About the band: Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a British progressive rock band formed in 1971 by South African musician Manfred Mann, who had previously scored many hits in the sixties as leader of the band with his name. MMEB is still active today, and have released 15 studio albums. MMEB currently have one song in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: this is a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song Blinded by the light, included in their 1976 album The roaring silence. They take the original and give it a totally new treatment, which has been likened to a master filmmaker visualizing a novel - surely one of the most impressive covers ever. A condensed version was released as a single and became a rather unlikely USA Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit. I prefer the extended album version, which has the merit of an inspired instrumental intermezzo. The ending of this song with its abrupt tempo change is particularly memorable. Run time 7:29.
