Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Watch [Japan Edition] (1978)

Charts: UK # 33, AUS #40, AUT #14, CAN #85, NL #18, NZ #29, NOR #2, SE #9, Us #83, GER #3. Netherlands - Gold.
Watch is the eighth album by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, a studio album with two live tracks released in 1978. It is the first album recorded with new bassist Pat King, and the final album for both guitarist Dave Flett and original drummer Chris Slade. In West Germany, it stayed 69 weeks in the charts (# 3 highest position), receiving platinum status in 1981.
Truth be told, it's not at all Sixties-influenced any more; more truth be told, I just personally cannot stomach Manfred Mann without the humour. Just like Roaring Silence (which at least had the kitsch of 'Blinded By The Light'), Watch is deadly serious. Deadly obsolete for 1978 as well, and deadly pointless. At this point, the band isn't really all that different from Styx, doing lame-hook-based poppy numbers mostly dedicated to eco-rock, social critique and the usual blah blah of acts who think they're gonna save the world with their output but nobody really gives a damn anyway. Okay, so I'm not saying Manfred Mann wanted to save the world, but the music which came out of their minds sure wanted, yet the world basically told it to go fuck itself. That's my understanding of the metaphysical "music and ambience interaction" process.
Everything's well-produced, everything's well-played, and everything's boring to the extreme, as if they were so dreadfully out of ideas it didn't even matter to add up to the "gimmicks pool" or to concentrate on the album's production; I don't even hear Manfred Mann coming up with a particularly new type of Moog solo or anything. It's pretty telling, then, that six and a half minutes of the album are dedicated to the band playing a live rendition of Dylan's 'Mighty Quinn', which was a hit for the early Manfred Mann. It's also telling that it's easily the best track on the album. Their original rendition was fun, and this live track is done with verve and energy, and the typical "hot solo" intermission.
(starling.rinet.ru/music/earth.htm)