I have to confess that when I heard the samples on SPV’s website it didn’t bode well. From the short clips, I was thinking, could this be BN’s weakest album?
Certainly whoever decided to select the extracts chosen hasn’t done BN any favours, as they don’t accurately reflect the album. I was initially thinking I might have to focus my review on the sleeve. It’s by far and away the best artwork to have adorned a BN album to date and I’m sure Rainbow fans will find it reminiscent of the classic Rising album. 

As for the album, well Rainbow Rising it isn’t, nor is it necessarily BN’s equivalent. There are one or two howlers that I will deal with later but after a few listens I am pleasantly surprised. I still sense that some of it is very much Ritchie having a laugh and taking the piss, but if you delve past the façade, there is definitely some good music within. 
In fact the opening instrumental track, has a dramatic quality about it that could easily see it used in a film soundtrack, despite its ludicrous God Save The Keg title. Definitely one of Ritchie’s wind-ups!

Composition wise the album also sees Blackmore stretching out a bit more than he has on recent albums. None more so than the eight minute Locked Within The Crystal Ball that sees a driving rhythm overlaid with Blackmore’s Strat, and an instrumental middle-eight that wouldn’t sound out of place on an early Yes or Genesis LP. 
The ballad Gilded Cage uses violin to great affect, and lifts the piece in the process. While some of the other tracks are typical BN fare the overall impression is of a very listenable album. 

I appreciate it was never BN’s remit to produce an authentic sounding early music consort but my one major criticism is the over use of ‘Euro pop’ sounding synthesized backing rhythms throughout the production. 
When these are abandoned, the contrast as exemplified by the acoustic instrumental piece Prince Waldeck’s Galliard is sonically spot on. Although nowhere near Blackmore’s best instrumental in terms of the actual performance, the sound of the guitar used produces a wonderfully atmospheric medieval feel to the song. The same applies to the authentic feel of Peasant’s Promise, one of the album’s highlights with a tune reminiscent of Fairport Convention’s ‘Matty Groves’. 

Some songs are bound to irritate and one can’t help but ponder whether or not it is a deliberate ploy. Like the knob Blackmore fitted to the headstock of one of his Fenders, as he openly admitted, “it was put there to annoy people”. There are three songs here that could be contenders: Toast To Tomorrow another BN drinking song in the style of a Russian Cossack dance, though bizarrely I find it quite entertaining. The other two potentially divisive, controversial tunes are the two covers. According to the promotional blurb that accompanies the album, Rainbow Eyes has been done because so many fans requested it be revamped in Blackmore’s Night style. On initial hearing I loathed it as all the majesty of the original has been stripped away and replaced with a ‘poppy’ approach. That said, it’s a song that divided Rainbow fans, and some hated the song originally, so the version hear might find favour. On further listens, it’s Ritchie’s Strat playing throughout that gives it some credence, but by and large it bears no resemblance to the original whatsoever. Like the live arrangement of Purple’s ‘Soldier Of Fortune’ it’s only the lyrics that give you a clue as to what it is and the jury is still out regarding this. 

The same can’t be said of the bland Euro pop interpretation of Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love. Whether or not you are an Elvis fan, this doesn't sound remotely like any of his recordings. There was always a lot of feeling within his performances. The truly horrendous Pet Shop Boys massacred ‘Always On My Mind’ and I never thought I would ever associate them with Blackmore’s Night but this must rank alongside that as one of the worst (supposedly serious?) covers of an Elvis classic. If Presley was still alive one could imagine him throwing a firm right hook, with his full, colossal body weight behind it, in the direction of Mr. B as a way of expressing his thoughts on the interpretation. 

Skip the track and the rest of the album blends the usual Blackmore’s Night trademarks with a few newer and fresher arrangements. I was ready to suggest that BN had run its course but Secret Voyage is a surprisingly refreshing listen. (JB)