White Spirit is mostly known as the answer to the trivia question: Which band did Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers play in? White Spirit is a very interesting album in that it mostly points to a 70s heritage, but there's no questioning its metal integrity. And that's probably Gers' doing, the only bandmember to have persisted on past this album. The rest of the group sounds like mid 70's Rainbow, and Malcolm Pearson's keyboards of choice are the trusty Hammond organ and various Moog synthesizers. They have the perfect sound - for the wrong era. Musically, one could point to Rainbow's Rising as the blueprint. Mostly straight-up rockers are offset by proggy bits, especially on the 10 minute closer 'Fool for the Gods'. But while Blackmore stayed hard rock, White Spirit jumped on the NWOBHM bandwagon. The album had pretty decent distribution in its day (though not in the States), but their sound was too rooted in the past for the burgeoning metal movement. And that was the end of White Spirit, one of those bands that really should be a household name today. Beyond trivia of course.
Ownership: LP: 1980 MCA (Germany). Single sleeve with lyric inner bag. Acquired from JL before the Austin Record show (2023).
6/18/23 (new entry)
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