•
Rating: Being born too late to enjoy the golden years of progressive (at the time, I was more devoted to listening to the Zecchino d'Oro than Genesis or Yes...) could have been partially compensated by having personally experienced the birth of the New Prog, the movement that briefly and ephemerally bestowed new glory on the musical genre we love so much. Unfortunately, at that time, even though I was 12, musically speaking I was on Mars or thereabouts, and I missed that too, discovering Marillion only later, at the time of Season's End. However, more than once, I have found myself imagining what it must have been like for a prog enthusiast to slowly discover the existence of new bands proposing that musical genre so full of charm and suggestion; bands with strange names producing records difficult to find (and for that reason even more coveted...), with enchanting titles and dreamlike covers...
The Twelfth Night were the first in chronological order to inaugurate the New Prog, and were probably also the most unfortunate, not achieving success proportional to their artistic value (even among enthusiasts, they are generally always cited after Marillion, Pendragon, IQ, and Pallas...). Having never listened to anything from this band before, I approached this "Fact And Fiction" with great curiosity and with the feeling of embarking on a sort of journey back in time. But let's start with a bit of history. Twelfth Night was formed in 1978 as an entirely instrumental band with guitarist Andy Revell as the charismatic figure characterizing the group. Initially, the band did not include a keyboardist and consisted only of Revell, Brian Devoil on drums, and Clive Mitten on bass. After several demo tapes and a brief stint with a singer, they recorded their first LP, the instrumental "Live At The Target." Subsequently, the group was joined by an extraordinary character, Geoff Mann, a true 360-degree artist: poet, painter, extraordinary singer from a vocal point of view, and incredibly charismatic on stage. Mann, together with Mitten, became the band's main composer, and his first effort within the group was the demo "Smiling At Grief." In 1982, the LP "Fact And Fiction" was released, which is the only studio album with Mann, as the talented singer decided to leave the band to better pursue his religious vocation (he would later be ordained as a priest) and to continue a parallel solo career (which produced 4 albums, while the band, with new singer Andy Sears, released only 2 more). Unfortunately, Mann died of cancer in February 1993, and "Fact And Fiction" is the album which, along with the farewell live "Live And Let Live," imprinted his name in fiery letters in the hearts of many progressive enthusiasts.
Indeed, it is impossible to remain indifferent in front of the wonderful opener "We Are Sane," a true classic of New Prog, in which Geoff Mann's voice, here at its highest levels of theatricality and expressiveness, stands as the absolute protagonist, giving the song a hallucinatory and sinister atmosphere of great effect. Such wonder is immediately followed by the equally extraordinary "Human Being," a one-two punch that takes your breath away. The beautiful melody characterizing the piece is exalted by Mann's hoarse and anguished voice and a gritty arrangement masterfully conducted by Mitten's bass work and Revell’s guitar solos. The finale, with its obsessively repeated refrain, is so full of pathos that it cannot be described with words. "This City" is a shorter track characterized by a very beautiful guitar riff with a clean and echo-rich sound in the style of David Gilmour of "The Wall" and flows into the short instrumental "World Without End," which closed the A-side of the original vinyl. The title track is a piece decidedly more oriented towards pop, somewhat in the style of Depeche Mode, although it remains quite charming and works as a sort of "breather" amidst compositions of much greater artistic depth. "The Poet Sniffs A Flower" is the second instrumental on the album and presents a beautiful synth melody that unfolds with a delicate acoustic guitar accompaniment, later becoming more intense with a finale dominated by an aggressive electric guitar solo. "Creepshow," with its over 10 minutes of duration, is another of the album’s highlights, once again graced by Mann, whose spectral and tormented voice interprets the track in a highly theatrical manner, infusing it with a feeling and charm rarely found in other singers’ vocal interpretations. Of course, the other musicians are no less impressive, carving out their own spaces and contributing to making the piece a true masterpiece. The original track list closes with "Love Song," a ballad of great sweetness and suggestion, definitively framing one of the most beautiful new prog albums ever produced.
What to say about the bonus tracks? Surely after such beautiful tracks, the album could have ended without leaving any shadow of regret, but it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to listen to an alternate version of "Human Being," much faster than the one included in the LP and which compensates for a lesser overall pathos with an added dose of grit and fierceness. "East Of Eden" is interesting, a fast-paced track more skewed towards the pop side that the band performed during an appearance on the David Essex Show, while a "new wave-ized" version of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" leaves one rather perplexed and perhaps deserved a much different treatment. The other 4 tracks are demo versions of songs that were later discarded from the album's final track list (except "Leader," which is a primitive version of the title track), and among them, "Fistful Of Bubbles," aptly defined by the surviving band members as "their best unfinished song," deserves a mention of merit.
How to conclude this review? Surely by highlighting how, beyond any superlative that can be used to describe this album, this time we are truly in front of one of those simply "indispensable" albums for progressive, as well as a fundamental record for fully understanding that particular phenomenon that was the English New Prog (and among the genre's classics, I would immediately place it after "Script For a Jester's Tear" by Marillion or perhaps even on par with it). In short, you must understand that it's an album of such beauty that it would be a crime to leave it out of your collection and it will enchant you, leaving you, at the end of each listen, only with the desire to start it again. For this reason, it might be wise to make some space next to "Script For a Jester's Tear," "The Jewel," "Tales From The Lush Attic," and "The Sentinel" and rush to fill it with the immense Twelfth Night!
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 We Are Sane (10:27)
(Geoff Mann)
i) te dium
ii) we are sane
iii) dictator's excuse me
i)
In upstairs rooms
The meals are eaten
The cars in the garage ready to go-go
Disco baby shed no tear
Hot light overhead
Shaking meat meet
Ho ho weekend ha ha party
Moo moo sacre
d cow
The White House somedays
on the lawn
well kept pedigree
snap over bones
surplus requirements
appetite angel going down
ii)
Meanwhile below reports flop into the in-trays in-trays
Meanwhile below reports flop into the in-trays
She stares out
of her window
Her will is still in bed
She has no memory of herself
For care has drained her head
The poster on the billboard
says she should paint her lips
like the smiles on the tv people
02 Human Being (07:50)
Tremulous and quivering such victims as there are
Contend with emotions under skin
Without wearing water wings
The strike against the stream
hopelessly believing they might swim
Here they all come rushing down again
Here they all come rushing down again
Time has hardly swallowed up the evidence
How is it they say they did not know
That history grows up like a weed
Doctrine pinned upon it
Bars across the window destroy human being
Static mind solidifies
Can no longer flow
Up against it's borders and unable to pay much
Attention to human being...
When in doubt you turn to find a scapegoat on the wall
Gaze into the mirror begging pardon
If everytime we tell a lie a little fairy dies
They must be building death-camps in the garden
Pacing back and forwards
Conscience in a box
Barred in from the sunlight getting pale
And losing every sense of human being....
The forces of oppression
Forge links around the earth
Ordering our faces to the floor
The wilful non-involvement
By hirelings of the crimes
Is futile and inhuman as before
The sum of our best efforts
Shouldn't lead us back to here
On the road to murder where we can no longer
Admit to any
Human needing human feeling
Human living human loving
Human fragile human being...
====================================================================
THIS CITY (Geoff Mann)
The abstracted shapes of the people's thoughts
Different shops and pubs
All the cheap facades
It is all this city it is all this city
Wind shaken trees
Half crumbling parks
The enquiring eyes
Fingers parting lace
It is all this city it is all this city
Long straggling queues
Of the our of work
A baby sucking sweets
Dribbling down his quilt
It is all this city it is all this city
All this city
====================================================================
FACT AND FICTION (Geoff Mann)
TV is switched on
The screen reveal a spokesperson
Adverts politics editing the real
Cheap words money talks
Naming itself to be the key
To utopia cornucopia
To a better world you go buy and buy
And if you listen carefully
You can hear the bacon fly
Don't make me laugh!!
History shows that policy demands weapons
Selfish desires simply lead to pain
The chit-chat continues
A big pretence that divides
Into power blocks
Where the orthodox
Have a propaganda war to fight
And if you're looking closely
You can see that black is white
Don't make me laugh!!
If the "unthinkable" should happen
And you hear the sirens call
Well you can always find some shelter
Behind a door against the wall
Don't make me laugh!!
====================================================================
CREEPSHOW (Geoff Mann)
Welcome
Welcome
First today to see the creepshow
Come see the exhibits
But do not touch
They cannot bear touch
Here in the freak show
Please do not hang back
It's hard enough to show people around
The creep show
The creep show
First here on the rack strapped a child's virgin mind
We see the careful whitecoats
Affix their machines veins
To the pulsing neck side
Checking dials they monitor reaction
She must love her daddy's banker
She must love her daddy's banker
For her part in the creepshow
The creepshow
Amanda so sad
Amanda
But let's brush over sadness
Give her the pills
And diagnose madness
Give her give her give her...
Amanda
Amandahahahahaha
Anymore for any more?
Cyril has-or-might-have-been
Must fill his lust
They let him bayonet robots
As his morning constitutional
To sate his rage
Unless he feels his age
We can't have that
Sometimes he'll watch a war-film
On the moron machine in the corner of his cell
Lost in time
Lost in mind
Cyril writhes like smoke
His bigot's eyes are slashed skin
Their expression none the nicer
For being blank
Amanda still mad
Amanda
still sad...
And so ladies and gentlemen we come to the nerve centre of the whole
Affair, as you will see it is a mirror. To some it is the mirror of
Dreams, where every passion, desire and action flit through the still
Spaces behind its surface, tantalising yet distant. Of these many
Stand before it until death. To others, it is distorting, everything
In it being warped and buckled by fear, yet perceived as reality.
These will cringe before it, wimpering and immobile, though a few
Batter their skulls against the dull sheen, attempting to smash the
Horrors they believe to be in the glass or at least attain oblivion,
Whichever comes first. Some see just a mirror, whilst some see what
At first appears to be their own image which, however, moves _them_
Saying, "Come On, Wake UP! Who's running this show anyway?"
NOW
It's up to you
Use your free will
You dec
ide
Yes
You you you decide
Whether or not you will return
For if you come again
You'd better bring your ball and chain
Unguided embittered attraction of
The creep show
The creep show
The creep show
====================================================================
03 This City (04:01)
The abstracted shapes of the people's thoughts Different shops and pubs All the cheap facades It is all this city it is all this city Wind shaken trees Half crumbling parks The enquiring eyes Fingers parting lace It is all this city it is all this city Long straggling queues Of the our of work A baby sucking sweets Dribbling down his quilt It is all this city it is all this city All this city
05 Fact and Fiction (03:59)
TV is switched on The screen reveal a spokesperson Adverts politics editing the real Cheap words money talks Naming itself to be the key To utopia cornucopia To a better world you go buy and buy And if you listen carefully You can hear the bacon fly Don't make me laugh!! History shows that policy demands weapons Selfish desires simply lead to pain The chit-chat continues A big pretence that divides Into power blocks Where the orthodox Have a propaganda war to fight And if you're looking closely You can see that black is white Don't make me laugh!! If the "unthinkable" should happen And you hear the sirens call Well you can always find some shelter Behind a door against the wall Don't make me laugh!!
07 Creepshow (11:57)
Welcome Welcome First today to see the creepshow Come see the exhibits But do not touch They cannot bear touch Here in the freak show Please do not hang back It's hard enough to show people around The creep show The creep show First here on the rack strapped a child's virgin mind We see the careful whitecoats Affix their machines veins To the pulsing neck side Checking dials they monitor reaction She must love her daddy's banker She must love her daddy's banker For her part in the creepshow The creepshow Amanda so sad Amanda But let's brush over sadness Give her the pills And diagnose madness Give her give her give her... Amanda Amandahahahahaha Anymore for any more? Cyril has-or-might-have-been Must fill his lust They let him bayonet robots As his morning constitutional To sate his rage Unless he feels his age We can't have that Sometimes he'll watch a war-film On the moron machine in the corner of his cell Lost in time Lost in mind Cyril writhes like smoke His bigot's eyes are slashed skin Their expression none the nicer For being blank Amanda still mad Amanda still sad... And so ladies and gentlemen we come to the nerve centre of the whole Affair, as you will see it is a mirror. To some it is the mirror of Dreams, where every passion, desire and action flit through the still Spaces behind its surface, tantalising yet distant. Of these many Stand before it until death. To others, it is distorting, everything In it being warped and buckled by fear, yet perceived as reality. These will cringe before it, wimpering and immobile, though a few Batter their skulls against the dull sheen, attempting to smash the Horrors they believe to be in the glass or at least attain oblivion, Whichever comes first. Some see just a mirror, whilst some see what At first appears to be their own image which, however, moves _them_ Saying, "Come On, Wake UP! Who's running this show anyway?" NOW It's up to you Use your free will You dec ide Yes You you you decide Whether or not you will return For if you come again You'd better bring your ball and chain Unguided embittered attraction of The creep show The creep show The creep show
09 East of Eden (03:27)
it seems that paradise
has been well locked and barred
to all the issues of Adam
it seems that children must
pay for their parents crimes
until they wish they never had them
the clouds are fabric balls
the earth machinery
to gather power from the stars
each of us has a gateway
through which infinity calls
to touch each victim through their scars
we are walking through
a kingdom that is found
out here somewhere East of Eden
East of Eden
East of Eden
East of Eden
East of Eden
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By TommyVercetti
"Twelfth Night attempts to almost entirely eliminate the genre’s stereotypes, being effectively prog more in intention and ideas than in the choice of sounds."
"Creepshow is an apotheosis of the leader’s ideologies, featuring a text worthy of the imperfect and the macabre festival."
