In Search of the Lost Chord is the third album by The Moody Blues, released in July 1968 on the Deram label.
Content
In Search of the Lost Chord is a concept album around a broad theme of quest and discovery, including world exploration, music and philosophy through the ages, lost love, spiritual development, knowledge in a changing world, higher consciousness, imagination, and space exploration. Space exploration would go on to become the theme of the Moodies' 1969 album To Our Children's Children's Children, inspired by and dedicated to the Apollo 11 mission. The mysterious "lost chord" of the title is revealed to be the mantra "Om". According to keyboardist Mike Pinder, the title was inspired by Jimmy Durante's humorous song, "I'm the Guy that Found the Lost Chord," itself a reference to "The Lost Chord" by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
Recording
Sessions for the album commenced in January 1968 with the recording of Thomas's "Legend of a Mind." Whereas the London Festival Orchestra had supplemented the group on Days of Future Passed, the Moody Blues played all instruments themselves on In Search of the Lost Chord. Indian instruments such as the sitar, the tambura and the tabla made audio appearances on several tracks. Other unconventional instruments were also used, notably the oboe and the cello. The mellotron, played by Pinder, produced many string and horn embellishments. Having already experimented with spoken word interludes on "Morning Glory" and "Late Lament" on Days of Future Passed, the group tried the practice again on the Graeme Edge-penned pieces "Departure" and "The Word." The latter was recited by Pinder, who was the primary reciter of Edge's poems on this and other Moody Blues albums. "Departure," which escalates from mumbling to hysterical laughter, is a rare studio example of Edge reciting his own words.
Release
In Search of the Lost Chord was released on 26 July 1968. It peaked at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart and reached number 23 on the US Albums Chart. Neither of the two singles from the album, "Ride My See-Saw" nor "Voices in the Sky", charted in the top 40 on the Billboard charts, although the latter reached number 27 on the UK singles chart. In Search of the Lost Chord was remastered into SACD in March 2006 and repackaged into a 2-CD Deluxe Edition. Although the other Moody Blues albums released in Deluxe Editions in 2006 featured their original quadrophonic mix, In Search of the Lost Chord had never been released in this format, and a new mix was not released until 2018 when a 5.1 mix was released as part of the 50th anniversary box set. In 2008 a remaster for single standardaudio CD was issued with the nine bonus tracks. In November 2018 the album was reissued as a five-disc, In Search of the Lost Chord - 50th Anniversary Box Deluxe Edition set.
