Wow...thorough retrospective....
Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 01/11/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"considering Manfred Mann was much more of a chart success in the UK, this collection has all the hits a US audience will ever need, including Do Wah Diddy, The Mighty Quinn, and the full length 7 minute cut of Blinded by the Light. It also has some of the more minor radio hits of the late 70s and early 80s by the band, including Runner--which is, surprisingly, an edit that is a minute shorter than the LP version. The hard to come by Lies (through the 80s) is here as well. The only glaring omission is the song Make the World Go Round, another of his pseudo-synthpop tracks from the 80s era of music. While most of the music is broken into separate discs, 60s on CD 1, 70-80s on disc 2, there are also some odd newer recordings, like a 1997 cover of the new wave track "Pleasure and Pain," originally recorded by the Divinyls in the early 80s.
The mastering is excellent--but there are absolutely NO liner notes past the general track information. You'd think with such a career spanning set there would be some brief history inside."
Caveat emptor!
J. Bergstrom | Honolulu, HI United States | 06/10/2008
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Save your money. I originally bought this mainly for the Manfred Mann stuff since there isn't a really definitive compilation that concisely covers both the EMI and Fontana material, and, augmented with the Earth Band material, it seemed like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, I got burned.
I had to write a review just to caution other buyers. Contrary to what Daniel from New Jersey claims, the remastering on this set is anything but excellent. In fact, it's down right awful. Universal, in its attempt to emulate modern mastering trends, has cranked the volume to the max, and in the process, destroyed all the dynamic range of these recordings. What we're left with sounds overly compressed and harsh. This is especially prevalent on the first disc where all the songs sound like bad mp3's. Listening to it gave me a headache. Plus to add insult to injury, 3 of the tracks on the first disc - "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" - "Sweet Pea" - and "The Mighty Quinn" - are rechanneled (i.e. fake stereo) mixes. The only songs featured in true stereo on the first disc are "Just Like a Woman," "Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James" and "My Name Is Jack." Everything else is mono. The only other Manfred Mann CD I currently have is the budget 1997 "10 Best Series: The Best of Manfred Mann" from EMI-Capitol. That sounds like an audiophile disc compared to this.
The second disc of the set fares better, but still isn't anything much to write home about. Comparing it to my 1996 Warner Archives "Best of Manfred Mann's Earth Band" CD, it still sounds a bit too "bright" to my ears, but it's more subtle in this case and most people probably won't be put off by it. The big problem here is the heavy use of single edits in place of the far superior, longer album versions. They did this in order to fit more songs, obviously, but it's not an advisable move for an album-oriented progessive rock band from '70s. They would have done everyone a service by cutting a few of the lesser tracks to make room for the full-length LP versions. One listen to the abrupt and poorly executed fade-out on "Davy's on the Road Again" ought to prove my case to anyone. On a brighter note, at least there are no rechanneled mixes to be found on this disc."
All the Manfred Mann a casual fan needs
moviemusicbuff | Walnut, CA United States | 01/26/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I really like several of Manfred Mann's most popular songs and wanted them all in one collection. This collection offers them all: The Mighty Quinn, Do-Wah Diddy, Pink Flamingo, Blinded by the Light (full version), Spirits in the Night, and Runner. It ends with a rousing live edition of The Mighty Quinn.
I found no qualms with the sound quality -- it sounded great to me. I highly recommend this collection for fans of Manfred Mann."
Track Listings (18) - Disc #1