LIVE AT THE TARGET

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Before Geoff MANN came to ignite his magical charm into this band, TWELFTH NIGHT released a wonderful live album from the Target Club in 1981 with focus on instrumental prowess. This 4 song album has already been well spoken of and was perfectly characterized in the a review which suggested this album "is a timeless kaleidoscope of sound". Basically at this time in their existence TWELFTH NIGHT's sound most revolved around the spacey echoplex guitar work of Andy Revell and the keyboard laden drawls of Rich Battersby. Although all songs are excellent on this album I am partial to "Fur Helene" and the 20-minute epic "Sequences", which many consider the best bit they ever did. Considering the era of this recording the sound is quite good with little audience noise (except for in between songs). The recording was lifted from a vinyl album as a source as if you listen carefully you can make out the odd pop and tick, but in no way should interfere with your love for this album.

Another remarkable performance by Geoff MANN, a natural front man, whose contribution has been recently pointed out, at the time of his commemoration, talking about his last important live on 1984. This latter a true testament for him!!

Keep it live!

It's unbelievable to think that this is a live album when you hear the opening track "Fur Helene", which begins with the same "Mars" rhythm that Diamond Head used for the opening of "Am I Evil". Quickly, the Hillage-esque echo-drenched guitar and 6-string bass enter to provide a new sound and texture a little reminiscent of "Saucerful" era Pink Floyd, moving to a wah-driven riff that is utterly infectious, and the Twelfth Night style establishes itself.

Although the harmonic structure of Twelfth Night's material is not complex, and the musicianship just slightly above the average metal band - with token atmospheric keyboards, what makes TN stand out is the attention to detail they give to the bigger picture. This would initially make the Floyd comparision very strong, but Clive Mitten was one for through-composing all TN's material, and there is little sense of jamming which is what differentiates TN from psychedelia.

"After the Eclipse" is probably my favourite piece on this album, although "Sequences" was always the most popular live track - presumably because of its epic length. Each instrument's part in "ATE" is absolutely clear, and the build-ups are subtle and engaging. This is one of the few similarities TN had with Marillion, who were later to become the competition. Mitten's 6-string bass provides a melodic drive, using the entire range of the instrument in a sensitive manner, and the delay-driven bass solo in the middle is particularly atmospheric.

TN allow a lot of space in the music to allow the overall dynamics of the structures time to develop. The 100-strong audience in the tiny Target Club in Reading show an involvement which is practically tangible, as there is a noticeable pause between the end of the piece and the applause - I remember this gig well, but I'm not sure if that's me whooping in the background or not...

To describe the remaining two pieces would be to make the music sound the same, as it continues in the same vein. However, the point is the melodies and shifts in atmosperics. It's easy to hear TN's influence on bands such as the Ozric Tentacles in the beginning of "East to West", but they develop the track so well that despite my earlier observation that this is no space jam, it comes across as being totally natural and improvisational with a real feel for dynamic and drama in the music.

I'm not sure if it's because I've owned the three albums for so long, but I always see this as the first part of a kind of trilogy - "Fact and Fiction" being next and "Live and Let Live" rounding off the Mann era (even though there are no vocals on this album Mann was an honourary member of the band as their backdrop painter!).

This is being re-released on CD at the end of June 2004 - my advice is to buy it as an essential part of your (neo) prog collection. This will become an album to revisit for chill- out sessions for many years to come - it just never seems to age!

TWELFTH NIGHT- "LIVE AT THE TARGET" (remastered version)...

In the early Eighties the New Progressive Rock Movement emerged. The figurehead was MARILLION, their success was a boost to many bands, from IQ and PENDRAGON to SOLSTICE and WINTER. And TWELTH NIGHT, this maverick didn't sound like GENESIS and looked like glamrockers. But their music was great, in my opinion their album "Fact and Fiction" (from '82) is still one of the best neo-prog rock albums ever. A year before TWELFTH NIGHT had released a live LP (february '81) from a concert in the Target Pub in Reading. In the booklet of this remastered version CD you will read the story about this period with many fine details. The first time I heard this LP was at about the time that MARILLION had released their maxi-single "Market Square Heroes" also featuring the epic track "Grendel". These were very hopeful days because prog rock was on its way back. Most of the music on this CD is carried by the unique quitar work from Andy Revell: twanging, rhythm and soli, fiery, propulsive, sensitive and using lots of pedals like volume, wah-wah and echo. The interplay with Rick Butterfly is often compelling. TWELFTH NIGHT played their music instrumental, the absolute highlight is the epic track "Sequences" (later performed with vocals from the late Geoff Mann) with lots of shifting moods and sensational guitar soli, goose bumps! The bonus tracks "Afghan Red", "Freddie Hepburn" and "Encore une fois" are 'no fillers, all killers' and emphasize the very original and spectacular approach towards prog rock from TWLFTH NIGHT. Highly recommended!