Keys of the Kingdom is the fifteenth album released by the rock band The Moody Blues in 1991. Although some of the tracks recall the songwriting on Sur La Mer, the failure of Keys of the Kingdom to produce any major hit singles would mark the beginning of the Moodies' decline in popularity with mainstream audiences after their success in the MTV video generation. The album saw the band beginning to return to a more airy rock oriented sound (similar to The Present), rather than the previous two albums' forays into synthesiser pop. Flautist Ray Thomas plays more of a substantial role on this record, with his first ambient flute piece in eight years. Drum machines are still used heavily; Graeme Edge only performs on three songs, with session drummer Andy Duncan providing live drums on two more, and the rest being programmed. Keyboardist Patrick Moraz left the band after completing only a few tracks for this album, and he is listed as an 'additional' keyboard player. As this was the second time the band and their keyboardist would part ways, their future album and re-release booklets would distance themselves from Moraz and any future keyboardists they hired from being members of the band.
This was the last Moody Blues album before their extravagant concert at Red Rocks and a series of symphonic tours with orchestras.Keys of the Kingdom is the fifteenth album released by the rock band The Moody Blues in 1991. Although some of the tracks recall the songwriting on Sur La Mer, the failure of Keys of the Kingdom to produce any major hit singles would mark the beginning of the Moodies' decline in popularity with mainstream audiences after their success in the MTV video generation. The album saw the band beginning to return to a more airy rock oriented sound (similar to The Present), rather than the previous two albums' forays into synthesiser pop. Flautist Ray Thomas plays more of a substantial role on this record, with his first ambient flute piece in eight years. Drum machines are still used heavily; Graeme Edge only performs on three songs, with session drummer Andy Duncan providing live drums on two more, and the rest being programmed. Keyboardist Patrick Moraz left the band after completing only a few tracks for this album, and he is listed as an 'additional' keyboard player. As this was the second time the band and their keyboardist would part ways, their future album and re-release booklets would distance themselves from Moraz and any future keyboardists they hired from being members of the band.
This was the last Moody Blues album before their extravagant concert at Red Rocks and a series of symphonic tours with orchestras.false2025-11-07 20:20:44Keys of the Kingdom19911991-06-251991-06-2553Rock1117272114306febfb763-876f-455f-9d4a-c9ce66bb45aa774666d2-2064-4d6c-856c-f8cda0aaf9f0da057c94-c899-38f6-bdf5-49ba82a3927e/media/data/media5/Music/The Moody Blues/Keys of the Kingdom/folder.jpgThe Moody BluesThe Moody BluesThe Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of drummer Graeme Edge, guitarist and vocalist Denny Laine, keyboardist and vocalist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ray Thomas, and bassist and vocalist Clint Warwick, with Edge being the group's sole continuous member throughout their entire history. Originally part of the British beat and R&B scene of the early–mid 1960s, the band came to prominence with the UK No. 1 and US Top 10 single "Go Now" in late 1964/early 1965. Laine and Warwick left the band by the end of 1966, being replaced by guitarist and vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist and vocalist John Lodge. They embraced the psychedelic rock movement of the late 1960s, with their second album, 1967's Days of Future Passed, being a fusion of rock with classical music (performed with the London Festival Orchestra) that established the band as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock. It has been described as a "landmark" and "one of the first successful concept albums".The group released six more albums and toured extensively until they went on hiatus in 1974. Their records from this period were among the most successful in the progressive rock genre and produced FM radio hits such as "Nights in White Satin" (1967; charting again in 1972), "Tuesday Afternoon" (1968), "Question" (1970), "The Story in Your Eyes" (1971), "Isn't Life Strange" (1972), and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" (1973). After resuming activities in 1977, Pinder left the following year and was replaced by Swiss keyboardist Patrick Moraz, formerly of Yes. In the 1980s they took on a more synth-pop sound, having hits with "Gemini Dream" (1981), "The Voice" (1981), "Your Wildest Dreams" (1986) and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" (1988). "Your Wildest Dreams" made the Moody Blues the first act to earn each of its first three Top 10 singles in the United States in three different decades. Moraz departed in 1991 followed by Thomas in 2002; Thomas died in 2018. The band's last studio album was the Christmas album December (2003), after which they decided against recording any further studio albums. However, they continued to tour throughout the 2000s and later reunited periodically for events, one-off concerts, short tours and cruises, until Edge's retirement in 2018; he died in 2021.
The Moody Blues have sold 70 million albums worldwide, including 18 platinum and gold LPs. They produced 16 studio albums, six of which made the US Top 20 (with two reaching No. 1) and eight of which made the UK Top 20 (with three reaching No. 1) In 2018, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for "over 50 years of exhilarating and significant music that has influenced countless musicians and rocked fans around the world."