We all know the opening riff of the classic Smoke on the Water, and for that we can thank former Deep Purple guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore. Now, several decades after Deep Purple has retired into the history books, Ritchie Blackmore has returned to us. Now, though, he's no longer the guitarist pounding out giant riffs on a coliseum stage. Instead, he's transformed himself into a wandering minstrel of sorts, providing the instrumentation behind a band of souls who seem like they would be more at home sharing a tankard of ale at a Renaissance Faire, or playing their lutes in a castle hall a few hundred years ago.
The band is Blackmore's Night, and their new CD Secret Voyage features luscious vocals from singer Candace Night. The opening track, God Save the Keg begins as I imagined it would, with lots of rich instrumentals, and morphs beautifully into Night's ethereal voice on Locked Within the Crystal Ball, the first single from the CD. The play between Night's vocals and Blackmore's guitar is a dance, a love song calling back and forth between the two of them, and it works beautifully. Gilded Cage and Toast to Tomorrow made me want to sit out in the woods and twirl around a campfire.
One of the biggest surprises on here is Night's interpretation of Can't Help Falling in Love With You. Yes, it's the old Elvis standby, but this version of it is not your daddy's ballad -- instead, it's a rocking, guitar-driven pop dance number, zipped through in just under three minutes, and a real delight. Other tunes worth listening to are the traditional-folk Peasant's Promise and the lovely Far Far Away, which will seem familiar to fans of Blackmore's Night older material.
The great thing about Secret Voyage is that while Blackmore and Night stay true to the tradition they've already established with Blackmore's Night, they are also embracing new directions and sounds. The brilliant guitar work and enchanting vocals, combined with songs that are well-written, makes Secret Voyage worth listening to over and over again.
