I have a soft spot for "Angel Station" since they covered "Waiting for the Rain" by Billy Falcon...anything that furthered the cause of Billy is definitely ok in my book...
NIGHTINGALES & BOMBERS rules and everything else from SOLAR FIRE through to CHANCE is great stuff. After that ... spotty at best. And I’ve got everything. Everything.
Oh yeah. They're a bit like Fleetwood Mac with several distinct eras that the uninitiated might think are not the same band. My favorites are: The Five Faces of.... great, spirited rocking white boy r&b from 1964. A very unique and underlooked album. Mann Made Up The Junction - incredibly tasty 1969 psych / jazz soundtrack The Good Earth - awesome 1974 hard progressive Nightingales & Bombers - 1975, same The Roaring Silence
Saw them 2x at My Father's Place in NY! One of those shows also had Argent as 'co-headliners', whatanight!!!
for me MMEB are best when featuring either Mick Rogers on lead vocals / lead guitar or later Chris Thompson on lead vocals / guitar (they are both featured on the album 'Criminal Tango') A) the first main MMEB era is featuring Mick Rogers 1971-75 albums; MMEB - 1972 Glorified Magnified - 1972 Messin - 1973 Solar Fire - 1973 The Good Earth - 1974 Nightingales and Bombers - 1975 while 'Joybringer' was a stand alone rare UK hit single in 1973 and is on compilations notably a MMEB 1971-73 LP B) second main era features Chris Thompson on lead vocals / guitar albums; The Roaring Silence - 1976 Watch - 1978 Angel Station - 1979 Budapest (Live) - 1984 some notable singles include; 'Lies (Through The 80's)', 'For You', 'Tribal Statistics', and 'Runner' - which were sung by Chris Thompson (these can be found on a couple of albums notably 'Chance' where Chris is one of several lead vocalists featured) C) featuring Mick Rogers lead guitar (one lead vocal) & Chris Thompson lead vocals Criminal Tango - 1986 both Mick and Chris in turn feature on some vintage live album sets later issued on CD too the guy saying the vocalist sounded different might have had a DVD with another lead singer as a number feature on other albums including Noel McAlla but for me it's either Mick Rogers or Chris Thompson who are THE Lead vocalists for MMEB - like Paul Jones then Mike d'Abo were for Manfred Mann back in the sixties But that's only my view - MMEB have made acclaimed albums featuring other singers of course
New archival releases (CD/LP) coming scheduled for May 10, 2019... Manfred Mann's Earthband - "Live at the BBC 70-73" Ashes To The Wind / Black Betty / Happy Being Me Living Without You Big Betty Mighty Quinn (#1) Meat Mighty Quinn (#2) Dealer Glorified Magnified Messin (#1) Get Your Rocks Off Cloudy Eyes Father of Day, Father of Night Solar Fire Bubblegum and Kipling (Earth The Circle, Part 2) Mercury, The Winged Messenger Buddah Messin (#2) Father of Day, Father of Night (Medley) Mighty Quinn (#3) Manfred Mann Chapter III - "Live Sessions & Studio Rarities" Sometimes Time One Way Glass Bluesy Susie Jump Before You Think Breakdown Konekuf (Mono Demo) Time (Mono Demo) Happy Being Me (Mono Single Master) Devil Woman (Stereo Single Master) Train Crash So Sorry Please Chips Broken-Glass Lives The Michelin Theme (Go Radial, Go Michelin) The Maxwell House Shake Ski “Full Of Fitness” Theme Sweet baby Jane The Gorge Venus In Furs – Main Titles Buried Treasure Something In The WatermelonParty Flashback Deadly Liaison Let’s Get Together Phantom From The Past Erotic Interlude Alone With Rita Excited To Death Musical Infidelity At The Party (Jump Before You Think) Fondling Venus Dreams Of Wanda Sexy Photo Shoot Bathtub Suicide Wanda Vs. Rita Returning To Instanbul The Sultan And The Slave Girl Strung Up To Die The Truth About Wanda Tombstone Revelation A Horrific Discovery Venus In Furs – End Credits Plus two additional BBC volumes of Manfred's original band covering Paul Jones (1964-66) and Mike D’Abo (1966-69) eras. Radio Days - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Rock Candy have just re-released the two albums by Chris Thompson's band Night. Not sure if they're anything like Manfred Mann's Earth Band (don't know their work beyond Blinded By The Light) but they're both highly enjoyable in their own right. The sleeve notes compare them to Fleetwood Mac, which I found a bit lazy. Yes they have Male/female lead vocals (Stevie Lange is the other singer) and super musicianship (from the likes of Nicky Hopkins & Robbie McIntosh) but to my ears at least, the bands are very different. Regardless, if you like Chris Thompson & haven't heard them, they're definitely worth a listen.
I like them. First time I heard them was back in the early sixties when they had a hit "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" My favorite LPs are Nightingales and Bombers and Angel Station. Somewhere in Africa is a good one too that has not been mentioned.. I have most of their LPs and they are well recorded sonically. The one song that I don't like much is "Blinded by the Light" and it is the only one I hear on the radio! Way over played.
One of the top LPs from the 1970s is Manfred Mann's Earth Band s/t (1972) This album is so good its scary , the opening hard pop of California Coastline , the metal funk of Capt.Bobby Stout & their cover of Dr.Johns "Jump Sturdy" combined with the band's finest Dylan cover,"Please Mrs.Henry a crushing hard rock gem complete with a screaming guitar solo... Add to that the band's Armageddon is coming molten metal "Prayer" & the hit single cover of Randy Newmans "Without You" which was another pop gem & everything else they recorded for the LP & you have a great underrated lost classic... When MMEB was released in 1972 I fell in love with the LP , the characteristics of pomposity that normally inhabit music of this genre were no where to be found on MMEB , because they kept a sense of humor to go with the musical genius... IMO MMEB was the groups finest hour & a top 20 greatest LP of the 1970s... I keep NM orig. LPs on my shelf constantly & I own the orig. & remastered CD... The LP obviously is best in SQ & the orig. CD is good...the remastered CD is loud & bright , but not a ear bleeder
I keep tellinv myself to look into this band more. The only thing I own, which I love is the Up The Junction record. I have a feeling that is not typical of them though. I must get some other stuff soon.
I regard Solar Fire as their best album, I was totally hooked when I discovered it about 15 years ago.
Manfred has been active in music since 1959 (60 years!) and will turn 80 next year. Amazingly he's still on tour and I wish him all the best. I saw MMEB live several times since 1980 and it's always been great, especially in 1980 and 1983 when they played sold out arenas here in Germany .
I finally got the 40th Anniversary box set. Well worth the price. My go to LP is Watch. Can't believe the 2 star AMG review. The songs Circles, Chicago Institute and California are worth 3 stars at least.
Long before I liked Bob Dylan, I was crazy about Manfred Mann's Father Of Night, Father Of Day. I still like them very much. The Roaring Silence is ageless.
Got ‘em both. These are by far the best sounding BBC recordings I’ve ever heard. Hands down. Diggin’ in RADIO DAYS VOLUME 4. Excellent.
Are those Creature Music remasters from 2014 a joke? Bonus tracks not on the CDs but downloadable from a website with the code printed in the booklet... and the quality for those digital bonus tracks is only 192 kbps MP3 Worst "remastered" experience ever. God damn it, Joybringer is one of favourites
Roaring silence is my favourite album by Manfred Mann,s Earth Band, It sounds wonderful on the first UK press vinyl....
