Manfred Mann's Earth Band On CD

I think so, but it's become a bit pricier over the years. Maybe it's starting to get rare. I ordered mine from Amazon, but if you buy it from Manfred's website, you get the "Thoughts & Reminiscences" book signed by him and his latest album "Lone Arranger" as a bonus. (Correct me @Luke W if this isn't correct anymore!) Since I had already bought "Lone Arranger" by that point (and in deluxe form with the bonus CD) I wasn't bothered by that.

 

Website"
That's pretty amazing !!!

 

You do get the (small, CD-sized) book in the set anyway, just to not confuse. But my copy has no signature.

 

That's a pity, maybe a limited signature thing...or something.

 

$156.41 from Amazon right now. It's a lovely box. I paid nearly that when it was first released. No regrets.

 

I'd still appreciate at least the main albums from this set being released one day.

 

These two are mine, too! My third choice might well be Angel Station, although I should probably name one of the pre-Chris Thompson albums for balance's sake. MMEB were one of my first discoveries after becoming a music addict back in the 70's, so they are one of the groups I have been listening to the longest. Excellent band, I still love them.

 

No, as I didn't buy it from the official shop I didn't expect one. Sorry for being so confusing

A couple are out already. I've seen Watch, Criminal Tango and Masque in a MediaMarkt, as well as the two Chapter 3 albums (which aren't part of the box set).

If Angel Station kept its initial momentum up to the last second, it'd have to be my favourite album. There's so much I love about the first side and the beginning of side two. Really mesmerizing.

 

I was just listening today and realized how similar the 1976 album "Strange New Flesh" from Colosseum II sounds to prime era MMEB. Especially side 2. Released the same year as The Roaring Silence and on the same record label (Bronze) haha. If you've not heard it, I recommend picking it up!

 

Resurrection may not be the most striking album ender one could imagine, to put it nicely, but other than that, Angel Station is a fantastic album - one of the highlights of 1979 in my book.

 

Fans of frantic Moog action in particular should take a note! But, all in all, a good call. I would probably never have picked up on that connection myself, but now that you mention it, I could easily imagine CII sitting down and paying close attention to MMEB's take on Father of Day before plotting on how to tackle Joni Mitchell's Down to You. Yes, a great album indeed!

 

Interesting. I'm a huge fan of Gary Moore but Colosseum II is one of his phases I haven't checked out yet. One thing I keep thinking about is whether Rush listened to MMEB. I mean, there are several spots on Nightingales & Bombers that make me think "Tom Sawyer" and "Xanadu". Am I the only one hearing this?

 

Some (especially unique single versions and non-album tracks) might see the light of day again on a future compilation or compilations but please don't hold me to that. I am the last to know anything and all I can do is try and throw out the odd idea or two and hope it sticks.

I believe only the initial first run of 1000 had Manfred's signature, there have been a good few more runs since then so I am told so if you are getting it new you won't get a signed copy.

 

Ah, OK. Would probably be a bit much to expect poor Manfred to sign more than 1000!

 

It might have even been the first couple of hundred sold through the website. I must confess I don't know the exact number that was signed but I was told the first run was about 1000 or so of the boxes and they sold out quite quickly.

 

Danke dir !

 

Does anybody else dig "Chance" from 1980? I really have a soft spot for that one even though I'm a prog rock fan. Fun album.

 

The first half yes, the second half not so much

Neue Remasters beim Konzert in Fürth gesehen:
Glorified Magnified
Solar Fire
The Good Earth
Nightingales & Bombers
The Roaring Silence
Watch
Angel Station
Chance
2006 (!)

 

Super ! Vielen Dank !

 

After a MMEB hiatus I listened to Watch again and I'm redigging into the box set again, also listening to what I might have missed before. I really love the mastering.
Perfectly crankable and well-balanced.
I finally get around reading the 'diary' as well. Great stuff.

The set got more expensive in two years, so be quick!

 

I generally agree on the mastering, however IMO "Messin'" sounds terrible. I snagged the old remaster at the concert in Fürth and while the "Black and Blue" intro is unfortunately missing, the sound is much better.

 

I got the Odds & Sods box set* and I was surprised at how many single versions it includes - apart from sounding better, overall, than both the 1998 and 2011 remasters (it was mastered by Andy Jackson, heck!) that pretty much satisfies my demand along with the old remasters of "Messin'" and "Somewhere in Afrika" (Steve Hoffman forum symptom!). They also had the old "Plains Music" but I wasn't so keen on rebuying that one even if it has two exclusive bonus tracks as well.

I'm still missing 23 tracks but most of them are just single versions...

1. Living Without You (Single version mono)
2. California Coastline (Single version mono)
3. Mrs. Henry (Single version mono)
4. Meat (Single version)
5. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Single Version)
6. I'll Be Gone (Single Version)
7. Earth Hymn Part 2a (Single Version)
8. Spirits In The Night (Single Version)
9. A Fool I Am
10. Adolescent Dream (Single Version)
11. Lies (Through The 80s) (Single Version)
12. Man In A Jam
13. Eyes Of Nostradamus (Single Version)
14. Tribal Statistics (Single Version)
15. Do Anything You Wanna Do (12'' Version)
16. Going Underground (Alternate Single Version)
17. Telegram To Monica (alternate version)
18. Joybringer (extended version)
19. Geronimo's Cadillac (7” single version)
20. Geronimo's Cadillac (12" single version)
21. L.I.A.S.O.M.
22. Medicine Song (re-mix)
23. Tumbling Ball (single version)
24. Tumbling Ball (Radio Mix) * 3:29
25. Tumbling Ball (Alternate Version) * 6:08
26. Footprints (Radio Mix)

(* actually it's the 2014 repackage in book format with the dull black backside - a shame that none of the errors in the liner notes have been corrected, and there's quite a few of them)

 

On "Black and Blue" - from "The Best of MMEB Re-Mastered Volume II":

"This track gained controversy when on the remastered "Messin'" album we used a master which had the first part of the song missing! We have since found a complete version, so here is the whole song remastered for the first time." While it's not optimal, at least I won't have to splice the different song parts together to create an ultimate version of "Messin'".

Also on "I (Who Have Nothing)":

"We got so much grief from the fans for not putting this on Volume 1, I have had so many letters and e-mails on the subject I have long since lost count, and the song has been a constant source of debate on the Manfred Mann web site, so we had to include it here. Taken from vinyl as the master tapes have probably been lost forever [...] it almost made it onto Volume 1 but we were still convinced that we would find the master tape." The credits say that Greg Russo supplied the clean copy of the vinyl single. I wonder if the Odds & Sods set uses the same source?!

Finally on "Father of Day":

"This is the master of the original single version which was unavailable when we did Volume 1." Also when they did the "Solar Fire" remaster, which is why a new edit was created that later re-appeared on "The Complete Greatest Hits of Manfred Mann" and therefore always gets played on the radio! It's a shame because the original single version is far better and actually not just a single edit, but instead has quite a few new guitar overdubs.

The set still includes a couple of songs that aren't available anywhere else:
Eyes of Nostradamus (7" single version)
Tribal Statistics (single version)
Man in a Jam (b-side)
Father of Day (original single version)
Tumbling Ball (single edit)
Tribute (single edit?)

And if you don't have or don't want the old remasters, it's the only other place to get the single version of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and the 12" single version of "Do Anything You Wanna Do" (which is incorrectly described in the liner notes as having never been released before on CD).