AMG Review of Platinum

Steve Leggett
All Music Guide

Although Manfred Mann have never been looked at as a front-line British band throughout the group's nearly five-decade history, and few would call the group (or the individual whose name the band bears) particularly innovative, being instead an incredibly inventive cover band, the fact remains that Manfred Mann have recorded several unforgettable singles. The group's versions of "Do Wah Diddy Diddy," "Pretty Flamingo," Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)," and Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirits in the Night" are all classic cultural treasures and touchstones for at least three generations of listeners. That's really a pretty impressive legacy. Unfortunately, little of that legacy is visible here, save for "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and the group's passable cover of Bob Dylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now." The rest is competent, but it's really filler.