Phil Manzanera
Diamond Head

For me, originality and artistic awareness have always been essential parameters for the correct evaluation of a musical work. With this appropriate premise, no one will be surprised if I say that Phil Manzanera was, in all likelihood, the most creative, talented, and intelligent guitarist of the 70s English scene. Many may frown at such a statement, each claiming the merits of their "ideal" instrumentalist: some recalling the stellar cerebral nature of a Robert Fripp, others the "ante litteram" Fusion of a Jeff Beck, others the fiery riffs of a Jimmy Page, and still others the precision, the formal impeccability of an Eric Clapton (and the long list could certainly not end here...).

However, even if many might not agree with this interpretation (here advanced, mind you, purely as a personal opinion: we are not speaking of revealed Truths), they could hardly deny the fact that Manzanera was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most underrated guitarist: the enormous innovative contribution of Roxy Music's music (excuse the pun) is now recognized by everyone, but what has often, and culpably, been missed is the profound influence exerted by Manzanera on the creation of that unique sound, for many a precursor of the New Wave and an expression of a "total music" truly avant-garde for those years; defining Roxy as just a Glam group is inaccurate, as well as disrespectful: listen to the first, self-titled album and the magnificent "For Your Pleasure" (but the subsequent ones are no less, quite the contrary) and new, unexpected, at times astonishing guitar solutions will be appreciated, capable of bordering on genius and venturing on paths hitherto unexplored, at least in the strictly Rock sphere.

And far, far from Rock were also the first influences experienced by the young Philip Targett Adams, later renamed "Manzanera" in homage to the Mexican composer Armando Manzanero, a famous author of "boleros" and popular songs; and Rock certainly did not represent the dominant musical language in pre-revolutionary Cuba or in Venezuela, where he (English father, Colombian mother) had the opportunity to spend several years. His first guitar was, not surprisingly, an acoustic guitar, confirming that significant melodic component recognizable in his timbral approach, combined with a good dose of exoticism and a spirit of experimentation and research. Those Latin flavors so peculiar to his guitar style (I would even dare to say: a true trademark) happily combined with the atypical (and anti-academic) Jazz Rock of the nascent Canterbury scene: between 1970 and 1972 Manzanera was indeed a founding member of Quiet Sun, a cult formation of that scene, before leaving that ensemble and joining Roxy Music. On the recording front, Quiet Sun would debut only in 1975 with the excellent "Mainstream"; simultaneously with the sessions for the realization of this small jewel of the Canterbury sound, Manzanera was preparing to shape his excellent solo debut, also taking advantage of a period of creative stagnation of the Roxy.

"Diamond Head" is a splendid album, varied and captivating, abundant in suggestions and the best of what English Rock could offer in those years. Anyone who has never had the chance to hear Robert Wyatt sing in Spanish, can indulge in this very particular delight by listening to the sparkling start of "Frontera": a dry and precise rhythm, the work of Roxy's drummer Paul Thompson (plus some timbales rolls embellishing everything), for a curious, unusual, and quirky Latin-flavored Funk, also beautified by a spectacular and majestic "cosmic" introduction; the theme of the introduction is then re-proposed in the middle of the track, serving as a backdrop for the first of Manzanera’s solos—biting and metallic in approach yet at the same time intense, full-bodied, deeply suggestive. A similar discussion can be made for the "title track," the first of five instrumentals in the lineup and a perfect showcase for the leader's technique, as well as for the impeccable expertise of all the musicians involved: mandatory presences of a certain "intellectual" English scene, starting from bassist and vocalist Bill McCormick, with Wyatt in Matching Mole and already a "sideman" of Manzanera at the time of Quiet Sun, passing through a saxophonist of the caliber of Andy Mackay, another undisputed architect of the Roxy’s sound alchemy and here protagonist of the instrumental Rhythm And Blues "The Flex", up to the inevitable Brian Eno (just to name a few): a large part of the album is pervaded by Eno’s bizarre keyboard geometries, capable of blending perfectly with Manzanera's dreamy guitar creativity.  The contribution of the future theorist of "Ambient Music," however, is not limited to the instrumental field alone, since it is his voice that interprets the lyrics of "Big Day" (pleasant at times, but perhaps a bit too sweet, the only weak point of the album) and the surreal "Miss Shapiro," a guitar ride often performed live by Manzanera. 

The rest of the repertoire is equally remarkable, starting with the sinuous "Same Time Next Week," centered on odd rhythms in the style of King Crimson and (not by chance) sung by John Wetton in duet with Doreen Chanter; it is instead the complete Quiet Sun accompanying Manzanera through the Jazz-Rock twists and turns of "East Of Echo," a multiform composition filtered by synthesizer sounds, lost between the dissonances of the leader's guitar and supported by a pulsating bass line; finally arriving at the album's grandiose closure, with the classical "Alma" (for the unusual oboe-acoustic guitar combination) preceding the "Pink Floydian" Carhumba, a spectacular ballad stretched between the usual spatial and alluring atmospheres created by the lead guitar (the final part is goosebumps-inducing, the peak of the entire album).

Five undeniable stars. A stellar and indispensable album.