Manfred Mann

Solar Fire is one fine rock album with bits of progressive rock elements to make the experience even better.

For those of you who think Manfred Mann Earth Band's only worthwhile song was "Blinded by the Light", this album is NOT for you.

The title song is about as catchy and exciting as anything you've heard from the 70's, not to mention quite melodic and the kind of song that would be appropriate at dance parties or whatever. Dancin' with the ladies! "Father of Day, Father of Night" is VERY interesting how I originally thought the verse melody was clumsily-written and completely awful, but suddenly, it grew on me a LOT just a couple hours later when I played it again! Funny how that happens.

Make sure this album is a part of your 70's adventurous music collection.

Despite the long delay and higher price, I went ahead and ordered this from Amazon so I can replace the record I have had since I was in college. I don't know why Joybringer is listed as a "bonus track" when it was included on the original LP, but as long as it's on the CD I'll be happy. I can't recommend this music highly enough.

I just recently repurchased this album, and I am absolutely thrilled with the great sounds on it. When I was a kid back in 74 I used to love it, but then it disappeared, like so many things... The musicianship is great, every song develops into great musical expression, interesting guitar and organwork, phantastic. I am sometimes reminded of Gentle Giants contemporary music. Get it if you see it.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, This is agreat album. The Dylan cover Father,,, is worth all the space it takes up and Circle, Pluto, the title track and most of all Joybringer are classic. Manfred Mann might have better songs in his bag but no better album than this one.

A fine 1974 progressive rock album loosely, pretentiously and comically echoing Holst's Planets Suite. I recommend to fans of the ilk and era.

This CD is 62 minutes and 54 seconds long. I like the CD. I found songs like Blinded By the Light, Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn), and Circles to be some great songs. The other nine songs are good to listen to as well. I would not mind buying another CD of the group.

Blinded by the light is a hot-rodders anthem to a T, anyone with a blown 32' Milner Ford coupe or a hot-rod 57' Chevy knows the song by heart. The other songs are good but by all means are lacking.

Manfred Mann was a '60's Brit Invasion band with classic top 40 hits like, "Do Wah Ditty" and "Pretty Flamingo". But, also, Manfred Mann were one of the first to record Bob Dylan in a rock and roll context. Album cuts of Dylan songs were all over Mann Lps. Heck, Manfred Mann's biggest hit was a cover of "Mighty Quinn", a song to which no one else had access.

So no surprise that the '70's version of Manfred Mann, now called Manfreds Earth Band, would clomp onto the "new" Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen. And as just like it was in the '60's, Manfred Mann found a new way to interpret. "Blinded by the Light" was Manfred Mann Earth Band a huge hit, the first indication of Bruce as a hit, (with the fun huh? what did he say..cut loose like a douse?!) and then "Spirit in the Night"

This best of CD misses the the epic "On the Road to Babylon", and other favorites of Earth Band Lps. It has a bonus 45 scratched bottom 40 of Dylan's "You Angel You" and the oft covered Springteen "For You"

Sound is pleasant but not perfection.
Man o Mann wish it so.....

I can't believe all the moaning and groaning going on about this release! Those of you moaning about the first five lps not being represented here's the key; those lps were released on Polydor Records not Warner Brothers. The record company can only release what they have rights to. Those of you groaning about Quinn The Eskimo being a live version here's the other key; the pop band Manfred Mann of the 60s not the Earth Band of the 70s had the hit on Fontana records. All in all a fine representation of the Earth Bands time on Warner Brothers. If you want the other material by the many incarnations of the group might I suggest you pry open your wallets and buy the other fine Greatest Hits CDs. Before you complain about what is or isn't on a particular CD why don't you do a little research first and then buy. From what I've read here most of you don't know jack about the band, just a song you heard on the radio called Blinded By the Light that brings back some long forgotten teenage memory. If you want a great CD by the "Band" get Nightingales and Bombers. Now get back to your $5 cups of coffee and leave the real music listening to the rest of us.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a very underrated group. Sure, they have a #1 hit under their belt with a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Blinded By The Light.' But it appears that it's all they get credit for.

And that is a real shame. 'The Best of Manfred Mann's Earth Band' definitely serves it's purpose. It collects 12 of their best songs, including 'Blinded' and their other cover of one of Bruce's songs, the folky 'For You.'

I've read several complaints about the live version of 'Mighty Quinn The Eskimo.' Keep in mind that this is a track from Manfred Mann, not Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Yes, I too prefer the studio version, but Manfred Mann recorded under Capitol Records, while Manfred Mann's Earth Band was signed to Warner Bros. Records.

Overall, if you want to discover one of the most underrated bands of the seventies, definitely pick this one up. This is probably all you will ever need from MMEB.

Recommended for any lover of underrated classic rock.

ANGEL STATION is a great CD by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Some critics claim that when Mann formed his Earth Band, he went in over his head, but that is mistaken, because, unlike his work with the Manfreds, his 70s/80s albums are actually the work of a mature artist fully realizing his talents. Mann's (and singer Chris Thompson's) belief that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia since 2005 on drug-smuggling charges was unjustly convicted makes ANGEL STATION an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.

This remaster looks to not have the naked bat-woman's breasts covered up as in original American releases. The new Manfred Mann lineup doesn't skip a beat with this effort. As usual Mann uses a collection of top-notch songs re-worked as only the master-arranger can delivering a dark, mysterius effort.

I think this album is at least the equal of "Roaring Silence." The songs are memorable and infectious - they stay in your head for hours. While this is an Earth Band trait, it's also the hallmark of a "good" song. I'm not a fanatic about my music - I just know what I like, and this album is certainly on that list.

This is a classic! For all you intelligent rock fans, this album is a must-have! I first listened to it from a friend's vinyl copy 19 years ago and it has never failed to amaze me all these years! If there's an album that comes close if not equal the great works of The Alan Parsons Projects' "Tales of Mystery & Imagination" or Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon," this enigmatic and hypnotic album is it! If the melodies and tunes take you to the heavens and the far reaches of space, stay calm. Angel Station will bring you back to earth. Thank you, Manfred Mann's Earth Band!

I first heard this album 19 years ago from a friend who lent me his vinyl copy. If there's a group that comes close to the progressive rock works of the Alan Parsons Project's "Tales of Mystery & Imagination" or Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon," then Manfred Mann's "Angel Station" is it! No less, a classic and masterpiece in its own right! A definite must-have for any self-respecting and intelligent rock fan. If the melodies and tunes take you to the heavens and the far reaches of space, stay cool. "Angel Station" is there to bring you back to earth.

Note that the song list for the MP3 version is different from the CD version. That said, this is a great album with the Earth Bands usual excellence in song writing and performance. No dogs here.

I had purchased the Roaring Silence when it was first released on vinyl and enjoyed it thorougly then. I enjoyed the CD as well. This work will be a good addition to your collection if you are a progressive rock fan. My personal favourite is the instrumental Waiter, there's a yawn in my ear.

I sold my first LP copy some years ago. I'm not sure why, now. I must have been desperate. So a year or so ago, I bought my second LP copy, used, cheap. This time it included "Spirits in The Night", another decent Springsteen cover, after "Blinded By the Light". The problem was the album sequence (this on the LP, not the CD) They put "Spirits" in the MIDDLE of the best transition between tracks on the album, and one of my favorite transitions on ANY album- between "Road To Babylon" and "This Side of Paradise" - ruining that wonderful transition.

Who's bright idea was THAT LP song placement? SO, last weekend I bought another LP copy of the original configuration, without "Spirits in the Night"...I note that on the CD release, they wised up and moved "Spirits in the Night" almost to the end (only followed by the singles version of "Blinded By the Light").

I first heard this one in early 1977, and I played That Cassette Tape until it Melted. I knew all about these Guys because I had saw them at Winterland in 76 in the Middle Spot {But I can't remember who the Headliner was that Night}. They were really Great in Concert, and maybe someday a Double CD Set while become available to prove it to The World.

For me this is just One of the very Best Records of The Seventies. The Earth Band was Smart and could play long pieces of Music that were never Boring or Tedious, when this Band soared you felt Lucky to be along for the ride.

Years later when I heard: "Blinded By The Light" by Bruce Springsteen, I thought he had stolen it from The Earth Band. Like Hendrix and "All Along The Watchtower", this version of: "Blinded" is still the Real One for my Toothy Ears.

"Singing The Dolphin Through", "Road To Babylon", "This Side Of Paradise" and "Starbird". It's just one great tune right after another. Manfred and his Men had made Albums before this one, and they would go on to make a bunch more in it's wake, but this wave was a Crest. For me it stands alone as One of the greats of The Seventies...Put this One in your ears...FOUR STARS !!!

I Highly Recommend this re-master of this album. It has great sound & a few bonus tracks to boot, so if your a fan of Manfred Mann's Earth Band, I Highly recommend getting it! What Are Ya Waiting For? Search "Judemac Forever" on msn.

This CD is 62 minutes and 54 seconds long. I like the CD. I found songs like Blinded By the Light, Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn), and Circles to be some great songs. The other nine songs are good to listen to as well. I would not mind buying another CD of the group.

Blinded by the light is a hot-rodders anthem to a T, anyone with a blown 32' Milner Ford coupe or a hot-rod 57' Chevy knows the song by heart. The other songs are good but by all means are lacking.

Manfred Mann was a '60's Brit Invasion band with classic top 40 hits like, "Do Wah Ditty" and "Pretty Flamingo". But, also, Manfred Mann were one of the first to record Bob Dylan in a rock and roll context. Album cuts of Dylan songs were all over Mann Lps. Heck, Manfred Mann's biggest hit was a cover of "Mighty Quinn", a song to which no one else had access.

So no surprise that the '70's version of Manfred Mann, now called Manfreds Earth Band, would clomp onto the "new" Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen. And as just like it was in the '60's, Manfred Mann found a new way to interpret. "Blinded by the Light" was Manfred Mann Earth Band a huge hit, the first indication of Bruce as a hit, (with the fun huh? what did he say..cut loose like a douse?!) and then "Spirit in the Night"

This best of CD misses the the epic "On the Road to Babylon", and other favorites of Earth Band Lps. It has a bonus 45 scratched bottom 40 of Dylan's "You Angel You" and the oft covered Springteen "For You"

Sound is pleasant but not perfection.
Man o Mann wish it so.....

I can't believe all the moaning and groaning going on about this release! Those of you moaning about the first five lps not being represented here's the key; those lps were released on Polydor Records not Warner Brothers. The record company can only release what they have rights to. Those of you groaning about Quinn The Eskimo being a live version here's the other key; the pop band Manfred Mann of the 60s not the Earth Band of the 70s had the hit on Fontana records. All in all a fine representation of the Earth Bands time on Warner Brothers. If you want the other material by the many incarnations of the group might I suggest you pry open your wallets and buy the other fine Greatest Hits CDs. Before you complain about what is or isn't on a particular CD why don't you do a little research first and then buy. From what I've read here most of you don't know jack about the band, just a song you heard on the radio called Blinded By the Light that brings back some long forgotten teenage memory. If you want a great CD by the "Band" get Nightingales and Bombers. Now get back to your $5 cups of coffee and leave the real music listening to the rest of us.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a very underrated group. Sure, they have a #1 hit under their belt with a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Blinded By The Light.' But it appears that it's all they get credit for.

And that is a real shame. 'The Best of Manfred Mann's Earth Band' definitely serves it's purpose. It collects 12 of their best songs, including 'Blinded' and their other cover of one of Bruce's songs, the folky 'For You.'

I've read several complaints about the live version of 'Mighty Quinn The Eskimo.' Keep in mind that this is a track from Manfred Mann, not Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Yes, I too prefer the studio version, but Manfred Mann recorded under Capitol Records, while Manfred Mann's Earth Band was signed to Warner Bros. Records.

Overall, if you want to discover one of the most underrated bands of the seventies, definitely pick this one up. This is probably all you will ever need from MMEB.

Recommended for any lover of underrated classic rock.

As mentioned in the subject, the price is great but thats about it. Some reasons for me saying so - the CD cud have had at least 5-6 more songs, cud hv had a better selection (more popolar songs of MM). Also, I found shortened versions of couple of the better songs!

This is the last whole album git.Mick Rodgers had been recorded,before re-joining
them in 90's.It's really look like he is leaving,not interested doing this type of music anymore.Anyway there are the mid-
seventies,music like that on albums "Messin'" or" Solar fire" is not fashionable,artists are looking in new directions.Manfred Mann's receipt for a succes (mixing his own material with others peoples good songs) is good.It will soon pay with huge hit "Blinded by the lights..."But here we are-not a big hit( "Spirits in the night"),some good music(instrumental)however not as good as previous album "Good earth"(one of my favourits)
Four stars because MMEB was a kind underrated band then (telling honestly album deserves only 3 stars)

I have the LP and grew up on this in college. I also found this to be a great workout set ! Fast moving up until the near the end. Manfred Mann did the best job on his version of "Spirits in the Night" IMHO. Definately a must have for 70s collections.

Bruce did a great job on this song, But Manfred Mann took it to another level. The same level as B.B.T.L.

this was the prelude to the blockbuster "the roaring silence"
which I feel was the breakthru lp. The line-up was the same
on both. Both hit singles are spingsteen covers and better
than bruce could have hoped for. My favorite cut is the 3rd
cut "quittin' time". The haunting guitar solo is one of my
all time favorites. These guys can really jam. I have always
liked Manfred Mann but this was there best.

i was recently going thru my old cassettes and found this album. i played it and WOW! the 70's came back with a bang.
on my 7.1 surround this album totally blew me away. buy it b4 it's gone.

Someone compared this album to The Zombies "Odessy And Oracle". Hardly, first, it is a collection, besides that, "Odessey" may be one of the greatest works of that era. A better comparison would be to the Hollies "Evolution". Although I prefer The Manfreds featuring Paul Jones, Mike D'Abo helped them turn the corner from a blues band to a pop act. His best work still is the loan album with Mike Smith of The Dave Clark Five. Also, he penned a great tune for Rod Stewart "Handbags And Gladrags". All in all, this is pretty good stuff if you like the British Invasion.

So sang Mike D'Abo as Manfred Mann rose to the top of the UK charts in 1968 for the third and last time. This compilation is book-ended by two Bob Dylan songs (Mighty Quinn, Just like a woman), both of which were among the seven top ten UK hits that Manfred Mann clocked up with Mike D'Abo as lead singer between 1966 and 1969 following the departure of the original lead singer, Paul Jones.

Another of their big hits, Fox on the run, has since become popular in bluegrass music circles. On reflection, it's easy to understand why - its simple, driving rhythm and the rural references in the lyrics makes it ideally suited for adaptation to that style of music. You may not be able to find many pop and rock covers of Fox on the run, but you'll find plenty of bluegrass covers if you look for them.

The other big UK hits during this period were Semi-detached suburban Mr James, Ha ha said the clown, My name is Jack and Ragamuffin man. Two other singles failed - Sweet pea (an instrumental cover of a Tommy Roe song) was only a minor hit while So long Dad (a Randy Newman song) missed the charts completely.

This collection includes all the tracks I've mentioned, together with eight other tracks, which were selected from among their album tracks and B-sides. You can, if you wish, buy a compilation (Ages of Mann - Greatest hits) that encompasses the whole period from 1964 to 1969, including all of Manfred Mann's major sixties hits with either Paul Jones or Mike D'Abo as lead singer, but this is the definitive compilation covering the Mike D'Abo era.

The track listing Amazon has for this seems to be wrong, or perhaps outdated. When I received this album, it was obvious this was quite different from what I expected... for example, "The Mighty Quinn" isn't even on here. Most of the other tracks mentioned here are on this album, but not in the exact order specified... and it's only 20 tracks. I'm not sure how they ended up with such inaccurate info on here.

The good news is that if you're looking for a good sampling of Manfred Mann's early stuff, this album is still a good choice... but if you're looking for "The Mighty Quinn," which is why I wanted it--I already had a different Manfred Mann collection, also lacking this song--you're out of luck.

Here's the *real* track listing:
1. Do Wah Diddy Diddy
2. Hi Lili Hi Lo
3. I Put A Spell On You
4. 5-4-3-2-1
5. Come Tommorrow
6. Hubble Bubble Toil and Trouble
7. If You Gotta Go-Go Now
8. You Gave me Somebody to Love
9. Oh No Not My Baby
10. Pretty Flamingo
11. Sha La La
12. The Way You Do The Things You Do
13. Stormy Monday Blues
14. Got My Mojo Working
15. Smokestack Lightning
16. Don't Ask Me What To Say
17. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man
18. Poison Ivy
19. My Little Red Book
20. There's No Living Without Your Loving

For a band that changed it musical style almost as often as its personnel, the output of Manfred Mann was surprisingly good across the various genre in which the band played. Beginning with the archtypical beat sound - right down to use of a Brill Building writing team for their first US hit - and then transmogrifying into a jazzy tempo, the group seems a heck of a lot better in retrospect than some of its fellow-travellers in the second wave of the British Invasion (when was the last time you tried listening to Freddie and the Dreamers?).

This splendid little album takes the very shrewd and erudite approach to chronicling the Manns by cutting its history before the band's hibernation and subsequent rebirth as Manfred Mann's Earth band.

You get it all here! The marvelous sitting-out-on-the-stoop emotional rocket launching of 'Doo Wah Diddy Diddy;" an intriguing little cover of 'My Little Red Book;' the more mature yet still emotive feelings elicted by 'Pretty Flamingo' and 'Semi-detached Suburban Mr. James, a somewhat toned down - but still bitter, nonetheless - lift of the thrust of 'Like a Rolling Stone.'

There is also pretty good version of Dylan's 'Just Like a Woman," which should not be taken as criticism, but rather a complement on the band's musical prowess...and, well, there is also 'The Mighty Quinn," isn't there? The band clearly shows its ability to interpret material.

All in all, a great album that can be listened to repeatedly for a really good time.