NIGHTINGALES & BOMBERS

One of my favourite as MMEB made a fortune out Springsteen's first lp before he did. Listen to the grandiose adaptation of Spirits in the Night and tell me that this is not a great nimber. Funnily most Springsteen and Dylan cover that MMEB did were more and more popular as their own material never had much success. Weird because if you listen to the rest of the albums there is many good stuff

A fine effort by MMEB and Mick Rogers' last album before he left the band for the first time. A superb interpretation of Springsteen's Spirits in the Night and my personal favourite is 'Time Is Right'.

This disc was one of my favorites. Time Is Right still rocks and sounds fresh today. Underated Mick Rogers plays some very tasteful guitar solos, no flash, but very emotional. He also has a great voice. The strangest part of this disc and it's follow up, The Roaring Silence, is the inclusion of cover tunes by Springsteen and Joan Armatrading. Hit material, no doubt, but the other tunes suggest a band very capable of writing for itself. Curious?

As Above So Below features the taped sounds of German Bombers flying over Surrey during WWII, as the person was attempting to record the voices of a flock of Nightengales. Hence the album title, yet one wonders why the tapes weren't used on the song Nightengales and Bombers? The 4 instrumental workouts have a high level of interplay between Mann and Rogers. Prog humor in Fat Nelly. Visionary Mountains is the MMEB equivalent of Floyds Great Gig in the Sky.

A great mix of well crafted tunes and blistering instrumental fusion work-outs.

This is progressive rock. Compared to other of his good albums, the bass is definitely better: more presence, more bottom, better played. The keyboards are unique and very good as always. I like the unique moog-like sounds here. The lead vocals are quite impressive. The guitar is maybe more timid here, and the songs are maybe less catchy despite very accessible.

Totally awesome, from start to the end. Spirits in the night by MMEB blew springsteens origional version away, and shows how unique at doing cover versions this band really is. This album to me is the very best album MMEB has ever made without a doubt. Mick rogers is on fire on this album, along with mann's keyboard work, and the rest of the muso's. (Sitting on a spinning top) well to me this album will never stop. I've had this album since it's release and still find a lot of time to play it. Super stuff.

What a nice rebound in my book to the lacklustre The Good Earth. This proved to be the last album with the original EARTH BAND lineup of Mann (keyboards), Mick Rogers (vocals, guitars), Colin Pattenden (bass), and Chris Slade (drums). For the first time, they covered a Bruce SPRINGSTEEN song, in this case, "Spirits in the Night" (which appeared on the Greeting From Asbury Park, NJ album). For some strange reason, the EARTH BAND decided to re-record that song in 1977 with Chris Thompson handling the vocals (and was included in later prints of The Roaring Silence). For some reason, the band went for a somewhat more bluesy direction, as "Quite Your Low Down Ways" demonstrates. There are a couple of nice instrumentals from MANN demonstrating his talents on Moog. "Fat Nelly" features that same choppy organ sound that would be revisited on their version of SPRINGSTEEN's "Blinded by the Light". It's nice to see the EARTH BAND rebound like this, but unfortunately my interest in the band stops here.

This is MMEB's most convincing album by a long shot. No disrespect to some of the other album releases but Nightingales and Bombers delivers such conviction in each and every song it is sometimes hard to believe this was released in 1975. BTW 1975 is the ultimate year for prog releases IMHO. ' Spirits in the Night' starts the album off on a slow beat with great lyrics ( a wonderful Springsteen cover ) Countdown, Time is Right and Crossfade are virtually one song meshed together but I have to agree with another reviewer here the clean, definitive sounds coming off ' Time is Right' are bound to get that adrenalin pumping!

The second side starts with the poignant ' Visionary Mountains', Joan Armatrading guesting on backing vocals, the albums continues to deliver with Fat Nelly, the title track and the live version of ' As above so below'. I keep referring to 1975 and well Oldfield released Ommadawn, PF released Wish You Were Here and MMEB were almost equals with this mesmerizing album, Nightingales and Bombers. I guess what I am trying to say is add this release to your collection if you are new to prog rock or for some weird insane reason you missed it first time round.

"Nightingales and Bombers" was a follow up to the musical trilogy of both "Solar Fire" and "The Good Earth" and a grand conclusion to this progressive work. "Nightingales and Bombers" again showcases some standout musical contributions and great song writing. In typical MANN style, this album contains 2 cover version (Springsteen's "Spirits In The Night" and Joan Armatrading's "Visionary Mountains". I love the musical rhythm combo of Colin Pattenden (bass) and Chris Slade (drums) while Mr. MANN (keyboards) and Mick Rogers (guitars, vocals) elaborate with instrumental creativity and proficiency. This album contains some pretty awesome sounding deep analog keyboard work and great guitar gamming. Overall one of my personal favourite albums by classic era MANN.

The birds and the "B's"

Probably MMEB's most progressive album with plenty of improvisation, and some damn fine keyboards and guitar. The title "Nightingales and bombers" is taken from a World War 2 incident where a bird watcher was recording the sound of some nightingales. As he did so, some bombers flew overhead. The resultant recording can be heard here within the track "As above, so below".

The album is notable as being the first to feature a cover by MMEB of a Bruce Springsteen song, "Spirits in the night". The band had of course covered Bob Dylan songs on previous albums so, with Springsteen being hailed by many at the time as the "new Bob Dylan", covering one of his songs was a natural progression. It's fair to say that at the time Springsteen was not widely known, MMEB's cover giving him some welcome exposure. Even Springsteen fans must acknowledge that MMEB's version transformed the song from a fairly nondescript ramble by Springsteen, into a classic piece of prog rock.

Once again the band demonstrated that their true strength lay in the identification of high potential material by other artists, and in the inspired interpretation of that material. The point is emphasised by the fact that in general terms, the bands own compositions tend to be the weaker tracks on their albums. It's all relative though in the case of "Nightingales and bombers", with even the band compositions being reasonably strong.

The distinctive tones of Chris Thompson are not to be found here, this being the last album to be recorded by the original line up. The band's later reworking of "Spirits in the night" with Thomson taking on vocal duties (available as a bonus track on "The roaring silence") indicates that he would have added a further dimension to the music. Mick Rogers singing though, while slightly rougher and less melodic, is nonetheless more than adequate.

"Nightingales and Bombers" was an excellent move towards what many consider to be the band's finest album, "The roaring silence". It demonstrates how Mann was becoming increasingly willing to experiment with different sounds and structures, while investigating the compositions of others and transforming them into MMEB classics.

Recommended.

I love the way Manfred Mann's Earth Band sounded in the mid-Seventies (74-76) during the sensational breaks featuring a propulsive rhythm-section, harder-edged guitarwork and short but sensational Minimoog soli with often an accellaration and use of the pitchbend-button. On this album Manfred Mann is accompanied by a dynamic rhythm- section (Colin Pattenden on bass and Chris Slade on drums) and, fiery electric guitarplay and powerful vocals (both Mick Rogers). The compositions (including two covers) sound powerful, dynamic and varied, the distinctive Manfred Mann's Earth Band sound is at its pinnacle, waht a stunning but underrated progrock classic this albums is!

This album is somewhat surprising. It is full of this lyricism and spirit that we are used to hear from Manfred Manns Earth Band, but it is all too easy to see what they were listening to at the time: Jazz Fusion.Weather Report and especially Mhavishnu Orchestra are 2 especially important influences here. A lot of Jan Hammer coming from Mann himself, the drums recalls to mind Narada Michael Walden, and the guitar is a lotof those key guitarists, mostly Pat Metheny. The chemistry of the band is good, but sometimes Mick Rogers seems out of place with his guitar work.He is very emotional, but it does not always fit with the atmosphere of the piece. Some Key Highlights are Spirit in the night and Visionary mountains, the first songs on both sides of the LP. Not an essential work, but a solid album worthy of picking up in your prog collection. 4/5

Manfred Mann Earth Band - one of my all time favourite bands in prog. This is the best album they ever put on tape. In my view this is more prog than previous 3, more keys, and again Manfred did a good and historical job. Of course, for many the highlight is the Springsteen cover Spirit in the night, but to me Visionary mountains is a damn good one, the rest is trully amazing, here the band is at it's peak. A trully masterpiece of the '70, with unmatch virtuosity of Manfred Mann, a fabulous keyboard player.

This album is the finest performance by an important rock band that really defined the use of the synthesizer , with South African Manfred Mann twirling his knobs & bending his notes with wicked abandon. Solar Fire was an exceptional recording but Nightingales really is the crowning achievement. Many fellow progsters rely on the absolute truth that Spirits in the Night is the reason why this album is held in such high esteem.Well, it's the easy way out really, because another cover , Joan Armatrading's "Visionary Mountain" blows the lid off any hint of doubt: what a song!!! The Mick Rogers/Manfred Mann duel collaboration is to die for, chock full of emotion, feeling and technique. Incidently, Rogers simply shines on this record , displaying a very unique style , bluesy yet raw. Too bad he faded away from view (a couple of Aviator albums and.... silence). Another shining moment resides in drummer Chris Slade's work throughout the proceedings but seriously displayed on Time is Right, where Mann's synth work dazzles again. This recording will remain on my top 25, desert island selection. Check out what the fuss is about, because this is a special prog masterpiece. 5 joysticks

This is one of my most favourite Earth Band recordings. The last album to feature the original line-up, guitarist Mick Rogers left soon after, but he goes out in a blaze of glory. Some truly inventive guitar playing lifts many of the songs into the stratosphere. Spirits in the Night (which was a big hit), Time is Right, Crossfade and Visionary Mountains all benefit from his fiery guitar work. The rest of the band are no slouches in the performance stakes either.

It's in the last quarter of the album that things go astray, Martha's Madman is ok but not that special. As Above So Below is decidedly weak however. It starts off well enough with a Moog solo from Mann but this doesn't last long enough, and the track just fades out leaving the recording of World War 2 bombers flying overhead with birdsong in the background. Considering this recording inspired the album name, the ornithologist meant to record Nightingales instead, they could have done something a bit more inventive.

Ultimately I guess this is a minor niggle. Make no mistake this is the Earth Band at their very best and 4.5 stars really.

You Are... One only as to listen to the track You Are, from the album Angel Station, to realise exactly what an album Nightingales & Bombers realy is. And I can honestly say with all my heart that this album and the one before it namely The Good Earth, are by far the best 2 albums this band ever produced. Both albums are solid, and when I say solid I mean that there is not 1 bad track on either of these albums. There is a lot of peeps out there, who will still say to this day that Solar Fire is this bands best output. But to me it's nowhere near as solid as the 2 albums, I have mentioned here.

I myself have every album this band as produced, apart from the compilation albums, because I dont believe in purchasing them type of albums, sepecially when you can make your own 10 times better. Manns Earth Band to me collapsed in the 70's, many years ago now, and I guess the reason why I still purchase there albums is living in hope, that once again some day they will make another great album such as Nightingales & Bombers. I myself have come to the idea that this will never happen in my own heart, but one can always hope. It's rather like the lottery, if you dont have a go, you don't have any hope or believe at all.

To me the earth band really died in 1978 when they made the album Watch. Now i can probably see a lot peeps saying who is this guy, and what the hell is he talking about. the simple fact here is that I am talking about commercialism. And that comes at an hevty price. Watch was the first real album that made this band, more successful than any of it's predessesors. And it's because of this limelight is the way the band prefered to go, because for 1, it made money and 2 it kept the limelight so to speak. Now to me whether this is a good thing or bad thing, is very hard to put into prospective. Because for 1, if the band already had money, go out and do what you want to do, and believe in as regarding the music side, and keep the fans they had happy. But unfortnately, they wanted more, and decided to go with option 2 which was the limelight. Now don't get me wrong here, because allthough Watch was a very commercial album, it was far from a bad album at all. But the band had simply gone from prog back to the very basic pop music to which they started out with in the first place.

To sum up Nightingales & Bombers, it is by far the most prog album this band ever made, and as for the words You Are, which came from the album Angel Station. I will now complete. You are the time between solar fire and the silence. And the time to me, between both of them albums produced the best 2 prog albums this band ever made.

I completely missed their previous album "The Good Earth" at the time of release. This album was my second "Earth Band's" one and I must say that I was expecting more by then.

Still, some great guitar riffs, gorgeous backing vocals are present during the excellent opening song. "Spirit In The Night" is a great rock song. It holds anything fans of this genre are found of. One of the highlights of course.

It is of course difficult to compare one of their albums with the great "Solar Fire". Still, a song as "Countdown" is so full of energy that one has to admit that this band has definitely something special to offer. Far from most of the clichés : the band plays some hard rock music (and has obviously listened to Purple). That's for sure. And even if "Countdown" is short, it is the second highlight.

It is not really much the case for the bluesy "Time Is Right". But not all tracks can be of great value on an album. Especially if you take under consideration than "MMEB" is not the absolute top in terms of rock (nor prog) music. A good band playing good music. I believe that this is fair enough. Their skills being in the front line during "Time Is Right". It sounds a bit too much as "Time" from whom you might know at times. Another good track, for sure.

But let's face the truth : this album has little to do with "Solar Fire". Just another follower as "The Good Earth" but less imaginative or powerful as the masterpiece could be. And when compared to "The Good Earth", one has to admit that this effort is somewhat weaker. I was rather disappointed with my purchase some thirty three years ago.

I do not listen very often to this album. And I guess that there aren't a lot of prog friends who have made this album their absolute maximum. At least, I hope so for them.

There are some excellent guitar breaks, as usual. But don't we expect some more from this band? Especially after the great "Solar Fire"?. I can understand that a song as "Visionary Mountain" sounds pleasant, but frankly the end of it is just a remake of their greatest song so far. "Father Of Day." (a cover BTW).

As usual, there are some great instrumental parts and to be honest, they are the most achieved form this work. Don't expect great vocal melodies, smooth ballads, gorgeous classic themes. You just won't get it.

This album is one out of many good hard-prog rock combinations. There are no true highlights. No true unbearable tunes either. But rating this album over than three stars is beyond my capabilities. They even emulate the Tramp closely during "Fat Nelly". The closing number is just a Press NextT song.

This album is wonderful. One of the most perfectly balanced record in the whole rock history. It blends a stunning rythm session within propulsive mini moog flights and tasteful hard-shaped electric guitar playing. The sound is very clear and the arrengements are perfect.

I don't think the highlight is the opener penned by Bruce Springsteen (Spirits in the Night). My favourite one is the exciting Countdown: only 3 minutes of perfect prog rock sound. It's a sort of mad crescendo with great bass playing and usual dynamic performance of Manfred on keyboards (organ and moog). Goose bumps for the obsessive electric guitar screams in the second part and what a curious effect of liquid waves thanks to synth. Perfect.

To be honest I should say that each track deserves a special place in every prog rock collection. Time is Right feature sharp and good vocals and, again, rich and bluesy interplay between electric guitar and the powerful rythm part. Another excellent number. Visionary Mountain is a pure classic (melancholic moog solo) and Crossfade has crazy synth effect. Nightingales and Bombers opening part reminds me of Yes' To Be Over or the Soon section from The Gates of Delirium. The closer Fat Nelly is really interesting with some vague Beatles touch and excellent (furious) drumming.

The remastered mini lp edition also features three bonus track: the catching live As Above So Below, the average Quit Your Low Down Ways and the single vrsion of the highly acclaimed Spirits in the Night that, I repeat, is a strong number but slightly overestimated due to the fact that was written by a certain Springsteen.

Almost a perfect album. 4.5 stars.

Visionary Manfred

Nightingales & Bombers is another album in a long series of very good albums released by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the 70's. As had become a trademark of the band by this time, the album begins with a cover song heavily re-arranged in the bands own style. This time it is Bruce Springsteen's Spirits In The Night; a great version, rather 'progified'. Apart from Spirits In The Night there is also a second cover this time in Visionary Mountains, credited to Armatrading/Nestor. I don't know the original version or who performed it, but it is a great song. This song is softer and slower compared to the previous three tracks, offering a short respite from the rather intense moments. Visionary Mountains reminds slightly of the softer tracks off the excellent The Roaring Silence and is possibly my favourite track on Nightingales & Bombers. Overall however, the material on this album is more similar in style to that of Solar Fire, and these two albums are among the band's most experimental (yet melodic) ones.

This album includes some of the band's better and perhaps most progressive material. Songs like Time Is Right and Fat Nelly are highly melodic and there are many instrumental sections where the guitarist and Mann himself can stretch out. There are admittedly a few passages throughout the album where you get the feeling they don't quite know where they are going, but these moments pass by very quickly. The last track was recorded live and should perhaps best be regarded as a bonus track. Anyway, I think it is rather forgettable and it doesn't add much to the album as a whole (despite the fact that it features the sampled recording that gave the album its name - a recording from the Second World War, made by an ornithologist intending to capture nightingales and accidentally captured bomb planes too!).

Nightingales & Bombers is one of Manfred Mann's Earth Band's better albums.

I would certainly rate this as one of MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND's better albums. Right up there with my favourite "Solar Fire" in fact. This just really "sounds" good. The drumming is outstanding and Mick's guitar and vocals are fantastic. The bass is very prominant and of course Manfred's keyboard work is all over this recording.

"Spirits In The Night" is a favourite track of many from this album, but for me it's probably my least favourite. I do think it's pretty good but the Springsteen lyrics do nothing for me. I do like the guitar and the cello on the chorus. Some excellent guitar after 3 1/2 minutes as well. "Countdown" is an instrumental with a great rhythm.The guitar is all over this and we get some mellotron as well.The keyboards and guitar trade solos later. "Time Is Right" is led by drums and vocals early. It gets better when it kicks back in before 3 minutes to the end. Lots of great guitar again here. "Crossfade" has some nice synth work on it. The guitar takes over 1 1/2 minutes in. Catchy stuff.

"Visionary Mountains" features synths and organ early. Vocals a minute in. The guitar is incredible 3 1/2 minutes in. It then settles with organ. What a great tune. This cover of a Joan Armatrading song is much better than the other cover ("Spirits In The Night"). "Nightingales And Bombers" opens with synths that make me think of RUSH. I love how this sounds. It's like everything is being held back. It breaks out 2 1/2 minutes in. The guitar is lighting it up after 3 minutes and then it settles again. These last two tracks are amazing to say the least. "Fat Nelly" opens sounding like "Blinded By The Light" with the pulsating organ. Vocals join in. Melancholic synths then keys take over. Guitar is next as drums pound. Excellent tune. "As Above So Below (Live)" is dominated by keyboards and drums early. The sound is building. It sounds like female vocals 3 minutes in then birds chirping before it turns haunting.

A solid 4 stars. This was much better then I was anticipating.

For a first I got this album as second-hand LP with cover, fixed by scotch in few places. It happened some 20+ yrs ago. And I fell in love with this music after very first listening never listened all MM works, but from what I listened, nothing is even close to this album.

Very melodic, but never to mellow, excellent balance between keyboards and guitars sound, long , a bit spacey compositions. But most important - great songs! This album was recorded by great songwriters at the time, when best musicians still played memorable songs!

Not too heavy, but never too soft, nice vocals. Nightingales and Bombers is a gem. All instrumentals are perfect. I loved even funny Fat Nelly. Spirit in The Night was in my head for years. Possibly, that album represents one of the best music of it's time: still r'n'b and blues-rock based, but with dreamy arrangements, experimental ( for the time) electronic sounds and very catchy songs.

Before writing this review I re-listened the album once again, and my old love to this music returned with new power. Great music! Highly recommended!

Manfred Mann's Earth Band's 6th album comes from 1975, and is a pretty good effort with a mix of rock, space, and blues numbers. One of the first albums I ever bought as I recall! Top tunes are "Spirit in the Night", "Visionary Mountains", and "Nightingales and Bombers". There are really no weak tracks on this release. Everything fits well together without boringness ever coming into play. I believe this was the final effort by the original Earth Band lineup. (I don't have the remastered edition, so I can't speak of any bonus tracks). All in all, one of the best things put out in the long history of the Earth Band. It's not perfect but it's pretty exellent, anyways! Easily 4 stars.

This is either Manfred Mann's Earth Band's best album, or at the very least, the best one from the Mick Rodgers era. This is of course coming from someone who has only heard the stuff from their first album through Somewhere In Africa, and only half of Glorified Magnified, Messin', and Solar Fire, not to mention the fact that this was the last one I aquired before losing everything, so I'm less familiar with it than their others. That being said, the album made such a strong impression on me that I don't hesitate to say it's my favorite of theirs that I've heard, and that it seems to encompass all that the band has to offer. If I'm ever able to rise above this dark conspiracy against me, I will buy another copy of Nightengales and Bombers and write a more detailed review, but for the time being, I will say that this one includes some of Chris Slade's best durmming, and Colin Pattenden's most dynamic and creative bass work, and some of their absolute best original songs. The whole album has a very cohesive feel and sound to it, and it's unique in their catalogue as possessing the more thick, layered keyboard sound but with Mick Rodgers searing guitars and lead vocals. Might I also add that some of Rodgers' best singing can be found here as well. I really like "Countdown" and "Crossfade", especially the way Mann uses the moog to portray really outer space-type landscapes, and the song "Time Is Right" is a good combination of this new sound and a throwback to some of their earlier albums. "Visionary Mountains" is, of course, a great cover, but what really stands out to me is that when you're a prog fan and you hear the Earth Band's version of a Springsteen song like "Spirits In the Night", and then you go back and hear how drastically different the original sounded, their skill in taking others' song to their own unique musical worlds is rapturously awakening. I think "As Above So Below" is a great way to end the album, and even "Fat Nelly" is enigmatic: are they actually making fun of someone for being overweight, or is it a jab at the dated idea of making fun of someone for it? Either way, a great jam by the band. This is a highly entertaining album with a wonderfully inviting sound. Long live moog sweeps.

It's always good to hear a band rebound from a weak album, and Manfred Mann's Earth Band did just that with the pleasantly surprising 'Nightingales & Bombers' following a rather tepid 'The Good Earth'. The band revisits the female backing vocal motif of 'Solar Fire' (in this case just Doreen of the Chanter sisters augmented by Martha Smith and the soul singer Ruby St. James). The band also adds strings with no less than three different cellists (cellist Nigel Warren-Green also appeared on Steve Hackett's 'Voyage of the Acolyte' the same year) along with a violin and viola. The female vocalists and strings don't appear on every track but that's probably just as well since guitarist Mick Rogers is in fine form throughout and he and Mann carry several tracks almost by themselves including the soaring "Time is Right" and the almost New Age-y instrumental "Crossfade".

The band is very tight on every track, a welcome return to form after the loose and somewhat improvisational 'The Good Earth'. Mann stretches himself more than ever before on keyboards, relying more this time on synthesizers than in the past but with plenty of Hammond to center Roger's soulful vocals and majestic guitar forays. Bassist Colin Pattenden on the other hand takes more of a back seat than he did on the prior few records, apparently content to lay down complimentary supporting rhythm to Slade's drum work rather than step out into the limelight as he did on 'Messin' and to a certain extent 'The Good Earth'. This is really a Mann and Rogers show through and through, and the two of them show their chops wonderfully on the band's interpretation of Joan Armatrading's early composition "Visionary Mountains", the Springsteen standard "Spirit(s) in the Night" and the funky title track. Too bad Rogers would depart following this release, but he shows here why it took two musicians to replace him.

The most well-known song is the opening "Spirits in the Night", one of three Springsteen debut singles the band would record in their career. The original album version features Rogers on both guitar and vocals and the tune bears an eerie resemblance to Donald Fagen and some of the less jazzy early Steely Dan material. The band would reissue the song as post-album single with new vocalist Chris Thompson and this is the version most people have probably heard as it made it into the Top-40 charts in the UK and U.S. the following year as a complement to the band's smash hit "Blinded by the Light", also a Springsteen cover. This is a summer tune with a theme in the vein of Bob Seger's "Night Moves" and an addictive harmony of vocals and cellos that perfectly captures the mood of the summer of 1975, although it in fact was meant to recall an earlier time much as "Night Moves" was.

The weak tracks if there are any include "Fat Nelly" and the guitar/organ-orgy "Countdown", both relegated to the background only because of their relative brevity and lack of female vocals or strings that accent some of the other material so well.

This is another very impressive performance from the Earth Band, an album somewhat forgotten only because it was followed and eclipsed so quickly by 'The Roaring Silence'. That's too bad, as 'Nightingales & Bombers' ranks among the best two or three Manfred Mann studio efforts ever, easily as good as 'Angel Station' and giving 'The Roaring Silence' a run for its money in energy and consistency if not in star power. Another four star offering and highly recommended. If you liked any of the Earth Band's popular material you should definitely check this one out too.

peace

Inspired by a World War II-era tape the band had come across of birdsong rudely interrupted by a flyover of bombers, Nightingales and Bombers leads off with one of the Earth Band's competent prog-pop reworkings of Bruce Springsteen songs (in this case, Spirit in the Night) and follows it up with a range of prog instrumentals and songs. Fat Nelly manages to combine a music hall sense of humour with keyboard-heavy prog performances in a great little match - the sort of combination ELP were always trying (and failing) with their comedy numbers - whilst the instrumentals proved that the Earth Band were a competent enough prog powerhouse in their own right. A real eye-opener if, like me, you've only heard Manfred Mann's various singles before tuning into this one, but at the same time in terms of the wider prog scene it's hardly an essential cornerstone of 1970s prog.

Always the odd cousins to the progressive rock fraternity of the 1970's, Manfred Mann's Earth Band enjoyed a relatively successful career, graduating from humble beat group origins to full-blown art-pop purveyors during the space of a few short years. A prolific outfit led by the South African-born keyboardist Mann, the first Earth Band album arrived in 1972 and was quickly followed by four more full-length studio offerings, all of which were released across the space of just two years. The most notable of these was arguably 1973's ambitious 'Solar Fire', a kind of classically-tinted, space-themed concept yarn, yet the Earth Band would really hit their stride with 'Nightingales & Bombers' from 1975, an album whose title was inspired by a cache of accidental BBC recordings from World War 2 that were supposed to pick up certain ornithological sounds yet ended up catching a major aerial dogfight between British and German forces(the recordings feature in the album's penultimate piece, a live rendition of 'As Above So Below'). Inspired by these extraordinary tapes, Manfred Mann's Earth Band put together what many consider to be one of their defining achievements. Featuring a trio of covers - this time it's a fairly straightforward AOR version of Bruce Springsteen's popular 'Spirits In The Night', a slick reading of Joan Armatrading's 'Visionary Mountains' and a slightly awkward take on 'Quit Your Low Down Ways' by Bob Dylan - 'Nightingales & Bombers' proves both eclectic and accessible, blending progressive aspirations with a slick pop-rock touch that prefigures much of their 1980's output. Unlike 'Solar Fire', it is shorter, sharper tracks that are the meat of 'Nightingales & Bombers', making for an enjoyable if somewhat lightweight album, the atmospheric Springsteen-penned opener - one of the better versions of the oft-copied track - providing an energetic opening, whilst the intricate melodies of 'Time Is Right' and the title- track showcase the group in highly-creative mood with the latter in particular blessed by a dazzling keyboard solo from bandleader Mann. However, whilst many of the classic releases from the Earth Band's fellow progressive icons of the 1970's have generally stood the test of time remarkably well, both 'Solar Fire' and 'Nightingales & Bombers' simply haven't. Listened to now through 21st century ears, its unfortunate to note that virtually all of Manfred Mann's Earth Band albums from this period feature a trite, almost jocular feel, no doubt carried on from their 1960's beat-group past, that distracts the listener from what should be some pretty impressive instrumental moments. As a result, this inability to shake the pop-essence of their past makes for a simplistic brand of what can be best described as progressive pop - no bad style in the right hands, just ask The Alan Parsons Project - with 'Nightingales & Bombers' a prime example. There are still moments here well worth the price of admission, but when compared against the 'Nursery Crymes' and 'Wish You Were Heres', this does feel rather tame. Hats off to excellent production values though; pity the music isn't of the same quality. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

I am new to this band, Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Earlier I had only heard a couple of pop songs from the 1960s and I was pleased with what I heard. Now I discover the Earth Band and am also very content with what I heard.

Nightingales & Bombers is the sixth album of the band and it was released in 1975 with a very characteristic cover, black with light blue worms coming closer towards the watcher. On the back cover there're lyrics and information about the band. Of eight songs, four have lyrics and the vocalist Mick Rogers is perfect on that job especially on the song "Visionary Mountains" (10/10) which I hold very high. The vocals here are part of a progressive mixture of greatness. He also sings good on the more ordinary rock track "Spirits in the night"(8/10) which is written by Bruce Springsteen. MMEB does a huge cover hear, bombastic and keyboard oriented. "Time is right"(9/10) is another amazing lyrics filled track, not common at all, but true rock and prog and "Countdown", "Crossfade" and "Nightingale and Bombers" are instrumental travells for the music lovers(8/10). The only track a bit inferior to the others is "Fat Nelly" which is funny but silly(7/10).

I am very pleased with this my introduction to Manfred Mann's Earth Band, I bought for 20 crowns a month ago. Manfred Mann plays organ and synthesizers, Colin Pattenden plays bass, Chris Slade plays drums and Mick Rogers guitar. I recommend the album for both rock and prog fans, and the music of the 70s always has the special feeling hard to get elsewhere.

I was a fan back in my "hard rock days". The tracks that most appealed to me then - the Springsteen cover, Spirits in the Night, and Joan Armatrading's Visionary Mountain - are amongst my least favourite today, the latter reminding me of Uriah Heep (not that that's bad, just saying).

Track two, Countdown, is a fun hard rock instrumental with spirited soling and accompaniment that reminds me a little of Deep Purple at times.

Time is Right starts out with a tasty 10/8 rhythm leading to a vocal melody that appears to be deliberately based on the Max Roach 5tet's Driva Man (in 5/4). I only realised this decades later thanks to a recent jazz phase and YouTube. The middle instrumental section is inventive and good listening.

Crossfade has good solos from Manfred M and Mick Rogers and when the latter pulls out the wa-wa pedal you could just about imagine that you were listening to one of Zappa's Hot Rats jams.

The title track sounds as if influenced by RTF and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Great atmosphere early on and then the song explodes with Manfred and Mick catching fire (so to speak). Love it. It's fun to think of Chris Slade playing these nerdy odd meters and fusion-y prog, given his later long-term career as Phil Rudd's replacement with ACDC.

Fat Nelly. After a somewhat cringeworthy intro, the song moves into a pleasing riff followed by more spirited soloing.

As Above, So Below - atmospheric, from the keys solo to the jagged RnR riff fading out to the recording from which the album took its title.

4 stars, although I confess nostalgia.

MMEB of uncompromising prog, old, OK but prog has no age!

1 Spirits In The Night yes Bruce SPRINGSTEEN has been there, MMEBs can't make hits, one of the taboos of prog rock in fact... so they're going to take songs from some big names and grab them, from positive way; already hold the break with the crowd in the distance, the organ which navigates and invites the guitar, ah this guitar which pierces, which squirts... which does its job in a monstrous way; a perfect prog title as I like them, a bit of violin scratching and that's how in those days we didn't take the trouble to do very good. 2 Countdown for the interlude in my opinion or how to make an instrumental that washes your ears after such a title; Good 3 Time Is Right hard attack, I always thought that this group lacked something to be even better; it goes up too soft, but it goes up all the same and in the end, the drums and the guitar take you quickly to progressive lands; 2 mn and boom the progression occurs, as with the BJH, suddenly we feel that it goes elsewhere; it vibrates, it titillates, it titillates; finished the conventional chorus-verse, we went off track! 4'30'' and a glimmer of Visionary.. we will have to wait for the B side, huge, the clock, PINK FLOYD, the country guitar, these sound effects that only the proguous can understand, it's the good time 4 Crossfade or the counterpart of 2; the limited title linked from the previous one to drift a little more on the southern lands of prog; or how Manfred uses his beast by extracting sounds from elsewhere, extra-terrestrials; the contribution of the guitar for a fight in perfect similarity 5 Visionary Mountains .... here is the title, THE TITLE, the one that symbolizes easy-to-access prog; an intro, the intro, the rise, this vibrato, the languorous voice limits MOODY BLUES, warm, warm, haunting and so comfortable; the guitar which spleens, which vibrates, the organ because yes MMEB is the Hammond organ; the cymbal, the angelic voices, bare sirens that graze on a rock of seaweed and it starts again like a surf 6 Nightingales And Bombers much worse than Visionary but with a superb entry; a declination, a purely MMEB musical research with vibrations, a more telling jazzy side, a gradual departure from the title to arrive at a surging Mick's guitar, free rock, free jazz, it really rocks on a dreamlike crescendo which puts you in a trance; put elsewhere in the album this title is purely enjoyable; a bell, a cymbal and it starts again; yes the standard prog must be inside this album 7 Fat Nelly for a Manfred interlude with the help of his friend on the guitar, or how to create a frenetic title? would like to pass the organ of the WHO backwards and there it was well before 8 As Above So Below (Recorded Live) and another bonus, yes I take certain titles as a plus, as a singular research apart, like ... a declination, a moment of improvisation, a non 'radio edit' title , something that you would only see in concert, a jam... but there it is .. for you, for us: the air gets going; there's everything I like to know about musical exploration, you don't know where it's going to take us and that's what's good, very good; well it gets into action, the mothership is about to dock, well, maybe they know the ELOs too... in short, don't be afraid since the chaffinch won't stop singing!

MMEB released a major album with pharaminous titles on it and other titles of pure musical research; an album which would surely not work today but which gave the band its letters of nobility, prog of course! ... Emotion memory sequence.