★★★★★
As the lead singer for the Moody Blues Justin Hayward not only helped shape the direction of prog rock's most important era (late '60s/early '70s), he also literally became the voice of the generation through such hits and underground standards as "Nights in White Satin," "Tuesday Afternoon" and "The Story in Your Eyes...
- www.antimusic.com
2013-04-01
★★★★★
A not-inconsiderable 17 years have elapsed since Moody Blues lynchpin Justin Hayward released his last solo album. The heartening news for Hayward's partisan fan base is that the intervening years haven't driven the man to embrace, say, dubstep. Put it this way: even if you'd heard Spirits Of The Western Sky in 1975 you wouldn't exactly have keeled over with future-shock. (There is one exception, but we'll come to that...
- recordcollectormag.com
2013-04-01
★★★★★
I think we need to face the fact that there isn't going to be a full-scale Moody Blues reunion in the studio, certainly not on new material. They still make the touring rounds, at least in part (Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge -- no Ray Thomas). What this means is that when you approach Justin Hayward's Spirits Of The Western Sky, you need to do so with lowered expectations not based upon a quality level but on the order that this isn't going to be a Moody Blues record...
- popdose.com
2013-06-25
★★★★★
Hayward has always been at his best as a mystical/romantic, and Songwriter is the solo album that best displays these qualities around a relatively lean sound. From the gentle, lullaby-like "Raised on Love" to the ethereal mystical "Nostradamus," the album is a beguiling collection of material, more personal than his work with The Moody Blues. The material is richly scored, yet lean enough to seem like chamber music next to The Moody Blues' rock symphonies.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
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