Fireworks Magazine, UK by Andy Brailsford (2006)

Blackmore’s Night. The Village Lanterne. SPV

By now, those who are not part of the Blackmore’s Night movement won’t ever become part of it one would assume.

If you are stuck in the mindset that Ritchie Blackmore should get back into Deep Purple or Rainbow guise then you are going to be disappointed. If however you are a little broader minded, and you actually make the effort to listen to this, I would suggest that you may be in for a bit of a surprise. It’s a big, and dangerous word is assume.

Regular readers of this mag will know that I am a long-time admirer of Ritchie’s work, going right back to DP’s ‘In Rock’ after which I started to take guitar playing a little more seriously. As such, I was a little surprised when he re-surfaced with the lovely Candice as Blackmore’s Night, but not so short sighted as to think that I wouldn’t bother with this ‘olde,’ new stuff. And I’m pleased about that as all the albums released under that name have been entertaining, which is what music is all about, isn’t it?

The album kicks of then with ‘25 Years,’ a gentle foot-tapper with a nice acoustic lead break from Ritchie. And acoustic leads feature a number of occasions, in the nicely crafted ballad ‘Windmills,’ and ‘Faerie Queen’ which starts off slowly and then revs up into the albums’ ‘Hey’ song. Two gorgeous instrumentals, ‘The Messenger’ and ‘Village Dance’ also feature acoustic lead work. ‘World Of Stone’ is quite a dark and brooding track which is a new area for Candice, and it would appear that she would like to shoot someone with her crossbow, which shows that there is a dark side to everyone. The title track is one of those songs that they do so well, nicely orchestrated, and with a feel of Mike Oldfield to it. ‘Olde Mill Inn’ seems to be a song that they have put together so that they can name check all the people that work in the pub that they frequent, and they are probably on it for all I know. Ralph McTell’s ‘Streets Of London’ gets the cover treatment on this disc, and they do a very good job on it. The song just lends itself to Candice’s gentle side, and it’s one of those songs that you just can’t resist singing, (or at least humming), along to at some point.

Now, the reason I say that some people may be surprised by this album is the fact that the other 5 tracks will definitely wake people up, and would raise eyebrows in the medieval period, as rock it most certainly is. To start with there are alternate versions of DP’s ‘Child In Time’ and Rainbow’s ‘Street Of Dreams.’ ‘Street’ isn’t that much different from the original, apart from the fact that Candice does the vocals, (very well I might add, and if you get the deluxe version there is also a cut that features her singing with original throat Joe Lynn Turner), and Ritchie’s Strat work is as good as it ever was. ‘Child In Time’ is done differently yes, not least because it starts with the medieval piece ‘Mond Tanz,’ (as done live), and Ritchie’s guitar work is a little more restrained, but the song still has the power and feeling that it always has. The remaining three tracks, ‘I Guess It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,’ ‘St Teresa’ and ‘Just Call My Name’ are the ones that lovers of Ritchie’s classic Strat sound will just love. All up-tempo, (although all start quieter and then build up), all featuring the Strat strongly and all showing, without doubt that he hasn’t lost it at all. Each one of these could quite easily have appeared on any of the middle to end period Rainbow albums, and the lead break in St Teresa is just stunning.

I suppose, whatever Ritchie Blackmore does, he will be criticised for. Some people will say he has just done this to appease his critics, but knowing Ritchie, the reason he has done this is because he wants to, and good for him. Long live Blackmore’s Night.

Andy B.