SHADOW OF THE MOON

For many years I´ve been reading in interviews that guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore really loved classical music and that one day he would be doing something in that field, that hard rock and heavy metal were not his first love and those styles were more of a medium to put out his frustration. I guess most of us, the fans, did not really pay atention to this remarks. It simply sounded whimsical. But then, one day, he does just that. I was not really surprised: classical music was obviously a big influence over his music and he has always wrote some great acoustic tunes over the years since his Deep Purple days (Soldier Of Fortune and Temple Of the King are some good exemples).

I was a bit surpruised by his choice of renaissance era type of music. But I somehow figured it would be good, since Ritchie Blackmore is one of the most gifted, talented and accomplished guitarrists ever. And the fact his wife is the singer did not bothered me at all. From the first notes of Shadow Of The Moon, everyone can say she´s a fine singer and has her very own strong personality. This duo is really a duo. And the music they produced on this first release is really strong, unique and full of great tunes.

Not that everything here is perfect: this is far from a purist´s work. Blackmore plays mostly acoutic guitars, but also does some great electric touches on various tracks. There are some pop moments too (No Second Chance, Wish You Were Here), the strange, rather odd eletronic treatment for Tchaicovsky´s Writing On The Wall and the fast paced version of Greensleeves. In less capable hands those moments could ruin such work, but somehow they do not spoil the overall acoustic, intimate effect. Their version of Renaissance´s Ocean Gypsy was nice, but not very outstandig. But I guess this is asking for too much!

After all these years and many other releases by the duo I still think that Shadow Of The Moon is his best and strongest efford. The title track is a classic, maybe the album´s highlight, but it is difficult to say. It´s a extremely pleasant album to hear from beginning to end and the flow is simply natural. A fine CD that is difficult to classify. All I can say is that Blackmore did something different and did it very well. And Candice Knight is a strong partner. she could be overshadowed by her husbands immense talented, but that does not happen. 4 stars.