Customer Reviews

Watch (Reis)

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

 

 

This is one of the albums i was most fond of back in high school and a
sentimental favorite that i keep coming back to. "Watch"
(MMEB's 8th) enjoyed greater success in continental Europe than in the
UK itself. Over the years it has become the band's no. 1 best seller
and is considered a classic rock album by both impartial observer and
devoted fan. Rising from the ashes of 60's pop ensemble Manfred Mann
(which ceased to be in 1969), this progressive rock group continued
from 1971 onward under the name of Manfred Mann's Earth Band. At the
time, "Watch" failed to sell as many copies as it should
have or receive the accolades it deserved. Due to the fact that this
1978 album generated no US hit singles, it spent only 6 weeks in the
American charts. In the UK it charted for 3 months, top 10 hit
"Davy's on the road again" proving the highest scoring of 3
single releases.

Like its predecessor "The roaring
silence" (1976), a breakthrough album famous for Springsteen's
"Blinded by the light", "Watch" consisted of no more
than 7 tracks. Even in a non-remastered version, its songs still sound
as vibrant and dynamic as any vintage, modern day recording. On the
whole it is a more commercial effort, with songs that are easy to get
into. I must admit that for the longest time i unwittingly disregarded
the vinyl album's 4 track A-side in favor of the trio of killer songs
on side B: "Davy's on the road again" (long version),
"Martha's madman" and Bob Dylan cover "Mighty
Quinn", a reworking of Manfred Mann's 1968 hit. During the
process of preparing for this review, i rediscovered the merits of
these 4 remaining tracks.

"Circles" is a champion opener
in typical Earth Band style that, halfway through the song, starts to
echo mid-70's Kansas. The "Drowning on dry land/Fish soup"
pairing works like a dream, a slow-paced pomprock song that follows on
the heels of an acoustic guitar/vocal intro. "Fish soup"
cuts in with a clever instrumental break and, leading up to the
reprise of "Drowning on dry land", a cracking, lengthy
guitar solo by Dave Flett. "Chicago institute" is a good
deal more uptempo, reminding me in places of their fantastic US hit
"The runner", while "California" is a nice
(semi)ballad, that should have done a lot better as the album's first
single release.

The inimitable Chris Thompson (one of Britain's
finest rock singers) excels throughout the album, as does South
African national Manfred Mann, who is at his stunning best on the
three near-epics i have pointed out, with some of the most riveting,
drop-dead gorgeous keyboard solos ever recorded. In fact, this album
more than any other is the probable root cause for my obsessive love
of the instrument in question, which continues to this
day. "Davy's on the road again" and "Mighty Quinn"
were recorded live with studio overdubs. The wonderful "Martha's
madman" (topping the reader survey's ranking of songs on the MMEB
website) has some of the most inventive lyrics imaginable.

My copy
is the digitally remastered version with 4 bonus tracks. The shorter,
edited version of "Davy's on the road again" has none of the
"live in concert" feel of the original.
"Bouillabaisse" (= "Fish soup") was the B-side of
the US single release "California" - both are
included. "Mighty Quinn" (also cut down to size) is a studio
version with an added live section at the beginning and as such
differs quite a lot from the album version. Whether or not these extra
tracks are worth the price difference is a matter of
opinion. According to the booklet, the band's stressful, hectic
schedule of constant touring and recording took its toll in late 1978,
resulting in MMEB's disbandment. It would seem that this was more of a
glitch than a serious breakup, for they bounced back quickly to
release a follow-up album (entitled "Angel station") no
later than 1979. Although i haven't heard all of their work (not by a
long shot, actually), it seems highly unlikely that "Watch"
could be surpassed by any of their other releases or future
recordings. Buy it and find out for yourself...

Another MMEB album
worthy of praise is the 1998 2CD "Mann alive", recorded at
various venues on the "Soft vengeance" European tour. Fans
of Chris Thompson's golden voice may also want to check out his
"Backtrack 1980-1994", a varied compilation album which
features 19 pop/rock tracks, including cover versions (such as The
Police's "Don't stand so close"), songs he wrote for other
artists (like John Farnham's "You're the voice") and those
he performed himself. My highlight of preference being the exciting
AOR track "Secrets in the dark".

Although THE ROARING SILENCE gets all the raves (and it's a great CD), WATCH is actually tied with it for the title of Manfred Mann's Earth Band's most consistent release ever. Like SILENCE, WATCH has only one weak song, and it's a shame that it failed to produce any hit singles in the US or the UK. In fact, I'd never even heard of this album until a friend suggested to me in 1994 that I sing along with it to vent my upset feelings. It was hard to take the advice, as the album was out of print at the time, but it made me think that it was help that would do me good if and when it came out on CD in this country at a reasonable price. Mann's (and vocalist Chris Thompson's) opposition to Indonesia's trumped-up 2005 drug-smuggling conviction of a young Australian tourist makes WATCH an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.

Manfred Mann at it!s best, unmistakable sound, perfect vocals. We strongly recomend this one together wtih Roaring Silence which is by far the best MM ever produced.

The song California alone is worth the price of admission. It is one of those sleepers that gets by and no one notices. What a crying shame.

This is an excellent album which I had on the "old black stuff" until recently, then I heard a track on radio two and thought I must get this on C.D. Fish Soup is an absolute classic. Way beyond the 60's MM.

The version of Mighty Quinn is funky in the style of Paul Rogers and Free rather than a tacky re-run.

Buy it. It's excellent. Ian.

The MMEB catalog has been remastered for this 2005 LP-mini-sleeve series, but, unfortunately, the results are not up to par with the 1999 Cohesion remasters.

When A/B'ing both versions, the Cohesion discs have more definition and clarity, most notably in the persussion.

So, the only reason for paying this high price is for the mini-sleeve itself. As most of the original MMEB LP releases were pretty simple cover designs, there isn't much justification for spending 3-4X over the Cohesion jewel-cased versions.

WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD?

Have you ever lamented the loss of one of the 20th Century's great art forms, the 12" vinyl LP jacket? Then "mini-LP-sleeve" CD's may be for you.

Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. The disc is packaged inside a 135MM X 135MM cardboard precision-miniature replica of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Also, anything contained in the original LP, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and/or die cuts, are precisely replicated and included. An English-language lyric sheet is always included, even if the original LP did not have printed lyrics.

Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2/K2HD, and/or HDCD), and can often (but not always) be superior to the audio on the same title anywhere else in the world. There also may be bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.

Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "obi" ("oh-bee"), a removable Japan-language promotional strip. The obi lists the Japan street date of that particular release, the catalog number, the mastering info, and often the original album's release date. Bonus tracks are only listed on the obi, maintaining the integrity of the original LP artwork. The obi's are collectable, and should not be discarded.

All mini-sleeve releases are limited edition, but re-pressings/re-issues are becoming more common (again, not always). The enthusiasm of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding fake mini-sleeves manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, a total waste of money, and should be avoided at all costs.