It’s not often that someone records a Springsteen song and blows The Boss out of the park. Yet that’s exactly what happens with Blinded By The Light. The Earth Band’s version went to Number 1 all over the world and outsold Mann’s earlier sixties releases. MMEB released three great albums together, Nightingales and Bombers, Solar Fire, and this, each one as good as each other but the Roaring Silence had the killer single.
After a killer opening 1,2 of Blinded and Sailing the Dolphin Through, Side 1 closes out with instrumental Waiter There’s a Yawn in My Ear, which showcases what a great keyboard player Mann is. Side 2 starts with The Road to Babylon which I think was the follow up single to Blinded, and while it’s a great song, it doesn’t have that touch of greatness as Blinded. The album closes out with Questions, another great song and what finishes what could be the last great Prog album of the 70’s. Great vocal from Chris Thompson throughout and complimented with tasty guitar by Dave Flett, and a young Chris Slade on drums who would later go on to fill the drum stool for AC/DC.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
