Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Man - Back Into The Future CD (album) cover

BACK INTO THE FUTURE

Man

 

Psychedelic/Space Rock

3.87 | 91 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Nightfly
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Every band worth their salt in the seventies had to release the obligatory double album at some point. This is Man's but what we got was one album of studio recordings and another of live material. Always known as band who liked to jam and stretch out on their Psychedelic/Space Rock excursions, especially live although many of their studio tracks were on the lengthy side and two of the studio tracks here, Ain't Their Fight and Never Say Nups to Nepalese did take up the whole of side two.

The first four studio songs are by Man standards sharp, concise and to the point. A Night in Dad's Bag is an excellent melodic opener that bounces along nicely and has the distinction of being in 15/8 time in the main. In fact the whole side is Man at their most melodic with all the fat removed with some nice vocal harmonies, something they were always good at. The previously mentioned two longer studio tracks do allow the band to stretch out a bit more and it's always a pleasure to hear a fluent and imaginative Micky Jones Guitar solo like on Ain't Their Fight. The keyboards play a more prominent roll on this album than on many Man releases, this time courtesy of Phil Ryan, like on the most experimental of the studio tracks, Never Say Nups to Nepalese which apart from a couple of vocal lines is pretty much an instrumental.

Onto the live tracks which are pretty much two tracks although they're preceded by a short piece by the Gwalia Male Choir which I could do without to be honest. They re-appear in the excellent C'mon which is still a live favourite to this day which moves along at a frantic pace driven by Terry Williams imaginative Drumming and an insistant Jones Guitar riff. My all time favourite Man track and this is one of the best versions too. Jam Up Jelly Tight closes the album and as the title might suggest is a jam based around another Man classic Spunk Rock; very good it is too ending one of Man's most satisfying releases.

Nightfly | 4/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this MAN review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.