Reviews
COMMENTS ON MANNING - "A MATTER OF LIFE &
DEATH"
By ZEBRAZOO3 ON THE PROGRESSIVE EARS NEWSGROUP
Okay, my full review is done:
The Dream opens up Guy Manning’s new CD “A Matter Of Life and Death”. It
has an Alan Parsons sort of rhythm section that makes me think of Turn Of a
Friendly Card. As someone who has not heard lots of Guy Manning before this, it
took me awhile to decide what the vocals remind me of. Finally it hit me, Ian
Anderson from the “Broadsword” era. Not to say the music reminds me of this,
but you can really hear Anderson in these vocals.
The Dream is a good way to kick off a CD. It almost acts like an overture with
lyrical themes that will be reused throughout the album. Ian Fairbain and Tim
Moon add nice Violin and Cello (respectively) to this song. The strings really
fill out the song. The Moog (played by Andy Tillison) is the touch that makes
this song work.
A Spanish guitar opens track 2 (Nobody’s Fool). I have seen others describe
this as “Songwriter” prog. This song is a prime example. The song would fit
on an old 70s Eric Anderson album, but since it is the real introduction to the
hero of the story, it works more like the first “solo” in a musical. I have
become a huge fan of Rick Ashton’s bass playing and this song misses it. I do
not see where anybody is playing a reed instrument so someone did an amazing job
with the syth-programming because I swear there is a clarinet solo in this song.
The third song (Omens) gets us back to rock, and either Mr. Manning’s guitar
or Gareth Haywood have a Gilmour-type line going through the intro, but then
seem to disappear for most of the song, playing just a few fills here and there.
Another resemblance to the singer/songwriter style of not clouding the vocals
with too much background instrumentation. This is a great melodic tune with a
catchy chorus.
River of Time takes us back to a mellower place. This is Laura Fowles’ best
background vocals. She adds a perfect haunting element to compliment the
acoustic guitar work. This song is crying out for a Tillison counter melody
running off and deflecting the main theme. The piano solo in the middle is a
good example, but acts as a bridge instead of a counter melody. The strongest
point of this song is the lyrics. Concept or no-concept, treating time like a
tangible being that “feeds on emotion, demands our devotion, and sucks all our
innocence dry” leaves you a little haunted.
After River of Time I was hoping that Track 5 (Silent Man) would be a play on
words, and I was right. Very little silent about this as Guy breaks out the
Mandolin and Rick Ashton walks the bass up and down the verses. My third
favorite song on the CD. I have no idea how this song fits into the story line,
but hey, I usually miss that point anyways. This song has another vocal section
that reminds me of Ian Anderson (heavy horses, singing over the fiddle of
Fairbairn). You will sing along with this song after only the first listen.
I was hoping the rock would continue with Falling Down, Rising Up? But was not
so rewarded. But Mr. Manning knew what he was doing with another surprise
waiting. The songwriter prog vein re-introduces itself and we put away the
fiddle and bass and are treated to a pretty piano driven song. As the name
implies it really is a two part song where the lament of ones mistakes dominates
the first part and the resurrection of purpose closes it out. A serious Jazz
baseline drives the song into part 2. The sax work of Fowels also lends to the
Jazz feel of Rising Up. This still is a keyboard (Piano and Electric Keys)
driven song but the jazz feel made me hit replay as it slipped back into the
slower part of the song for closing.
Song 7 (Life’s Disguises) could of replaced One White Duck off of Minstrel In
the Gallery and no one would of known the difference. The playing, the singing,
the lyrics, everything reminded me of acoustic Tull.
The “proggiest” song appears in Out Of My Life. I know it just typed it, but
I have no idea what that means. It just feels like what I like in my progressive
rock. From the Floyd sax opening, to the power lyrics of the intro, to the
keyboards taking over and having both a melody and counter melody going on. The
bass work again is impressive. By far my favorite track on this CD.
Mr. Manning saves the biggest surprise for last. After the fun song of Out Of My
Life, we given a classic AOR rock and roll song. It really reminds me of
Fish’s Internal Exile where you are surprised to hear Something In The Air.
Midnight Sail is a great song though, but just a surprise. It makes you think
Guy and the Band could do anything they wanted to and make great music out of
it.
If you are looking for The Tangent or other such prog-CDs that Mr. Manning has
performed on, you might be a little disappointed. If you are looking for
song-based music that has enough twists to keep you interested for almost an
hour, than this is the perfect CD. It is hard to give an x out of 10 since
nobody really knows what the means anyways. Let me give you my rating system.
This CD will probably be in the top 20 replays this year (of the 1000+ CDs I
own). That ought to tell you how much I like it.
Great work Mr. Manning.
