Thinking about why I've always dug the Moodies and so many of my friends--and most critics--have not, it occurs to me that where Mike Pinder was the wings that allowed the band to fly, Hayward & Lodge were the engine, which is why they are still around performing today. They've taken a lot of whacks and hits and stayed tough, the basic ingredient of survival. Which is why I'm surprised that BLUE JAYS, which is a might-as-well-be-Moodies album, has yet to have a decent, deluxe reissue with the quad mix included. It sold respectably, so they can hardly be ashamed of it. Yet they've also ignored it, and I don't remember that the band has played any of its material in concert since...well, I'm not sure they ever have (and to be honest, I'm too lazy to research and find out if they ever did). They got two minor chart hits out of the album, and it's a very nice, pleasant listen that, at the time, gave hope that the band would get back together (which they did, though to what result is something out of the scope of this thread). This is made all the more curious by the fact as, IIRC, "Forever Autumn" has been played by the band somewhere along the way, even tho it's a solo Hayward recording. They've also, in general, at least in recent years, ignored material from OCTAVE as well, and on the main, don't do any of Mike's songs anymore although one of Ray's (he co-wrote "Are You Sitting Comfortably" with Justin) is still occasionally performed.
The other aspect of the SACD reissues that bugged me is that the ISOTLC reissue didn't include any quad mixes at all. We know at least some of its tracks were remixed for quad, while others, due to lack of sufficient parts, were not. There was enough to pull off DOFP (the last quad of the original 7 released) but it was missing enough elements to be obvious, but enough so as to not sound too strange. Like the recent ELP album reissue, I'd rather hear whatever MC mixes were possible rather than not have any at all. That is, an incomplete LOST CHORD in quad, while not sensible for a release back in the '70s, would make sense in a modern, deluxe package. My regret in this regard is not asking Tony Clarke about what mixes he and Derek Varnals did manage to finish when I had the chance. Sigh...
ED