"Has Ritchie Blackmore lost his mind?" This was the reaction when he departed from Deep Purple and resurfaced in 1997 with his first Blackmore`s Night album. Many people thought that this Middle Age kind of music would be a one-album thing, just to let off some steam. Low and behold, it`s 2001 and the third album is here: `Fires at Midnight`. Once again together with his partner in life Candice Night, this album offers beautiful listening music, which is inspired by German composers like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Blackmore always had something with the classic composers as his previous bands also displayed, in this band he can take it to the max and he seems to enjoy it very much. The music on `Fires at Midnight` is inspiring and occasionally he straps on the electric guitar and gives it you in the well-known Blackmore style, (`Fires at Midnight`).

I don`t know why they decided to put `The Times They Are A Changing` (Bob Dylan) on it, the album has a strong identity and doesn`t need covers. Although the music is simply beautiful and the voice of Maid Candice Night is perfect for this kind of music it is hard for a Rock fan to stay with the album all the way through. Somewhere around the song `The Storm` the attention fades a bit but that`s easy to solve, next time begin with the second half and it`s just as good as the first. Blackmore`s Night will be touring in Germany, from castle to castle, check the official web site if you want to go and watch this unique band live on stage...