Customer Reviews

Roaring Silence

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THE ROARING SILENCE is Manfred Mann's Earth Band's best studio album. The remakes of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirit In The Night" are mind-boggling, and such originals as "Road To Babylon", "This Side Of Paradise", "Starbird", and "Questions" are just as great. The only low points are the corny "Singing The Dolphin Through" and the overindulgent instrumental "Waiter, There's A Yawn In My Ear." Overall, though, this is a great album that, when purchased with THE BEST OF MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND, provides a terrific primer on this phase of Mann's career.

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 seen 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 will 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 had this years ago before CDs and it was and is one of my alltime keepers. The songs are great and the bands sound is so unique. This album is for anyone who likes a new sound that doesn't compare to any other artists.

Tripping down memory lane, sounds as good as it did when I was 18 (when dinosaurs and Fred Fintstone ruled the planet).

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 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.

I totally love this great song, Blinded by the light. It has a great guitar solo. I mean one of the greatest guitar solos ever
done. Listen to it.

Good Manfred Man Sound,but they have even better albums.
(f.ex Angel Station, Nightingales and Bombers, Solar Fire )

I'm sorry. I have to start my review on a sour and unpleasant note. I apologize but it has to be done. If I hear "Blinded By the Light" ONE MORE TIME!!! I will run around my house smashing my face in with a rolling pin like a Daffy Duck animation. I HATE that darn song! I've never liked it. I never could understand the meaning behind the lyrics (or make out what's being sung, for that matter) but that's beside the point. What FM radio has done to this song is simply incomprehensible. You can NOT beat one song into the ground for over 35 years! They've never stopped overkilling it either- I just turned on the radio a few weeks ago and heard it a couple MORE times on a couple different stations. Enough is seriously enough.

Now, the moral issue of beating one song into the ground is obviously the biggest reason I no longer want anything to do with this song, but another reason is because the rest of the album is actually pretty good so skipping over track one is an absolute must when *I'm* playing the Roaring Silence. No, I won't be playing this album several times a day like FM radio stations continue to smack us over the head with "Blinded By the Light" but well, every so often it's definitely worth pulling out and getting caught up in some pretty solid songwriting.

Let's discuss "The Road to Babylon". Interesting enough, despite the fact I've heard literally hundreds of 70's albums by this point, I'm surprised how closely the chanting in the beginning of the song reminds me of the Stones classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want". It's interesting because you'd think several bands would take advantage of such a nicely performed (and popular) idea, but in my experience at least, this hadn't been the case. Nobody besides the Stones and Manfred Mann admire a nice chanting introduction, I suppose.

Of course the Stones song is NOTHING like this (in fact, it's another victim of overexposure much like "Blinded By the Light"). "The Road to Babylon" has a solid vocal melody with a funky beat chugging along. It's good. I'm surprised how the guitar solo reminds me of the one from "Blinded By the Light" in a few spots. No biggie. More like a few guitar tricks come back for another round- not necessarily a ripoff or anything like that. This guitar solo has more feeling to it as well. You can feel it around the 4-minute mark when it starts getting intense.

This album contains my favorite Manfred Mann song EVER made. "Singing the Dolphin Through". Now doesn't this song perfectly capture what it's like to go scuba diving and playing with the dolphins in the ocean? Well I never actually did that before- the closest I will ever get I suppose is going to the Baltimore aquarium and sticking my face against the windows of the fish tanks! Anyway it SHOULD give you that underwater/"free to do whatever you want" feeling since the arrangements definitely try their darndest to illustrate that sensation. The female vocals just make it more heavenly. The verse melody... now THAT is one extremely fantastic vocal melody! A flawless song, and honestly, is it REALLY over 8 minutes long? Surprisingly yes, but it sure doesn't feel like it. That just goes to show how much my mind is able to absorb into its glorious atmosphere.

On another note, I find it interesting that the messy saxophone work at the end of the song is quite similar to the Van Der Graaf Generator track "Killer". The subject in that song is about whales and it contains a similar oceanic vibe, and they're a British band as well. I think there's a similarity between the two songs but I'll be darned if I can actually prove it. Both songs are nearly the same length too (just over 8 minutes).

Then you have songs like "Questions" which is just beautiful but closely similar to a Bloodrock song from their second album (called "Sables and Pearls"). That's just the intro though- soon the vocals morph into what can best be described as the perfect spiritual experience *imaginable*. "They answered my questions with questions, and they pointed me into the night". That's just a small portion of the lyrics- keep listening and you'll hear what makes the entire song so great. I'm almost ready to cry right now- that's how moving those vocals are. I had a feeling it would turn into a magnificent song the moment I heard it. It just has that feeling. Sure enough! Oh and WOW! I was NOT expecting the jazz/fusion of "Starbird!" That's exactly why I love the Mahavishnu Orchestra so much! Anyone who loves this song HAS to hear the Mahavishnu Orchestra (and their fairly popular Birds of Fire album).

Overall, I love the Roaring Silence. I just wish... you know! THAT song wasn't on here. It's a stinky, overplayed distraction and you know it!

I love 'The Road to Babylon' but am disappointed that every version I down load cuts the end of the song off. Why is this? It takes away from what I fondly remember of the song. Longer songs have been released without the end being cut off and it saddens me that this is done to such an awesome song. But aside from that, the song is as wonderful as I remember.