A Question of Balance

Updated on Nov 16, 2023

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Released 7 August 1970 Artist The Moody Blues Label Threshold Records		Length 38:41 Release date 7 August 1970 Producer Tony Clarke

Recorded January – June 1970 at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London A Question of Balance (1970) Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971) Genres Progressive rock, Folk rock Similar The Moody Blues albums, Progressive rock albums

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.

The moody blues a question of balance 1970 hd full album

Side One

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

Side Two

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

2006 SACD Expanded Edition Bonus Tracks (also 2008 remaster)

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

Singles

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.