You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.
Spirits in the Night
Countdown
Time Is Right
Crossfade
Visionary Mountains
Nightingales and Bombers
Fat Nelly
As Above So Below
By the time Nightingales & Bombers arrived in record stores in the summer of 1975, Manfred Mann had moved far beyond the previous decade's pop hits Do Wah Diddy, Sha La La and 5-4-3-3-1, and become a respected figure in a scene that embraced both prog and jazz rock.
The album’s title itself stemmed from a wartime BBC recording where birdsong and bombers overlapped, and that sense of beauty and menace could be found throughout the album, from the opening Spirits In The Night (an initial Bruce Springsteen cover on the road to Blinded By The Light) to the spectral title track, where recorded nightingales fluttered against expansive jams.
Nightingales & Bombers refused to sit still. It straddled prog’s adventurousness and classic rock’s immediacy, managing to sound cerebral and ambitious yet remaining quick to the punch. For a band frequently pigeonholed as a singles act, Nightingales & Bombers proved they could deliver depth and daring in equal measure. A surprising cult classic.
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in August 1975
- Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - Rainbow
- Atlantic Crossing - Rod Stewart
- Acid Queen - Tina Turner
- Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
- Caught in the Act - Grand Funk Railroad
- Dreamboat Annie - Heart
- E. C. Was Here - Eric Clapton
- Searchin' for a Rainbow - The Marshall Tucker Band
- So Fine - Loggins & Messina
- Stamp Album - Climax Blues Band
- Win, Lose or Draw - The Allman Brothers Band
What they said...
"Nightingales and Bombers featured in almost every "Best of the Year" list for 1975. Justifiably so – though attention at the time was naturally on the hits, the rest of the album features a mix of good originals and eccentric covers, inspired playing, and tight, focused arrangements." (AllMusic)
"Space doodlers at their worst, these guys bristle with intellectual energy at their best, setting the self-conscious funkiness of songwriters like Dr. John and Randy Newman in a formalistic, futuristic rock context. This time Bruce Springsteen and Joan Armatrading get the treatment, and the result is a surprisingly songful album, their most gratifying in two or three years." (Robert Christgau)
"Well, in brief, they have come up with a good 'un this time, far superior to their previous effort The Good Earth. If you get a chance to hear it you'll find a very atmospheric, if marginally excessive version of Joan Armatrading's Visionary Mountains, Bruce Springsteen's Spirits Of The Night, as well as a bunch of Earth Band's own. Really good." (Disc)
What you said...
Gary Claydon: I always preferred Manfred Mann's Earth Band when they cast off the prog-lite pretensions and delivered some solid 70s AOR instead. The Whistle Test type of AOR that would have a smiling Bob Harris whispering "nice" after an extended run through of something like Davy's On The Road Again.
Unfortunately, Nightingales and Bombers serves up too much of the sort of keyboard noodling that characterised much of their work. They were always better when the keys drove the songs along rather than pussy-footed around them. The guitar work is neat enough but it's an album that never really goes anywhere. Never a band (or rather, a band leader) to shy away from a cover version, the ones on display here aren't their best. The re-work of Joan Armatrading's Visionary Mountains is decent enough but I much prefer Springsteen's original Spirits In The Nigh' to the Manfred Mann's Earth Band interpretation.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band were a pretty accomplished live band in their heyday but their studio output left something to be desired. Suffice to say that the BBC field recording incorporated into As Above, So Below, which gives the album it's title, is more interesting than anything else on it. 5/10.
John Davidson: Before this week, I could have named precisely two Manfred Mann songs - Blinded By the Light and The Mighty Quinn. While there is nothing on Nightingales & Bombers that will change that, it's been a pleasant listen.
Spirits In The Night opens like the theme tune to a 70s detective TV show, but ends up being a fine cover of the all-but-forgotten Bruce Springsteen song, featuring some great guitar work from Mick Rogers.
Visionary Mountains, an almost unrecognisable cover of the Joan Armatrading song, is another highlight, as is Quit Your Low Down Ways, a Bob Dylan song previously covered by Peter, Paul and Mary.
The rest of the album, most of which is instrumental, is very listenable but doesn't linger long in the memory. Too simple for prog, too technical for most pop audiences and hampered by a very dated sound, this was a pleasant diversion but not something I'll be adding to my regular playlist. 7/10.
Mike Canoe: My first impression upon listening to Nightingales & Bombers by Manfred Mann's Earth Band is that they sure like Bruce Springsteen. Opener Spirits In The Night marks the first of at least three visits to the Springsteen well. And I like it. Much like Bob Dylan's work, some of Springsteen's early work comes across as demos to be fleshed out by someone else.
And that's where this band comes in. I read somewhere that bandleader and namesake Manfred Mann didn't understand why people got so hung up on bands writing their own songs when it was the arrangement that made a version stand out. To that end, it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that Visionary Mountains was originally written and recorded by Joan Armatrading, but it's a safe bet that it sounds nothing like Manfred Mann's.
The musicianship is fairly high and in that Venn diagram sweet spot between prog, pomp, and pop. I've always liked Manfred Mann's embrace of synthesisers and, more importantly, his willingness to let them make cool cosmic sounds instead of just serving as ersatz keyboards or other musical instruments.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band are another one of those bands that seemed to exist on the margins but, upon closer examination, have a pretty steady and consistent discography. My favourite is still 1980's Chance, with the amazing Stranded and their excellent arrangement of the Boss's For You, but Nightingales & Bombers is a good representation of what this underrated band could do.
Evan Sanders: This was a difficult one to review, as the Earth Band's version of Blinded By The Light was a favourite in the 70s, leading me to also enjoy their takes on Spirits In The Night and (I Came) For You. Now that I've listened to the album that starts with Spirits, it feels like a bait and switch. The opening song combines Springsteen's words and melodies with a prog rock production, and then the rest of the album is barely passable prog rock with jazz fusion. The instrumentals do show off good musicianship, but if I owned this in the 70s, it likely would not have been played past the first track. It's too bad, as I think the band had a nice concept, but it's just not my cup of listening tea. 5/10.
Martin Roberts: Overall, I found the album forgettable: very good musicianship, but the songs did not make me want to play it again and again.
Spirits In The Night had some good solo parts, but it just sort of chugged along for me. I preferred the single edit. Countdown is an instrumental that the band probably enjoyed playing more than anyone would enjoy listening to. Time Is Right had a good middle section. Crossfade is a jazzy instrumental, which I liked.
Visionary Mountains had some good guitar bits. Nightingales & Bombers has a lovely, dreamy start and has a nice feel to it. Fat Nelly is a song with very dark lyrics, but I liked it As Above So Below is another likeable instrumental with a quirky sound. I enjoyed Quit Your Low Down Ways, an old blues song, the most.
Overall, 6 out of 10.
Alexander Taylor: I always thought the Earth Band were for people who looked like Terry Nutkins, wore coats made from beer towels and liked Fairport Convention. However, my mate gave me a copy of Messin' and I must admit I love the albums, Watch, The Roaring Silence and Nightingales & Bombers. A great, talented band that mixed prog, rock and superb covers. Nightingales is probably up there with their best, and I have been blasting it on vinyl this week. For those who don't know 'em, try the brilliant live album Budapest Live.
Brian Carr: Back in my Musicland days, I remember it was rather difficult getting my hands on a good Manfred Mann’s Earth Band compilation. My basic requirements were the inclusion of the full version of Blinded By The Light and the similar and equally brilliant Springsteen cover For You. I found an import CD first, then eventually a US release from Warner Archives. I liked it quite a bit, but was never inspired enough to seek out original releases. So I’ve never listened to Nightingales And Bombers before this week, though I am familiar with a couple of the tracks that were on the hit compilations.
Man, the Earth Band could do fantastic work with Springsteen tunes, and album opener Spirits In The Night is no exception. Except for the lyrics, you would be hard-pressed to recognise the songs being the same as the source material, but the vibe is way cool, and that creativity on Boss tunes soon led to their major US breakthrough.
After Spirits, the rest of the album proved to be a mixed bag. I’m not opposed to instrumental music by any means, but as with songs, some are interesting and some aren’t. Countdown is okay, but somewhat dated-sounding. Time is Right has an instrumental jam that is sometimes cool and sometimes meandering. Crossfade is a bit better, and probably better when coupled with some sort of “mind enhancers.” Visionary Mountains has that cool, mysterious vibe that is the most appealing part of the Earth Band’s sound.
The second familiar track for me was the Bob Dylan cover Quit Your Lowdown Ways, which was apparently added by their American record label due to an overabundance of instrumental tracks. I usually bristle at labels messing with an artist’s album, but here they may have been onto something because this is one of the strongest tracks, in my opinion.
The title track might be my favourite instrumental on the record, possibly due to its similarity to the opening of the Rush classic Xanadu. In this case, the Manfred Mann tune came first. Closing the album, Fat Nelly is okay and As Above So Below sounded like filler to me. As I said, kind of a mixed bag of a record. I wouldn’t be opposed to listen to more, but wouldn’t necessarily seek it out either.
Jim Collins: A fantastic album, my favourite among the many classics that came out in 1975. The US version contained the extra track, which helped elevate a great album even higher. The band's interpretations of other writers' songs were never better than in this album. As was typical for them, their take on those songs is so creative, they're essentially new songs with the old lyrics and title. Genius-level musicianship.
Graham Tarry: Like all their albums, it has some wonderful tunes, but lacks consistency.
Greg Schwepe: As is the case with a lot of the Album Of The Week Club review selections, this is my first time listening to any album by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. And have only heard one song from the band previously, the only one ever played on the radio here in the U.S. You know, the one in the list of “Top 10 Misheard Lyrics In The History Of Rock.” “What? They’re saying “deuce” in the song? Are you sure? I swear it was something else. Deuce? Really? Well, damn!”
Nightingales & Bombers starts off with the cover of Bruce Springsteen’s Spirits In The Night that I might have heard the original version of… once.
Still not sure what to expect, and as Countdown comes next I find that there’s a lot of quirky keyboards and “jamming” in this three-minute instrumental. And even more “jammy” is Time Is Right, which follows with more quirky, oscillating keyboards, but some cool guitar.
And that continues through the album until we get to Fat Nelly. Which finally piques my interest again, maybe because the repeating keyboard riff sounds a lot like the one on Blinded By The Light (yes, that’s “deuce.”). About halfway through that riff gives way to another quirky riff, and I’m kind of thrown adrift.
Overall, I would call this a pleasant listen, as I found nothing to really make me stop halfway through. On the surface, these songs with long instrumental sections that I would normally find interest in. But in this case, it’s probably another situation of “one and done,” and I can’t see myself trying again with another Mann selection. 6 out of 10 on this one for me.
Chris Elliott: The original Mannfred Mann in the 60's made some great singles - and a fair few forgettable ones. But their Greatest Hits is fun. The second incarnation was jazzy and too clever by half.
Their third coming, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, fell somewhere in the middle.Blinded by the Night was their sole noteworthy track, and that's not on this album.
Philip Qvist: Considering that he originally came from my neck of the woods (Greater Johannesburg, South Africa), you would think that I would be a lot more familiar with Manfred Mann's music than is actually the case.
For sure, I have a brief knowledge of his career, and I am more than familiar with his big hits from the 60s and 70s, either as Manfred Mann or with his Earth Band, and I did enjoy his late 1970s Angel Station record. But the simple thing is that his music has never really appealed to me, and long, doodling keyboard solos are not really my thing.
That's not to say that Nightingales & Bombers is a bad album, and you definitely cannot fault the musicianship of both the Mann and singer and guitarist Mick Rogers, who both wrote the lion's share of the songs.
As you would expect from any Manfred Mann's Earth Band 70s record, you have plenty of instrumental songs and breaks, plus the obligatory covers. They do a pretty good cover of Bruce Springsteen's Spirits In The Night, although was it really necessary to turn Joan Armatrading's original two-minute Visionary Mountains into a 5'30" plus epic?
Time Is Right and Fat Nelly were my other picks, but this is definitely an album of the 70s. The album features some great musicianship and some great songs, but it needed a bit of restraint along the way. A 6, possibly a 6.5, from me.
Adrian Bolster: I have always found Manfred Mann albums quite dry, and now they sound dated. There is one exception, the brilliant Budapest Live.
Keith Jenkin: I won a copy of this album on a local radio station phone-in around the time of its release. I was still discovering rock music at the time, and devoured and enjoyed every minute, probably helped by the fact that I didn't realise any of the tracks were covers, and in 1975 didn't even know who Bruce Springsteen, the writer of the album's best track Spirits In The Night even was.
As the more obvious records from 1975/6 made their way into my collection, this one soon got filed away towards the back where it has remained apart from the very occasional play. As I now know it's a collection of covers, instrumentals and very little actual original lyric writing, something that can be said of many of Manfred Mann's classic rock-era records. There are no actual hit singles to help the uninitiated, so even with an extra bit of emotional attachment, it's a record that has rightly never transcended the era in which it was made.
Mark Herrington: Nightingales & Bombers is a scintillating listen, with great instrumental work. Arguably, the Earth Band’s most progressive album, with a smooth balance of dark and light, it features good production, wonderful keyboards and guitar.
There is a consistent spirit to Nightingales... that resonates throughout, whether in the uptempo songs or in those that meander a little.
The title Nightingales & Bombers comes from a BBC sound engineer recording some woodland Nightingales during WW2, at the same time as RAF bombers flew overhead. (Used here in the song As Above So Below)
Spirits In The Sky opens proceedings, a Springsteen cover that the band make their own, a great prog rock song that lingers long after. Then Countdown, a progressive instrumental with great keyboards from Mann. Third up is Time is Right, another killer track that builds tempo as it progresses, followed by Crossfade, a skilful piece highlighting great keyboard work.
On to side two: Visionary Mountains, another shimmering cover (Joan Armatrading) that the band make all their own. It continues with another instrumental and rocker, Fat Nelly, and finally closes out with a great As Above So Below, recorded live.
The Bonus tracks on the 1999 remaster are a pretty good addition too. A good score from me.
Final score: 7.30 (40 votes cast, total score 292)
Join the Album Of The Week Club on Facebook to join in. The history of rock, one album at a time.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
