Manfred Mann's Earthband - Then & Now (2010)



Manfred Mann's Earth Band es un grupo británico de rock progresivo formado en Londres en 1971 por el músico sudafricano Manfred Mann.
Inicios y años 70

Manfred Mann's Earth Band nace en 1971 como secuela del anterior grupo de Mann: Manfred Mann Chapter Three, el cual llegó a editar dos álbumes durante su corta vida, entre 1969 y 1970, combinando el jazz rock con incipientes sonoridades progresivas, que se cristalizarían en la Earth Band más plenamente. Para este proyecto Mann se rodeó de nuevos músicos, quienes dieron forma a un álbum debut homónimo editado a principios de 1972: el guitarrista y vocalista Mick Rogers, el bajista Colin Pattenden y un joven Chris Slade en batería, quien luego sería parte de grupos como AC/DC, Uriah Heep, The Firm o Asia, entre otros.

Video: PAL, MPEG-2 at 4 285 Kbps, 720 x 576 at 25.000 fps | Audio: AC-3 2channels at 192 Kbps, 48.0 KHz
Genre: Rock | Label: Creature Music | Copy: Untouched | Release Date: 1 Feb 2010 | Runtime: 132 min. | 4,17 GB (DVD5)

'Then and Now' just about justifies its 4 star rating if only because of the
unseen early band footage and all too rare Manfred Mann interviews, both
then and now!
Not so much a career retrospective as flash back to the beginning of the
Earth Band circa 72 and a flash forward to current times, 'Then and
Now' has its moments but would have been bolstered with some bonus
footage of both Chris Thompson and the late Steve Waller, who were
important mainstays in the band; that said, there's an accompanying CD
box set reviewed elsewhere.
But then with any project spanning nearly 40 years there's always the
question of what to choose or what leave out. But the selling point of
'Then and Now' will undoubtedly be the splendid early career footage of
the band in Australia.
Mick Rogers strikes a commanding frontman, explainable of course by the
fact that he was already known in his native Australia before joining
Manfred. As always he's a confident vocalist and fine guitarist acting
as the perfect foil for Manfred's Moog Synth noodlings. The first such
extended solo on the otherwise ponderous 'Black and Blue' must have
sounded amazing back in '72 and still sounds incredible all these years
later. As with his later career, Manfred had the foresight to cover a
local band's hit – in this case The Chain - and combined with Mick
Rogers' presence he had already made inroads into the Aussie rock scene.
Manfred meanwhile goes on to introduce 'Mighty Quinn' with a heavy sense
of irony, sipping deeply from his accompanying cup of tea to announce
'We'd like to do one more, which is a song we recorded in 1967 when I
used to be a pop star'. The funky intro eventually gives way to further
Manfred keyboard explorations and an all round jammed out band thrash
before shifting inevitably to the chorus. It's a veritable a Prog rock
delight!
The following interview of the time is full of Manfred's rueful answers,
including a doleful reply as to how long he's been in show business;
'Oh since the Franco Prussian War'. Manfred further reveals how he made
the connection between listening to Modern Jazz back in his native South
Africa and Rock.
The archive section of the DVD is neatly completed by a great clip of
Manfred Mann's Chapter Three complete with a full 5 piece horn section.
The 'Now' section is perhaps less compelling, as Manfred combines the
two staples of his career, some well chosen covers and a festival crowd.
Mick Rogers provides project continuity with another sterling
performance on one of the Earth Band favourites 'Father of Day, Father
of Night'
The big hitters inevitably round off the festival footage with 'Blinded
by the Light' featuring a curious Manfred's electric piano keyboard part
which is way back in the mix. There's an audio glitch at 24.07 as Noel
McCalla's soulful vocals suddenly bring the band back into the chorus.
Noel also makes a good fist of tackling 'Demolition Man', but it would
have been nice to have at least one bonus track of the late great Steve
Waller performing this song. 'Davy's On the Road Again' rocks out the
crowd and there's an additional lovely guitar melody line from 'I Came
for You'.
The closing interview features Manfred without his hat and is a lovely career reprise.

Tracklist:
-Then-
01. Intro [0:19]
02. I'm Gonna Have You All [5:38]
03. Black And Blue [10:02]
04. Captain Bobby Stout [12:59]
05. Mighty Quinn [19:18]
06. The Hit Scene Interview [7:40]
07. One Way Glass [3:13]
-Now-
08. Dancing In The Dark/House Of The Rising Sun [1:48]
09. Father Of Night, Father Of Day [12:29]
10. She Was/Blinded By The Light [13:10]
11. Demolition Man [7:31]
12. Davy's On The Road Again [9:39]
13. Mighty Quinn [15:02]

Extra:
- The 2008 Interview

Features:
- Interactive Menu
- Direct Scene Access







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