Manfred Mann's Earth Band
The Roaring Silence


Rock/Pop
Files, 9   Tracks, 47:00  Length
01 Blinded by the Light Bruce Springsteen 07:08
02 Singing the Dolphin Through Mike Heron 08:19
03 Waiter, There's a Yawn in My Ear Manfred Mann 05:39
04 The Road to Babylon Manfred Mann; Colin Pattenden; Peter Thomas 06:53
05 This Side of Paradise Manfred Mann; Colin Pattenden; Peter Thomas 04:47
06 Starbird Manfred Mann; Chris Slade 03:09
07 Questions Manfred Mann; Chris Slade 04:00
08 Spirits in the Night Bruce Springsteen 03:16
09 Blinded by the Light [Single Edit] Bruce Springsteen 03:49
Music Details
Product Details
Packaging FLAC
Sound Stereo
Musicians  &  Credits
Keyboards Manfred Mann
Bass Colin Pattenden
Guitar Mick Rogers
Drums Chris Slade
Musician Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Producer Manfred Mann; Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Engineer Laurence Latham
Personal Details
Index # 2076
Owner Dave
Tags Prog Rock
User Defined
Purchased New
Notes
The reason that The Roaring Silence became Manfred Mann's Earth Band's best-selling album may have been because of both Bruce Springsteen-penned singles, but its instrumental makeup, by way of Mann's keyboard manipulation coupled with Chris Thompson's chiseled singing, had just as much of an affect. "Blinded By the Light" and "Spirit in the Night" gave the band hits at both ends of the Top 40 spectrum, with "Blinded" going to number one while the mysteriously-sounding "Spirit in the Night" edged in at number 40 six months later. Outside of the singles, The Roaring Silence is made up of clean-cut, well-established synthesizer and guitar work, with touches of techno psychedelia that are sometimes lengthy but never messy. Tracks such as "Questions," "This Side of Paradise," and even "Starbird" uncover the band's creativity and instrumental wit. Mann is careful not to stray too far with his keys, and his compliance with Thompson's vocals are noticeable in almost every track. Aside from the music, The Roaring Silence basks in veiled poetry, cryptic but at the same time intriguing, verging on the complexities of progressive rock but far from its pretentiousness. Eventually achieving gold status, The Roaring Silence both commercially and artistically became the group's finest effort. -- Richard Foss (allmusic.com)

Side two is so slavish in its heavy-metal pretensions that it sounds like a parody that doesn't come off. Which is why I'm inclined to give up on this band and describe side one as two worthy songs stretched out of shape on a synthesizer. If this is what the audience Mann has found on tour wants, he should retreat to the studio. C -- Robert Christgau