Shadow of the Moon

Blackmore's Night | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 18, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Intersound Records
• ASIN: B000040JDO
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,007 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Shadow of the Moon

2. The Clock Ticks On

3. Be Mine Tonight

4. Play Minstrel Play

5. Ocean Gypsy

6. Minstrel Hall [Instrumental]

7. Magical World

8. Writing on the Wall

9. Renaissance Faire

10. Memmingen [Instrumental]

11. No Second Chance

12. Mond Tannz [Instrumental]

13. Spirit of the Sea

14. Greensleeves

15. Wish You Were Here

16. Possum's Last Dance [*][Instrumental]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blackmore's Imagination, January 26, 2000

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow of the Moon (Audio CD)

I'm glad this album is being printed in America now, Picking upsomething with Ritchie Blackmore is always something of a risk:sometimes you'll find a "Perfect Strangers" or "Rainbow Rising," sometimes it's a disappointment like "House of Blue Light." This guy has been up and down and up again through his whole career. But with "Shadow of the Moon" he and the band never hit a wrong note. Medieval-sounding folk music is probably the last thing you'd expect from one of hard rock/metal's finest guitarists (and I wondered what Blackmore could do with something like Greensleeves), but it's one of the most pleasant surprises I've gotten in quite some time. There are traditional tunes, acoustic originals, a Renaissance cover, classical melodies and even a techno beat on one song. It puts pictures in my head of medieval banquets and conversations by flickering candlelight. Blackmore's kept it up on the next album as well: here's hoping it lasts. END

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and mesmerizing, March 22, 2000

By 

Alexander E. Paulsen "AlexP" (Jacksonville, Fl United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadow of the Moon (Audio CD)

I bought this on impulse, I was searching for Ian Anderson and this popped up, Ian does a guest flute piece in one of the selections. This is an excellent work, Blaclmore and vocalist Candace Knight have taken traditional "midieval mood music and gypsie melodies", added some modern instruments, and vovals that can bring tears to your eyes. Check out "Magical World" If that does not bring out emotion you are probably dead already. Plus their version of "Greensleeves" is the most beautiful playing of that traditional song I have ever heard.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Debut, March 7, 2002

By 

bogubundus2 (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadow of the Moon (Audio CD)

When I first popped this in my CD player, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. As soon as I heard the first few notes of the title track, I sensed something special. As I listened to the rest of the CD, I was not only not disappointed, I was awestruck! The mark of a great CD is that it stands the test of time. In other words, you can listen to it over and over and over again without getting sick of it. "Shadow of the Moon" is one such CD. It not only propels the listener to other times and places, but the songs are both diversified enough and catchy and accessible enough so as to never get boring. And Blackmore has created his own distinctive style of acoustic lead guitar - he frequently plays variations and improvisations over the basic melody rather than simply repeating the melody - very refreshing. He also plays with an energy and intensity and vitality which is so often lacking in acoustic music. There are several absolutely stunning classics here which will be spinning around in your CD player for years to come: "Shadow of the Moon", "The Clock Ticks On", "Play Minstrel Play", Renaissance Faire", and "Mond Tanz". The title track, with its energetic acoustic guitar in the foreground and hypnotic, understated electric guitar in the background is a strong, impressive opener. "The Clock Ticks On" is even better. It starts out with a blast of trumpets and French Horns followed by some nice acoustic lead with accompanying viola. Other instruments join in to create a medieval, fairy-tale quality. "Play Minstrel Play" is another jaw-dropper. It has a "Little Drummer Boy" quality with the male "rum-rum-rum" voices in the background. It starts out slowly then suddenly shifts into speeded-up high-gear, propelled by guest flutist Ian Anderson's blistering flute playing and Blackmore's rapid-fire string rolling. "Renaissance Faire" is another killer: mandolin and horns playing a beautiful melody under lyrics about "fields of gold...down at the Renaissance Faire" will surely transport you to the Faire of bygone days. Finally, "Mond Tanz", a medieval-sounding instrumental, has a melody so catchy you wish it would go on forever, and it does, long after the CD player is turned off, continue to swim around in your head. Other highlights include a competent version of the old Renaissance classic, "Ocean Gypsy", featuring the most restrained playing by Blackmore - appropriate for the sad tone of the song; and "Magical World", another sweet fairy-tale tune. The remaing songs are all quite good as well, with the exception of 3 songs which have too many soft, sappy, syrupy strings added for my taste, and one tune, "Writing on the Wall", which is ruined by a horrible fake, mechanical, synthesized disco-drum beat. With 12 out of 16 songs very good-to-excellent, this CD deserves a 4 1/2 stars, rounded to a 5. Overall, a very impressive debut from the man in black. I was beginning to wonder if he would ever get out of the rut he was in on the last couple of Rainbow albums, and that question has been more than resoundingly answered in the affirmative. Indeed, Blackmore has found his creative niche. This is the most interesting and creative stuff Blackmore has ever done in his entire career, and I hope he continues in this vein for many years to come.