Great Guitar,Great Keyboards!!!!
Cat Lover | Warrens, WI | 09/09/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"White Spirit was part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Bands such as Iron Maiden, and Def Leppard emerged from the same era. White Spirit is a realy good album. It is a double CD. "Fool for the Gods" on CD 1 showcases Malcolm Pearson's great work on keyboard, and highlights the guitar of Janick Gers. The bright and shining star on this album is the extremely talanted, flamboyant, world class guitarist Janick Gers. Listen to his soft and poignant acoustic on CD 2 , "Suffragettes".
White Spirit was not derivative of the NWBHM bands. They had very unique lyrics and a unique sound. The album contains an excellent documentation of the history of White Spirit.
I recommend this double cd album. Buy it now!"
A Classic
M. Frobom | Wisconsin | 05/04/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Before I disagree with the following reviews,I'll assert that this is one of my favorite albums of all time. However the other reviewers here describe White Spirit's sound as totally unique. I can't agree with that. To me their best songs are clearly paying homage to the classic Deep Purple sound. "Midnight Chaser" instantly brings to mind "Highway Star", both in sound and spirit. Other songs also show a Purple influence IMO. Elsewhere they feature a dark pompiness that brings to mind bands like Grand Prix and Magnum. The lone departure is the brooding epic "Fool for the Gods"; which reminds me of the art/pomp band Saracen; if you know them. Again this is not a criticism; this stuff is great fun to listen to."
Absolute classic of the NWOBHM era
Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 07/11/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Of all the excellent New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) anthologies Castle has released in recent years, I was looking forward to this one the most. I love just about every band from that era, but there's something special about White Spirit, and for the longest time all I had of theirs was a dodgy Russian bootleg of their debut that had been transferred from the original vinyl.
White Spirit, which featured future Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, was not your typical NWOBHM band. Oh, they obviously belonged to that scene, but there was a classic element to their sound that wasn't too far removed from bands like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and to some extent Magnum. They had the speed, energy and all-around metal spirit of their NWOBHM peers, but also incorporated a pomp rock sense of grandeur (see the epic 10-minute "Fool for the Gods") with Heep-style keyboards and vocals (Bruce Ruff would have made a great Heep frontman). Words really don't do this band's unique and powerful sound justice.
Castle really did a stellar job compiling and cleaning up the available White Spirit material for this 2-disc reissue. Disc 1 includes the original 1980 self-titled album, featuring the classic single "Midnight Chaser". The album has been digitally remastered and sounds incredible. Disc 2 collects a dozen rarities, including demos, singles and b-sides. Highlights of the second disc are the epic b-side "Suffragettes", the alternate version of "Red Skies" from the Muthas Pride EP, and "Watch Out", one of White Spirit's final recordings and the only one to feature future Bad Company frontman Brian Howe on vocals. I searched high and low for that song with no luck, so I'm beyond excited to finally have an official version on CD. Top it off with expanded liner notes that include a band history, quotes from the members, detailed song information, and lots of rare photos, and you've got one of Castle's absolute best NWOBHM anthologies - and that's saying something!
I hesitate to call this a must-have NWOBHM album, as it's not as important as Iron Maiden, Lightning to the Nations (The White Album), or Wheels of Steel. Still, I think it's an album that would appeal to just about any NWOBHM collector as well as most classic hard rock fans. It's becoming harder and harder to find though, so if you see a copy you'd better grab it!"
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1