Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Label: Philips Records
Release: 1972
Length: 44:53
Rating: 4/5
In the early seventies, South African keyboardist Manfred Mann kicked off a rebirth of his long and successful career with his new group, Earth Band. The early version of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, which besides the band’s chief, keyboard grandmaster Mann, featured guitarist/vocalist Mick Rogers, bassist Colin Pattenden and drummer Chris Slade, loved nothing more than mixing elements of jazz, blues rock, r’n’b and funk. Alongside their own material, they always had a knack for more or less successful covers of other artists’ songs.
On »Glorified Magnified«, their second album, which came out just six months after the self-titled debut, you can already hear an evolutionary leap in terms of sonic experimentation, above all in Mann’s wild soloing antics on the mini moog and the weaving of more complex improvisational sections. »Glorified Magnified« was also the first album to feature the famous Manfred Mann’s Earth Band logo, which they would go on to reuse several times over their career.
This time around, the album contained only two songs by other writers, namely »Ashes To Ashes« and a very good version of the Bob Dylan classic, »It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue«. The latter, as you’d expect, is also the only track on »Glorified Magnified« with hit potential, thanks to its hypnotic guitar melody, lush keyboard passages, playful handclaps, nostalgic vocals and above all a lovely chorus. On their early albums, there was usually at least one splendidly executed Dylan cover.
The opener »Meat« is an experimentally spiced hard rocker on which Mr. Mann uses a whole range of goofy effects on the mini moog, while Rogers conjures up quite a few relaxed blues variations on guitar. The rhythmic collage is as cheeky and rascally as can be, and it fits the witty lyrics well. »Look Around«, too, with no shortage of rolling drum fills, is built on a hefty hard rock guitar phrase, but it also contains plenty of funky rhythmic nuances, while Rogers’ vocal approach is a notch more mischievous still. His playful guitar improvisations, headed up by a monumental solo, complement Mann’s rustling organ backdrop nicely.
»One Way Glass« is a gentle ballad ruled by the ethereal melody of Rogers’ acoustic guitar and a melancholic vocal, while in the second half Mann’s mini moog solo, innovative for its time and thoroughly cheeky, is especially impressive. »I’m Gonna Have You All« is dominated by boogie rhythms and r’n’b influences that Mr. Mann brought along with him from the sixties. In the closing stretch, the keyboard maestro surprises with a ‘spacey’ mini moog solo. »Down Home« is a passionate excursion into piano-driven blues rock with plenty of mischievous guitar capers.
The hard-rock-spiked »Our Friend George« is a social satire and a chance for a generous helping of classic British humor in the lyrics, delivered with Rogers’ eccentrically tinged vocal approach. Once again, the middle section doesn’t lack jazzy instrumental variations. Next come two short tracks, barely two minutes each, conceptually linked to one another. The first is a gorgeous acoustic folk ballad and cover, »Ashes To The Wind«, while its sequel, simply titled »Wind«, is dominated by Mann’s adventurous mini moog improvisations. The instrumental-leaning title track, on which Mr. Mann uses psychedelic mini moog effects to, among other things, simulate the howling of monkeys, is by far the most experimental piece on the album, with plenty of crazy rhythmic improvisation on the drums and frenzied guitar passages, capped off with a top-notch freakout in a cacophonous finale.
The more-than-solid »Glorified Magnified« marked the next evolutionary step in the slowly developing sonic legacy of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, and it still deserves a spot in the collection of every fan of quality progressive rock and hard rock. Manfred Mann and his buddies kept taking small, gradual steps in their development all the way to the end of the seventies, on their way to breaking into the elite of the decade’s best rock bands, and each new album was better than the last.
Lineup
Manfred Mann – organ, synthesizer, backing vocals
Mick Rogers – guitar, vocals
Colin Pattenden – bass guitar
Chris Slade – drums
Production
Manfred Mann, Dave Hadfield and Tom McGuinness
Track list
1. Meat
2. Look Around
3. One Way Glass
4. I’m Gonna Have You All
5. Down Home
6. Our Friend George
7. Ashes To The Wind
8. Wind
9. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
10. Glorified Magnified
