Friday, January 17, 2025

This love (Maroon 5) (LP 3093)

Maroon 5  Songs About Jane (CD, A&M Records, 2002 - this cover 2007) ***  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Second hand shop

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Harder To Breathe

Gear costume: She Will Be Loved

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Active compensatory factors: This was Maroon 5's debut album in 2007. And, yes, they are a real band - not a 'boy band'.

In truth, this is not really aimed at me, but they have an instantly appealing sound thanks to Adam Levine's vocals.  They also have the songs to carry it through. 

The sound is a bluesy funk, hip hoppy, pop soul hybrid that I like.

Where do they all belong? Their second album went ballistic! I only have this one and I feel that's enough.

Rock me baby (LP 3091 - 3092)

Frank Marino's Mahogany Rush  Live (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1978) ****  

Frank Marino's Mahogany Rush  What's Next (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1980) ***  

Genre: Rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Answer (Live)

Gear costume: Roadhouse Blues (What's Next) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Active compensatory factors
: I love these two albums featuring Canada's answer to Jimi Hendrix/ Jimmy Page. You've probably noticed by now, that the power trio format is something else I love.

Live sums up the band to that point (1977) with a crushing set of rock moves on original material and rock standbys like Johnny B Goode, I'm a King Bee and Purple Haze. Frank is a brilliant guitarist and the live setting really suits him. He sings well too! Hard to believe that only three guys make all this glorious noise.

What's Next sees the band expanded with Vince Marino joining his brother, Jim Ayoub (drums) and Paul Harwood (drums). It's not as brilliant as the live album but I've hung onto it through the years because of Frank's playing and the hard rock versions of songs like Roadhouse Blues.

Where do they all belong? A great forgotten rock band of the seventies! Ripe for rediscovery. What are you waiting for?

A place in the sun (Marine Girls) (LP 3090)

Marine Girls  Lazy Ways (Vinyl, Music world/ Cherry Red Records, 1983) ****  

GenreIndie-pop 

Places I remember: Hastings music shop, now gone burger.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Love To Know

Gear costume: A Place In The Sun

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Active compensatory factors: I have already written a post for the first Marine Girls album (1981's Beach Party), Lazy Ways is their second and final album. The band had already broken up by the time it came out with Tracey Thorn starting a solo career before starting Everything But The Girl.

The threesome (Thorn plus the Fox sisters) made a lot of progress in the two and a bit years between albums. The sound is light and breezy but not lo-fi. The guitars strum and the vocals are affective because they lack professionalism at this stage in their career.

It's indie-pop 1983 style to (almost) perfection. In NZ, a long way away, in Dunedin, a group called Look Blue Go Purple started up with a similar aesthetic. They'd last a little longer (1983 to 1987). If Marine Girls strike a chord you will want to also check out LBGP.

Where do they all belong? A lot more to read about my Tracey Thorn (when we get to T)/ Everything But The Girl obsession.

Monday, January 13, 2025

Hooks in you (Marillion) (LP 3076 -3089)

Marillion  A Singles Collection 1982 - 1992 (CD, EMI Records, 1992) ****  

Marillion  The Singles Vol 2 '89 - '95 (4CD, EMI Records, 2013) ***  

Marillion  Season's End (2CD, EMI Records, 1989) ***

Marillion  Holidays In Eden (CD, EMI Records, 1991) **** 

Marillion  Brave (CD, EMI Records, 1994) *****   

Marillion  Afraid Of Sunlight (CD, EMI Records, 1995) ***   

Marillion  Made Again (CD, EMI Records, 1996) ***  

Marillion and The Positive Light  Tales From The Engine Room (CD, Eagle Records, 1998) ***

Marillion  Radiation 2013 (Vinyl, EMI Records, original album 1998, remix version 2013) ***  

Marillion  Marillion.com (CD, EMI Records, 1996) ***    

Marillion  Anoraknophobia (CD, Liberty Records, 2001) ****   

Marillion  Marbles Live (CD, Intact Records, 2005) ****  

Marillion  Less Is More (CD, Liberty Records, 2009) **

Marillion  All One Tonight (2CD, Racket Records, 2018) ****  

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Fopp, Real Groovy Records, HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Easter (Season's End)

Gear costume: No One Can (Holidays In Eden)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Active compensatory factors
: This particular story starts with the singles collections because I am far more predisposed to the material after Fish left, but Fish is important.

Okay - some back story is required. Fish (real name - Derek Dick) was the band's first lead vocalist. A huge geezer who sounded like Peter Gabriel's long lost Scottish brother. He left the band in 1988 and was replaced by Steve Hogarth (who is still their lead vocalist), at which point all the Genesis comparisons withered away.

I've chosen to start with these singles collections because Fish appears on them, so it seems only right. He's a big presence and a good guy, so he needs to be included. It's also an excellent selection of their singles and not in chronological order - so it alternates between Fish and Hogarth singles well. 

Don't take my word for it, though - the AllMusic critic says: It's not too often that a group's songs can be isolated from their place in an album's conceptual framework and still be effective, but Marillion's work is definitely the exception.

The Singles Vol 2
collection is a monster 4 CD set (with a crappy cover). It takes an exhaustive approach which I'm thankful for ultimately, but it makes for uneasy listening. For instance, CD 1 has three versions of The Uninvited Guest (not one of my favourites) - the 7 inch, the 12 inch and a live version. Get the idea?

That said, if, like me, you love Easter - then you won't mind this approach (3 versions of that one too).

Onwards to the first studio I own - Season's End (the first with Hogarth). It still has the whiff of Fish about it (sorry - couldn't resist) as they'd completed demos with him. He had taken his lyrics away though so Steve Hogarth was thrown into the deep end. Sometimes you get what you need! Easter is a career highlight!

For this fifth album, the band was off and running with a new look and feel, although the cover was terrible and the old Marillion typography was yet to be abandoned. That would happen with their next album - Holidays In Eden.

That album took a more poppy direction, with Steve Hogarth's vocals much more prominent in the mix. It's one of my favourites, even if they did retreat a bit from that position with the return of a concept album next with Brave.

Holidays In Eden has become a little under-valued as a result, I feel. It has some great songs on it: Cover My Eyes; No One Can; and Dry Land were all catchy songs.

Brave
was my initial introduction to the band. I had read a review of it and the idea of a band in the nineties attempting a prog rock concept album appealed to me, as did the cover - very enigmatic. I was not disappointed.

Based on a news story, Brave takes on the fictional tale of a girl who is overcome by various events and runs away from home. Brave also sums up Marillion in doing an album length story like this. I loved it from the off, and I still do. 

It seems the perfect distillation of all that is good about Marillion: Steve Hogarth's vocals, Steve Rothery's guitars, commercial songs and prog rock experimentation and depth. The songs take their time to unfold but it captures me everytime I listen to it.

They reverted to separate songs on Afraid Of Sunlight. I love the first side but I think it's unbalanced as an album and runs out of steam on side 2. It still contains the wonderful Beautiful (and Cannibal Surf Babe is fun).

Made Again
is a two CD live set which includes concerts from London (1991 tour), Rotterdam (1995), and Paris (1994). 

The London/Rotterdam CD should be subtitled 'Greatest Hits Live' - it's a home run! The Paris one should be subtitled 'Brave Live in Paris'. Note perfect to the studio album to my ears - begs the question - what's the point? It's a bit like owning Pink Floyd's live versions of Dark Side of the Moon. It's still great to have them though.

Marillion joined forces with The Positive Light (two Marillion fans) for a remix of their This Strange Engine album, and called it Tales from the Engine Room.

I'm not a huge fan of remix albums. This one I spotted in a bin at The Warehouse and took a punt. I don't have the parent album and this one didn't induce me to go out and grab it.

Radiation 13 is next. I didn't buy the original version of Radiation in 1998 but grabbed the remixed version from JB Hi Fi on vinyl a few years ago.

The cover hooked me in. This signaled a new look for Marillion. Sure enough, the band decided to be really experimental for this one, but it still sounded like Marillion circa Afraid Of Sunlight to me.

Marillion.com continued the Radiation vibe (a few of the songs were carry overs). One reviewer cited the band's influences - 'Among the influences that appear on this disc are such diverse artists as Jellyfish, Yes, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and ELP. It is a very entertaining album that really grows on you'.

Yes, all those influences can be heard which means it's at the poppy end of the prog continuum. And, yes, I agree, it's an entertaining album. It's also very long, even though there are only 9 songs on it.

The horribly titled Anoraknophobia is a step forward. Only 8 songs, but a tighter, poppier eight this time out, with songs that had a mixture of blues, country, and even trip-hop. It also ends strongly, with This Is The 21st Century (the second to last song) having a great hook. Steve Hogarth sounds more committed and heartfelt singing this song. It's one of my favourites!

For some reason I didn't buy Marbles, their next studio album, but I did pick up a copy of Marbles Live from Fopp while living in the UK in 2005.

Generally, I like live albums, and I guess, based on Made Again, my thinking was that Marillion tend to replicate their songs faithfully in a live setting. Maybe it's warmer than the studio version but I can't compare them.

The songs on Marble Live are good and all and it's played brilliantly, but they just don't leave much of an impression, even on the U2ish sounding You're Gone.

Less Is More
is a studio album of older songs covering the twenty years that Hogarth has been their lead vocalist, done acoustically. 

I took a punt on it and I'm not much of a fan as it happens. I find myself missing the full sonic splendour of Marillion. So, give me Brave and Anoraknophobia instead, please. 

Final album from my list is a double CD live album, recorded at The Royal Albert Hall, called All One Tonight (CD 1 is subtitled FEAR Live). The second CD includes a range of songs from the Hogarth years (Easter goes way back to his first album with the band).

This looked like a spectacular event if the booklet is anything to go by. The cover image is impressive. As with Marbles Live, I don't have the FEAR album itself, and that doesn't matter so much. I'm sure the live version on this album is a faithful representation of it.

FEAR is a return to the lengthy song suite style the band used so successfully on Brave, and I like this side to Marillion. I haven't played this album much, so it's nowhere near as familiar to me as Brave, but it will be one I return to over time. 

Where do they all belong? Bottom line - Marillion are a key part of prog rock's development into the new millennium. 

Hot spot (Manzanera) (LP 3073 - 3075)

801  Live (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1976) ****  

Phil Manzanera/ 801  Listen Now (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1977) ****  

Phil Manzanera  Listen Now (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1978) ****  

GenreProg rock 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Spellbound Wax Co., Little Red Bookshop

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: TNK (801 Live)

Gear costume: Flight 19 (Listen Now)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Active compensatory factors
: 801 is a loose UK supergroup and a side project away from Roxy Music for Phil Manzanera (and Eno).

This live album captures the group in dynamic form - exemplified by the trippy version of The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows (as highlighted above). The rest of the material is a wide section of genres but everything works!

Listen Now is a very interesting album too, but miles away from that Live one, even though it came out about the same time. 

It's the people involved that make the difference, obviously, and with, amongst others, Godley and Creme plus Split Enzers Tim and Eddie contributing, it's all classic pop sensibilities rather than the prog experimentation of the Live album.

K-Scope has Tim Finn as lead vocalist on a few tunes (which I love) and they point towards his own solo career. The sound is tougher on K-Scope - more straight-forward rocking than before. Neil Finn and Eddie also appear along with Mel Collins and Simon Phillips who also contributed to Listen Now

Where do they all belong? A great side project. I'm not a huge fan of Roxy Music/ Bryan Ferry and much prefer Phil's solo activities.

Son of boogie (Matt Taylor Phil Manning Band) (LP 3071 - 3072)

Phil Manning Band featuring Midge Marsden  Phil Manning Band featuring Midge Marsden Recorded Live (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1979) **** 

Matt Taylor & Phil Manning Band  Oz Blues (Vinyl, Full Moon Records, 1981) ****  

Genre: Blues

Places I remember: Margie's brothers collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Gear costume:
Boogie 2 (Son Of Boogie)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Active compensatory factors
: Phil and Matt are Aussie blues rockers who were both in Chain. They would reunite for the Oz Blues album - playing some excellent earthy blues. Matt is on great blues harp and Phil is the guitar ace. Together they play some boogie blues that would go down brilliantly in an outback pub!

Before that album there was a short lived project with Midge - NZ's version of Matt Taylor. The Recorded live album was only released in New Zealand. The Kiwi accent on the guy doing the introduction is hilarious and a dead giveaway about the location.

The music on both albums is blues based Aussie/Kiwi infused rock. The harmonica and guitar heroics on both albums are outstanding. 

Where do they all belong? An Aussie/Kiwi hybrid.

5 4 3 2 1 (Manfred Mann) (LP 3056 - 3070)

Manfred Mann  The Hits (CD, BR Music Records, ?) ****  

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Manfred Mann's Earth Band (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1972 - this copy a reissue in 1976) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Glorified Magnified (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1972) ***** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Messin' (Vinyl, Vertigo Records, 1973) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Get Your Rocks Off (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1973) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Solar Fire (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1973) ***** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  The Good Earth (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1974 - reissue from 1976) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Nightingales & Bombers (Vinyl, bronze Records, 1975) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  The Roaring Silence (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1976) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Live in America (CD, The Store For Music, 2007) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Watch (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1978) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Angel Station (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1979) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Chance (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1980) *** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Somewhere In Afrika (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1982) *** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Criminal Tango (Vinyl, Virgin Records, 1986) **

Genre: Pop, Prog rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Amoeba Records, Spellbound Wax Co.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I'm Gonna Have You All (Glorified Magnified)

Gear costume: Joybringer (Solar Fire); Blinded By The Light (Live in Budapest)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Active compensatory factors
: I have a ridiculous number of Manfred Mann Earth Band albums. A ridiculous number! But before I get to them, I need to acknowledge Manfred Mann, the band that started it all off. And to do so, I need to break my rule about including compilations in this cavalcade through my collection.

Manfred Mann (the band is named after the keyboardist) started out as a singles band. The group was blessed with two exceptional lead vocalists - Paul Jones (1962 to '66) and then Mike d'Abo ('66 - '69). Jones ended up in The Blues Band, which I've already included on this blog).

This band was a bit like John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in the way it was a proving ground for a large number of other musicians like Mike Hugg, Tom McGuiness, Jack Bruce, and Klaus Voormann.  

I have three greatest hits compilations to choose from - This is...Manfred Mann (Vinyl), The Very Best of Manfred Mann (CD) and the one I've chosen.

It includes in its 22 tracks material from 1964 to 1969 so it's the most comprehensive of the three. I also like the way it's chronological in approach so you can trace their development.

The band was pretty cunning in covering seminal artists like Barry/Greenwich, Goffin/King, Bacharach/David, Bob Dylan and Randy Newman. Of course, Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered a couple of Bruce Springsteen's early songs with great success but we'll get to them later.

The hits were aplenty for Manfred Mann: Oh No Not My Baby; Pretty Flamingo; If You Gotta Go, Go Now; Just Like A Woman; Semi-Detached Suburban Mr Jones; Ha! Ha! Said The Clown; Mighty Quinn; My Name Is Jack; Fox On the Run; and Ragamuffin Man are all on The Hits. Phew! See what I mean! A singles band.

Manfred Mann Chapter Three were formed before The Earth Band came into existence in 1971. I don't have either of their albums (from 1969 and 1970) but I'd be keen if I ever spotted them. Apparently, they are more jazz-fusion than pop/rock and I lurve jazz-fusion.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band got under way with their first self-titled album in 1972 and it's pretty experimental/prog oriented. Again - right up my street. A Dylan song from the Basement Tapes era is included, as well as a Randy Newman tune but the rest are mostly self-written things.

The band at this point was, apart from Manfred: Mick Rogers (guitar, lead vocals); Colin Pattenden (bass) and Chris Slade (drums). This was the stable group until The Roaring Silence (1976)

Glorified Magnified was a second album for 1972 and with the same lineup. If anything, it's better than their debut. It's a tad more together and the confidence oozes from the band. It's also a lot heavier. The riff to I'm Gonna Have You All is a classic hard rock one but then it ends with Manfred going to town on his keyboards until the bass riff returns before the abrupt (but appropriate) end. All of the bands strengths are on display.

A Dylan song is included too - It's All Over Baby Blue. The team does their creative thing and it well and truly becomes a Manfred Mann's Earth Band song. Mick Rogers sings it really well and the augmented instrumentation is superb.

All up, Glorified Magnified is a stunning album which lives up to its title boast. 

Next up were two albums in 1973 - the band worked hard! Yes, two rather than three because Messin' (released in the UK) and Get Your Rocks Off (USA) are basically the same album - there's only one track that is different to suit the American market. The second album of 1973 was The Good Earth.

Okay, so Messin'. The boys were riding a creative wave as Messin' is another terrific album. Some topical subject matter is addressed - 'we're messin' up... the land/sea/air/you and me', and done with a prog sensibility. And it works!

The Dylan song this time out is the obscure Get Your Rocks Off from The Basement Tapes. It's pretty cool as the guys tear into it as if they were channeling Deep Purple! Although there is nothing showy or flash about Mick's guitar or Manfred's keyboard style.

They also cover Black and Blue, a song by Australian band Chain. Coincidentally, next up after MMEB are albums by Phil Manning and Matt Taylor of that band.

Solar Fire
was that most prog rock of things - a concept album. This time I get it because it's simply a set of songs build around cosmology. It's also heavily instrumental in its approach so it's very accessible. Given all that, it still has a Dylan song - Father of Day Father of Night to kick things off. Of course it does. This is Manfred Mann's Earth Band, after all.

The whole thing works spectacularly well. It even has a hit single in Joybringer. I have the US version of the album - most of those albums all had different covers/ labels/ even song selections for UK and US releases which makes it quite confusing at times. Stunning album though in whatever format you have it.

The Good Earth
came out with a nifty publicity gambit. The front cover reveals that e
arly owners of each copy of the album were 'entitled to rights over 1 square foot of the earth situated at Llanerchyrfa in the County of Brecon, in Wales'. 

The inner sleeve included a coupon that had to be sent for registration. There was no swindle and thousands of fans were registered. Registration could be done on or before 31 December 1975. So, too late for me who caught up with the joys of MMEB well after that date.

As for the actual album? It's another excellent example of British hard rock/ prog rock. Shock horror - there is no Dylan cover on this album!!

Although often compared to King Crimson in these early albums, I find MMEB more melodic, less defiant in their approach. They are certainly progressing/ experimenting but these guys are no show offs. Manfred is no Keith Emerson, and Mick is no Ritchie Blackmore (or Robert Fripp). Instead, they have their own confident/ compact/ tasteful style.

Nightingales & Bombers
was the last album to feature Mick Rogers for a while (he would return for Criminal Tango in 1986). This was a breakthrough album as the songs were shorter and more poppy in nature. It was also the album that housed the cover of Springsteen's Spirit In The Night, which became a big hit for the band.

There were two new members on board for The Roaring Silence in 1976 to replace Mick Rogers: Chris Thompson (a Kiwi) in on vocals/guitar; Dave Flett lead guitar. It was a case of instant success as lead track and single - a cover of Springsteen's Blinded By The Light, went crazy and went to Number One on Billboard.

The rest of the album is MMEB on top form throughout. As one critic wrote -
The Roaring Silence basks in veiled poetry, cryptic but at the same time intriguing, verging on the complexities of progressive rock but far from its pretentiousness.

Live in America was recorded from a gig in Boston 1977 with The Roaring Silence band members. It includes a nice mix of recent singles (both Springsteen covers) and older Dylan songs (The Mighty Quinn and Father of Day). 

The quality of the performances is high throughout. This was the last we heard from Colin Pattenden as he left at the end of the tour but he had been a key part of the band's sound since 1971 and his bass sounds were in total synch with the Earth Band sound.  

New bassist, Pat King, made his debut on Watch. Sadly, this was also the final album for another long-standing member - original drummer Chris Slade (plus the last album for Dave Flett). 
 

There weren't any big hits coming from this album, although California is a terrific song and coulda/shoulda been a hit. The album is a lovely collection of songs done in Earth Band prog rock style. There's also room for a rerun of The Mighty Quinn - a live version. It and a live version of Davy's On The Road Again are not out of place on Watch. I think this one is an under-appreciated album in their catalogue.

Angel Station
was their final album of the seventies. New members were coming (and going) around this time. Geoff Britton (later briefly of Wings) was on drums just for this album. Steve Waller was on guitar/vocals to replace Dave Flett.

The songs embrace some fresh production ticks and there is a Dylan cover (You Angel, You) back in the line-up. Angel Station ended the seventies well, with not one but two under-valued albums.

Their first album of the eighties, Chance, was a stab at new sounds - in that pursuit they stayed true to their progressive rock aesthetic. I love the way this band never sits still - new people come and go but Manfred Mann sticks to his MMEB mission statement. He's at the core of their sound, even if Trevor Rabin's more hard rock presence is on this album. 

The Springsteen cover of For You is another spectacular success. It always takes me by surprise because it sounds like a MMEB song.

Somewhere In Afrika is an intriguing blend of African rhythms with rock band moves MMEB style, best summed up by side 2's Africa Suite and their version of Bob Marley's Redemption Song. Manfred pays a kind of homage to the land of his birth with this album. 

Live In Budapest is subtitled The Best of Manfred Mann's Earth Band Live. It certainly has all the cover version hits on it: 3 from Springsteen; 1 from Marley; 1 from Dylan; 1 from Robbie Robertson. That makes for a very enjoyable set of hits!

The final album in my list is Criminal Tango from 1986. Mick Rogers, who had made appearances on some of the previous albums was back in the band. Manfred Mann's eye for others' songs continued with Paul Weller, Joni Mitchell, and even a Beatles cover (Hey Bulldog).

Unfortunately, the things I dislike about mid eighties music and production are all over Criminal Tango - hence my reluctance to buy their albums after '86.

Where do they all belong? A few more post Criminal Tango from the late eighties onwards to track down but I'm wary. The good thing about MMEB is that you can pick up their albums comparatively cheaply and as shown above - they contain some superb music.