BLACKMORE'S NIGHT: SECRET VOYAGE (2008)
1) God Save The Keg; 2) Locked
Within The Crystal Ball; 3) Gilded Cage; 4) Toast To Tomorrow; 5) Prince Waldeck's
Galliard; 6) Rainbow Eyes; 7) The Circle; 8) Sister Gypsy; 9) Can't Help
Falling In Love; 10) Peasant's Promise; 11) Far Far Away; 12) Empty Words.
The only principal difference here stands out
in the credits: where in the past we had at least half or more of the songs
starkly credited to «Blackmore, Night», here the same convention is observed
only on a small handful of tracks. The rest are either listed as straightahead
covers, or preceded with a «traditional»
disclaimer, as if, after all these years, conscience had finally caught up with
Ritchie and he decided to openly admit that he did not, in fact, write all these melodies. Most people knew that
already, of course — that he is much more of an arranger and «adapter» than an
independent composer in his own rights — but it is nice to see him coming out with
this newfound humility as the years go by. Now how about going all the way and
including Vince Wallace in the author list for ʽChild In Timeʼ?..
Alas, humility and entertainment do not always
go hand in hand, and at this juncture, Blackmore's Night seems to be running
out of the last puffs of steam. The best song on the album, and the only one
fit for repeated listening, as far as I am concerned, is ʽLocked Within The
Crystal Ballʼ, a modernized take on the old medieval song ʽStella Splendensʼ
from the 14th century «Libre Vermelle de Montserrat», one of the earliest
surviving manuscripts of folk-styled hymns. Yes, people could really write
awesome songs back then, and Ritchie and Candice are quite inspired by the
experience of re-inventing this golden oldie for modern times — giving it a
stern galloping tempo and extra vocal hooks: Candice's "...locked within the
crystal ball" is a fine case of matching the «doom» of the lyrics with the
«doom» of the vocal melody (although the «doom» is anything but tragic —
serious, inescapable, but not catastrophic), and Ritchie's extended guitar duet
with Candice has an honestly hypnotic quality to it. I only wish they'd left
the song keyboard-free, because all this synthesizer crap only enhances the
cheese effect — why not a good old Hammond organ instead, at the very least?
Nothing else on the record even comes close in
terms of power. The straightforward covers are rotten — the old Rainbow ballad ʽRainbow
Eyesʼ is grossly overproduced, and hardly works at all, devoid of the intimate
setting of the original; and they do yet another gallop-tempo rendition, this
time of ʽCan't Help Falling In Loveʼ — inventive, for sure, but there is a
goddamn reason why this song used to be slow: the rushed tempo and bombastic
onslaught of the melody make it look like a case of «love on saddleback». What's
up with all the hurry? Courting is supposed to be a delicate process, and here
all that's missing is the crack of the whip.
Except for another fast-paced Russian folk
dance (ʽToast To Tomorrowʼ) that really does not fit in with Candice's vocal
style, the rest of the songs just sort of diffuse in one another — ballad upon
ballad, atmosphere over hooks without any unpredictable twists. This is a
background against which even a corny mutilation of ʽCan't Help Falling In
Loveʼ will begin to look attractive, and a clear sign that the dynamic duo
finally ran out of dynamics. Only the staunchest fans, seduced to the death by
Candice's faux-medieval sexiness and/or willing to waste a lifetime dissecting
every Blackmore lick ever played, will embrace Secret Voyage as thoroughly as the duo's first three or four albums
— the rest really need not bother beyond a brief acquaintance with ʽCrystal
Ballʼ. There is almost nothing here but self-repetition and atmospherics, and I
do not understand why in the world I would need to listen to Ritchie repeating
himself, or to praise a record for the kind of atmosphere that I «tolerate»
rather than «enjoy». Sure, they may have produced enough tracks to supply the
complete alternative soundtrack to Game
Of Thrones, but in the end, quantity decisively won over quality, so a thumbs down
it is.
"the old Rainbow ballad ʽRainbow Eyesʼ is grossly overproduced"
ReplyDeleteand overarranged, thus confirming what I wrote several times before: Blackmore's Night is by far not minimalistic enough.
"Only the staunchest fans,.... willing to waste a lifetime dissecting every Blackmore lick ever played"
Well, I must admit I have wasted an evening tracking down on YouTube all pre DP singles on which Blackmore provided solos as a session musician. But listening to the entire output of B's N is asked too much.
Locked within the Crystal Ball is great though; thanks for pointing out. That one (probably a live version though) will make it to my compilation. It shows that Blackmore still knows, at least now and then, how to entertain for 8 minutes.