{"id":22557,"date":"2022-02-22T05:30:25","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T10:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=22557"},"modified":"2022-02-22T17:12:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T22:12:23","slug":"album-review-john-lodge-the-royal-affair-and-after","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/22\/album-review-john-lodge-the-royal-affair-and-after\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: John Lodge — The Royal Affair and After"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Moody Blues are beloved among their fans. Their initial run of albums is as consistent a colleciton of releases as you\u2019ll find in the rock canon; each has hits, excellent deep album cuts and a cohesive character. The group went on hiatus for awhile after Octave<\/i>, and when they returned in the MTV era, they sidestepped nostalgia by crafting another run of releases. Those might not have equaled the grandeur of the early material, but they were solid records, and they earned their hit status.<\/p>\n

The group toured pretty regularly in those days and beyond. But after a Christmas album released at the start of the new century, the Moodies seem to have made a decision \u2013 or perhaps the marketplace made it for them \u2013 to focus on live performance; there would be no new music.<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s lineup varied quite little from beginning to end: when founding keyboardist Mike Pinder left, he was replaced by Patrick Moraz (we won\u2019t get into that story here). Ray Thomas retired in the \u201800s, and with the core band down to three, they continued with auxiliary members.<\/p>\n

Those three \u2013 all of whom had been on board since Days of Future Passed<\/i>, or before \u2013 were Justin Hayward, John Lodge and drummer Graeme Edge. The last of those retired in 2018 and sadly passed a few months ago, and that will have seemed to spell the end for the group.<\/p>\n

But bassist John Lodge remained busy; after Edge\u2019s retirement, he signed on for the \u201cRoyal Affair Tour\u201d alongside Yes, Carl Palmer\u2019s ELP Legacy, Arthur Brown (he of the Crazy World) and Asia. That package tour brought nostalgia of a prog-meets-pop type to a multitude of fans.<\/p>\n

The Royal Affair and After<\/em> is a new release culled from those shows as well as another Lodge tour in which he presented Moody Blues songs without his old band. Featuring a band that \u2013 if we\u2019re honest, and we should be \u2013 rocked harder than the Moodies ever did, these songs breathe life into classic material.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteppin\u2019 in a Slide Zone\u201d was a hit at the tail-end of the band\u2019s \u201870s run. In Lodge\u2019s solo version, the band kicks, but the vocals are oddly loose-limbed. It\u2019s the kind of performance one might be surprised to hear on an official release. \u201cSaved by the Music\u201d is something of an obscurity; it was first heard on Blue Jays<\/i>, a Lodge-Hayward side project. The energetic reading here is nicely put together.<\/p>\n

\u201cLegend of a Mind\u201d is dedicated to the late Ray Thomas, and it\u2019s a faithful arrangement. Same is true for \u201cSunset,\u201d a stellar deep track. Old pal Graeme Edge guests (or does he?) on \u201cLate Lament.\u201d Yes vocalist Jon Davison takes the lead vocal on \u201cNight in White Satin,\u201dgiving it as very different character from the original (the arrangement is faithful, though).<\/p>\n

\u201cGemini Dream\u201d hasn\u2019t aged well; unlike the group\u2019s timeless material, it sounds very \u201c\u201980s.\u201d It\u2019s still fun, though. \u201cIsn\u2019t Life Strange\u201d doesn\u2019t quite capture the feel of the original \u2013 the keyboard textures feel a bit off, somehow \u2013 but it\u2019s delivered with enough emotion to succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)\u201d sounds like the late-period Moodies; it\u2019s easily the most spirited number in the set. Set-closer \u201cRide My See Saw,\u201d however, has a PBS pledge month special vibe; something about it \u2013 probably the keys again \u2013 fails to capture the Moody Blues signature sound. Perhaps that was intentional: there\u2019s nothing actually wrong with the arrangement, but for Moodies purists (if such souls exist) it might not strike quite the right chord. Lost chord indeed.<\/p>\n

Taken for what it is, though, The Royal Affair and After<\/em> is a solid collection, in no way an embarrassment to those involved. It won\u2019t replace any of your Moody Blues albums \u2013 nor is it intended to do so \u2013 but ultimately it\u2019s as fine a tribute to Lodge\u2019s old band as one could hope for.<\/p>\n

You may also enjoy my interviews with…<\/em><\/p>\n