The Moody Blues ( B10 )

A Question of Balance

Although the Moodies had by now defined a somewhat psychedelic style and helped to define the progressive rock (then also known as 'art rock') sound, the group decided to record an album that could be played in concert, losing some of their full-blown sound for A Question of Balance (1970). This album, reaching No. 3 in the American charts and No. 1 in the British charts, was indicative of the band's growing success in America. Hayward's "Question" (in a different version) was issued as a single, reaching No. 2 in the UK (kept from the top spot only by the England World Cup football team's novelty record "Back Home"). Justin Hayward began an artful exploration of guitar tone through the use of numerous effects pedals and fuzzboxes and developed for himself a very melodic buzzing guitar-solo sound. The Moody Blues had by now become a bill-topping act in their own right. They appeared twice at the famous Isle of Wight Festival (A DVD of their 1970 performance has been released). Pinder's "Melancholy Man" (a No.1 single in France) stood out beside Hayward's "Question" on the 1970 album.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Seventh Sojourn

For their next two albums, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971) – from which Hayward's "The Story in Your Eyes" was taken as a US charting single (No. 23) – and Seventh Sojourn (1972) (which reached No. 1 in the US), the band returned to their signature orchestral sound which, while difficult to reproduce in concert, had become their trademark. The title "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" was borrowed, tongue-in-cheek, from a mnemonic used to remember the musical notes that form the lines of the treble clef: EGBDF. The opening track "Procession" was the only item composed by all five band members, a fascinating track depicting the "evolution" of music, leading into Hayward's "Story in Your Eyes". Thomas's reflective "Our Guessing Game" and whimsical "Nice To Be Here" offset the deeper drama of Hayward's "You Can Never Go Home", Lodge's "One More Time To Live" and Pinder's "My Song". Edge, the long-standing drummer-poet, started writing lyrics intended to be sung, rather than verses to be spoken – his "After You Came" (1971) featured each of the four lead singers taking a vocal section. 

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