Customer Reviews

Shadow of the Moon

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I first heard Blackmore Night on Tampa's wonderful, listener-supported community radio station several weeks ago and was swept off my feet (well, would have been if I wasn't in my car driving to work) by Candice Night's beautiful, ethereal vocals. I find this music to be reminiscent of Loreena McKennitt and Pentangle, two other favorite artists of mine.

As a listener of Deep Purple and Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in the 60's and 70's, I was both surprised and pleased to hear what Ritchie is up to now. I consider it a fantastic career move, love the music, and bought both this CD and "Fires at Midnight" the same day!!

Ritchie Blackmore has for years been synonomous with the being the father of the flashy, classical-influenced style of raw and powerful rock guitar playing (Deep Purple, Painbow). On this effort, he let's the acoustic guitar take the front seat to really show the "normal" listener the joys and beauty of the 16th century renaissance music that have influenced him over the years. This further proves that "tone" and "passion" in music do not necessarily come from 200 watt Marshall cabinets and a Fender Strat, but acoustic guitars, violins, flutes, violas, mandolins, and other medieval instruments.

Yes, the classical riffs are still existant throughout the entire disc (the trills, the scales, reminiscent of harpsichord) as well as some electric guitar overlays in the background and foreground by this reigning Master of the Stratocaster (...and an occasional whammy bar riff, or two). But what really makes this CD? The angelic voice of his girlfriend (now, wife?), Candice Night. This young lady provides such a smooth quality to the tracks that you actually wind up listening to her and not her husband! You'll really be taken away from the subtle beauty this album portrays.

The songs for the most part, are first rate, catchy tunes that deserve attention. Most notable are the songs "Shadow of the Moon", Play Minstrel Play" which includes a fantastic flute solo by Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), "Ocean Gypsy", "Magical World", and "Spirit of the Sea". Another bonus is to hear Blackmore's beautiful solo guitar playing on such pieces as "Minstral Hall", "Memmingen", and "Possum's Last Dance".

I highly recommend this disc to anyone who needs to relax. It also makes for excellent driving music!

I found this C.D. by accident and bought it immediately. I was caught by the spell since the first notes of "Shadow of the Moon". My personal favourites are the title song, "Clock ticks on"(I can hear this ten times in a row),"Be mine tonight" and "Mond Tanz"(another piece I can play ten times in a row)and "Renassaince Fair" , but all of them are wonderful. The only slightly lesser one is their cover to "Greensleeves" ; this truly classical English tune is so beautiful , yet I'm still looking for a good "genuine" performance (the best I've got is by Medieval-Renaissance expert Alfred Deller on Harmonia Mundi). This is light years from "Smoke on the Water" or even "Rainbow Eyes"..... and for the best. I always held Ritchie Blackmore in a very high regard, but I always wanted to hear him play acoustic. Now he's mostly into acoustic, and in my opinion he's doing the best music in his lifetime. Some consider this new project "cheesy" , but don't be fooled by the seemingly naive sound ; the music is actualy MUCH better than ANYTHING he did with Deep Purple or Rainbow (great as those were). "Clock ticks on" is built over a late-medieval theme and the horns, if they're not period instruments, sound very much like they are. Some of us have grown since our teenage years, and look for more relaxed music that is still music, and not just background, and it's great to find your hero of teenage years still leading you towards soundscapes of fantasy.
Since I bought this, I have eagerly sought each one of their following CD's.Like many other reviewers, every time I play this to another friend I get the same comment:"what kind of music is that".... or a plain and simple "woooow, what was that".
Try this..... most likely it will never leave your player.
I just ordered it again to replace the copy that was on my car player, since I had a crash and could not recover any of my CD's (guess what... the rest of the Blackmore's night catalog).

This was my first Blackmore's Night cd and I truly enjoyed it from beginning to end. I love several of the songs, such as "Shadow of the Moon," "Play Minstrel Play," "Ocean Gypsy," (a remake, I believe) and "Mond Tanz." The rest of the songs I like a lot, with the exception of "Spirit of the Sea" and "Greensleeves"; the latter is especially not well done, which is unusual for a musician of Blackmore's standing. Aside from those two songs, if you're into excellent guitar work, then pick up this cd. As an added bonus, Ian Anderson plays the flute on "Play Minstrel Play." I found that as time progressed, Candice Night's vocals appealed more to me. Her soft voice is suited to the sort of Renaissance music that they produce, and some of her lyrics are quite sweet, as heard on "Be Mine Tonight."

I have had this CD for 2 years and I still hear almost every song everyday! Each song is a piece of perfection... From "Play minstrel play" to "Ocean Gypsy", "Renaissance faire" and "No second chance", the listener listens to a relaxing and soothing sound. The music on this disc is ideal for a private party as well as for personal hearing pleasure. I surely recommend it!

The first and still the best album in my opinion! This group, with a female lead vocalist, is many things: traditional, folk, renaissance, pop! An original and talented group with so much to offer, but still so unknown and unappreciated. If you like traditional tunes and folksy songs with a more modern flare then check out Blackmore's Night!

This is new and really soulfull and inspiring music!
I already knew Ritchie Blackmore from his previous work with Purple but this is outstanding!
I love Candice's voice and everything they do in that way... really makes Celine Dion and other contemporary and boring stuff eat serious dirt!
I just love the magic in this kind of true music!
please never stop being that great!

If the one is really an honored person, should listen to this CD, sunk in a warm water full bathtube, under complete darkness, traveling through the magic and thinking, only, over the very loved person.
Those musics, the climate, the whole environment: one of the best I saw in the last 43 years.
Besides the great music, the renaissance feeling the sweet Candice Night, sweet face and sweeter voice, perfectly suited to sing the songs. Simply perfect.

I love this mellowing and evocative music, and have been listening to it over and over while reading the very-similarly-titled space book In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S)- they go very nicely together !!

This is my first Blackmore's Night album and I plan to collect more in the future. It's a cd full of nothing but good songs, so you will not have to skip over any. If you love a Loreena McKennitt, Qntal type of genre you will enjoy this as a new twist in sound sure to please the ear. "Ocean Gypsy" and "Shadow of the Moon" must be played over and over!