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Thread: Manfred Mann's Earth Band

  1. #1
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    Manfred Mann's Earth Band

    Sadly not much talk anywhere really about these guys nowadays. They had some fantastic progressive rock albums. What are some of your favourite tracks?







  2. #2
    Great band - I prefer the Roaring Silence period onwards. Fav tracks - too many to mention but definitely California, Angels at the Gate, Martha's Madman, Questions.

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    Member Socrates's Avatar
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    Pluto the Dog

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    Also, was there a better R&R singer than Chris Thompson?

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    Member interbellum's Avatar
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    Many good songs. I prefer the rougher side of MMEB with Nightingales and Solar Fire.

    Time Is Right is played very often:


  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by ca1ore View Post
    Also, was there a better R&R singer than Chris Thompson?
    I saw them at the Tower in Philly in '76 I think. CT absolutely blew me away with his impassioned performance of Springsteen's "For You." Great memories. Great stuff.

  7. #7
    Old man of prog
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    The Dylan cover "Father of Day Father of Night". Guitar solo by Mick Rogers is ferocious!!

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    Fat Nelly !

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    Ordinary Idiot Superfly's Avatar
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    Really got into them back in "high" school. 'Time is right', hell yeah, love that whole album, in fact, played Nightingales just last week at work and blew away one of my co-workers with it. 'The Good Earth', start to finish, one of my favorite albums of the 70's.
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    Sky High, Spirits in the Night, Visionary Mountain, Nightingales & Bombers, Buddah, California, Questions, Crossfade, Father of Night

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    Earth Hymn is great track also. Mercury the Messenger, Earth Circle parts 1 & 2.

  12. #12
    Old man of prog
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    Quote Originally Posted by grego View Post
    Sky High, Spirits in the Night, Visionary Mountain, Nightingales & Bombers, Buddah, California, Questions, Crossfade, Father of Night
    "Visionary Mountain" - awesome!

    Mick Rogers is/was such a talented guy. Reminds me of Ollie Halsall in terms of being under appreciated. I think Downbeat calls it TDWR, "talent deserving wider recognition". Rogers' guitar playing was so emotional and deftly executed. His voice wasn't great but it totally worked. They replaced him with Chris Thompson for "Spirits in the Night" single and it just wasn't the same. Was disappointed that Rogers just flamed out after Earth Band and then Aviator. The guitar solo on "Father of Day, Father of Night" is one of my all time favorites. Sad.
    Last edited by progmeister; 11-11-2015 at 08:14 PM.

  13. #13
    I remember when I first got The Roaring Silence I was rather disappointed by it. Loved the A-side but was disappointed by the flip. Upon upgrading to CD, I really have to wonder what the Hell was wrong with me! This is a superb album from start to finish, and truly deserved its commercial success! My original vinyl copy was the one with the alternate blue cover and the remixed single version of “Spirit in the Night” with Chris Hamlet Thompson’s vocals overdubbed over the top.

    From the Mick Rogers era I like The Good Earth and Nightingales & Bombers. I don’t think Solar Fire is all it’s cracked up to be, but it is their first really solid disc. The first half of Messin’ I really enjoy, but when it gets to Side 2, I kind of want to throw it out of the window.

    Quote Originally Posted by ca1ore View Post
    Also, was there a better R&R singer than Chris Thompson?
    Absolutely agreed. He’s a force to be reckoned with. I wish I liked more of the MMEB albums featured him better, but they kind of slipped into mediocrity after The Roaring Silence. Reminds me of the completely ass-backwards review of their output from the Rolling Stone Record Guide (probably from the perpetually clueless Dave Marsh) awarding four stars to their debut and giving mediocre/poor rankings to everything else. Not to mention lamenting Thompson’s “poor vocals.” Were we even listening to the same music?
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    I have only heard a handful of albums but The Roaring Silence is my favourite by a long way. Somehow there's more personality about it compared to some of the preceding albums which I personally sometimes find a bit 'generic prog'. Beyond the hit, I think 'Questions', 'Singing The Dolphin Through' and 'The Road To Babylon' are all first-rate.

  15. #15
    I love MMEB. They really hit their stride in the mid-70's. My favorite album of theirs is "The Good Earth." Side 2 is the bomb.

  16. #16
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    my faves (no particular order):
    Solar Fire
    Nightingales
    Roaring Silence
    Angel Station

    up next (still no order):
    Watch (this one went down a notch recently)
    Messin'
    Chapter III vol I
    Chapter III Vol II

    up next:
    Good Earth
    Magnified
    Eart Band (debut)
    Somewhere in Africa


    last:
    Chance
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  17. #17
    So much good stuff through the years.

    Manfred Mann is a very tasty synthesizerplayer.

  18. #18
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    This is a band that I have grown to love much more these days, then it did when I was younger. Favs are Nightingale & Bombers (the best!), Roaring Silence, & Solar Fire. MM was one of the best mini-Moog players I have ever heard.

    Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I recently read an interview with Manfred Mann and he was very much ragging on his 70's career, and was only interested in the music he is currently making. He sounded very bitter that he didn't achieve the success of his contemporaries of the time, and chucked it up to himself being a lousy song writer, only gaining success by using Bruce Springsteen songs. While there is some truth to that, I wish he would embrace those 70's albums as being under-rated rather than sub-par and play more of that music today in his live shows. He definitely seems to have abandoned almost all of it. I was very disappointed reading the interview hearing him slag his own work so much.

    Would love if he released a classic concert on CD, there is a dearth of it.

  19. #19
    Awesome band, great music, all eras!
    "Always ready with the ray of sunshine"

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Man In The Mountain View Post
    This is a band that I have grown to love much more these days, then when I was younger.
    That is very true for me too.

    Top 5 albums
    1. Solar Fire 73
    2. The Good Earth 74
    3. The Roaring Silence 76
    4. Messin 73
    5. Angel Station 79

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    Quote Originally Posted by yesstiles View Post
    I love MMEB. They really hit their stride in the mid-70's.
    Yea, five fantastic studio albums from 73 to 76 starting with Solar Fire and ending with Roaring Silence.

  22. #22
    Aug 08, 1974 - Farm Show Arena, Harrisburg, PA (w/ Manfred Mann and Blue Oyster Cult)
    Uriah Heep was the headliner but I think The Earth Band and BOC were both as good
    Damn this really dates me.

  23. #23
    good call. some great stuff. solar fire and nightingales were always my 2 faves

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    Chapter 3 debut and Nightingales are the best Manfred efforts for me...Chapter 2 album is fantastic, way ahead of it's time. It was amazing to hear such weak album, as Earth Band debut, after brilliancy of Chapter 3.

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    What are all these Chapter references?

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