Blackmore's Night - Fires at Midnight
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Free Music Notes for Fires at Midnight
Free Music Review: It's not
Hit: 4 Stars
"The Times They Are a Changing" sounds more like Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" than the Bob Dylan tune and "Home Again" reminds me an awful lot of Mary Hopkins's "Those Were the Days", not musically so much as in the style and approach of the song. Both typify the atmosphere of the CD, which ranges from soft sappy pop to traditional Renaissance music to harder-edged, more rock-oriented stuff. Overall it's a pretty good album. While it doesn't have the classic quality of Blackmore's debut CD "Shadow of the Moon" (but then, what does?) it has songs which are more stylistically similar to the followup "Under a Violet Moon" but with more of a rock element and utilizing a wider variety of instruments. Two other observations: Blackmore's distinctive electric guitar solos are injected into more songs than ever before; secondly, songs such as "The Hanging Tree", "Benzai-Ten", "Village on the Sand", "Home Again" and "Again Someday" demonstrate a developing maturity in Candice Night's lyric writing. "The Hanging Tree" has interesting lyrics but is unfortunately ruined by the soft, sappy pop-ballad treatment. "Benzai-Ten", with its "cherry-blossom skies and snow on the mountaintops" and beautiful oriental melody, is like a scenic painting come to life. The title track is a standout with a catchy melody played on what sounds like bagpipes played in a very low range and an extended electric guitar solo extraordinaire from the man in black. "Crowning of the King", with its French horns and trumpets, immediately jumps out as the best track on the album: it's performed in a very traditional style reminiscent of the first Blackmore's Night CD and will transport you right to the court of the King in Elizabethan England (I love the more traditional stuff like "Catherine Howard's Fate" from "Under a Violet Moon" and "Renaissance Faire", "Play Minstrel Play", and "The Clock Ticks On" from "Shadow of the Moon" - I wish Blackmore would do an entire CD of songs in this style!). "Fayre Thee Well" and "Praetorious (Courante), like all Blackmore's Night's instrumentals, are both outstanding. "Village on the Sand" injects hard rocking electric guitar chords into the mix. And there is an unlisted, unnamed hidden track which starts about 20 seconds after "Again Someday" ends - it is one of the livelier tunes on the CD and has a pirate-ish type of sound; the melody will keep your head bopping around the room. This should give you an idea of the variety on this CD. Being a headbanger at heart, I like the direction Blackmore is going with more of a rock element. Now on his next CD if Blackmore can stick with the rockier stuff and the strictly traditional stuff and stay away from the soft, poppish, sappy, cliched ballads which seem to pop up on every CD...ADDENDUM OF 5/21/03: After listening to this wonderful CD for almost 2 years, I have some additional observations. First, while I still like "Shadow of the Moon" more because it succeeds better at transporting you back in time, "Fires at Midnight" is by far the most CONSISTENT of the three albums; there simply are no weak songs. AND the softer, more poppish songs GREW ON ME on this album, especially "All Because of You." This pure power pop gem would give Abba a run for its money. It's very boppy and energetic with powerful percussion and the guitar solo just "sings" with joy and happiness; I don't know how else to describe it. And the way Candice's voice intertwines with the electric guitar in the solo in "I Still Remember" is a thing of hypnotic beauty which keeps you coming back to listen to the song over and over again. One thing is for sure: I may not be a big fan of soft pop music, but I must admit Blackmore's Night's softer, more poppy tunes are EXTREMELY WELL DONE. Bottom line? If I was reviewing this album today, I would probably give it 5 stars due to its consistency, staying power, and the ability of songs to "grow" on you that may not have necessarily tickled your fancy at first listen.
Free Music Review: Blackmore is back
Hit: 4 Stars
`Written in the Stars'-A angelic opening to a near Rainbow riff trapped in the 16th Century great to hear an electric Blackmore `Time's they are a changing'-Get's the Blackmore's night treatment `I still remember-again the electric guitar comes out with a light and taste full Blackmore mix through an acoustic Blackmore's night style number `Home again'-Up tempo Blackmore's night style with a live feel giving this track a traditional style sound that you feel you should know all the words first listen `Crowning of the King'- Blackmore's night style `Fayre thee well'-Acoustic guitar only `Fires at midnight'-has the best Blackmore lead break in the last 7 years classic `Blackers' `Hanging tree'-Blackmore's night style `Storm'-Flamenco style song Blackmore showing how the Blackmore's night thing could be and It sounds great `Mid winter's night'- Blackmore's night style `All because of you'-Again Rainbow trying to get out of the 16th century `Waiting just for you'-Ballad that lifts in the middle very pretty `Praetorius (courante)'-Instrumental Blackmore's night style `Benzai-ten'-Blackmore's night style nice acoustic Blackmore `Village on the sand'-Rock beat with electric Blackmore in `Jethro Tull' style `Again someday'-Blackmore and Candice to those who have left us Hidden track: `Sake of the song'- Blackmore's night style to finishalso you get the video for `Time's they are a changing' all on one disc
`Fires at Midnight' shows Blackmore moving back to the electric and mixing it with the medieval/folk music to show how good this style can be. Candice Night's voice has developed over the albums, that said if you don't like her voice you won't find anything on `Fires at Midnight' to change your mind, But if you want to hear Blackmore's best guitar play in years you will need to make the sacrifice's If you haven't bought the other Blackmore's night albums this is the best of them and a must have for all real Blackmore fan's If you have only bought the past two to find some middle ground with you wife this one will not work as well as the past two as some tracks are a little too rocky `Fires at Midnight' show's Blackmore is one of the great guitarists and is again showing it Those of us who believe always knew that
Free Music Review: "The stars are out and magic is here."
Hit: 4 Stars
Quite a mix of contradictions we have in Blackmore's Night; founded by one of metal's pioneering guitarists, but usually decked out like part of a renaissance faire. The lyrical subjects are the stuff of romance novels and D&D games, but the music spices up the medieval feeling with electric guitars and some occasional techno elements. The whole theme seems to be living in the middle ages, yet they include one modern rock cover per disk - this time, of all things, "The Times They Are A-Changing." It's enough to make your head spin. This time around however, they've sprung back from the lukewarm Under a Violet Moon with a strong set of tunes to equal their stunning debut. "Written in the Stars" and the title track will especially appeal to those who liked "Shadow of the Moon," and "Home Again" is a rousing pub song to rival "Play Minstrel Play." And to balance things out there's more of their slow ballad side present ("Waiting Just for You," "Again Someday") as well. Toss in the requisite solo guitar instrumental ("Fayre Thee Well") and a little Oriental flavor and you've got an album well worth a listen for fans of Blackmore.. especially if they were a little disappointed with album #2. Unfamiliar with the group? Either this album or Shadow of the Moon would be a good starter. Just be warned, this music is addictive.
Free Music Review: "The Stars are Out and the Magic is Here" !!!
Hit: 4 Stars
"Fires at Midnight" exceeded my expectations!! I initially did not know what to expect because I was not thrilled with the 30 second clips available to listen online. The clips do not do the songs justice. Granted you must have an open mind as this type of music is probably not tolerated by alot of people. This is an album that needs to be listened to several times and I guarantee you will find yourself singing along with the songs. If you were like myself and not all that familiar with Blackmore's Night; then I think this cd is a great starting point. Ritchie "plugged-in" more than recently for this album and the result is some very tasteful and beautiful guitar work. Standout tracks are: Written in the Stars-great electric riff; The Times They are a Changin'-nice remake of the Dylan classic;I Still Remember-guitar complements the haunting vocals beautifully; Fires at Midnight-great solo remeniscent of Ritchie's classic rock guitar playing; Storm; Benzai-Ten-nice oriental feel here; and there is also some nice acoustic pieces sprinkled throughout which are regrettably too short. I hope they continue more in this direction in the future.Overall a quality album and one that I have yet to stop listening to-all from someone who didn't even think he would like it all that much!! A very refreshing cd compared to the current state of music nowadays.Free Music Review: Simply a MUST!
Hit: 4 Stars
Like many people here I found out about this by sheer accident... In fact I had never even heard about Blackmore's Night until today. I was looking for something else and happened to stumble across this. I was never a HUGE fan of Ritchie's, when it came to him I tolerated him to hear "DIO". I thought he was a competant musician but never understood why he was placed in a "guitar God" status, well, now I know don't I? The pairing of he and Candice is a magic that cannot be fully explained. The song "Hanging Tree" is so stellar I nearly shed a tear. It is written in a sort of 3rd/1st person perspective and gives you an idea about what the tree has "seen". But the way the lyrics wind throughout are BREATHTAKING! Out of the 16 tracks, 10 are AMAZING, 3 are interesting, and 3 are fluffs. If you've grown tired of headbanging bar chords look no further, that bar is closed here. Indeed, Times They Are A-Changin'.