Record

Ozma records is producing a box set of the album sent into the cosmos to reach out to potential extraterrestrial life

Jason Daley

Correspondent

Record collectors shell out tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for rare discs by the Beatles or early blues artists. However, there’s one disc many collectors (and every space nerds) covets but will never get their hands on: the Golden Record. Now, a group of science enthusiasts and vinyl aficionados have teamed up to make a version of the disc available to the masses.

In 1977, 12-inch gold-plated copper discs were placed aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes. The records were housed in an aluminum sleeve bearing instructions on how to play them and included a needle and a cartridge. The contents, curated by a committee headed by astronomer Carl Sagan, include 115 encoded analog images from Earth, natural sounds like birds, whales, and a baby’s cry, music by Bach, Beethoven, and Chuck Berry, greetings in 55 languages and written messages from then-President Jimmy Carter and U.N. General Secretary Kurt Waldheim.

“The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space,” Sagan noted . “But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet."

According to Megan Molteni at Wired , NASA pressed a dozen of the records, ten of which were distributed to NASA facilities. The other two are 13 billion miles from Earth on Voyager 1 and 2. Despite his requests, even Carl Sagan never received a copy. Just getting a glimpse of a Golden Record is difficult, reports Kenneth Chang for  The New York Times . A copy of the record's aluminum cover is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. The record itself is can be viewed in an auditorium at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, which is open during public lectures.

That’s why the group calling itself Ozma Records decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Voyager launches by reissuing the Golden Record as a box set. Last week, they listed their project on Kickstarter with a goal of raising $198,000 to produce the facsimile. The project blasted past that goal in just two days and at last count received pledges worth $658,000 from almost 5,300 backers.

The $98 reissue isn’t exactly the same as the Voyager disks. For one thing, it’s pressed from yellow vinyl, not actual copper and gold, Chang reports. It will come on 3 LPs, which are designed to be played at 33 rpm, versus the original which plays at 16.5 rpm to accommodate all the photos, messages and 90 minutes of music on a single disc. The box set will also include a hardbound book about the history and production of the record along with printed photos of the images included on the disk. An MP3 version of the audio will also be available for $15.

“When you’re seven years old, and you hear about a group of people creating messages for possible extraterrestrial intelligence,” Ozma Records' David Pescovitz, managing partner at Boing Boing and research director at Institute for the Future, tells Chang, “that sparks the imagination. The idea always stuck with me.”

In 1978, Sagan and his colleagues published Murmurs of the Earth, the story of the Golden Record’s creation, which included a track list from the record. A 1992 CD-ROM of the book was reissued including a digital re-creation of the Golden Record. But this is the first time the public has had access to the recording in the format that an alien civilization may encounter it. The production team is trying to keep the disks as close to the original as possible, and are working with science writer Timothy Ferris, who produced the original, to remaster the recordings.

“The thinking on the original was so genius that who am I to change anything about it, you know?” experienced album designer Lawrence Azerrad, who is curating the album packaging tells Molteni. “It’d be like listening to Mozart and saying, ‘Oh I think that bridge was a little fast.’ This is an awesome snapshot of who we are as the human race, and we want all of that to just sing and be as pure as possible.”

The recently acquired permissions to publish the music on the collection and expects to ship the box sets sometime during 2017, Voyager’s anniversary year.

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Jason Daley | | READ MORE

Jason Daley is a Madison, Wisconsin-based writer specializing in natural history, science, travel, and the environment. His work has appeared in Discover , Popular Science , Outside , Men’s Journal , and other magazines.

How Long Distance Voyager revitalised The Moody Blues

The Moody Blues 1981 album Long Distance Voyager got them to No. 1 in America and helped make the band superstars again

It was the album that firmly brought The Moody Blues into the 1980s. It was also the one that precipitated a potentially damaging court case between the band and a former member, while also seeing them finally recording in their own studio, nearly a decade after it was built.

The album was Long Distance Voyager , and it gave the Moodies a massive commercial and artistic boost, proving their decision in 1977 to reunite after a three-year hiatus was a credible move.

“ The Octave album [which was released in 1978] was a difficult one to make,” recalls the band’s bassist and vocalist  John Lodge . “We began it at the Record Plant in LA, but it burned down. So we moved to Indigo Ranch Studios, but had a lot of trouble there.”

Adding to the band’s problems, keyboard player Mike Pinder decided he didn’t want to tour any more, forcing them to bring in former Yes man Patrick Moraz when the Moodies went out on the road in support of Octave . And he was the obvious choice to replace Pinder in the studio for the next album.

“Patrick brought a greater awareness of modern technology into the band,” says guitarist and vocalist Justin Hayward . “He introduced us to programming, sampling and what computers could do in general for our music. Our personal relationship with him wasn’t great, but there’s no doubting he did a lot of brilliant things musically.”

The loss of founder member Pinder wasn’t the only radical change facing Lodge, Hayward, Ray Thomas (flute/harmonica/vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums). Long-time producer Tony Clarke, who had worked on every Moody Blues album since 1967’s Days Of Future Passed , also decided to bow out.

“We were all having personal problems at the time of Octave ,” sighs Lodge. “So, Tony decided to walk away. The guy I immediately thought of to produce us was Pip Williams. I’d worked with him on the song Threw It All Away , which was the B-side of my 1980 solo single Street Café . I liked his approach because he added some rock’n’roll to what we did. Pip had worked with Status Quo , and he brought that edge into what we were doing.”

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Hayward also feels that engineer Greg Jackman played a crucial role in the studio.

“I met Greg when I was doing some recording at RAK Studios in London. He’d been closely associated with Mickie Most, and we felt he would be a great partner for Pip on the production side. Greg had a very modern approach to recording. This was, for instance, the first time we’d ever used timecode. That meant we didn’t have to get things spot on all the way through. If I made a mistake, then it could be easily corrected without facing having to do the entire sequence all over again.”

For the first time, the band also used their own Threshold Studios in Cobham, Surrey to do a Moody Blues album.

“Justin and I had done the Blue Jays album there in 1975,” says Lodge. “And I’d done my Natural Avenue solo record there two years later. But we’d just not done a Moodies album at the place.”

“There’s a simple reason why the band hadn’t recorded there before,” chuckles Hayward. “It might have been built in 1972, but it hadn’t been ready for us to go in and do a Moody Blues record. Now it was, so it seemed daft to spend money elsewhere when we had this facility available.”

The band were originally due to start recording in October 1980. But in the end, this was delayed by four months, due to the major changes outlined earlier.

“We just had to rethink what we were doing,” admits Lodge. “And we just weren’t ready to go into the studio by the time we were supposed to be. However, I believe this worked in our favour because when we did get things finalised, the songs and our attitude couldn’t have been better.”

The album was recorded in a two-month period, with both Hayward and Lodge giving enormous credit to Williams for the way it comes across.

“Pip worked so well with us,” reveals Lodge. “He made the entire process painless, and also gave the music a real lift.”

“What Pip did was update The Moody Blues without changing us,” adds Hayward. “We are a band who are difficult to produce, yet strangely easy to engineer. But Pip got beyond the problems and revitalised us. It was such a breath of fresh air after Octave .”

It’s often been debated as to whether Long Distance Voyager is a concept album at all. But it turns out that the definitive answer to this question from the band themselves is… well, there is no definitive answer.

“As far as I’m concerned, there is a loose concept linking some of the songs,” reveals Lodge. “I suppose you could say that it’s all about the further things are taken on a personal level, the more they remain the same. But not all the tracks are linked in this way. Which is why there was no preconceived plan to make this a concept album as such.”

“There is no concept at all,” states Hayward. “No subject matter links the songs. We actually had the album title Long Distance Voyager in mind before we finished recording, but this was just a jumble of words that appealed to us. There was no grand design behind the choice at all.”

The cover also happened by accident, as Lodge explains.

“We did a photo session in London, at a museum. And on the wall was a sepia print that caught my attention. It seemed to tell the story of the Long Distance Voyager , so I suggested we should use it for the album sleeve, just adding in the Voyager spacecraft – and it worked really well. Some time later, I came across the original painting in a South London antiques store and bought it.”

“It’s amazing how many people look at the cover and don’t spot the spacecraft,” laughs Hayward. “I think this was so much better than the Octave cover, which has the band on it. There’s a lot more detail to hold people’s attention.”

In May 1981, when Long Distance Voyager was scheduled for release, the band’s label London/Decca, was undergoing a major upheaval. This would have been of considerable concern to most big acts signed to the company, but as Hayward explains, it actually worked to The Moody Blues’ advantage.

“A lot of people who were working for the label saw us as being well past our commercial peak. Octave had done OK (No.6 in the UK and No.13 in America), but there hadn’t been a big hit single on it (although Steppin’ In A Slide Zone got to No.39 in the US), and the feeling we got was they didn’t care about the band any more. Then, suddenly, all these people were gone, and the new lot who came in were incredibly enthusiastic about us! They heard Long Distance Voyager and thought it fitted perfectly into what FM radio was doing in the States. That was becoming more pop-oriented, and our approach on the album was exactly right for the new format. 

“We’d been lucky once before with US radio, because Days Of Future Passed came out when FM radio first happened, and it had the right sound to come across brilliantly on air.”

However, the band faced a court battle before they could finally relax and get the album out. It was a lawsuit brought against them by a combination of Pinder and Clarke. 

“Mike had brought the original case against us,” explains Hayward. “And his lawyers decided to add weight to their side by including Tony Clarke.”

What was the crux of the lawsuit?

“Oh, Mike and Tony felt that without their involvement, we shouldn’t be using the name The Moody Blues,” shrugs Lodge. “We knew it was coming because the label had inside information on what they were planning, and warned us what to expect. But we kept on the sidelines and let our legal people deal with it all. The case did end up in court, but the final judgement was in our favour so it didn’t derail us at all.”

Pinder appeared to feel that the band had sidelined him, and while he wasn’t prepared to tour, nonetheless he was ready to contribute to new music in the studio. However, this claim is hotly disputed by Lodge.

“As far as we were all concerned, Mike had fully left us. He never said that he wanted to remain a recording member. He gave us the impression he was quitting The Moody Blues permanently. We never froze him out.”

Long Distance Voyager got to No.7 in the UK charts, a place lower than Octave , but in America it was the band’s second chart-topper, following in the footsteps of Seventh Sojourn in 1972. What helped to propel this success were two Top 20 hits in the States, namely Gemini Dream , which peaked at No.12, and The Voice , which got to No.15.

“ Gemini Dream was originally called  Touring The USA ,” says Lodge. “It was the first song we recorded for the album, and it was written after we’d spent 18 months on the road in America. It was about the way you become two different people when you’re in a high-profile band. There’s the person onstage, and then there’s the private version of you.”

“We never thought Gemini Dream would be a big single for us,” admits Hayward. “Come to think of it, The Voice never stood out for us either. Those choices were left to the label. They understood that sort of thing better than us.”

Both Hayward and Lodge now believe that Long Distance Voyager should be considered one of the Moodies’ most crucial releases.

“I regard it as being the natural successor to S eventh Sojourn ,” says Hayward. “This was a case of the right album at the right time. It was very introspective yet also accessible.”

“This was the start of a new chapter in our career,” explains Lodge. “Every song on the album was approached differently, but we were firing on all cylinders, the atmosphere in the studio was great, and it gave us a new lease of life.

“But it did spoil things a little for us,” he adds. “We tried to recreate the vibe on our next album, The Present, working again with Pip and Greg. But it didn’t work. That made us appreciate how special Long Distance Voyager was.” 

This article originally appeared in issue 48 of Prog Magazine.

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for  Record Mirror  magazine in the late 70s and  Metal Fury  in the early 80s before joining  Kerrang!  at its launch in 1981. His first book,  Encyclopedia Metallica , published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the  Anthrax  song  Metal Thrashing Mad  in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021 . 

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Progressive pop metal - Australia

As much as you can rely on the Earth’s ellip4cal orbit, you can depend on Voyager to consistently evolve. The band’s interplanetary balance of virtuosic pyrotechnics and sky scraping radio-ready hooks morphs at the speed of sound from one era to the next. In bursts of bright light, luminous keys, neon guitar wizardry, and stratosphere-shaking rhythms, they elevate hard rock to another realm. The group blast off on a signature hybrid of prog, rock, and metal possibly best described as the musical equivalent of Guardians of the Galaxy.

After piling up millions of streams, earning acclaim from the likes of The Guardian, and wowing the globe on the Eurovision Song Contest, the Perth, Australia quintet—Danny Estrin [vocals], Simone Dow [guitar], Scott Kay [guitar], Alex Canion [bass], and Ashley Doodkorte [drums]—take flight like never before on their forthcoming eighth full-length LP, Fearless In Love [Season of Mist].

“It’s progressive in the sense we’re always trying to reinvent and refresh ourselves as musicians,” notes Danny. “I want to develop musically from where we left off. We made sure Fearless In Love was melodic with some sugary hooks, but we also stayed true to our sound and delivered a few more guitar solos. It could appeal to fans of complex music as well as anybody who might want a straight-up banger. It’s a melting pot of the genres that define us distilled into the unique Voyager sound.”

This cohort of dynamic talents and personalities initially crash-landed stateside for a now-renowned performance at the 2011 ProgPower USA Festival in Atlanta, GA. Since then, they’ve unleashed a string of fan favourite albums—V [2014], Ghost Mile [2017], and Colours in the Sun [2019]—in addition to sharing stages with the likes Deftones, Leprous, Devin Townsend, Opeth, and Poppy to name a few. Australia notably handpicked Voyager as its entrant into the global Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with “Promise.” The Guardian hailed the buzzing single as “a pop number that bends the genre with trademark riffs, climactic guitars and keytar solos,” and it crashed the Top 3 of the Australian Independent Label Singles Chart. They even appeared on TODAY Australia to wave the metal flag by teaching daytime TV hosts black metal growls, as plugged by Metal Injection!

Throughout 2022, they crafted what would become Fearless In Love with engineer, mixer, and coproducer Matt Templeman. This time around, the musicians recorded live, unlocking a new energy altogether.

“Normally, we write and record our parts individually, but the whole band decided to go old school and do everything together this time,” he goes on. “This line-up has been together for twelve years, and we gel so well. It’s cool because we can play off each other like a live show with funky bass, groovy guitars, and creative drum patterns. It translates to the album.” On the single “Prince of Fire,” glimmering keys give way to a hard-hitting guitar riff as Danny’s slick vocals seesaw atop a punchy bass line.

“It’s actually one of the heaviest songs we’ve done, yet it’s got this super eighties mentality,” the front man reveals. “Lyrically, it’s about being perceived as the bad guy, even though you’re trying to do your best. You have good intentions, but sometimes you end up being the ‘Prince of Fire on night patrol’. Musically, it sways side-to-side, and then you’re crushed—which is a common theme for us.”

Then, there’s “The Lamenting.” Seventies-style sonics dissolve in a haze of riffs offset by swooning vocals and synths. Distortion drowns out the light in its final moments.

“You’re lamenting past loves and trying to let go and not wallow in those memories,” Danny elaborates. “There’s a bitter end that almost leaves you in the dark without pulling you out. It’s one of the most melancholic and sad songs on the album.”

Meanwhile, “Ultraviolet” layers a hypnotic refrain above chugging guitar as growls pierce the groove before a hummable solo.

“It’s about coping with the speed of modern society,” he states. “I like a fast-paced world, but it can be too much. You almost want to bury your head under your pillow and scream, ‘Slow down’. The expectations we have on each other as humans are just nuts. Sometimes, you need to become ultraviolet, duck under, and go, ‘No more for me, thanks’.”

The finale “Gren (Fearless In Love)” concludes the album with a climactic crescendo pushed even higher by resounding melodies and nimble instrumentation.

“When you’re in love, you have boundless energy and feelings for a person, which makes you almost invincible,” he elaborates. “There’s a huge vulnerability, because you’re not invincible at all. You’re totally susceptible to extreme hurt and letdown. There’s something beautiful about letting yourself go and fully experiencing being fearless though.”

In the end, a similar creative boundlessness drives Voyager.

“When you listen to Fearless In Love, I’d love for you to say, ‘I’ve never heard anything like this before’,” he leaves off. “Secondly, I hope you’re uplifted, intrigued, and emotional. We try take you on a journey through struggle, positivity, negativity, and a society that doesn’t always make sense. Maybe, listening to the record will make you feel better about dealing with this crazy modern world we’re living in.”

• Danny Estrin : Vocals/Keytar
• Simone Dow : Guitars
• Scott Kay : Guitars
• Alex Canion : Bass
• Ashley Doodkorte : Drums

After breaking out with a Top 10 finish at Eurovision and the ARIA-topping album Fearless in Love, VOYAGER were dealt a cruel twist of fate last fall when vocalist, keytarist and founding member Daniel Estrin was diagnosed with cancer. While Danny’s chemotherapy treatment has been very effective, his cancer is the most aggressive mutation. His medical team will continue fortnightly chemotherapy for the foreseeable future, which makes touring impossible. As a result, VOYAGER has made the collective decision to cancel all shows in 2024 to ensure focus is on Danny’s recovery and continuing the positive medical progress that he’s made.

VOYAGER are counting on a successful comeback in 2024. The Eurovision breakouts are now announcing the rescheduled dates for their European and UK tour supporting Fearless in Love.

VOYAGER have been everywhere since landing in the Top Ten at Eurovision. They’ve topped the AIR chart. They’ve chatted with Today and Guitar World and graced the cover of Prog magazine.

Voyager have come a long way. The band just released their breakthrough album ‘Fearless in Love’, but they first formed back in 1999, when Daniel Estrin was studying at the University of Western Australia.

You’ve probably noticed, but VOYAGER are on quite a ride. The band started this year with a Top Ten finish at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, thanks to their keytar-charged power ballad “Promise”. Back home, they were treated to a hero’s welcome with a sold-out summer tour of Australia. Earlier this week, they released “Ultraviolet”, which highlighted a darker, more introspective side to to their electro progressive metal.

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Long Distance Voyager by The Moody Blues

Album Reviews 1981 Albums , 2016 Reviews , Album Reviews by Ric Albano , British Artists , The Moody Blues 0

Buy Long Distance Voyager

In 1974, after seven albums in seven years and several world tours, the Moody Blues commenced an extended break. Some songs were composed for a near future group album, but these were instead to become Blue Jays , a duo album by guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist/vocalist John Lodge . Other group members also released solo albums through the mid 1970s before the group finally reunited to record the 1978 album Octave . This would be the final album to involve keyboardist Mike Pinder.

Pinder was replaced by Patrick Moraz , previously with the group Yes, which prompted Pinder to file a lawsuit to prevent a new Moody Blues album from reaching the public without his contributions. Ultimately, the lawsuit was unsuccessful and the Pip Williams produced Long Distance Voyager was released in May 1981 and was the first release in a decade and a half not to be produced by Tony Clarke, who had worked on every Moody Blues album since 1967’s Days of Future Passed . This album is also notable as the sole one recorded at the band’s own Threshold Studios, which was custom-designed for the band by Decca Records but disbanded shortly after Decca’s sale to Polygram.

The album begins with Hayward’s “The Voice” with a dramatic, orchestral synth intro before the upbeat song proper kicks in. This modern rock song is led by synths with driving rhythms, acoustic guitar, and choral backing vocals to complement Hayward’s melodic lead vocals, while lyrically the song is about finding your inner guide, your true north. The song was ahit, reaching the Top 20 on the opo charts.

“Talking Out of Turn” was written and sung by Lodge and, although laden by a consistent synth arpeggio, this track is really an acoustic love song at its core. The track unfolds slowly and methodically and maintains its rich arrangement throughout its seven-plus minute duration, with heavy orchestral elements in the coda. “Gemini Dream” was the biggest hit from the album, topping the charts in Canada and peaking at #12 in the USA. New wave and (nearly) dance-oriented, this track features duo lead vocals by Hayward and Lodge, which works best during the “make it work out” call-and-response section of the bridge.

The ballad “In My World” features Hayward’s brightly strummed acoustic guitar complemented by a pedal steel by guest B.J. Cole to complete the album’s original first side. Another Hayward song starts the second side, as “Meanwhile” is a sing-songy acoustic track, pleasant like an early seventies soft rock song with acoustic guitar and Moraz’s electric piano. A good song overall, “Meanwhile” was also a minor hit, reaching #11 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. “Nervous” is a pure introspective folk song by Lodge, with picked acoustic, and a string section performed by William’s “New World Philharmonic”.

Much of the rest of the album’s second side is dominated by tracks fronted by Ray Thomas . “22,000 Days” is beat driven with strong and steady drums by Graeme Edge , who composed this track which features theatrical musical flourishes. The final three tracks comprise a mini-suite, giving the album a thematic feel. “Painted Smile” has very English, “Top of the Pops” like crooning by Thomas above a slight waltz beat along with cool, carnival like effects. “Reflective Smile” acts as a bridge, narrated by Dave Symonds, leading to the closing climax, “Veteran Cosmic Rocker”. This closing track features strong rock elements along with a middle section features a plethora of sounds from pure blues rock to psychedelic and Eastern soundscapes.

Long Distance Voyager topped the charts in the US and Canada and reached the Top 10 in the UK. Although the group continued with this formula to further success through the mid 1980s, they would not again record an album this complete in future years.

Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1981 albums.

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