ANGEL STATION

Here we have an album that finds the different sides of MMEB at their most balanced; and of course this means, Angel Station is not MMEB at their proggiest. But still, from the 6 minutes and 15 seconds of "Don't Kill It Carol" on, it is clear that the listener is not listening to a light pop album. There is a certain depth to the package, perhaps even underlined by the strange fact that possibly the best new and self-penned MMEB song here, "You Are ' I Am", is virtually derived from "Hollywood Town", a Harriet Schock cover that can be found earlier on this album. Also only two of the golden era MMEB members are here (Chris H Thompson and Manfred Mann himself).

Well, the covers. Manfred Mann's Earth Band always liked to cover either Bob Dylan ("It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", "Father of Day, Father of Night") or Bruce Springsteen ("Spirits in the Night", "Blinded by the Light"). So there is Dylan's "You Angel You" on Angel Station, and of course it sounds like anything but Dylan but its great how they did it nonetheless.. On the other hand, MMEB's famous covers have tended to be quite prog rock, but this one is mainly pop rock and can be considered a bridge towards the forthcoming Chance album in a way. There is also a Billy Falcon cover, "Waiting for the Rain", which is one of the several Angel Station tracks that simply sound great ' those include "'Belle' of the Earth" and "Resurrection" as well.

So, it is evident that Angel Station is a great album. And still it is just as natural that it is not an actual masterpiece. There never was one in the Manfred Mann's Earth Band catalogue. Amongst the late 1970s albums, I can place it beside Octave (The Moody Blues) and XII (Barclay James Harvest). I like all these three, I would mention each of these if having a longer discussion about the late 1970s prog pop, but not in the first sentence. 4.5

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