Kingdom of Noise

In the 1970s incarnation of the Manband, a seismic shake-up of the band was a regular occurence. It was not uncommon for the band to look (almost) completely different from how it was the previous year, and with this came constant re-invention of the Man sound, from bluesy shuffles to synth-heavy progressive numbers, via avant-garde paper cup crushing. They split in 1976, but reunited in 1983, and for the rest of the 20th century the line-up stayed fairly constant, except for John 'Pugwash' Weathers, who was replaced by previous Man drummer Terry Williams, and then Bob Richards in the second half of the 1990s.

At the band's heart was guitarist Micky Jones, a true genius of the instrument, who served in every lineup of the band from its early days as the Bystanders until the early 2000s, when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. In the early days of his illness his son George took over his place in the Manband temporarily, and then permanently with the departure of Deke Leonard in 2004, which coincided with Micky's return to the band. This father-and-son line-up didn't last for long, sadly, as Micky's health deteriorated the following year, and he was replaced by bassist Martin Ace's son Josh. To this day, it is unlikely that Micky will return to the Manband, or indeed live performance, ever again.

Some fans, at the time, thought the band wouldn't be the same without Micky, but in George they had an equally impressive Jones. The release of Diamonds and Coal, the first Man album without Micky, gave a new vitality to the band, and along with the return of Phil Ryan to the band and a string of blistering live gigs, many fans were increasingly hopeful for the future of the Ace / Ace / Jones / Richards / Ryan incarnation of the band... possibly a bright new beginning for the Manband... perhaps it could even emulate the classic line-ups of the 1970s...

It did.

At the tail end of 2008, during recording of the new album, tensions within the band led to an apparent split. There was confused speculation over the band's immediate future - had they actually broken up? Had Martin left, or had George and Bob (both had been publicised)? Would Man exist, then, as two bands, and continue on in a Wishbone Ash-like scenario? In the following weeks, everything became a bit clearer: George and Bob had left and were forming their own band; Martin, Josh and Phil remained as Man, with James Beck and Rene Robrahn replacing George and Bob, respectively; and the new album would be released, although with a few changes.

The fans who had despaired of a Micky-less Manband now were faced with a Manband without any Jones at all. Martin Ace was one of the long-time members of the band, but some were unsure of what direction an Ace-led Manband would go; for one, his songwriting produced catchy but often novelty numbers, like Jumpin' Like a Kangaroo, Stuck Behind the Popemobile, and the much-derided Miss Cathy, one of Diamonds and Coal's few real bum notes. The emergence of the new album's title track, Kingdom of Noise, on Man's website, didn't help put the fears to bed, as it was a breezy, jazzy number totally at odds with Man's heavier, progressive side. Some were already proclaiming the end of the Manband as they knew it, others rightfully holding judgement until the full album was heard.

And now, I have heard the full album. And while I would not be so drastic as to proclaim the end of the Manband, it is certainly unrecognisable as a part of the band's previous output. Although not completely for the worst.

Of all the songs on the album, the highlights, for me, were the ones penned by Josh. His contributions to Diamonds and Coal were certainly un-Man-like, but had a fresh sound rather than being overly nostalgic for the old Man stylings. On Kingdom of Noise, his songs are influenced more heavily by traditional tunes - the title track and Dissolve into Despair even emit a jazzy side to the band - yet still sound like a product of this day and age, rather than simple pastiche of '50s and '60s rock and roll.

This cannot be said of Ace Senior's contributions. Shadow of the Hand and Standing in the Rain, for example, are decent tunes but they sound incredibly dated for a band who should be moving forward. Likewise, Phil Ryan's contribution to the sound is surpringly timid, a far cry from the domination of 2000's Endangered Species with his sweeping synths.

On a technical side, the production (also by Phil) is decent, but at times can be slightly odd. The best example is on Russian Roulette, which sports a great guitar riff - if you can hear it, under the drums, keys and, er, synth brass.

And then we come to Chuffin' Like a Muffin. Already laden with a reputation of being a terrible song included simply for its witty title, I must confess I enjoyed it; yes, it's a fairly terrible song, but works as a ridiculous pastiche, and is not eye-gougingly dull in the way that Miss Cathy was. All in all, the album seems more like a collection of spare parts than a proper Man album. Definitely one for completists rather than every fan, and certainly not to be used as an introduction to the band.

Meanwhile, George and Bob are making headway with their album, supposedly much heavier an album than KON, and with the recent announcement that guitar parts that Micky recorded for an earlier album of George's would feature on the record, the anticipation for this project seems to be a lot greater than it was for KON.

Finally, as an aside, the idea of George and Bob forming a band with some of Man's veterans has been toyed with by some fans. Obviously the Man name would still belong to Martin's band, but a second band consisting of former members seems to be quite desirable, to say the least. I then saw a photo of George onstage with Deke Leonard's Iceberg at Christmas, and had a vision of Iceberg as Deke, George, Bob - who plays with Iceberg already - and current Iceberg bassist Will Youatt, also a former member of Man. Officially, it wouldn't be Man (just as Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash isn't, officially, Wishbone Ash), but I don't think I'm wrong in saying that, in essence, it wouldn't be far off it.

Ciao for now.