Formed in Wales in 1968, Man built their career on their prowess as a live band. Studio recordings were only ever the starting point for their instrumental flights of fancy, led by the guitars of Deke Leonard and the peerless Micky Jones – the best improviser since Zappa. So seven discs of Man in concert can’t be bad, can it?
Well, up to a point. There’s not one single writing or musician credit to be seen – curious, as it’s advertised as a band-licensed product. (Actually, that’s untrue; guest axeman John Cipollina is mentioned, but misspelled!) Some song titles are wrong, and the recordings, which span three gigs in 1975, 1976 (two) and 1984, have long been available on a well-known file-sharing website.
Sonically, nothing has been done to correct feedback and dropouts, while the lack of defined tracks on the discs containing the 1976 Berkeley gig multiplies the confusion as to where it is split. If the official Maximum Darkness album of Man and Chippo had too much studio enhancement, this is the other end of the sonic scale.
While this will appeal to non-internet-savvy completists, we await a truly career-defining Man box set.
