Blackmore's Night

[Sorceress]

Has anyone ever listened to this band before? Fronted by the legendary Ritchie Blackmore with Candace Night on vocals.

[J-Sun]

Nope - I guess I should given that I like some Deep Purple and Rainbow. How would you compare this to those?

[TheTomG]

I've streamed a couple of albums a couple of times, and am quite a fan. Don't be expecting Deep Purple or Rainbow though! Instead what you get is some music that sounds nicely medieval.

Now I am no student of medieval music, so maybe it really bears no resemblance to music as it was in olden times, but it certainly fit my expectation in terms of sound and structure (of course, there is electric guitar in places so there are modern instruments involved as well as modern production values.)

So, I found it evocative of the time period, catchy and enjoyable, fey and mysterious, and lots of other qualities I actively enjoyed. It was inspirational to listen for music and for writing, I found.

[Peter Graham]

Nope - I guess I should given that I like some Deep Purple and Rainbow. How would you compare this to those?

Badly! It's a hideous, Disneyfied pastiche of Merrie Englande. Noodling, self indulgent cobblers which makes even the worst excesses of Purple and Rainbow (think Tales of Taliesin or Rainbow Rising) look understated. And there's no Jon Lord, either. Just some ethereal, wailing harpy frightening the fairies which Blackmore chooses to believe live at the bottom of his garden.

If you want good, wholegrain folk music, check out Nic Jones or Spiers & Boden.

If you want authentic medieval music, invent a time machine.......

Regards,

Peter

[TheTomG]

Both Nic Jones and Spiers & Boden are on Rhapsody so I'll check them out! I still enjoyed the overindulgent Disneyfied noodlings though No accounting for taste, eh?

Will let you know how I find the others when I get a chance to listen!

[Peter Graham]

I really hope you enjoy them.

The seminal Nic Jones album is Penguin Eggs. If you are a Dylan fan, you might hear something you recognise in the first track. Dylan nicked the arrangement for Canadee I O off Jones, the bounder!

Spiers & Boden play as a duet, but also play as a band (Bellowhead). Their duet album Bellow is excellent. If you are a Led Zeppelin fan, you may recognise something in the Prickle Eye Bush.

Regards,

Peter

[Interference]

Originally Posted by Peter Graham

If you want authentic medieval music, invent a time machine.......

Not exactly the motivation most of us would be looking for......

[svalbard]

Originally Posted by J-Sun

Nope - I guess I should given that I like some Deep Purple and Rainbow. How would you compare this to those?

I just watched a couple of their videos on Youtube and witnessed them do horrendous covers of Soldier of Fortune and Child in Time. Richie is as ever so far up is own, you know what, that reality fails to filter through to him. Although he is married to the lovely Candace...lucky so and so.

[J-Sun]

Originally Posted by Peter Graham

Badly! It's a hideous, Disneyfied pastiche of Merrie Englande. Noodling, self indulgent cobblers...

No need to hold back, now.

Originally Posted by svalbard

I just watched a couple of their videos on Youtube and witnessed them do horrendous covers of Soldier of Fortune and Child in Time. Richie is as ever so far up is own, you know what, that reality fails to filter through to him. Although he is married to the lovely Candace...lucky so and so.

I watched those and even tried "Shadow of the Moon" as it was the first return. It's bizarre watching pseudo-English-folk music from a heavy metal guitarist and a pseudo-country-music-star (obviously not really but she reminds me of Faith Hill or Shania Twain or something - someone who would be a fantastic singer if they only sang half as good as they looked but who wouldn't be suited to what they're singing anyway). Does anyone else get put in mind of the segment of Spinal Tap's "Stonehenge" when watching the live "Child in Time" cover?

[TheTomG]

Much as I enjoy listening to the albums well enough, I have to say YES to being put in mind of Spinal Tap!

[Peter Graham]

Although he is married to the lovely Candace...lucky so and so.

Naah. She's decorative enough, but I'll wager a tenner that she's one of these drippy, New Age snake-oil vendor types. Ten minutes of listening to her banging on about crystal healing, ley lines and whatever other half-baked, spiritual-lite mumbo jumbo that these hand-wringing hippies use to shore up their tenuous self-esteem and to present themselves as spiritual (or worse still, as "healers") and you'd be reaching for the breadknife in order to saw your own ears off.

In the interests of balance, it behoves me to point out that she might be a perfectly lovely, self-effacing and rational intellectual. But if she is, one does question why she's hanging around with a tedious oversized hobbit like RB.

Regards,

Peter

[Interference]

She sounds like my ideal woman

[Peter Graham]

In which case, we need to swap places. You can move over here and try your luck with the ladies of Glastonbury and I'll bob over to Erin and chance my arm with a few top-drawer Irish beauties.

[Interference]

Perfect. I'll pack me kaftan....

[Snowdog]

I always get them mixed up with Night, who do (did?) rock music, have a better lady singer (Stevie Vann) but are unfortunately equally boring.