MANFRED MANN '06: 2006

Manfred Mann managed a put together a surprisingly solid swan-song to the Earth Band's recording career with '2006', an album released in 2004 but post-dated by Mann as an attempt to help keep the music relevant a little longer than it might have otherwise. That little marketing trick failed as the album didn't chart anywhere, but the music, while not in the same league as the band's strongest work from the 70s, is still pretty decent.

Most of the songs here were written by Mann himself, something of a departure from earlier Earth Band albums that were always known for the liberal use of both cover and commissioned tunes. Mann does include a handful of classical-inspired tracks such as "Independent Woman" and the eerie instrumental "Marche Slave" whose keyboard riffs borrow from Tchaikovsky, and the reprise of the Holst-inspired "Mars" from the band's 'Solar Fire' days.

But there are also some interesting original tracks as well as hybrids where Mann takes one or more songs from other artists and weaves something new of his own. Sort of a prog-rock version of sampling I suppose, and Mann even includes a bit of soft rapping on several tracks courtesy the European rap artist Thomas D. The opening "Demons and Dragons" for example takes the basic structure of Super Furry Animals' 1997 single "Demons", mixes in some Paddy McAloon (Prefab Sprout) lyrics and Thomas D smooth spoken-word crooning to yield a legitimate 21st century tune. Like I said, not the sort of thing you normally expect from Manfred Mann's Earth Band but at least the boys are trying for the first time in quite a while. The album closes on a reprise version of the same Super Furry Animals/Mann composition.

Most of the rest of the album goes on like this, Mann mixing other people's material with his own and yielding instrumentally-dominated, moody and somewhat postured music that is nonetheless modern-sounding, creative and quite listenable. The Earth Band had managed to lower the bar on their previous half-dozen albums to the point where this one sounds comparatively good, so that's something anyway.

There are a couple duds on the record that detract but don't manage to sink it completely. Mann either legitimately likes the avant-weirdness of Momus or at least feels like he should pretend to, demonstrated by his inclusion of yet another variation on that artist's "The History of Sexual Jealousy". I personally find his music quite boring, but to each his own. It doesn't fit here any more than it did on 'Soft Vengeance' though. And the Coasters cover "Down in Mexico" would have been better left to a legitimate house or R&B band. Even though Mann includes Thomas D's vocals here the band doesn't quite manage to bring authenticity to the sampling.

Otherwise this is arguably the best thing Manfred Mann's Earth Band recorded since 'Angel Station' way back in the 70s. Props to Mann for not giving up on himself. I can't quite go to four stars since in the end this is more about arranging and interpreting other people's music than it is about original composition, but three stars seem fair and indicate this one should at least be checked out if you are anything more than a casual Earth Band fan.

peace