Journey into Amazing Caves: Soundtrack from the IMAX Theatre Film
If the Moody Blues have oft been criticized for their overreaching musical vision and bombastic lyrical bent, their harmony-rich musical chops have seldom been questioned. And if ever there was a medium that seemed the perfect match for the band's epic, prog-lite music, it's the massive IMAX screen. Utilizing a rhythmically dense backdrop awash with synths, acoustic guitars, and soaring vocal harmonies, film composers Steve Wood and Daniel May's score to pioneering IMAX producers Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman's spectacular underground odyssey subtly evokes the film's various exotic locales while at the same time interpolating melodies and vocal snippets of some of the Moodie's most beloved songs ("Nights in White Satin," "Question," "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," "Your Wildest Dreams"). The band itself weighs in with two new Justin Hayward and John Lodge-penned originals, the haunting, sinewy guitar-driven instrumental "Water" and the upbeat ballad "We Can Fly," tracks that recall the band's best while working in some welcomePink Floyd-ian adventure, too.--Jerry McCulley