LIVE AND LET LIVE

i am a huge fan of (old) Marillion and todays Arena and Pendragon. This information to make you understand where i come from. But now to Twelfth Night - this is like i thought once more a very good copy band of Marillion, style Jester Tears and Grendel. Something like 'Gray Lady Down' - BUT THEN THE SHOCK. This music has been written BEFORE Marillion came out with their first. I always wondered why they hated to play Grendel, it might very well be since it was copied from the ultimate song of Twelfth Night - 'Sequences' and then 'Creepshow'. When looking at the cover, not only the music is the same, the show looks same as well, big time masquerade - But after all a Great, great band, fantastic theatric music with great musicianship. Even the voice is good, not as powerful as my hero Fish, but comes certainly close to Peter Gabriel. Just the question on who is the original must be asked. I hope both of them and so I will same as I have all Marillion (before the dreadful Hogath area) collect just everything I find on Twelfth Night (but rather difficult to find). Interesting this band went through clearly three phases with starting as an Instrumental band, than with Singer Mann (the one who sounds like Fish, Gabriel) and then a new one that is more a pit Pendragon like. If ever you have the chance, listen to it, close your eyes and fly away in space. Beautiful and higly interesting

From start to finish this is one of the best live albums ever released, recorded during Geoff Mann's farewell gigs the emotion is high, especially throughout Love Song. The album starts with The Ceiling Speaks and the sheer power of this song is awesome, in fact this is the first classic in an album bursting with them. Weare Sane and Fact and Fiction follow keeping the standard high and following a brief respite with the instrumental Poet the album reaches Sequences abitter tale of the first world war, Geoff's lyrics bite home and his re-enactment of going over the top is breath taking, there follows the bittersweet requim. The first encore and the only song that could follow is the chilling Creepshow, a quick romp through East of Eden and the album/gig ends with the emotional Love Song which includes the farewell to Geoff and an anthemic coda. Of course the band replaced Geoff with the capable Andy Sears but one can only imagine what heights the band may have scaled had Geoff stayed, when you consider that Sequences had only been released as an instrumnetal before, their next album would surely have been a classic. Geoff sadly passed away and Twelfth Night never had the success they should have, but this album is a great reminder of them and is as relevant and exciting today and it was when released.

I found 12th Night as a teenager but soon dived into classic prog and sold away this LP dating 1984. Borrowed CD last year: some nostalgia of course but musically I expected something greater. 4,75! "Don't make me laugh! Don't make me laugh! Don't make me la- aaugh!" ('Fact & Fiction'). Some bonus for being Neo-Prog preceeding Marillion, I presume? Twelfth Night no doubt had a unique blend of prog and early eighties' slightly punkish rock with strong guitar/keyboard play and singer (like Fish, the late Geoff Mann was strong but 'raw' voice). Earlier neo group Saga seems rather lame and pretentious in comparison - though maybe more arty. But still I wouldn't praise this as a must for prog (or even Neo- Prog) fans, who might sense the feel of punk/ new wave too much and miss more complex structures à la IQ or Pendragon.

'Ceiling Speaks' starts with exciting instrumental intro but 8 minutes is too much for it and also other songs are over-extended. Only the great 'Sequences' really shines as a prog composition and it's also lyrically the strongest, dealing with war. Two instrumentals are nice and make the concert more varied. As a concert (in Marquee club) it must have been a powerful experience but musically it remains below full three stars for me.

This is one of a handful of albums that really kick-started my love of progressive music in its many forms. I bought the original Music For Nations LP shortly after it was released in 1984 and it is still one of my all time favourites.

Geoff Mann was one of the most charismatic front-men and his theatrical approach to performance shines through on this recording. You can really sense how deeply he feels the sentiments expressed in The Ceiling Speaks, Sequences, Fact And Fiction and We Are Sane and this enhances the experience of listening to these recordings. The instrumentals The End Of The Endless Majority and The Poet Sniffs A Flower showcase the bands musical talent and provide some relief from the intensity of Mann's performance.

The CD release added Creepshow, East Of Eden, and Love Song into an already heady mix and it is in this performance of Love Song that you really sense the emotion of Geoff Mann's farewell gigs. And even with these additions there is not a single weak track on the album.

If you only ever buy one TN album you should make this it. It is a masterpiece.

This review is kind of response to the recent 'Live at the target' review. Whilst I agree with that review (and also bought the LP back then) I feel that this live album recorded at the Marquee club is far superior if only for the wonderful lyrics and vocal lines the late (and great) Geoff Mann came up with for 'Sequences'. Yeah it is an all time prog classic, I wish more people would delve into Twelfth night's music and realize what a great band they were (and are again!). Those first few albums before Mann left are all wonderful prog rock.

This live album was recorded at the final Geoff Mann gigs. It is worth it alone for 'Sequences' and 'We are sane'. The 'Fact and fiction/poet sniffs a flower' combo from the 'Fact and fiction' LP is also noteworthy. The addition on the CD reissue of the song 'Creepshow' is also another reason to check the album out.

A highly underrated band who (in my opinion) never completely reached their full potential (but were still an amazing band) since the departure of Geoff Mann and the subsequent need to streamline their sound by the evil record companies resulted in not only a shift in direction away from prog but also (after the Virgin contract disappeared) the early demise (or rather long break!) of the band.

Check out this gem of a prog album and if they manage to come your way after their recent resurrection, go out and see them play. You won't be disappointed.

Here is Twelfth Night delivering a special event in their history: "Live and Let Live" brings performances from the two gigs scheduled to signal the departure of frontman/lyricist/lead actor/Grand Court Jester Geoff Mann. It is a pity that it had to happen at that time, since the existence of such strong material still left unrecorded (the rockers 'Art and Illusion' and 'Deep in the Heartland', the neo gem 'The ceiling Speaks', and the monster epic 'The Collector' that should become TN's absolute peak) was pointing at a magnificent follow-up to the iconic album "Fact and Fiction". But no, this was Mann's farewell to his bandmates Revell, Mitten, Battersby and Devoil (that is, until the functional brief reunion of this classic quintet for the long overdue studio rendition of 'The Collector' and some other stuff to be included in "Collector's Item"), and so the spirit of emotion and the gods of energy combine in these amazing performances. The machinery monotony intro tape - perhaps emulating the opening sequence of David Lynch's "The Elephant Man" - paves the way for the arrival of 'The Ceiling Speaks' in a rocking storm that develops fiercely as Mann joins in with his praise of Christian Love and the instrumentalists indulge in a tight delivery of dual guitars, atmospheric keyboards and tight drum work. With the new instrumental 'The End of the Endless Majority', we are treated with a lovely duel of soft classical guitar and picked electric guitar, which at times gets on the pastoral side of things. A lovely piece, indeed, but it mostly works as an interlude between the opening song's drive and the epic pinnacle that is 'We Are Sane', the Orwellian tale of oppressed people under a regime that digitally dictates the rules of morals and social politics. Mann shines here like the singer-pantomime-tale teller that he is, and so do the musicians in a well-developed sort of varied moods and motifs. The rapport with the audience is now totally compact, unbreakable, virtually indestructible. There are more epics in store for the remaining repertoire, but by now, TN shifts toward its lighter side (musically, that is, since lyrically Geoff Mann robustly remains raving about the many unfair sides of politics) with 'Fact and Fiction'. The energy and versatility that always existed in the TN ranks allowed the guys to build techno-oriented songs such as this and give them an extra dose of incandescent groove. Besides the drums and occasional beats on timbales, there is only a bunch of synths playing. and they still rock in a Numan-meets-punk sort of way! The segued instrumental that follows sets a typically progressive set of moods and melodies, announcing the imminent arrival of a monster track -'Sequences'!! This 16+ epic that deals with anti- belicist subjects started as one of the band's first compositions (when it was an instrumental quartet), but fate wanted it to eventually turn into a neo-prog cornerstone. There is so much to enjoy in this piece that I won't go into detail here: the heavy metal and post-punk sources mingle well with the symphonic and old-fashioned psychedelic elements that conform the piece's compositional core. While it can be somewhat regrettable that TN never had the chance to give this song a proper studio version, the intensity of this live rendition makes it somehow unnecessary - this is its definitive version and that's it. So, moving on, if you want yet another epic, here comes 'Creepshow' right immediately - Mann's social anger turns now toward the utilization of mass-media to alienate people's minds, and the whole band delivers with passion and energy as they always do, managing the mood variations and the moderately complex tempo shifts with confidence, proficiency and ease. Once we've come through these two monster tracks, it is a pleasant breath of fresh air to be treated with a straightforward rocker as 'East of Eden' (it is a pity that the CD space doesn't allow to publish the 'Art and Illusion' portion of this individual medley, anyway.). And at the end of the day, what better closure for this farewell gig than 'Love Song'? This Mann manifesto for the power of universal love as a dream and a project to bring togetherness and solidarity for all mankind has found a perfect melodic basis in Mitten's mind and a perfect set of arrangements in the whole band. The accompanying chanting by the audience and the reprised mid guitar solo (one of the finest guitar solos ever in the history of neo) make sense with this poignant momentum when the warmth of human hope and the sadness for Mann's leaving combine. Some may say that this band is not that big a deal / but that's not the way I feel / my heartbeat dance to the songs they play. / Nothing more to say!

A jaw-dropper of a live album that will always be my foundest memory of getting into the prog bands that were current in the 1980s. I actually still have the gatefold vinyl copy I bought at London's "Shades" recird store on Wardour Street (very close to the famous Marquee Club that was a launching pad for so many neo-prog bands, as well as the setting for this live classic).

The main distinction of this recording that I've been listening to for over 20 years is the way it so effortlessly transcends any stylistic trappings - it simply is a great album, however you want to classify it, neo-prog, symphonic, crossover, eclectic, etc. It's all of those and much more.

As amazing as the music is when Twelfth Night are at their instrumental peak, and especially the hugely charismatic voice of the now-deceased Geoff Mann, it's the crowd on that cramped, sweaty night at The Marquee that make this album so spine-tingling. In my opinion, "The Ceiling Speaks" is the most electrifying intro to any of the live albums reviewed on this site. On the softer moments, the interplay between guitar and bass is also special, and a real nod back to the glory days of prog not found on many records by their cotemporaries. The current CD edition expands on the original vinyl and only makes it more complete with the inclusion of "Creep Show", "East of Eden" and the bittersweet "Love Song."

Would have been, could have been huge, but alas no. Still an incredible souvenir to that brief era in the 1980s when prog, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and post punk collided as a strong testament to the times.

The best release of Twelfth Night's Geoff Mann era is without a doubt Live and Let Live, documenting the two farewell shows for Geoff at the Marquee. With a track list drawing on their best material, it's an entertaining enough listen, though Mann's vocal approach can take a bit of getting used to.

Geoff feels the need to tell us that war is bad and love is good, as though these were sentiments which would be novel and new to us, and some may find the techniques he uses to offer us these facts is overly didactic and heavy-handed. Furthermore, there's a fine line between Gabriel-like theatricality and embarrassingly corny whimsy, and which side of the line Mann occupies will vary for listeners. crosses it too often for my liking.

Still, this is a matter of personal tastes and fans of early neo-prog would probably find a lot to like here. The album has been released in various configurations; by far the best is the 2012 Definitive Edition, which fills out the entire setlist of the farewell shows, almost entirely with recordings from the two nights in question. (The only exception is a rendition of The Collector from a week prior - evidently the tapes on the night simply failed to adequately capture the relevant performances.) The sound quality on some of the added tracks is a bit shaky - but eh, if you just want the original album tracks that's what playlists are for, and none of the sound issues are so severe as to be fatal. Moreover, in one delicious little set you get pretty much the cream of what Geoff Mann-era Twelfth Night had to offer.

While neo-prog was just emerging in the middle of the 80's, TWELFTH NIGHT had already released two live opus. The second one, "Live and Let Live" is named after its catalog reference, TN007. The number inspired a pun with "Live and Let Die", the first James Bond movie starring Roger Moore (and Paul McCartney & Wings' cult title track).

This release marks Geoff Mann's departure from the band, as it captures his very last shows with TWELFTH NIGHT at the legendary Marquee club in London. The album initially included only the 6 first tracks, recorded 4th November 1983, except "We Are Sane", recorded 5th November 1983. The 1993 reissue added three bonus tracks, recorded 5th November 1983. The least we can say is that the vocalist delivers here an emotional and stunning performance. Mann is even more theatrical than on "Fact and Fiction"!

Let's talk about the novelties first. Opening like some kind of somber ritual, "The Ceiling Speaks" is a powerful neo-prog track with a gothic feel and epic moments. Great, although not as varied as "We Are Sane". The instrumental "The End Of The Endless Majority" is touching and beautiful, with Andy Revell's delicate and spacey guitar play. Contrarily to these two previously unreleased tracks, "Sequences" was already featured in "Live at the Target", however only in an instrumental version. The vocals were added after, which is pretty rather unusual, and the song has been shortened to 16 minutes. The result tastes a little different with Geoff Mann's protest and smooth singing, but still very nice. Now included as a bonus track on "Fact and Fiction", "East Of Eden" is quite rageous and even possesses metallic accents at times. The other songs all come from "Fact and Fiction", which means they're very good too. Their live rendition offers a reasonable amount of emphasis, like "Love Song", extended to 8 minutes, while staying faithful to the studio version.

The only negative points I would mention is the quality, not always perfect, and the spoken introductions at the beginning of most songs. Nonetheless, I'm not too fan of the narrative interludes in general, they tend to break the ambiance for me.

That said, "Live and Let Die" is simply one of the best neo-progressive live records - even for those who don't like neo-prog - and TWELFTH NIGHT's most successful album. The last piece of the holy trilogy, with "Live at the Target" and "Fact and Fiction". Great for newcomers too.

An unique signer says his farewell to an incredibly creative band. The end of an era...

"Lebensraum for megalomaniacs" (We Are Sane - Twelfth Night)

This line was written in 1982 by the late Geoff Mann, how actual!

In the first part of The Eighties the 'new British progressive rock movement' started to blossem (with the London Marquee as the beating heart), speerheaded by Marillion and in their slipstream formations like IQ, Pendragon, Pallas, Abel Ganz, Solstice and, last not but least, Twelfth Night. They were 'a bit different', to say the least. In 2010 I did an interview with Brian Devoil and Andy Sears (they had just re-founded Twelfth Night and released the 2-CD and 2-DVD album MMX) and finally I got my chance to ask about their personal musical taste. And how the press did their best to pigeonhole their unique sound in the Eighties. Well, about the personal taste of the Twelfth Night members, according to Brian and Andy "this ranged from U2, Simple Minds and The Cure to early Queen and punk". And they quoted fellow Twelfth Night member Clive Mitten who said "that he wanted to sound as a cross between Van Halen and Frankie Goes To Hollywood!". Brian and Andy remembered that the press often compared them with Roxy Music, but also named Twelfth Night "the Duran Duran of the prog". Reading these words you can imagine why Twelfth Night sounds ' a bit different'.

This review is about the live album Live And Let Live that was recorded on November the 4th and 5th, 1983, in the legendary London music temple the Marquee Club. It was the farewell gig from their charismatic singer and frontman Geoff Mann, he had decided to go solo. In February 1993 he died, due to cancer, this review is dedicated to this wonderful and creative human being.

1. The Ceiling Speaks (8:26) : The atmosphere alternates between a mid-tempo, slow downs and bombastic outburst, embellished with powerful guitarwork, catchy synthesizer flights and Geoff Mann his distinctive emotional voice.

2. The End Of The Endless Majority (3:18) : A wonderful instrumental track that features a duet between the acoustic Ovation guitar (flageolets and twanging) and sensitive electric guitar play. In the end a surprising accellaration with propulsive rhythm guitar and howling electric guitar runs. It sounds unique, subtle and fragile, and showcases the strong compositional skills of the band.

3. We Are Sane (12:04) : This is a typical Twelfth Night longer track that blends Seventies symphonic rock elements with the Eighties New Wave sound, unique. The intro contains a cynical combination of "bla bla bla" and words like "unemployment'" and "the enemy" by Geoff Mann. Then soaring strings and high pichted, soprano-like vocals, gradually the music becomes more lush with wonderful volume pedal electric guitar play and Geoff his cynical voice. Suddenly a bombastic outburst featuring distorted guitar and fat synthesizer sounds. In the second part the music alternates between dreamy, catchy up-tempo and bombastic. This is wonderfully coloured with howling electric guitar runs, a deep Moog Tauras bass pedal sound, topped by Geoff his outstanding vocals, from tender to powerful. In the end Geoff theatrically shouts WE ARE SANE, then a short bombastic outburst, what an exciting and compelling music!

4. Fact And Fiction (5:27) : Another intro with spoken words by Geoff, this time a parody on politicians, "we are the fact and they are the fiction". Then a tight up-tempo beat with tasteful and varied keyboard work, topped with powerful vocals, "don't make me laugh, haha" Geoff sings with that distinctive cynical undertone.

5. The Poet Sniffs A Flower (4:03) : The other instrumental, starting with soaring keyboards, twanging electric guitar, then wonderfully build up to a fluent rhythm featuring dynamic interplay and howling electric guitar runs, how exciting!

6. Sequences (17:14) : Originally an instrumental, Geoff re-wrote it, fitted lyrics into it and the new version became 'a classic'. It's Twelfth Night their 'magnum opus', their answer to Supper's Ready, Karn Evil 9, Close To The Edge, Echoes, Grendel, but different. We can enjoy lots of shifting moods, from dreamy to up-tempo and bombastic, in the symphonic rock tradition. But the unique colouring with the guitar and keyboards is the Twelfth Night trademark: from flashy flights on the Moog Prodigy (the 'poor man's Minimoog') to biting wah-wah drenched guitar soli ,and from soaring strings to propulsive guitar riffs, often accompanied by the clapping cheerful crowd. And topped with Geoff his powerful and emotional vocals, with some exciting theatrical outbursts. In the end a short sumptuous eruption, with a pumping bass, tight drum beats and sensitive electric guitar play. "Seventies symphonic rock meets Eighties New Wave", Twelfth Night their trademark, here in its full splendour.

7. Creepshow (12:06) : This is Twelfth NIght their most unique and captivating composition with great lyrics, vocals and musical ideas. First a dreamy climate with tender keyboard runs, subtle electric guitar play and Geoff his distinctive voice. Then lots of shifting moods, coloured with Moog synthesizer flights, inventive guitar work (including the 'hammering' sound) and dominant bass runs. Geoff delivers lots of vocal ideas, theatrical, powerful and especially the part with spoken words is very compelling. Finally a bombastic atmosphere with moving guitar, loaded with howling runs, supported by sumptuous keyboards, this is 24-carat symphonic rock, but different, goose bumps!

8. East Of Eden (5:14) : This is a basically a straightforward rock song with a tight beat, but wonderfully embellished with tasteful keyboards, cynical vocals and in the end again a moving guitar solo with howling runs.

9. Love Song (8:29) : The lyrics in this beautiful, very emotional and compelling composition are rooted in Geoff his religious ideas, he liked to spread the words of Jesus that we should love each other. Because "jealousy is such a parasite, hatred a disease" he sings. The music matches perfectly with these words: first dreamy with tender vocals, twanging guitars and soaring keyboards, then a slow beat featuring wonderful volume pedal driven electric guitar and finally bombastic with very moving guitar work. Goose bumps, wet eyes, community singing, what a great atmosphere in this final track, Geoff his final contribution, and perhaps his best!

For me this is one of the masterpieces of the new British progressive rock movement, far away from those Nineties Neo Prog bands like Shadowland, Everon and Arena with their polished and predictable sound. Here it's variety, adventure, emotion, lyrics and ideas in an unique meeting between the worlds of Seventies symphonic rock and Eighties New Wave, highly recommended!