Nightingales and Bombers

Artist: Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Label: Creature
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 5019148619093
ASIN: B000025A3D

Release Date: 1999-07-04

Nightingales and Bombers

Related Categories:

General

| Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock

| Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

British Invasion

| Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Classic Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Tracks:

Spirits In The Night
Countdown
Time Is Right
Crossfade
Visionary Mountains
Nightingales And Bombers
Fat Nelly
As Above So Below (Recorded Live)
Quit Your Low Down Way (From US Release)
Spirits In The Night (Single Version With Mick

Similar Items:

Solar Fire
The Good Earth
The Roaring Silence
Masque
Glorified Magnified

Album Description

Digitally remastered from the original master tapes, this is a reissue of the hit English prog/ classic rock group's 1975 album featuring their smash remake of Bruce Springsteen's 'Spirits In The Night', plus the original cover art & two bonus tracks, 'Qu

Customer Reviews:

Excellent prog rock with great jams.......2006-08-26

It amazes me that I waited so long to get into Manfred Mann and his Earth Band. This is great stuff that blends a broad range of styles in a nice proggy mix. This 1975 album shows the band continuing in the vein of albums such as Solar Fire (1973), and as such features a few adaptations of popular rock songs in addition to original material.

The lineup on this album is regarded by a lot of fans to be the best and I certainly do not disagree: Manfred Mann (Hammond organ, mellotron, and synthesizers); Mick Rogers (electric guitars, vocals); Colin Pattenden (Rickenbacker bass); and Chris Slade (drums and percussion). The whole band is very good and there is some very tight ensemble work with great playing by all members. As a bassist who happens to own a Rickenbacker 4003, I was especially pleased to hear its distinctive thick and trebly sound throughout the album. In fact, the overall sound of this album is very proggy and there are some great vocals by Mick Rogers.

The opening track of this album is a cover of Bruce Springsteen's Spirits in the Night. Unfortunately (for me), I am not much of a Springsteen fan so even the progged up version did little for me although it is not bad. The other cover is Joan Armatrading's Visionary Mountains. This piece on the other hand is excellent, with wonderfully spacey and moody textures. My favorite tracks however, include the incredible instrumental track Countdown, although Time is Right is great too and fuses a slightly hard rock introduction with a great prog jam (the instrumental Crossfade is another piece that features a blistering prog jam). I think it's worth noting that the Manfred Mann compositions are much stronger than the cover songs on this album. Compositionally, the band was right on the mark and the performances are extremely inspired (that goes for the gruesome and macabre Fat Nelly too - the music is an incredible blend of prog with some jazz rock and is another favorite). Fat Nelly actually features structural elements that would turn up on the track Blinded by the Light (yet another Springsteen cover) from the followup album The Roaring Silence. The title track is quite a band tour de force and is an excellent composition with great synth work from Manfred.

This remastered album is fantastic (especially given the fact that I only spent $2.50 on the CD) and features great sound quality, the lyrics, and informative liner notes. The bonus track Quit Your Low Down Ways is not bad but is not up to the high quality of the tracks on the original album. I have already mentioned my problems with the Springsteen song, so the single edit of Blinded by the Light did nothing for me.

Nightingales and Bombers is highly recommended along with Solar Fire.

End of the original Earth Band, and an excellent album.......2006-07-18

Nightingales and Bombers, released in 1975 (on Warner Bros. here in the U.S., and on Bronze in the UK) marked the end of the original Earth Band (Mann, bassist Colin Pattenden, guitarist/vocalist Mick Rogers, drummer Chris Slade), after this it became more and more Manfred Mann and whoever he can find, especially after Watch. This time around, the Earth Band covered for the first time, a Springsteen song, in this case "Spirits in the Night". Springsteen at this time was an up and coming artist who just released his breakthough Born to Run, but it was obvious that Mann knew of Springsteen before then, as the original "Spirits in the Night" (as well as "Blinded by the Light" from the Roaring Silence) appeared on Springsteen's Greeting From Asbury Park, New Jersey. This out of the way: I am not a fan of Springsteen, but the Earth Band sure made this a vast improvement, in my book. It's also interesting to note that in 1977, the Earth Band re-recorded this song with Chris Thompson, and it got on the second LP pressing of the Roaring Silence in the US (which had a more blue-ish cover, rather than pink). But on Nightingales and Bombers, you get the original Earth Band recording, with Mick Rogers. They also did some instrumentals like "Countdown" and "Crossfade", I especially like the latter, especially with Mann's use of Moog. They also cover Joan Armatrading's "Visionary Mountains", and in there is a reference in the lyrics to "The Roaring Silence", which became the title of their next album. "Fat Nelly" is a great piece with that choppy organ which Mann would use again for their hit version of Springsteen's "Blinded By the Light". "As Above, So Below" is another great instrumental piece, and in the background is a taping of some nightingales, with bombers flying by during WWII, hence the album's title. For some reason, Bronze Records in the UK left out their cover of Dylan's "Quit Your Low Down Ways", but was included on the US LP on Warner Bros. Certainly another excellent album worth having.

this album defines space rock!.......2005-06-24

this is easily one of the top (prog) rock albums i've listened to (though it took some time for it to grow on me) and easily rivals the roaring silence as mann's best work. throughout the album the format of song followed by instrumental is maintained, which only reflects the instrumental capabilities of the band members (mick rogers is easily one of the most underrated guitar players in rock music). the album opens with a bang with springsteen's spirits in the night and what a cover it is! mann apparently is at his best when re-interpreting the songs of others, for the other highlight of the album is the cover of joan armatrading's visionary mountains where mick rogers unleashes one of the most expressive guitar solos i've ever heard. the instrumentals are not fillers but well composed/performed pieces of music which fits perfectly with the mood of the album. the mood and the atmosphere of this album defines space rock!

Unremarkable stuff but preparing the way for ROARING SILENCE.......2001-02-14

Listening back 26 years, it's hard to understand why the Earth Band chose its diverse musical styles. On the one hand, we have the Springsteen cover, 'Spirits in the Night' -- pleasant enough, but it went nowhere as a single. On the other hand, we get fusion tracks such as 'Crossfade', which owe much to such bands as Colosseum II and Larry Coryell's Eleventh House. Some of Mann's more discordant playing even sounds a little like Corea in his Return to Forever days.

This is material that would have appealed to the live audience of the early 70s, particularly at college, university and out-of-the-way English market towns that couldn't attract a bigger-name band. They went to the concert and then they bought the album. Such was the way that the Earth Band built its loyal following.

But after this album, things changed significantly for the band. Out went one guitarist (Mick Rogers), and in came another. And a wonderful new vocalist, Chris Thompson. And the band almost immediately broke into the big time with the single 'Blinded by the Light'. The keyboard intro to the appalling 'Fat Nelly' on this album prepares the way for the keyboard intro to 'Blinded'. And the live 'As above so below' is not that different to the yet-to-come 'Waiter there's a yawn in my ear'.

I don't understand what the relevance of the nightingale/bomber recording is to the music. It's shabby that no efort is made to name the guy who originally recorded it.

All in all, of very little relevance to anyone new to the Earth Band. As you'll see from the other reviews here, they're largely from fans who knew the band in the 70s, not new ones. Nostalgia rules, and why not?

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Swingin' for the Fences ~ Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band

Mingus at Antibes ~ Charles Mingus

Skin ~ Ruby Blue

Scott Joplin Complete Piano Works Volume One 1896-1902

Heaven ~ Don Diego

The Good, the Bad & the Queen ~ The Good the Bad & The Queen

Flutes de Terres Incas ~ Los Calchakis

10 Years ~ Kitaro

Global Women: Ethnic Songs From 14 Countries ~ Various Artists

Requiem Dub ~ Kazufumi Kodama