Manfred Mann's Earth Band Albums (17)
What The Critics Say
Manfred Mann's Earth Band's Alive in America was recorded in Boston to be syndicated for American radio. The tour followed the band's two albums, Nightingales & Bombers and the hugely successful The Roaring Silence. Mick Rogers had departed as the band's lead vocalist by this point, and was replaced by Chris Thompson, who had played on the latter album. Thompson is not as strong as a singer, but he does the job and the group is in fine form here. The quality of the sound itself leaves a bit to be desired but this is a wonderful historical document with Mann, guitarists Thompson and Dave Flett, bassist Colin Pattenden (who left the group shortly after), and drummer extraordinaire Chris Slade, who is as wild as Keith Moon if not quite as precise. The material is top-notch too: both "Spirit in the Night," and "Blinded by the Light" are here, as are reads of Bob Dylan's "Father of Day, Father of Night," and of course, "The Mighty Quinn." Also in this is mix is a rare track of the Earth Band performing Robbie Robertson's "Davy's on the Road Again." The three originals here -- "On the Road to Babylon," "Time Is Right," and "Captain Bobby Stout" -- are not throwaways by any stretch, but they are not quite the caliber of the covers. This entire set is fine and deserves a hearing or three. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
In 1992, Manfred Mann's Earth Band in its latest incarnation delivered a new album that retraced a few earlier steps and got closer to finishing some ideas that earlier incarnations of the band had begun. The result was Masque, a strange and beautiful (and strangely beautiful) mix of jazz, rock, classical, and pop sounds, drawing on compositions from Paul Weller to Gustav Holst. The most easygoing incarnation of cosmic rock, Masque melds elements of '40s pop (and even big-band swing), synth pop, '70s pop/rock, and classical into a quite beautiful whole that's as seductive as it is dazzling. Mick Rogers and Maggie Ryder's vocals are a potent combination, even plunging into Manhattan Transfer territory with a little studio trickery (on "Billie's Orno Bounce"), and Mann's keyboards and Rogers' guitars make a great lead instrumental combo as well. The strangest piece here, however, is "A Couple of Mates," in which Mann excerpts elements from several other pieces, including Holst's The Planets. The whole album is essential listening for anyone who's ever been a fan of Mann's work, or even of Gustav Holst's music -- even his remake of "Joybringer" (an adaptation of "Jupiter" from The Planets), which had previously been recorded by another version of the Earth Band, is distinctly fresh and startlingly beautiful, so much so that it was chosen to open the album, which is mighty impressive for a remade piece. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'Criminal Tango'
Release Date 1/1/1986
Tracks 13
Label Creature Music
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Somewhere in Afrika, an ode to Mann's home country of South Africa, contains a formula that is atypical of Manfred Mann's Earth Band sound. With rhythms that combine an African flavor with a modern rock feel, vocalist Mick Rogers takes over on vocals with the number 22 hit "Runner," released as the album's only single. Tracks such as "Demolition Man" and "Eyes of Nostradamus" are model Earth Band efforts, but the compelling material lies in songs such as "Lalela," "Koze Kobenini," and the title track, which conveys Mann's love for his birthplace without sounding overly pretentious or manufactured. The instrumentation is solid and free-flowing, with drums and other percussion work coming to the forefront while maintaining the group's atmosphere as a rock band. Somewhere in Afrika gave Manfred Mann's Earth Band their highest-charting American album since 1976's The Roaring Silence, peaking at number 40, but the tight musicianship and unrestricted layout of the music prove that the album should have placed much higher. ~ Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Manfred Mann's 1980 album is a strange mix of topical songwriting, progressive rock, and power pop -- from its opening seconds, the Earth Band is pressing serious messages and social commentary on their listenership amid swirling prog rock keyboards and catchy guitar hooks and choruses. The whole package is challenging in ways that should have put them on the cutting edge of rock music at the outset of that decade, but one suspects that Mann and company were too musically adept and sophisticated for their own good -- a little dumbing down and maybe a little less musicianship on display would have made them more accessible to the coming MTV generation. As it is, the album has held up remarkably well across a quarter century, however, even if it now seems an uncomfortably accurate warning of the way the world would go, in terms of politics and society, in the decades to come. It would also be three years before another Earth Band album was forthcoming, and that one would be steeped in world music sounds. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Vocalist Chris Thompson's last album with Manfred Mann's Earth Band is dressed up in Mann's beautiful keyboards. Angel Station has some key moments -- "You Angel You," a Bob Dylan tune that sounds nothing like Dylan, and not the way their Top Ten version of "Quinn the Eskimo"/"The Mighty Quinn" was reinvented. "You Angel You" has a strong hook with topnotch Anthony Moore production work, and it melts into the title track of Harriet Schock's landmark Hollywood Town album, the source of Helen Reddy's "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady." The Manfred Mann version is interesting, and explores the possibilities of the composition, though Schock's version is perfect country-pop and hard to top. It is nice to see a rock band with such good taste. "Angelz at My Gate," co-written by Manfred Mann, leads off side two and is another dreamy "angel" tune. It sounds mysteriously like "Games Without Frontiers," the Peter Gabriel radio hit from his 1980 third self-titled solo album. Now since this was released the year before, do you think Gabriel found inspiration from the grooves of Angel Station? While artists like Gary Wright and Jordan Rudess overwhelm you with the keyboards, Manfred Mann's are indeed the lead instrument, but he uses them to augment the vocals, not to overpower. The John Shaw-photographed album cover looks innocent enough until you turn it upside down -- there a female dark angel, in open black cape, exposes her breasts. So blatant, but upside down it probably went right by many retailers, and with no hit single, it probably didn't cause too much of a stir. It's interesting that, like Gary Wright, the Earth Band recorded for Warner Bros., yet both acts only eked out a couple of hit singles. As with Wright's Headin' Home LP, this 1979 album has more than its share of good material, both keyboard players being intuitive artists with credentials and past chart success. Despite good performances on Heron's "Don't Kill It Carol" and a simply wonderful cover of Billy Falcon's 1978 release, "Waiting for the Rain," this is yet another album that deserved a better fate. The rendition of the Falcon tune may be the best performance of one of that singer's compositions ever. The two Manfred Mann songs on side two are excellent: "You Are - I Am" is good and pleasant while "Resurrection" has lyrics that display clever sarcasm and religious -- or sacrilegious -- overtones. Angel Station is well-crafted music by an industry veteran. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
