GHOST OF A ROSE

With "Ghost of a rose", Blackmore's Night consolidate and develop the relatively harder and more progressive edge introduced on the previous "Fires at Midnight" two years previously. Once again, Ritchie is more inclined to plug his guitar in from time to time, adding some truly fixating colours to many of the tracks. The atmosphere remains rooted in the mediaeval folk style the band adopted from the outset, but Blackmore no longer seems to be rebelling against his rock heritage. Instead he is now inclined to call upon it as required to add extra dimensions to the Blackmore's Night sound.

As with "Fires at midnight", here we have an irresistible selection of songs which take us from simple folk melodies to the borders of heavy rock. The opening "Way to Mandalay", which runs to some 6½ minutes, immediately finds Ritchie with the power switched on. This magnificent statement of intent builds through swirling layers, with Candice Night in fine vocal form. Later, the more traditional sounding "Cartouche" has one of the heaviest rhythms used by the band to date, an array of wind instruments providing fanfare bursts during the instrumental sections.

The epic title track is probably the band's most powerful track ever, the song having a similarity with the Strawbs' "New world" in the symphonic orchestration which dominates all else.

While most of the songs are composed by Blackmore (music) and Night (lyrics), they are not averse to adding the odd carefully selected cover version. Here we have a stunningly beautiful version of Joan Baez's "Diamonds and rust". Candice Night's vocal delivery here is truly emotional, the song becoming a highlight of the band's live set. "Where are we going from here" is similarly melancholy and reflective, with some superb acoustic guitar. The other cover version here is of Jethro Tull's "Rainbow blues", a rather obscure choice which appears as a bonus track on later versions of Tull's "Warchild". While the song lends itself well to the Blackmore's Night sound, for me it is the least distinguished track here.

The folk side of the band is most strongly exploited on songs such as "3 Black Crows". The piece actually sounds like a traditional British folk number, although that illusion is unintentionally blurred when Night's American heritage is revealed as she describes how the birds "dove (= dived) through the air". Night receives a rare solo compositional credit for "Ivory tower", a song which features Gregorian style choral accompaniment.

The drunken party side of the band's music remains in evidence through the live crowd pleasers "Loreley" and "All for one". Both songs demand audience participation for the hook laden choruses and happy hand claps. The intro to the latter is extremely deceptive, sounding like the start of a Deep Purple Ballad such as "Wasted sunsets".

Ritchie's solo spots once again see him reverting to acoustic guitar recitals, the brief "Nur eine minute" and "Mr Peagram's Morris and Sword" being pleasant interlude pieces. The closing "Dandelion wine" may be as sentimental as they come, but it is an enchanting tale of good times and friendships; the band's own "Auld lang syne" if you will.

In all, another fine album from Blackmore's Night, which is bound to please those who enjoyed the albums which got us to this point. Prog purists will undoubtedly wonder what the fuss is about, but those who favour prog folk should find much to admire here.

The lavishly presented special edition version of the CD includes two bonus tracks. The first of these is an acoustic live version of "Mid Winter's night", a song which first appeared on the previous "Fires at midnight". This version actually highlights the similarities of the song's melody with that which precedes it here, "Dandelion wine". The other bonus track is a superfluous radio edit of the first track "Way to Mandalay".

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