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ANSER'S TREE

Manning

Eclectic Prog


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Manning Anser's Tree album cover
3.87 | 77 ratings | 7 reviews | 17% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2006

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Margaret Montgomery (1581-?) (7:13)
2. Jack Roberts (1699-1749) (6:39)
3. William Barras (1803-1835) (14:45)
4. Diana Horden (1900-1922) (7:47)
5. Joshua Logan (1990-2048) (7:58)
6. Prof. Adam Logan (2001-2094) 11:59)
7. Dr. Jonathan Anser (2089-?) (7:07)

Total Time: 63:28

Line-up / Musicians

- Guy Manning / 6- & 12-string acoustic, Classical & electric guitars, keyboards, bass, mandolin, drums, percussion, samples,vocals, arranger & producer

With:
- David Million / electric guitars
- Andy Tillison / Hammond, Moog, Rhodes (2)
- Neil Harris / piano (2), Arp synth (5)
- Ian Fairbairn / fiddles
- Laura Fowles / sax, vocals
- Stephen Dundon / flutes

Releases information

Artwork: Ed Unitsky

CD ProgRock Records ‎- PRR 270 (2006, UK)

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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MANNING Anser's Tree ratings distribution


3.87
(77 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(17%)
17%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(51%)
51%
Good, but non-essential (28%)
28%
Collectors/fans only (4%)
4%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

MANNING Anser's Tree reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Windhawk
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars With album number 8 in as many years, Manning has produced an excellent release for anyone into keyboard-dominated musical explorations of the prog variety.

This isn't a keyboards only thing though; Manning is a multi-instrumentalist that handles just about any instrument that can make a sound, so there's a plethora of other instruments to be heard here as well. And all songs have foundations the keyboards accompany, from the folk-inspired opening to the more modern sounding last tracks on the album.

Mostly mellow and dreaming though; this is not for fans of music with hard edges. My closest description of this music would be mellow, symphonic rock.

Review by Tarcisio Moura
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars I agree with most reviewers here. This is surely a grower. It wonīt grab you at first, but after repeated spins youīll find an excellent concept work that holds probably Guy Manningīs most ambicious prog work ever. Every track is a mini epic on its own and should be judge separately, such are the many shifts and turns the music goes throughout each tune. I thought initially Anserīs tree would be a kind of folk oriented album since much of the songs deal with people from the past, but thatīs not really the case. Sure, there is lots of folkish stuff here but there also jazz, rock and symphonic prog influenced parts all over the place. Itīs hard to pigeonhole Manningīs music on Anserīs Tree and thatīs something good.: itīs Manningīs own music. It sounds like nothing else, like it or not.

To fully appreciate this strong efford you should read carefully the bookletīs notes and lyrics. They will lead you through the story and clarifies the whole plot. As it is usual in Manningīs CDs, production, arrangements, cover art, etc, are expertly done. Of course some songs are better than the others, but there are no fillers. Highlights? Iīd pick up Jack Roberts, a brilliant song with great keyboars, flute and sax solos, while progheads probably will favor the complex, 14+ minute William Barras. But thatīs just a personal choice. All tracks are very elaborated and they all have their merits.

Conclusion: Manningīs boldest and most progressive work Iīve heard so far. This a labor of love and again no small detail seemed to be overlooked. Very well craft. Anserīs Tree is an excellent addtion to any prog rock music collection. Highly recommended.

Review by Matti
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars This is my first acquaintance with GUY MANNING's solo albums (his band Paraller Or 90 Degrees I haven't yet listened to. He appeared on a TANGENT album I've heard, and on the "Spaghetti Epic" anthology together with his bandmate Andy Tillison). I was happily surprised about the quality of this album. And not only music is good, also the visual and narrative level is interesting: each track is about a character (some of them may be real historical persons, I'm not sure, but the living years of the last few ones go to the future so obviously they are fictitious!) and their stories are printed after the lyrics. For example: woman in the 16th century presumed to be a witch; a miner in a mining accident; New York's first woman police who gets killed by a criminal; scientists dealing with the environmental crisis.

Songs are longish (7 tracks make 63 minutes) but not very symphonic or Neo-Proggish in structure; there appears refrains and choruses to some degree and there are no notable solos. But they never get boring, and they are clearly progressive rock with a rich instrumental pallette featuring e.g. mandolin and reeds. Jethro Tull -reminding folkish touch is present throughout the album. Which leads to the thing that was circling in my mind right from the start...

Boy, he sounds disturbingly much like Ian Anderson! No, his voice is not as distinctive and warm, but his way of producing the sound is very close to Anderson's. If you like Tull, that shouldn't be a problem per se, but it may feel slightly annoying. Does he imitate Anderson consciously?

Another thing that decreases my rating a little is that the songs don't differ VERY much from each other. For example the tempo is more or less the same; I was hoping for either slower or faster tempo here and there. But still, recommended and easily worth four stars.

Latest members reviews

3 stars A solid collection of tunes. This album was my introduction to Manning's solo output (it was the only album available to me to purchase at the time) and I have to tell you straight away that this is not the place to begin. I must admit that initially, when playing this album, all I could thi ... (read more)

Report this review (#324931) | Posted by Eapo_q42 | Wednesday, November 17, 2010 | Review Permanlink

4 stars This is only my second posted review, the first also being for a Manning album 'View from my window'. I cannot recommend this disc enough, even though when I first heard it I was not immediately taken by it. I found it a little disjointed & awkward, not as instant as his previous albums. I ... (read more)

Report this review (#94714) | Posted by Simon Jackson | Monday, October 16, 2006 | Review Permanlink

4 stars This is an absolute 'grower'. I bought it at the recent Rotherham concert where Guy and friends played some of his own tracks and then he participated in a truly magnificent Tangent set. At first listen, admittedly crossing the Pennines on a dark and wet night, I thought 'OK'. However, wi ... (read more)

Report this review (#91336) | Posted by progadder | Saturday, September 23, 2006 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Rasping flute contrasting with melodic flute passages ,inspired fiddle playing, subtle acoustic guitar, ,shifting keyboard textures ,virtuoso saxophone and blues based electric guitar solos are all found within Guy Manning's latest release. Ansers Tree is difficult to categorise a ... (read more)

Report this review (#90528) | Posted by platform | Tuesday, September 19, 2006 | Review Permanlink

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