TODAY' ALBUM: No.16 (10th November 2011)

'Fact & Fiction' 

by Twelfth Night

(1982)

One of the prime-movers of the neo-progressive scene that developed in Britain during the early 1980's, Twelfth Night fashioned some of the genre's most eloquent and arresting music during a turbulent and all-too brief career that yielded just a handful albums prior to their 1987 split.
Whilst they would never generate anything near the kind of commercial success enjoyed by fellow neo-prog outfit Marillion, they would manage to produce one of the sub-genre's iconic albums in the shape of 1982's excellent 'Fact & Fiction'. 
Hailing from Berkshire, a pleasant county North-West of London, Twelfth Night first came together as students at Reading university, officially forming sometime during 1978. Slowly building up a small-but-loyal fan-base in the local area the early version of Twelfth Night sported a rowdy brand of angular, Genesis-tinged prog that featured, dare it be said, an ever-so-slight punk resonance. 
A feature of the group's formative days were frequent line-up shuffles, and after several male-and-female lead-singers failed to suitably impress, the group settled on roadie, back-drop painter and budding poet Geoff Mann as the man for the job. A gifted vocalist with an eclectic range, Mann's first appearance with the group came on a series of tracks recorded by the group at Woodcray Manor Farm studio's in 1981 that would become the low-budget, cassette-only album 'Smiling At Grief', a selection of demo's with an ever-so-slight new wave edge designed to drum-up record label interest in the budding group. Following on from the group's first release, the impressive instrumental album 'Live At The Target'(1980) 'Smiling At Grief', the first recorded Twelfth Night material featuring vocals, saw the group record early versions of many of the songs that would eventually appear on 'Fact & Fiction', including sparser versions of fan favourites 'This City', 'Human Being' and 'The Creepshow', whilst the exercise also allowed the group to develop their own signature style. Thoroughly Impressed by the surprise success of Marillion's 1982 single 'Market Square Heroes', Twelfth Night subsequently decided to pursue a more overtly progressive style, a phase that began with yet another change in personel as keyboardist Rick Battersby quit, leaving the quartet of Mann(vocals), Andy Revell(guitar), Brian Devoil(drums) and Clive Mitten(bass, keyboards) to re-group and spend most of 1982 writing and recording what would eventually become their first proper full-length studio album. Released in December, 'Fact & Fiction' drew some admiring glances from the press and even sold out it's initial limited run of one-thousand pressings within a month, though it failed to cross-over into the mainstream in the same manner as Marillion's more melodic and commercially-angled material. The release of 'Fact & Fiction' was followed by an intense period of gigging and 1983 would see Twelfth Night win a residency at London's Marquee Club, playing nightly to packed-out audiences with a returning Rick Battersby, who resumed keyboard duties. It would, however, prove to be the high watermark for the five-piece in terms of popularity, though at the time of course they weren't to know.
A dark, lyrical and sometimes rather mysterious release, 'Fact & Fiction' features impressive content yet the album suffers from poor production values, reflecting the inadequate production facilities the group's lack of finances dictated they use, a situation which came about after the group bought the master tapes from original production company Devo so as to ensure full artistic control over their own material. Despite this, however, 'Fact & Fiction' remains an atmospheric affair that slowly unfolds over the course of it's eight tracks before finishing on a powerful note with the dark rock operatics of 'The Creepshow'. Starting with an alluring acoustic intro and Mann's mournful vocals slowly working their way up to a wailing howl, 'The Creepshow' is ten minutes-plus worth of grandstanding neo-prog theatrics of the highest order, featuring surging keyboards, throbbing bass-lines and strange, dream-like, spoken-word interludes that combine and build to a rousing climax courtesy of Andy Revell's blistering guitar solo. A Twelfth Night signature piece, 'The Creepshow' was meant to close the album, but at the request of Mann and because of the heavy, moody nature of both the music and the lyrics the group rush-recorded the simple ballad 'Love Song', a pretty, mainly-acoustic number that once again showcased Mann's unique vocal skills and closed the album on a sweeter, more hopeful note.
Other tracks, such as the cryptic, ten-minute opener 'We Are Sane', the mournful 'Human Being' and the fast-paced instrumental piece 'The Poet Sniffs A Flower' each contribute to a concept-style album, with Mann providing a genuine tour-de-force vocal performance that distracts from the slightly muddy quality of the sound. Imagine Marillion without the accessible pop-hooks and you have progressive rock 1980's style, with a darker, more oppressive atmosphere permeating each song. One criticism of the album as a whole is the rather slow pace, with the group never really building up a proper head of steam(something partially remedied on the charging 'The Poet Sniffs A Flower' and towards the end of both 'Human Being' and 'The Creepshow') yet one has to remember that this was very much a self-financed project made without major label assistance. Despite these drawbacks however, 'Fact & Fiction' remains one of the neo-prog scene's most expressive, and vivid, albums. Sadly though, it would also be their one-and-only truly progressive release; one wonders what they could have achieved if luck(and the music industry) had actually been on their side.


Key songs: Human Being, The Poet Sniffs A Flower, The Creepshow