The promised new Blackmore’s Night album will be called Nature’s Light and is scheduled for release on March 12, 2021 via Edel’s imprint earMusic.
Candice explains the title:
The story of Nature’s Light is the story of nature being the true queen and the simplicity and magic of everyday miracles that happen right before your eyes. If you feel stagnant or repressed in your surroundings, it is important to take a break from the mundane and go where your heart leads you. It allows you to recharge and begin again with fresh and renewed energy. For some it is the ocean, for some the woods, for some feeling the sun on your face. Our music is an escape from the stress and pressure of modern times. Journey back through time with us, to a simpler, magical time where music enters your heart and soul.
Track list:
Once upon December
Four Winds
Feather in the Wind
Darker Shade of Black (instrumental)
The Twisted Oak
Nature’s Light
Der Letzte Musketier (instrumental)
Wish You Were Here (2021)
Going to the Faire
Second Element
The album will be available as
a digipack CD;
a 180g 1LP gatefold on black vinyl;
a limited edition 1LP gatefold on yellow heavyweight vinyl;
a limited edition 2CD hardcover mediabook;
streaming and download.
The second CD of the mediabook edition (pictured above) will feature a compilation of tracks from the band’s back catalogue. Other than that the track listing appears to be identical across all formats. The album can be preordered through the usual outlets.
A lyric video for Once upon December has been posted to promote the release:
In case you have nothing better to do over the holidays, why not sit down and read a fictional story about Vladimir Nabokov encountering a certain band in Montreux in 1971.
Nabokov vs Deep Purple is written by one Mark Rudolph, in a genre self described as a post postmodern humor. The story is written from Nabokov’s point of view, who did indeed live in Montreux from 1961 until his death in 1977, and indeed stayed there at the Palace Hotel. This is the same hotel where the band stayed, but not the same where they recorded (The Grand Hotel was empty, cold, and bare for the winter). Keep in mind that Nabokov was infamously quite an, ahem, opinionated gentleman, and equally as infamously hated pretty much all music.
They all came out to Montreux, shaggy drug dunderheads all, rendering my adopted hotel home a discommodious farrago. The band in question was something called “The Deep Purple,” which I assumed was a gang of British homosexualists who prided themselves on the depths of their passive intercourse. It turns out they were a rock band (More like ROCK BOTTOM! I loathe equally Sgt. Pepper, Sgt. Schultz, and Sargent Shriver!).
Our misadventure began when I was in the middle of a typically vivid dream of synesthesia. My wife Vera elbowed me into common consciousness. The acrid smell of pyrolysis filled our room. Mrs. N. rang the dipsomaniac night porter to confirm that the casino on the lake was on fire and not our hotel.
The story can be purchased in print form for $4.20 from MagCloud, or read there for free in digital form.
Second part of the fan interview with Roger Glover and Don Airey. This time they spoke to Chris Aston from the UK. This probably is as close as most of us will ever experience sitting in a pub with those two gentlemen. Enjoy! Continue Reading »
Paicey continues to answer your questions. In this installment: Neil Peart, Buddy Rich tribute, J. E. and C., And the Address, future albums, making of In Rock, the perennial setlist debate, loudest band in the world and hearing loss, and how to play Burn. Continue Reading »
Edel had run a contest to interview the band in conjunction with the Whoosh! release. Anssi Herkkola from Finland was the winner and got to speak with Roger Glover and Don Airey. This produced a quite relaxed conversation with some off the beaten path questions. And good old THS gets a namecheck at the end. Enjoy! Continue Reading »
Classic Rock has one of them “greatest ever” lists, and this time it’s 50 greatest live albums ever. Made in Japan tops their ranking:
Deep Purple were at their peak, having released the career-defining Machine Head just months before. On Made In Japan they straddled a fine line between intense and indulgent, the four sides of vinyl giving them room to stretch – and we mean stretch. Incredibly there were only seven tracks; Highway Star, which opened side one, was the only one to clock in at under seven minutes.
Side Four comprised a monstrous, 20-minute version of Space Truckin’; The Mule, meanwhile, contained a six-minute Ian Paice drum solo. It might sound preposterous now, but back in the day we could only shake out heads disbelievingly at the sheer, unbridled brilliance of it all.
Honourable mentions: Rainbow – On Stage is at #32
and Whitesnake – Live… In The Heart Of The City is at #38.
Slightly disheveled Glenn Hughes talks about how he joined The Dead Daisies, the RnR Hall of Fame induction, his autobiography, and discusses lyrical themes of the Daisies’ upcoming album Holy Ground. This is an interview he gave to That Jamieson Show in April 2020 that was recently made available on Youtube. Continue Reading »
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![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/gillan2.jpg)
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing