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| Manning - A Matter of Life and Death |
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Artist: Manning
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Type: Audio CD [ View other products of this type ]
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Never one for predictability, the new album “A Matter Of Life & Death” is in fact a concept album based upon a character Guy created on his 1999 debut ‘solo’ album “Tall Stories For Small Children”.
This is an album of quite dark beauty that explores the twists and turns of fate that leads a man ultimately to his own death and rebirth. On this piece of work, we find Guy at his strongest both lyrically and melodically and also at his most direct.
Guy, as a multi-instrumentalist, plays most of the instruments himself, but once again, this album features the same core of talented musicians that have helped Guy both craft his music into complete albums and to perform them live (since 2000).
Laura Fowles (Sax, Vocals)
Gareth Harwood (Electric Gtr)
Rick Ashton (Bass)
Neil Harris (Keyboards).
Guests on this album include:
Fiddle player, Ian Fairbairn who has played with both Lindisfarne and Jack The Lad
Andy Tillison, one of the worlds best modern keyboards players around! (PO90/Tangent)
John Tipping, the up and coming young modern jazz drummer
The very talented artist Ed Unitsky has especially created artwork for this project. Ed’s work with both ‘The Flower Kings’ and also ‘The Tangent’ has gained him a great deal of respect in his field. (His artwork for the debut Tangent album as awarded ‘artwork of the year’)
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Audio samples:
 01. The Dream
02. Nobody's Fool
03. Omens
04. The River Of Time
05. Silent Man
06. Falling Down? Rising Up!
07. Life's Disguises
08. Out Of My Life
09. Midnight Sail
Album reviews:
Interview with Guy Manning
Read full story at http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/guymanninginterview.htm
Guy Manning is quickly climbing the ladder of progressive rock, and he is close to the edge of some real stardom. He was a featured guest on both Tangent albums. Much to everyone's surprise, he is an accomplished solo artist as well. I have been instantly impressed with his work since the first moment I laid ears on him. While View from my Window was very good, this one scores highest on my charts...I've enjoyed all of Ed Unitsky's artwork, but the cover he created for this album is simply out of this world. It features a man, who looks a lot like Guy, sitting behind an antique desk. A colorful quill, a bright angel, and a black crow are just some of the imagery he uses to illustrate the many moods of the music.
Read full story at http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/guymanning.htm
... is the third album of Guy Manning I have had the chance to listen to. Both the previous albums being excellent, I was expecting a lot from this new one... and I was not disappointed. A Matter Of Life And Death - The Journal Of Abel Mann is another very good CD from this talented artist...
Read full story at http://www.proggnosis.com/MUSIC_DBCDInfo.asp
... I am convinced that most prog rock fans will find more than enough to sink their teeth into. For example the first track, "The Dream" is a killer. Very rhythmic and ending with a great synth solo. Other tracks like "Omens", "Silent Man" and the VDGG inspired "Out Of My Life" have loads of prog elements for the lover of the genre. The rest of the tracks consist mostly of highly emotional ballads, with great instrumentation and often featuring unexpected "twists and turns"...
Read full story at http://www.ProGGnosis.com/MUSIC_DBArtist.asp?txtArtistID=4205
...It''s almost impossible to select a standout track here, but a favorite is "River Of Time" It isn''t the most complex or the most ''progressive'' song on this CD - that honor goes to the sax-rich and mostly instrumental "Out Of My Life" - but it is a soft melodic piece that you might find yourself playing over and over again. Guy''s fat twelve-string guitar complements Laura Fowles'' whisper-soft and very feminine background vocals, while the rich but understated keys and gentle bass and occasional high-register synth motifs build an elegant, introspective piece that segues nicely into "Silent Man", a more folk-rock oriented piece with fiddle, mandolin, and a heavy Jethro Tull influence....
Read full story at http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=1814
Italian Review
Read full story at http://www.movimentiprog.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Recensioni&file=view&id=1330
... this is Manning’s strongest effort to date, with an excellent sense of pacing and structure, and I have no hesitation in once again awarding a DPRP recommendation. It’s richly deserved and I hope that Manning’s boosted profile following his presence in the Tangent project results in many new listeners checking out his solo stuff. Whilst operating in a more commercial, low key, less bombastic prog area, there’s a lot of high quality song craft and musicianship to be enjoyed on any of his solo stuff and this one makes a great place to start exploring...
Read full story at http://www.dprp.net/reviews/200470.html
Interview in Italian with Guy
Read full story at http://www.hmp.it/modules.php?name=Interviews&rop=showcontent&id=519
...What I really love about this album is Laura Fowles sax solos, which are, for the most part, warm and smooth without being cloying. But if you think she can't also make that horn honk, well one listen to "Silent Man" will dispel that myth - though the passage is brief and is washed away by eddies and waves of various keyboards and modal piano from Neil Harris. It's a heavily Celtic danceable track that puts Ian Fairborn's fiddle right upfront, with drums and rhythm guitars just behind. Then there are the acoustic guitars heard throughout the album, which also lend a warm feeling to the music. But Manning is not warm and fuzzy here, and the pieces are dark and moody, even those that rock...
Read full story at http://www.progressiveworld.net/manning8.html
Argentinian review
Read full story at http://www.planeta-rock.com.ar/detalle_review.php?id_review=478
German review
Read full story at http://metal-reviews.de/baseportal/CDs/kritikendetail&Id==5365
Italian review
Read full story at http://www.hmp.it/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=3569
...Stating the obvious, the album has the usual and now classic Manning sound, but like all Guy's releases, this has something 'extra' over and above the previous album. What that 'extra something' IS, is difficult to put into words. Listen to it and you will know what I mean. Yes, there's that hint of Tull but many other styles, sounds and feelings are also there, from the fiddle of The Levellers to the strong sense of Camel particularly with regard to keyboard pieces. I don't know about you but this combination gets a large "thumbs up" in my book...
Read full story at http://www.hairlessheartherald.co.uk/gmmolod.htm
French review in Belgium
Read full story at http://www.musicinbelgium.net/pl/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=531
Excellent review in Germany
Read full story at http://www.sonny1968.de/reviews/2004/reviews1004.htm#Manning
...The album is wonderfully produced, with rich layers of keyboards (loads of Mellotron throughout, especially on the catchy "Omens") and guitars providing a rich tapestry of sound for which Manning's Ian Anderson-styled voice and the alluring backing vocals of Fowles soars over top. In fact, Manning sounds better here than on any previous release, perhaps due to the better production, or perhaps simply that this particular concept piece has really inspired him to new levels. Songs like "The River of Time", with its haunting piano, acoustic guitar, Mellotron, and synth lines, or the lengthy "Out of My Life", highlighted by some melodic sax and symphonic proggy keyboards, are just entirely endearing pieces that you will want to listen to over and over again. "The Silent Man" has a very folky, Jethro Tull-meets-Tempest feel, while "Life's Disguises" could have easily been a leftover from Tull's Too Old to Rock & Roll or Songs From the Wood albums, with Manning on lush acoustic guitar and passionate vocals. Guitarist Harwood proves to be a very adept player, laying down some crunchy riffs on "Midnight Sail" and a tasty solo on the symphonic rocker "The Dream", two of the more upbeat rock tunes on a CD of mostly dark, moody, and symphonic prog...
Read full story at http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=1814
...This is a beautifully done album that has it’s roots in classic prog and rock while having a strong modern appeal. It’s very hard to pick a favorite on this album since all of the songs are very good and high quality music both lyrically and instrumentation wise. This along with the latest The Tangent release will be frequent visitors to my cd player, but Guy’s album has a more warm familiar feeling to it. Like an old friend coming to tell you a beautiful story with his music. Also I must bring forth the attention of Ed Unitskys' s artwork that graces Guy Manning’s cd cover as well as The Tangent’s two releases...
Read full story at http://www.geocities.com/prognaut/reviews/manning.html
...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 that means anyway. 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.
Read full story at http://www.progressiveears.com/asp/reviews.asp?albumID=2928
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 New bulk discounts
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To make purchasing even easier, we've implemented a method of discounting to save you even more money.
The discounts are based on number of products purchased in a single purchasing session.
The discounts break down as shown in the table below.
All shipments will include a $1.75 handling charge.
| Items |
Discount |
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15% |
| 10 or more |
20% |
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