John Lodge of the Moody Blues has issued a live album called The Royal Affair And After. The album was mostly recorded live in Las Vegas during 2019 Royal Affair Tour featuring Lodge on a bill with Yes, Asia and Carl Palmer. There are also additional tracks recorded during Lodge’s subsequent tour dates in the States.
“Steppin’ In A Slide Zone,” with its distinct droplet keyboard arpeggio plus some wailing guitar, starts off this 10-song collection. Lodge and his 10,000 Light Years band slip right into a slower-paced “Saved By The Music,” which features the piano of Alan Hewitt, a member of the Moody Blues touring band. It’s nice to hear this song from Blue Jays, the album Lodge and fellow Moody Justin Hayward recorded and released in 1975 during the Moody’s hiatus.
“Legend Of A Mind” is a tribute from Lodge to another fellow Moody (and the song’s writer) Ray Thomas, who passed away in 2018. Lodge manages to float above Duffy King’s expert acoustic and Jason Charboneau’s cello on this Moody classic. Lodge also pays tribute to another fallen Moody, drummer Graeme Edge who left us in November of 2021. He and the band step back as a recording of Edge reading “Late Lament,” his famous spoken-word poem that follows “Nights In White Satin” on the iconic 1967 album, Days Of Future Passed. On The Royal Affair And After, the songs are reversed with “Nights In White Satin,” featuring Yes singer Jon Davison taking the lead vocals, following “Late Lament.” Either way, the combination of the two is usually epic, as it is here.
“Isn’t Life Strange,” from 1972’s Seventh Sojourn, certainly takes on a deep resonance and is a definite highlight. Lodge rocks the end of the album with blistering takes on “I’m Just A Singer (In a Rock And Roll Band)” and “Ride My See-Saw,” with Davison on backing vocals and drummer Billy Ashbaugh (another member of the Moody Blues touring band) pushing everyone on a wild ride to end the set. With the future of the Moody Blues uncertain at this point in time, The Royal Affair And After adequately fills the void and then some.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
