Seventh Sojourn

Seventh Sojourn is the eighth album by the Moody Blues (the seventh by this particular line-up), recorded at Decca Studio 4 on Tollington Park in North London, and released in 1972.

"The Land of Make-Believe" redirects here. For the song by Bucks Fizz, see The Land of Make Believe. For other uses, see Land of Make Believe.

Seventh Sojourn
Studio album by
the Moody Blues
Released23 October 1972 (UK)
17 November 1972 (US)
RecordedJanuary–September 1972
StudioDecca Studios, London
Genre
Length39:29
LabelThreshold
ProducerTony Clarke
The Moody Blues chronology
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
(1971)		 Seventh Sojourn
(1972)		 This Is The Moody Blues
(1974)
Singles from Seventh Sojourn
  1. "Isn't Life Strange"
    Released: April 1972
  2. "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)"
    Released: January 1973
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[2]
Uncut[3]

Music and lyrics

Although the album's lyrics address political concerns, in the 1990 documentary The Moody Blues: Legend of a Band, bassist John Lodge described "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" as a response to fans who mistakenly read guru-like wisdom into the Moodies' lyrics.

Instrumentally, singer/keyboardist Mike Pinder, in addition to the Mellotron used on previous Moody Blues albums, used a similar keyboard device called the Chamberlin.

According to Moody Blues' bassist John Lodge, "The album was very loosely based on the idea of The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. This is how Seventh Sojourn evolved: we told stories, but musically."[4]

Reception

Seventh Sojourn reached #5 in the United Kingdom, and became the band's first American chart topper, spending five weeks at #1 to close out 1972.

Two hit singles came from this album: "Isn't Life Strange" (#13 UK, #29 US) and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" (#36 UK, #12 US). However, both songs were overshadowed by the re-release of "Nights in White Satin," which had been first released in 1967. Whereas both singles from Seventh Sojourn made the top 40, "Nights In White Satin" bested both, hitting #9 in the UK and #2 in the United States and gaining the highest American chart position for a Moody Blues single.

Record World rated "I'm Just a Singer" and "Land of Make-Believe" as "dynamite cuts."[5]

Classic Rock History critic Brian Kachejian rated three songs from Seventh Sojourn as being among the Moody Blues' 10 best – "New Horizons", "Lost in a Lost World" and "For My Lady".[6]

Aftermath

As this album proved difficult to record, with a 1973 follow-up quickly shelved after inception, the group decided to go on hiatus after their tour of Asia in 1974 (Mike Pinder's last tour with the group), before reuniting in 1977 for Octave (1978) and its subsequent tour without Pinder.

In April 2007 the album was remastered into SACD format and repackaged with four extra tracks. "Island", the fourth bonus track, is an unfinished recording from 1973, made during the brief sessions for a follow-up album that never happened.[7]

In 2008 a remaster for standard audio CD was issued with the same bonus tracks.

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Lost in a Lost World"Mike PinderPinder4:42
2."New Horizons"Justin HaywardHayward5:11
3."For My Lady"Ray ThomasThomas3:58
4."Isn't Life Strange"John LodgeLodge, Hayward6:09
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
5."You and Me"Hayward, Graeme EdgeHayward, Thomas, Pinder4:21
6."The Land of Make-Believe"HaywardHayward4:52
7."When You're a Free Man"PinderPinder6:06
8."I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)"LodgeLodge4:18
Total length:39:29
2007 SACD expanded edition and 2008 remaster bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Isn't Life Strange" (original version)Lodge8:10
10."You and Me" (Beckthorns backing track)Hayward, Edge6:33
11."Lost in a Lost World" (instrumental demo)Pinder4:41
12."Island" (previously unreleased)Hayward4:30

Personnel

Production
  • Producer - Tony Clarke
  • Recording engineers - Derek Varnals and Tony Clarke ("Isn't Life Strange")
  • Assistant engineer - David Baker
  • Cover and liner art - Phil Travers
  • Inner sleeve - The Moodies
  • All instruments played by The Moody Blues
  • Recorded at Tollington Park Studios, London

Charts
Chart (1972-1973) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] 2
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] 1
Danish Albums Chart[10] 4
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 7
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[12] 6
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 38
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)[14] 6
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15] 10
UK Albums (OCC)[16] 5
US Billboard 200[17] 1

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[18] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[19] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2012.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. David Stubbs Uncut, May 2007, Issue 120
  4. Planer, Lindsay. "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)". Allmusic. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  5. "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 11 November 1972. p. 1. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  6. Kachejian, Brian. "Top 10 Moody Blues songs". Classic Rock History. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  7. "JUSTIN HAYWARD ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS!". The Moody Blues | Official Site. 17 March 2011.
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4253". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. "danskehitlister.dk". danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Moody Blues – Seventh Sojourn" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  12. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  13. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Moody Blues – Seventh Sojourn" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  14. "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 27 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Moody Blues".
  15. "Norwegiancharts.com – The Moody Blues – Seventh Sojourn". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  16. "The Moody Blues | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  17. "The Moody Blues Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  18. "Canadian album certifications – The Moody Blues – Seventh Sojourn". Music Canada.
  19. "American album certifications – The Moody Blues – Seventh Sojourn". Recording Industry Association of America.
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