The pre-psychedelic Moody Blues were represented in England by this album, which is steeped in American soul. The covers include songs by James Brown, Willie Dixon, and Chris Kenner, plus the chart-busting "Go Now" (originally recorded by Bessie Banks), interspersed with a brace of originals by lead singer/guitarist Denny Laine and keyboardist Mike Pinder, and one Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich number, "I've Got a Dream." The shouters, like "I'll Go Crazy" and "Bye Bye Bird," will be the big surprises, showcasing the rawest sound by the group, but "I've Got a Dream" shows a lyrical, harmony-based sound that is vaguely reminiscent of the Four Tops (which is ironic, as that group later cut a single of the latter-day Moody Blues original "So Deep Within You"), while "Thank You Baby," a Laine/Pinder original, offers them doing a smooth, dance-oriented number with some catchy hooks. The group's sound is good and loud, and Laine was a phenomenal singer, though the band lacked the charisma and built-in excitement of such rivals as the Rolling Stones and the Animals. This album is more interesting than its American equivalent, but, in its original form, also not as good, since that LP left off such single sides as "Steal Your Heart Away" and the Pinder/Laine "From the Bottom of My Heart," the latter being the best side this version of the group ever recorded. [The Great American CD reissue of this album from 2007 — the fifth or sixth reappearance of The Magnificent Moodies on CD — includes those early singles and B-sides, and also offers good sound on all of the material (a major issue with CD reissues of "Go Now" prior to the late 1990s), plus the first-ever U.S. appearance of the rarity "People Gotta Go"; and it has very thorough and well-written notes by Greg Russo. That said, it is also not nearly a comprehensive look at those early sides by the band, missing such key tracks as their surprisingly strong rendition of "Time Is on My Side."