Manna - BREAD***

Let Your Love Go/Take Comfort/Too Much Love/If/Be Kind To Me/He's A Good Lad/She Was My Lady/Live In Your Love/What A Change/I Say Again/Come Again/Truckin'

The soft-rock group Bread fronted by David Gates consolidated their commercial breakthrough with their third album Manna. Features the US No. 4 hit single If which would later deliver an unlikely chart topping hit in Britain for TV detective Telly Savalas. (US:21)

“Besides the monster hit If, there are a couple of lesser-known tracks worth checking out: He's A Good Lad is quite Beatle-ish, and She Was My Lady has a soaring melody and rich harmonies. Again, David Gates proves to be an ace songwriter.”

“The legendary love ballad If alone is almost enough to justify the album's heavenly appeal. Songs such as the harpsichord driven rocker Let Your Love Go and the church-like organ solos on the ethereal What A Change, as well as the album's centrepiece Come Again, ultimately give this album a warm baroque feel that makes it a wonderful first choice among Bread's studio efforts.”

“Not one weak song on here. It opens with two tracks which give a false impression, that this might be a heavier album. Let Your Love Go is one of their best rockers, showing Gates could do other styles, not just ballads. Take Comfort goes from bluesy to ballad in the middle, and it really works.”

“I have to admit I love Bread. The hit If is here, but there are also songs you won't find anywhere else such as What A Change, and the beautiful piano and violin in Come Again.”

“This is my favourite of the original studio albums by 70s pop-rock band Bread. Gates was in fine melodic form here, with his sweet tenor voice soaring on songs like If and What A Change. This is a good album for those who want to dig deeper than the 'best of' collections, there are a lot of very diverse and interesting styles on here, yet the album still flows together nicely. They were actually a much more diverse band than is generally known, always including some hard rockers to balance out the ballads.”