The Moody Blues ( B19 )

Hayward and Thomas also co-wrote "Never Blame the Rainbows for the Rain" to close the album. Lodge made a defining shift in his songwriting on this album, leaving his trademark high-energy rock music, and instead gravitating towards slow love ballads such as "Lean on Me (Tonight)" (though he had earlier contributed some songs in this gentler vein such as "Emily's Song" for his daughter in 1971, "Survival" in 1978, and "Talking Out of Turn" in 1981), while his more powerful songs continued with "Magic" and the Lennonesque "Shadows on the Wall". This gentler trend continued on the two successive Moodies albums. Hayward wrote the driving two-part piece "Say What You Mean." Tony Visconti produced some of the tracks on "Keys", as did Christopher Neil and Alan Tarney. The ensuing tour saw them invited to play at the Montreux Jazz Festival. A non-album Hayward-Lodge song cut at these sessions, "Highway", was included on the "Say It with Love" twelve-inch single and on a later box set and compilation album, while the vinyl album did not include their song "Once is Enough" as on the compact disc version.

The group remained a steady concert draw, and a series of video and audio versions of their 1992 Night at Red Rocks concert enjoyed great success, particularly as a fund-raiser for American public television where it had been first broadcast. The concert was conducted and arranged by Larry Baird, who has participated in many other bands' orchestral live concerts, such as Kansas, Michael Bolton, Three Dog Night, Al Jarreau and Alan Parsons.

The group also continued their use of additional musicians on stage and in the studio, but after the two legal suits from both Pinder in 1981 and Moraz in 1992, the band was careful not to recognise future keyboardists as official members. Following on from his contributions as keyboardist on the 'Keys of the Kingdom' album, Paul Bliss continued to play keyboards for the band live, being promoted to first keyboardist in 2001 (but was replaced in March 2010 after 19 years continuous service). Thomas and Bliss continued the tradition of a flute/keyboard duet for many tours. 

continuare