Solar Fire is the fourth studio album by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, released in 1973. It spent 15 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 96 on 11 May 1974.[1] It was initially intended to be a full adaptation of The Planets Suite but Gustav Holst's heir, who had previously given permission to the adaptation of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" in the hit single "Joybringer", didn't allow this to happen, so the band made their own "cosmic" album using mostly original themes, although the most well known song is the (greatly reworked) Bob Dylan composition "Father of Day, Father of Night", which is in the Earth Band's live set to this day and remains a popular song on rock radio. "Pluto the Dog" (a play on the Disney character) and the two-part "Saturn, Lord of the Ring/Mercury, the Winged Messenger" are instrumentals, and "Earth the Circle Part 2" features only two lines of sung vocals. The album is often considered the peak of the early Earth Band line-up and, for a lot of progressive rock reviewers, the pinnacle of Mann's career in general.[2]
| Solar Fire | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 30 November 1973 | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Studio | The Workhouse, Old Kent Road, London | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, progressive rock, jazz rock | |||
| Length | 37:10 | |||
| Label | Bronze (UK) Polydor (U.S.) | |||
| Producer | Manfred Mann, Earth Band | |||
| Manfred Mann's Earth Band chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Solar Fire | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[4] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
| Only Solitaire | [6] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
Track listing edit
- Side one
- "Father of Day, Father of Night" (Bob Dylan) – 9:55[nb 1]
- "In the Beginning, Darkness" (Manfred Mann, Mick Rogers, Chris Slade) – 5:22
- "Pluto the Dog" (Mann, Rogers, Slade, Colin Pattenden) – 2:48
- Side two
- "Solar Fire" (Mann, Rogers, Slade, Pattenden) – 5:15
- "Saturn, Lord of the Ring/Mercury, The Winged Messenger"[nb 2] (Mann/Mann, Rogers) – 6:31
- "Earth, The Circle Part 2" (Mann) – 3:23
- "Earth, The Circle Part 1" (Debussy/Mann) – 3:56
- Bonus Tracks (1998 re-issue)
- "Joybringer" (Gustav Holst, Mann, Rogers, Slade) – 3:25
- "Father of Day, Father of Night" (Edited version) (Dylan) – 3:03[nb 3]
The track listing varied from area to area. The US edition omitted the final track "Earth, the Circle Part 1" but included "Joybringer" before "Earth, the Circle Part 2". "Joybringer" had been released as a non-album single in 1973.[8]
Personnel edit
The Earth Band edit
- Manfred Mann – organ, Mellotron, Minimoog synthesiser, vocals on "Earth, the Circle Part 1"
- Mick Rogers – guitar, vocals
- Colin Pattenden – bass guitar
- Chris Slade – drums
Additional musicians edit
- Irene Chanter – backing vocals
- Doreen Chanter – backing vocals
- Grove Singers – backing vocals
- Paul Rutherford – trombone
- Peter Miles – additional percussion on "In the Beginning, Darkness"
Technical edit
- Manfred Mann's Earth Band – producer
- John Pantry – engineer
- Dave Stephens, John Edwards – assistant engineers
- Laurence Latham – tape operator
- Fin Costello – design, photography
- Re-mastered by: Robert M Corich and Mike Brown
Charts edit
| Chart (1973-1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] | 96 |
| US Billboard 200[10] | 96 |
Certifications edit
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[11] | Silver | 60,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References edit
- ^ "Billboard 200 - May 11, 1974". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ "Babyblaue Prog-Reviews: Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Solar Fire: Review". www.babyblaue-seiten.de. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Foss, Richard. Solar Fire at AllMusic
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 4 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Groves Dictionaries. pp. 3438–39. ISBN 1-561-59237-4.
- ^ Starostin, George. "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". Only Solitaire.
- ^ Marsh, Dave (1983). "Manfred Mann". In Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2th ed.). Random House. pp. 313–314. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
- ^ "Manfred Mann's Earthband* – Joybringer". discogs.org. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5012b". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "Manfred Mann's Earth Band Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "British album certifications – Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Solar Fire". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ This piece incorporates a slowly building volume pedal guitar solo previously played live as part of the song "Dealer", which itself was a new version of the song "Prayer" from the first MMEB album.
- ^ this piece is based on the track "Fish", recorded by Manfred Mann's previous line-up Manfred Mann Chapter Three in 1971. The album was shelved before release. So, this track was first released in 2005 as a part of the box set Odds & Sods – Mis-takes & Out-takes.
- ^ This edit was newly created from the LP master for the 1998 CD, because a master for the original single edit couldn't be found. The proper 7" version later appeared on the CDs "The Best of Manfred Mann's Earth Band Re-Mastered Volume II" and "Mannthology"
External links edit
- Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Solar Fire (1973) album releases & credits at Discogs
- Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Solar Fire (1973) album to be listened on Spotify
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