Manfred Mann´s Earth Band-Glorified Magnified (1972)

Released the same year as their debut but several months later, Manfred Mann's Earth Band's second album is a clear indication of the sound that would become the group's signature. It showcases a brilliant variety of styles, which the band performs with considerable fluency and confidence. In fact, on their subsequent albums, these sounds become even more pronounced and progressively more expansive. The lineup remains the same as on the first album: Manfred Mann (organ, synthesizers, and vocals), Mick Rogers (guitar and vocals), Colin Pattenden (bass), and Chris Slade (drums). Those eclectic sounds we mentioned earlier are present in the colorful and picturesque rock of "Meat", the intense hard rock of "Look Around", with its outstanding and enormous guitar solo by Rogers, the semi-acoustic "One Way Glass", the emotive "Ashes to the Wind", and a nod to 60s rock with their cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". The album delves into the roots of country blues with "Down Home" and the dense mid-tempo "Our Friend George". Finally, the album closes with more experimental approaches in the hypnotic instrumental "Wind" and the progressive "Glorified Magnified".