{"id":30657,"date":"2013-07-04T07:20:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-04T12:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=30657"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:36:58","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:36:58","slug":"blackmores-night-dancer-and-the-moon-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/blackmores-night-dancer-and-the-moon-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackmore\u2019s Night | Dancer and The Moon<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"BLACKMORESMore of the same from Blackmore\u2019s Night \u2013 but this is a good thing. More of Ritchie\u2019s fabulous guitars, more medieval tunes ready to sing in Sherwood Forest, more odd and unique instruments, and of course \u2013 more of Candice Night\u2019s sweet voice\u2026 Dancer and The Moon<\/em> is all of what makes Blackmore\u2019s Night memorable \u2013 and then some.<\/p>\n

Dancer and The Moon<\/em> is the latest release in a long line of folk-rock, progressive rock, medieval and Renaissance music from Blackmore\u2019s Night. As always, the husband and wife team of Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night dig into the past to find inspiration for the future. They weave elements of medieval classical music together with modern rock to produce a unique and refreshing sound. Not hard rock or metal by any measure, the music of Blackmore\u2019s Night is something special – a style that is equally at home in a concert hall, a small pub, or around a gypsy campfire.<\/p>\n

The Blackmore \u2013 Night partnership extends back to the late 1990s, and the two have assembled a very talented and diverse group of musicians on this latest release. As usual, Blackmore and Night are joined by long-time collaborator Pat Regan, who contributes some keys and produced the album. They are joined by David Baranowski on keys and accordion, Mike Clemente on bass, mandolin, and rhythm guitar, David Keith on drums, Kelly Morris on the French horn, and Claire Smith on violin \u2013 most of whom are classically trained. The group really gels, and fans of the band will be immediately comfortable with the lineup and the songs. As is traditional, the band has done fully original material, a handful of instrumentals, and a few cover tunes (very unique and different versions of the originals). Candice Night\u2019s voice is the anchor to the album, unifying this diverse musical package and helping the listener to feel at home through it all.<\/p>\n

A flowing cover of Randy Newman\u2019s \u201cI Think It\u2019s Going To Rain Today\u201d opens the CD with style. Blackmore\u2019s trademark guitar work is nicely complemented by Night\u2019s wonderful voice and a spirited performance by the rest of the band on this upbeat rocker. \u201cTroika\u201d is a galloping piece with a strong Russian-Cossack feel, driven by the drums and tambourine (and a healthy dose of rhythmic hand clapping). The tone changes drastically when the acoustic guitars back up Night\u2019s amazingly smooth and expressive vocals on the simple and moody \u201cThe Last Leaf,\u201d which leads into a well done cover of Uriah Heep\u2019s \u201cLady In Black.\u201d The latter features one of Blackmore\u2019s best guitar solos on this release. \u201cMinstrels In The Hall\u201d follows as the first of the album\u2019s instrumental tracks \u2013 a soft and pleasant piece.<\/p>\n

Rainbow fans will appreciate the redoing of \u201cThe Temple Of The King\u201d into a soft rock ballad. While radically different from the Ronnie James Dio version, this one simply works and Blackmore\u2019s very bluesy guitar solo is the highlight. \u201cDancer And The Moon\u201d is a rousing gypsy anthem rife with tambourines, hand claps and mandolins. \u201dGalliard\u201d is a waltz-like instrumental which allows the full talents of the entire troupe to shine. \u201cThe Ashgrove\u201d is another soft ballad filled with wonderful imagery and beautiful performances by all. A pair of related songs follow \u2013 the emotional orchestral ballad \u201cSomewhere Over the Sea (The Moon is Shining)\u201d and hard rocking “The Moon Is Shining (Somewhere Over The Sea).\u201d The latter track is almost pop-rock with some great guitar licks and a near dance beat. \u201cThe Spinner\u2019s Tale\u201d is another fine acoustic ballad with strong vocals a great pennywhistle hook. The album wraps with \u201cCarry On… Jon,\u201d a bittersweet Deep Purple-esque instrumental tribute to friend and former bandmate Jon Lord. <\/p>\n

If you enjoyed any of Blackmore\u2019s Night\u2019s earlier releases, then Dancer and The Moon<\/em> will not disappoint. It is packed with the same styles, tones and tempos that made the previous albums a treat \u2013 and is a feast for the ears. If you don\u2019t care for the \u201cfolk\u201d aspect, or are hunting for the Ritchie Blackmore of Rainbow and Deep Purple \u2013 you will want to look elsewhere. If there is anything disappointing here, it is simply the fact that the Blackmore\u2019s Night of 2013 has the same basic sound as the Blackmore\u2019s Night of 1998 and all the ones in between. It would be nice to see the band stretch a little and push some musical boundaries, as it is difficult to see any real musical evolution from one release to the next. Despite this weakness the music is beautiful, the rhythms and melodies are flowing, and Candice Night\u2019s vocals are simply jaw-dropping.<\/p>\n

Genre: Folk Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nRitchie Blackmore -guitars, mandolin, bass, renaissance drums, tambourine
\nCandice Night – vocals, pennywhistle
\nPat Regan – keyboards
\nBard David of Larchmont (David Baranowski) \u2013 keyboards, accordion, pipe organ
\nEarl Grey of Chimay (Mike Clemente) – bass, mandolin, rhythm guitar
\nTroubadour of Aberdeen (David Keith) \u2013 drums, percussion
\nLady Kelly De Winter (Kelly Morris) – French horn, harmony vocals
\nScarlet Fiddler (Claire Smith) – violin<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tI Think It\u2019s Going To Rain Today
\n2.\tTroika
\n3.\tThe Last Leaf
\n4.\tLady in Black
\n5.\tMinstrels in the Hall
\n6.\tThe Temple of the King
\n7.\tDancer and the Moon
\n8.\tGalliard
\n9.\tThe Ashgrove
\n10.\tSomewhere Over the Sea (The Moon is Shining)
\n11.\tThe Moon is Shining (Somewhere Over the Sea)
\n12.\tThe Spinner s Tale
\n13.\tCarry On… Jon<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.blackmoresnight.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis – Senior Columnist — More of the same from Blackmore\u2019s Night \u2013 but this is a good thing. More of Ritchie\u2019s fabulous guitars, more medieval tunes ready to sing in Sherwood Forest, […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[6257,336,5867,374,334,2377],"class_list":{"0":"post-30657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-candice-night","9":"tag-cd","10":"tag-folk-rock","11":"tag-frontiers-records","12":"tag-review","13":"tag-ritchie-blackmore"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}