Blackmore's Night - Secret Voyage
CD Info
2008
SPV Records
12 Tracks
English lyrics
Secret Voyage is Blackmore’s Night’s seventh studio album. After listening to The Village Lanturne I was afraid that the music Blackmore’s Night creates was getting to be a bit stale. Certainly, some of the tracks off of The Village Lanturne weren’t very inspired. I was a little worried the downhill trend would continue on Secret Voyage, so I was a bit apprehensive to listen to the new album. Fortunately though, things have turned out for the better.
With Blackmore’s Night, you can always expect two things with each new album. First, Ritchie’s guitar playing (as well as other assorted instruments) is always stellar. Second, Candice’s voice gets better and better with each album. What you can’t predict is the songwriting quality. While there isn’t a Blackmore’s Night song I hate, there are certainly some songs of theirs I’d call boring. However, on Secret Voyage, there is not one boring song! This is actually the first Blackmore’s Night album where I don’t feel compelled to skip a track or two.
I would categorize many of the songs on this album, such as "Locked Within the Crystal Ball", "Toast to Tomorrow", "The Circle", and "The Peasant’s Promise", as some of the best Blackmore’s Night have composed. "Locked Within the Crystal Ball" is Blackmore’s Night’s longest song, and contains some excellent moments. "Toast to Tomorrow" is a very catchy and fun Greek inspired song. "The Circle" sounds very epic to me (especially near the end), and has a melody you won’t be able to get out of your head for a long time—it’s my personal favorite of the album as well. "The Peasant’s Promise" is very much in line with previous Blackmore’s Night’s songs such as "The Storm". It starts out slowly, but soon the song starts to liven up a bit. I personally feel that Candice’s vocal performance in "The Peasant’s Promise" is her best vocal performance to date. Again, it’s another song you’ll be humming long after the CD stops spinning. Also worth mentioning is their rendition of the Elvis classic "Can’t Help Falling In Love." It’s NOTHING like the original (which is a very big positive for me!)—it’s actually very lively and fun.
While this is still essentially the same type of music that Blackmore’s Night have been playing for years, things certainly have not gotten stale as I feared before hearing Secret Voyage. They’ve recaptured the energy and passion for this type of music that I feel wasn’t present on all of The Village Lanturne. Highly recommended to all Blackmore’s Night fans or for those who love renaissance inspired music.
9 / 10
