True art isn't about commercial concerns. Artists who keep one eye on the charts, measure their significance on the music scene in terms of sales figures or write their material with financial considerations in mind will never create truly great art. Ritchie Blackmore, in contrast, is a perfect example of high artistic principles and creative integrity. His musical career is branded by an uncompromising truthfulness to his own musical ideals: he already distinguished himself as an ambitioned rock musician in Deep Purple and Rainbow, and 'Ghost Of A Rose', the latest release by his current band, Blackmore's Night, is another committed step forward on a road marked by songs that are inspired by medieval melodies. <p> On 'Ghost Of A Rose', Blackmore and Candice Night present a fascinating combination of rock music, folk and melodies from the 16th century that is interesting in every note. Blackmore sees his songs as an homage to renaissance music, and his band transpose the multi-facetedmusic of the Middle Ages, which blends romanticism and mysticism, passion and enthusiasm, into their very own sound with acoustic and electric guitars, strings, renaissance instruments like hurdy-gurdy and bagpipe and Candice Night's beguiling voice.
