Blackmore's Night
Ghost Of A Rose

The fourth studio album for the minstrel Ritchie Blackmore and his partner Candice Night, this Ghost Of A Rose is the worthy successor to that Fires At Midnight which is certainly of excellent quality but left something to be desired in terms of inspiration. The opening is entrusted to the oriental-sounding Way To Mandalay, featuring an excellent guitar solo, which succeeds in captivating the listener thanks to the blend of vaguely Indian music and mystical lyrics. After the carefree 3 Black Crows, we have Diamonds and Rust, absolutely fantastic with Candice Night's voice being the protagonist of an inspired interpretation. Excellent Cartouche followed by Queen For A Day, a song divided into two parts, the first slow and evocative, the second instrumental and cheerful (it feels like being at a village party...). Ivory Tower is full of suggestion and prepares the entrance to the instrumental Nur Eine Minute, good but inferior (in my opinion, of course...) to the previous compositions for solo guitar by the Man In Black. Finally, we arrive at the title track, Ghost Of A Rose is a superbly qualitative composition with its evocative lyrics, a perfectly fitting arrangement, and a chorus that immediately stamps itself in the mind. After the instrumental Mr. Peagram's Morris And Sword, our earlobes are "caressed" by the cheerful Loreley, which with its playful tone prepares the ground for the melancholic Where Are We Going From Here. A good reinterpretation of Jethro Tull's Rainbow Blues where Ritchie picks up his cream-colored Stratocaster again to offer us one of his usual fascinating solos. The closing is entrusted to All For One and Dandelion Wine, authentic anthems dedicated to friendship; especially listening to the latter, it's almost as if you could see the Man In Black, with his lady in tow, intent on "feasting" with game meat and rivers of red wine in the Gothic halls of their German manor...

What can I say about this new studio effort of the Renaissance minstrel, excellent lyrics, excellent arrangements, excellent atmosphere... Certainly not at the level of Shadow Of The Moon but almost there... Ah! How forgetful I am! Among all the "excellent elements" I have just listed, I forgot the most obvious and significant... EXCELLENT, as usual, the MAN IN BLACK!!! (But you know... I'm "slightly" biased... So judge for yourselves...).