White Spirit is a criminally underrated band. Most people remember White Spirit due to the fact that this was the band with which the most notorious ‘extra’ musician, the third guitarist of Iron Maiden, Janick Gers, introduced himself to the Heavy Metal crowd. However, this comment doesn’t correspond to the truth about Gers, who is really a good guitar player, and he does everything (basically he doesn’t do anything …) to forget about it; it doesn’t correspond to White Spirit either. They were formed in 1975 by Gers and drummer Graeme Crallan, with the lineup complemented by Bruce Ruff on vocals, Malcolm Pearson on keyboard and Phil Brady on bass. Although 100% N.W.O.B.H.M., the rich sound reminiscent of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep with the guitars having an almost equal role with the keys. In fact, there’s an informal “battle” between the two instruments, that gives another dimension to White Spirit’s music (something similar to the Lord / Blackmore titan clash that gave birth to the unique sound of Deep Purple). We’re dealing with a pompous album with heavy guitars, with volume and a more “serious” / cultured / sophisticated essence… I don’t know how to describe its style better than the average band of the gere. The similarity with Purple, who at that time were not their best, could have given Janick Gers a place in the personal act of Ian Gillan, but the think is that this kind of music did not cease to be considered (wrongly) an outdated musical direction. “Midnight Chaser,” “No Reprieve,” and “Don’t Be Fooled,” however, have a wild ‘Purple’ beauty. ‘Get it Right’ is marked by an excellent keyboard solo, while Gers offers generously unique guitar mastery moments and ‘Way of the Kings’ that together with the aforementioned ‘No Reprieve’ are the best and most intense emotional moments of the British guitarist on the record. Impressive and epic closure with the ten-minute long “Fool for the Gods.” The next steps of the band included a break in 1981, probably because sales were not the expected by the multinational MCA (recording 2 singles and one demo before the breakup), a half “resurrection” in 1982 before we arrived in 2012 and the release of the album titled “21 Gramms” by High Roller Records. Note that White Spirit have given 6 tracks to a total of 14 collections (!) with the track ‘Cheetah’ that’s missing from the album and would upgrade the release existing in 6 of them.
