Another piece of topical
hard rock from
Manfred Mann's Earth Band and, as before, listenable even to those without a serious bone in their bodies, by virtue of the playing. Moving between
hard rock and
British blues influences (with a special debt to
Cream on the opening cut,
"Give Me the Good Earth") and
progressive rock, the quartet cuts a mean swathe across the sonic landscape on
The Good Earth, between
Mick Rogers' soaring guitar solos and
Manfred Mann's inimitable synthesizer work. Some of the less ambitious cuts, such as
"I'll Be Gone," are relatively dispensable, but when these guys start reaching, as on
"Earth Hymn," that's when their best musical instincts take hold, and the results are always worth hearing. There's stuff here that
King Crimson or
Be Bop Deluxe wouldn't have been ashamed to have had on any of their albums; indeed, the instrumental
"Sky High" is worth the price of admission by itself as a showcase for the talents of all four players as both
hard rock musicians and an
art rock ensemble. They even manage to work in elements of
folk-rock, and its attendant lyricism, on the album, by way of the
Christopher Logue-based
"Be Not Too Hard" (which was also recorded, in a different adaptation, by
Joan Baez about seven years earlier). And
"Earth Hymn, Pt. 2" closes out the album in grand style, once again pushing the band to the edge of their unique brand of
progressive/
hard rock. [The 2007
Friday reissue featured bonus tracks and a remastering overhaul.] ~ Bruce Eder
