Customer Reviews

Roaring silence

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before the 'Blinded by the Light' single was released, Manfred Mann had largely been forgotten by mainstream audiences, written off in history as a mid-60s English pop success. This was wrong in two respects: first, he's South African, and second, he had built a band with progressive leanings that was attracting a small but growing following.

This is one great record, and brings back many memories of my schooldays. 'Blinded by the Light' magnified the Earth Band's audience a thousand-fold, but strangely I wouldn't say Springsteen was a big influence on the band, judging by this album. Mann had a good ear for the prevailing music of the era, and the duelling guitars in the instrumental section of 'Blinded' owe more to Thin Lizzy's JAILBREAK than to 'Born to Run'. Similarly the classical feel of 'Road to Babylon' follows the path that Alan Parson's TALES OF MYSTERY & IMAGINATION had opened up the previous year. And 'Starbird' wouldn't have seemed out of place on the Brand X album, UNORTHODOX BEHAVIOUR.

But for me, and several of my contemporaries, the stand-out track is the instrumental 'Waiter, There's a Yawn in My Ear'. I know this track was derided in one review here, but for me, it's the tune that makes this album an absolute must-have. For us teenagers, locked into a rural boarding school, it was one of those wonderful Saturday night foot-tappers, where you'd pound out the rhythm with your hands on a desk, on your knees or anyone else's. This track was the reincarnation of Golden Earring's MOONTAN, one of those perfect albums that the Dutch band never managed to replicate. Dave Flett's guitar solo could have been executed by George Kooymans.

I suspect that the Earth Band's greatest problemin the end was that their most distinctive asset was not Mann's keyboards-playing or his compositions, nor either of the guitarists. It was Chris Thompson's voice. Lose that, and the singles-buying public would never be able to tell the band from any of the hundreds of other wannabees. And eventually the Earth Band did lost Thompson.

But this is how we love to remember the band.

I hunted high and low for this album. My brother and his mates used to play it over and over again in the flat where we used to smoke the stuff your mum or dad never had in there cigarettes.

Now I am 37, married, have a daughter and a mortgage and am not the svelt young man I once was and cant afford or really want to have a smoke.

But I can still put this album on and close my eyes and remember the perfect waves at Cronulla Point, the long hot days in summer and the smell that makes dreams.

A truly classic piece of music from a classic era.

With this album, the Earth Band briefly attracted the attention of those who were into progressive rock during the second half of the seventies. The band had made enormous progress in the course of five previous albums, and had got themselves a new singer, who would turn out to be the greatest contribution to their success. Then again, The Roaring Silence is not a masterpiece. The Earth Bands best album is enjoyable, but it has its flaws. The instrumental 'Waiter, there's a yawn in my ear' may appeal to the more specialised tastes, but it drifts far away from the overall feel of the album. And then there is 'Starbird', a shameless, low key chant based on the main theme from Strawinski's Firebird Suite. I mean, how can you steal one of the greatest tunes in classical music and credit it to yourself?? It's a miracle Mann did't get sued for this offence. On the other hand, The Roaring Silence contains great things, like 'Blinded by the light', an ace example of picking up a good tune and making it better, 'The road to Babylon' and the sensitive 'Questions'. Also, it's nice to find the additional track 'Spirits in the night', although it doesn't feature Chris Thompson but the guy he replaced, Mick Rogers. So, four stars it is. The Earth Band did not succeed in keeping up this level of artistic quality after this album and faded into oblivion. The Roaring Silence is the album you should have in your collection, even though it is not the album they could have made. It is almost there, but not quite. A case of 'Didn't we almost make it this time ...'

Released in 1976, this great album from Manfred Mann's Earth band introduced a new lineup and explores a somewhat softer side that was not present on excellent albums like Solar Fire (1973) and Nightingales and Bombers (1975). The Roaring Silence also featured the bands smash hit adaptation of Bruce Springsteen's Blinded by the Light, which placed them at the number one slot in America. Although I have personally grown weary of hearing this radio staple, the remaining material on the album is excellent and very interesting as well.

The lineup includes Manfred Mann (Hammond organ; electric piano; mellotron; mini-moog synthesizer; string ensemble; end vocals on Blinded); Chris Hamlett Thompson (lead vocals; electric guitar); Chris Slade (drums and percussion); and Colin Pattenden (electric bass). Joining the core group is a group of backup female vocalists; a formally trained choir comprised of male and female vocalists; in addition to string, woodwind, and brass players. The guys in the band are all great musicians and I especially like Manfred's synth choice - he prefers the warmer tone colors. Of course, his use of mellotron is a huge plus in my book and the string synthesizer really works well. The choir is excellent and is featured on Babylon. Chris Thompson's vocal style is more in keeping with hard rock, but he tones back on the quieter tracks (Chris favors a harder edged guitar sound).

Stylistically, this album is a toughie - in fact musicologist Edward Macan has referred to this band as "unclassifiable". I personally hear a mix of blues-based hard rock, soft rock, spacey progressive rock, and a tiny smidge of jazz rock. The neat thing is that just when you think that a piece falls into a predictable style; the group goes in a completely different direction, although they pretty much stay in progressive territory. In general, the music on this album is what I would refer to as being "subtly complex" - there is a lot going on in each piece, but it does not hit you over the head.

I won't go into too much detail describing their cover of Blinded by the Light - suffice to say that it is a progged-up version of a Bruce Springsteen tune that was immensely popular. My favorite part of the track is when Manfred starts playing Chopsticks ("The Celebrated Chop Waltz" by Euphemia Allen) in the middle of the instrumental break - it is pretty funny. Singing the Dolphin Through (written by Mike Heron) is the odd track out on the album - this is a soft ballad with female backup singers and mellotron (with string tape setting) pads here and there. Although I do not mind the piece one bit, other prog fans have a problem with it. In addition to these tracks, there is a great (live) proggy instrumental (Waiter, there is a Yawn in My Ear); and a series of pieces with progressive flourishes, more rocking sections, and spacier sections (particularly the nice, mellotron heavy ballad Questions). Starbird is cool in that the entire track seems to be loosely based on a single theme from Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite -Yes would open their shows with this excerpt. The choir parts on Starbird are excellent. Other nice moments include the opening to Babylon - this piece opens with the real choir, which is then augmented with Manfred on mellotron (with the choir tape setting).

This remastered version of the album by Cohesion/Creature/Petbrook is pretty good and features crisp sound quality (although there are some quirks on Blinded by the Light); and informative liner notes. The bonus tracks include Spirits in the Night (which was originally recorded for Nightingales and Bombers and appeared on the US version of the Roaring Silence); and a single edit of Blinded by the Light. Both tracks are OK, although they do not add much to the original album.

As a hardcore prog rock freak, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this album and would recommend it along with Solar Fire and Nightingales and Bombers. One other album that might prove enjoyable includes Nexus (Argent, 1974).

I bought the album as a cassette many years ago and I literally wore it out listening to it. I have to replace it with a CD. Besides the old favorite "Blinded By The Light," there are other great songs such as "Babylon." Even if you never cared for the old Manfred Mann in the days of the Mighty Quinn, check this one out. It's different, and it's great.

Manfred Mann has grown a lot in this album, if you're still thinking of the old do-wa-diddy days. This is an excellent album that not only showcases the band's unique talents, but is full of thought-provoking lyrics. Of special note along this line are the tracks "Questions" and "Singing the Dolphin Through." These two tracks are not only good music, they'll make you think about your place in the universe.

I consider this a great album, well beyond the popular cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded By The Light." The music is a unusual mix of rock, synthesizers and gravely vocals. The overall effect might be called mystical, especially on tracks like "Singing The Dolphin Through" and "The Road To Babylon." Another favorite of mine is "This Side Of Paradise." All of the songs are memorable and the only one I'd skip is the frantic instrumental, "Waiter, There's A Yawn In My Ear." I was glad to see this album finally out on CD after many years.

The CD contained in the package received is the one I required, but the artwork (front lable) is relevant to another title: WATCH.

Nevermind, the musical content is what I listen to.

You should buy this album just for "Singing the Dolphin Through". It features female vocals in the chorus, a beautiful underwater-like atmosphere and even some high-pitched dolphin effects to show you why this band was so talented back in the day. Let's not forget the guitars and saxophone work too, which is equally as excellent.

"Blinded by the Light" is SO overrated. It's not really a good song. I have no idea why it became such a big hit, and I really can't believe people would actually buy this album just for that song, when the album offers *so* many better songs.

It's good that this CD has both the single and Lp versions of "Blinded bY the Light" which makes this worth the price of admission alone for anyone who played "air keyboard" as a young teen in the mid-70s. This is, at least, a healthy improvement over the Springsteen original and it takes skill to make nonsense lyrics sound like somethig profound. Only minor complaint is the unneccessary "chop sticks" solo in the long version of this sing.