Journey Into Amazing Caves – featuring The Moody Blues

Journey Into Amazing Caves soundtrackA bit of a surprising discovery, this is actually the soundtrack of a National Geographic-sponsored IMAX documentary film, and it’s the product of the same team that re-arranged orchestral versions of George Harrison and Jeff Lynne tunes from Harrison’s Cloud Nine to serve as the musical backdrop of an Imax film about scaling Everest.

For this outing’s almost ethereal settings, the filmmakers and their resident composers opted to rearrange some Moody Blues songs into new compositions, picking both the old (“Nights In White Satin” from Days Of Future Passed) and the much more recent (“I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” from Sur La Mer). The Moodies themselves actually contribute two new tracks not featured on any of their other albums – the pleasant rock instrumental “Water” and the uplifting “We Can Fly”. On several other tracks, Hayward and Lodge alone add guitar and vocals to some of the rearranged songs, breaking into a nifty little jazzy version of “Question” at one point. Most of the time, however, they’re serving as little more than celebrity session musicians.

The arrangements themselves are quite nice, bringing some Native American influences to bear on a score that quotes – more often than any other Moodies hit – “Nights In White Satin”. One cue, “Horizons Turn Inward”, is actually quite a good, bombastic piece of action music, mostly unrelated to any Moody Blues 4 out of 4songs, which also winds up culminating in “Nights”.

The soundtrack from Journey Into Amazing Caves may not be the new album Moodies fans are waiting for…but it’s an interesting glimpse at what else the band has been doing with its time, and features fascinating twists on old favorites.

Order this CD

  1. To Extremes (4:17)
  2. Search For Daylight (4:05)
  3. Arizona (5:00)
  4. Water (2:46)
  5. Crystal Chamber (3:32)
  6. Blue Cathedral (3:50)
  7. Frozen In Time (4:15)
  8. Home Of The Mayan Gods (5:01)
  9. Horizons Turn Inward (5:26)
  10. We Can Fly (4:04)

Released by: Ark 21 Records
Release date: 2001
Total running time: 42:16

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