By Baron Dave Romm

Blackmore's Night

Shadow of the Moon, Under A Violet Moon, Fires At Midnight

Shockwave Radio Theater Podcasts
for iTunes and iPods, with pictures

Shockwave Radio broadcasts on archive.org
Bookmark my bookmark page.

Nascent Wikipedia entry for Shockwave Radio Theater

Blackmore's Night was founded in the mid-1990s when Ritchie Blackmore, the founding guitarist with the 60s-90s rock group Deep Purple, discovered a mutual interest in Renaissance Music with Candice Night. As of this writing, they have eight CDs and a DVD. I'll try to cover them all over the next few weeks.

Like many of my favorite Celtic Folk/Rock groups such as Steeleye Span, they manage to stay under the radar of Top-40 radio, but produce terrific and distinctive music. They tour heavily, mostly in Europe, which you can hear in the professionalism of their craft. Candice is both lead singer and object of most of the photography on the CDs and videos, reflecting her beauty and an eye toward marketing.

Normally I would link to their merchandise page, but it is down for the moment, so I'll link to other vendors.

Shadow of the Moon is the first Blackmore's Night CD, from 1997. As befitting the experience of an old rocker, the CD is gorgeously packaged with balanced back and front cover art/photograph and lyric sheet. Several cuts get played a lot on Shockwave. Clock Ticks On is about growing older... or at least the passage of time. And they will return to the time! They seem to playing not so much for fans of renaissance music, but visitors to one of the many Renaissance Festivals. The Minnesota Renaissance Festival, one of the if not the largest RenFest in the country, is held nearby, so I yearly trot out Renaissance Faire:

I was told once, by a friend of mine,
She had seen an olden sign,
She said she was not from this time,
And did I feel the same?
So I told her, "Yes", I knew her fear
As I felt the truth draw near
Told her back three hundred years,
Was the time that I held dear...

Many of Blackmore's Night songs are about lovers, failed and successful. Mostly failed romances, in a country music sort of way but with more emphasis on dreams and magic. Night's voice (and overdub harmonies) are gorgeous and ethereal. Blackmore's connections and musical background are evident in a guest appearace of Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull fame, on flute), a lush cover of Renaissance's Ocean Gypsy and an idiosyncratic rock version of the traditional Greensleeves.

Shadow of the Moon also contains a bonus track version of Minstrel Hall, for solo guitar. Ritchie shows his chops! A great first album; a great album. Highly recommended whether you're a Festie or not.

Under A Violet Moon picks up from Shadow of the Moon and gets stronger. The title song, Under A Violet Moon, is for Festies, or anyone who wants to dance: Durch Den Wald Zum Bach Haus is an instrumental, the kind of stately dance one might perform in court, Stay awake for the Morning Star like the Gypsies; two lovers are "locked in the arms of a dancer" to Spanish Nights (I Remember It Well); "magic rules as king" back in the days of Avalon:

Raise your hats and your glasses too
We will dance the whole night through
We're going back to a time we knew
Under a Violet Moon
Cheers to the Knights and days of old
the beggars and the thieves
living in an enchanted wood
Under a Violet Moon

Henry the VIII's march Past Time With Good Company gets a modern arrangement while the lyrics still resonate:

Past time with good company
I love, and shall until I die
Grutch who lust, but none deny
So God be pleased, thus live will I
For my pastance
Hunt, sing and dance
My heart is set;
All goodly sport
For my comfort
Who shall me let?
Youth must have some dalliance
Of good or ill some pastance
Company methinks then best
All thoughts and fancies to digest
For idleness is chief mistress
Of vices all; then who can say
But mirth and play
Is best of all?

There are songs of lost love and dreams, which are all good. In their second album, from 1999, a dash of politics. Whether in the Renaissance or now, the wish is to March The Heroes Home:

Over land and over sea
March The Heroes Home
For the faithful, for the free
March The Heroes Home
We'll be waiting when you
March The Heroes Home

Under A Violet Moon continues the tradition of good artwork and lyric sheet and expands it's audience a bit farther than Festies. Highly recommended.

Fires At Midnight leaps into the 21st Century with a bonus song AND a video extra track. Blackmore's Night continues to build on a Renaissance tradition, but stretch their music legs yet wear their pop sensibilities sensibilities with pride: Even the "magical" songs are about unrequited love, and she sings of him leaving her.

Bob Dylan gets the celtic folk/rock Blackmore's Night treatment with a layered version of The Times They Are A Changin'. The lyrics were too expensive to print (I'm guessing), so the lyric booklet simply says, "A special THANK YOU to Bob Dylan for being Bob Dylan." The "CD Extra Video Track" is the music video of this song, mostly shots of Candice Night on a craggy seashore. The images don't have much to do with the lyrics, but Candice is pretty and the photography excellent.

Lots of celtic and country songs deal with hanging, but few are from the POV of the Hanging Tree. Renaissance Festivals get to march to the Crowning of the King. She gets to go with a pirate in the Tull-influenced Village On The Sand. Mid Winter's Night is a French carol (with some French lyrics) about bells and trying to sleep as the moon sets all alone. Benzai-Ten is the only female among the Seven Gods of Good Fortune from Japanese Folklore:

Sister of the seas
Wrapped in silken robes
Waves are falling at her feet...
Play your haunted songs to charm the dragon king,
Winds are calling out your name...

Several good instrumentals and unusual instrumentation give the band members a chance to show off. And we find out that love is great All Because of You:

Is this happening? Is this fantasy?
Never did I believe
There could be such happiness
Feels like nothing on earth
Started with one little kiss...
 
I could stay in this moment forever
I could reach every star in the sky
I could lose myself when I look
Into your eyes...

The track listing on the CD doesn't mention the hidden track (a continuation of track 16), but the web site has the lyrics to Sake of Song, another good moon & bells & dancing tune.

Fires At Midnight is more rock than the previous two CDs, and I'm going to give it a few more listenings before rendering a final judgment. Still, if you liked the previous two CDs you'll like this one; possibly more. I'm a couple of centuries behind in keeping up with the celtic/folk rock offshoots, and I'm very glad I caught up with Blackmore's Night.