The second and final album with the awkward title Manfred Mann Chapter Three – Volume Two was recorded just one year after the self-titled debut album in October 1970 with the same line-up. Recorded once again at Maximum Sound Studios with Dave Hadfield as co-producer and sound engineer, this experimental work also combined elements of rock, blues, jazz and funk. The band was once again reinforced by a large horn section. Alongside various guests such as Brian Hugg (guitar, vocals) among others, the line-up included Sonny Corbett (trumpet), Dave Coxhill (baritone saxophone), Clive Stevens (soprano and tenor saxophone) and Dave Brooks (tenor saxophone).

The progressive jazz rock with dark grooves and lots of inventive keyboard passages, accompanied by grand, blaring brass sections, was never destined to be played on the radio or becoming a hit. The Vertigo album, designed by photographer and designer Keef (Keith MacMillan), once again found very few buyers. As they were unable to move beyond club gigs and the cost of supporting so many musicians was enormously high, Mann and Hugg called it a day a few months later. The two albums released by this short-lived band have long been regarded as lost masterpieces of that era and have been sought after for years, particularly by funk and soul-jazz collectors. Manfred Mann later founded Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, with whom he achieved great commercial success over the years.