FIRES AT MIDNIGHT

A comeback of sorts as Richie Blackmore and Candice Night attempt to chart new territory after the "let's do the same thing, only make it boring" sophomore album Under A Violet Moon. The opening track here alone is a fusion of folky New Age with the rockiest riff Blackmore's Night ever did. Against all odds, the Renaissance influenced cover of Dylan's The Times They Are A Changin' really works a treat. I'll also admit to liking the cheesy sing- a-long Home Again, Crowning Of The King, the string-heavy Hanging Tree and the fiery Village On The Sand. The best moment however comes in the form of the atmospheric title track,a slow-burning affair that takes an age to ignite, but eventually roars into life.

There are also the obligatory Blackmore solo instrumentals Fayre Thee Well and Praetorius (Courante), but like its predecessors, this album is just too long for its own good ... there are 17 songs crammed on here (incidentally, my CD has Sake Of Song in place of Possum's Last Dance). Again, I should repeat my claim that Blackmore's Night is barely a progressive outfit, closer in style to the music of Lorenna McKennit than the prog Renaissance was doing, but that shouldn't stop you from listening to this album. ... 44% on the MPV scale