THE GOOD EARTH

Manfred Mann's Earth Band's progressive phase continues in 1974 with the album ''The good Earth'', recorded again at The Workhouse in Old Kent, London.The album dealt with ecological concerns and the band promoted it i a unique way.Each one having bought the copy would own the rights of one square foot of the earth in the County of Brecon, Wales, after registering via a coupon enclosed in the album!The album was released in October 1974 on Bronze Records.

Stylistically speaking this was one of Manfred Mann's Earth Band's most uneven works in the 70's.The main reason was propably the selection of songs of the opening side, ''Give me the good Earth'' was a reworking on a track by Spooky Tooth's Gary Wright from his solo album ''Footprint'', while both ''Launching place'' and ''I'll be gone'' were originally written by Mike Rudd, the main man behind Aussie Psych Rocker's Spectrum.So, ''Give me the good Earth'' is actually a raw Psych Rock piece with bluesy guitars and vocals in evidence with a nice after-middle part, highlighted by Mann's Mellotron and the nice guitar tunes of Mick Rogers.''Launching place'' is along the stylings of the band around the time, fronted by the spacey Moog synthesizer of Mann and the some bluesy/melodic guitar moves by Rogers, followed by a very good solo, while ''I'll be gone'' is a simple rockin' piece with a slow tempo and a rather cliche sound.The band's original material is displayed on the flipside and comes on par with the sound of ''Solar fire''.Much more balanced, with Mann's delightful keyboard themes in a jazzy and symphonic vein, these pieces are pretty close to GREENSLADE, featuring lots of keyboard interludes and more quirky bass and guitar parts.Mellotron, Moog synthesizer and acoustic piano come in evidence in moments, containing cinematic textures, Fusion techniques and Classical flavors, the instrumental parts are pretty extended and the vocals are more convincing, the result is music full of grandieur and instrumental efficiency, scanning a variety of styles and setting up a trully progressive atmosphere.

Had this album followed the style of the second side, we would be dealing with a fantastic work of Prog music.Even so ''The good Earth'' is another mark left by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the 70's prog list, characterized by great keyboard lines and instrumental majesty.Recommended.