| 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 | ||||
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| Singles from Solar Fire | ||||
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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 for the adaptation of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" in the hit single "Joybringer", did not 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 to be 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]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[4] |
| Disc | [5] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [6] |
| Melody Maker | favourable[7] |
| Only Solitaire | [8] |
| Record Mirror | favourable[9] |
| Rolling Stone | mixed[10] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [11] |
- ^ "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.
- ^ MB (15 December 1973). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Solar Fire". Disc. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Groves Dictionaries. pp. 3438–39. ISBN 1-561-59237-4.
- ^ "Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Solar Fire". Melody Maker. 29 December 1973. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ Starostin, George. "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". Only Solitaire.
- ^ P. H. (19 January 1974). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Solar Fire" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 15. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ Emerson, Ken (14 March 1974). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Solar Fire". Rolling Stone. pp. 61–62.
- ^ 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.