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Frontiers [Release date 18.09.15]
At times on this – the tenth – studio album from “the world’s number one Renaissance act” (not my words) you can a hear a Nightwish-friendly approximation of folk rock. If Blackmore’s Night ramped things up a bit and even deployed every Celtic rockers go-to pipe player – Troy Donockley – the transformation might be complete.
Where does that regarded axe-slinger Ritchie Blackmore fit in to all of this? It seems that he’s happy for his partner Candice Night to shoulder all the attention and there is no doubt that they have assembled an excellent cast of fellow journeymen playing any number of medieval and folk instruments.
You would have thought that after nearly 20 years we would have accepted their basic premise but many will still only want to hear Blackmore’s Strat played in anger and slung south of his waistline rather than a mandola hitched north of his belly button.
Having got that inevitable moan out of the way, ‘All Our Yesterdays’ is a pleasant listen and once we get past the somewhat trite title track. The two instrumentals ‘Allan Yn N Fan’ and ‘Darker Shade Of Black’ actually feature some electric guitar (the latter especially) whilst elsewhere the album is redeemed by a spirited ‘Will O’ The Wisp’ and ‘Where Are We Going From Here, a speeded up version of a song that first appeared on Ghost Of A Rose in 2003.
If Blackmore’s Night were more genuine Renaissance revivalists (Praetorius, Susato?) they might win more plaudits but as it happens they seem now to revive Germanic drinking songs, albeit in a sanitised and ear-candified fashion, or seemingly ill advised cover versions such as ‘I’ve Got You Babe’ (1965 Sonny & Cher for you lapsed pop pickers).
With news that Ritchie is set to announce a final electric fling, with an as yet unannounced new vocalist, ‘All Our Yesterdays’ – for better or for worse – may well get quickly overlooked. ***1/2
Review by David Randall
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