FACT AND FICTION

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Neo-prog classic featuring the distinctive vocal style and poignant lyrics of Geoff MANN. "Fact & Fiction" paints the dark surreal avenues explored by early GENESIS with traces of IQ and early MARILLION while remaining highly original. The early and aggressive voice of Geoff MANN IMHO fits the music quite well and brings a real passionate aspect forward. Sound effects are used sparingly but are effectively layered in to help develop the theatics of MANN's concepts. To this day the title track "Fact & Fiction" remains one of my personal favourite Neo-prog songs of all time. Instrumentation is very well done with some great keyboard and guitar interplay. I know this album has received a lot of unfair criticism over the years and all I can say is that "Fact & Fiction" is one of the many prized possession in my collection.

Remarkable and very original album during the early eighties in the UK (as a sort of "Progressive-Punk"), published thanks to the full involvement by the mastermind Geoff MANN, a great leader and a front man as well, whose contribution was very important within the UK New-Progressive scene at that time. In fact in the eighties the majority of the bands were mainly derivative, in the vein of the early GENESIS; instead T.N. was an original and creative band, even though their music is not particularly complex, being characterized by a simple harmonic structure. Nevertheless this album was very underrated and it is a pity!!

Recommended album!! Naturally it is not a masterpiece (despite of being always original!!), but is worth checking out at least...

Just Brilliant - but poorly remastered

Along with the earlier "Live at the Target" and the later "Live and let Live", "Fact and Fiction" forms the best portrait of so-called "Neo-Prog" in the 1980s. Imitated by many, including Pendragon and IQ, Twelfth Night drew from many influences, primarily, it would seem, Hackett/Genesis, but targetted themselves at the burgeoning New Wave Of British Heavy Metal - albeit right at the fringe. Note that Twelfth Night do not fit into the category of NWOBHM, but then, apart from neo-progressive rock, what other category is there for music like this? It's next to impossible to separate TN from punk in attitude - but there is very little in the music that is punk. Anyone approaching from a metal or punk perspective will be in for a shock - a truly open mind is required - especially to get through the budget production...

It's worth noting that this album was released in 1982 - the year before Marillion released "Script for a Jester's Tear", and the year after Diamond Head's "Living on Borrowed Time". Hackett/Genesis, it must be noted, is just a convenient handle. Twelfth Night's sound was incredibly original, and remains a challenge to get into, let alone indentify the source inspirations.

Easily on a par with Peter Hammill, Gabriel or Fish, Geoff Mann's biting social commentary puts the finger somewhat uncomfortably on the pulse - given that this was written in 1981, the relevance the lyrics maintain is quite staggering. Mann also had a superb ear for a melody, and a way of slotting in his tunes and words to the existing music in such a way that you would think that either the two were written together, or that the music had been written to fit the words. The proof that this is not the case lies in "Sequences", a fine 25-odd minute track that appears in its original instrumental form on "...Target", and with Mann on "Live and let Live".

Mann's vocal style is quite unique, and an acquired taste. Once you have acquired the taste, it is impossible to imagine the songs being sung by anyone else - although Andy Sears did try after Mann left. His lyrics are a little inconsistent, but on the whole are very intelligent and well thought out with just the odd rhyming clanger such as "This woman's place is in a home, society has judged - She does not fit official standards and they cannot be budged". If social commentary and home-spun philosophies are not your bag then you may find the lyrics annoying - but I have found that they do improve with age!

Fact and Fiction opens with "We Are Sane", a colourful 10-minute piece in 3 sections, with 2 "Files". These "Files" are spoken sections, which provide a unique contrast in texture - pre rap, one might observe. The opening "Te Dium" section is sung in a pseudo choirboy voice, adding irony, and the "We Are Sane" section opens with a short commentary before Geoff launches into one of the superb melodies that he was so good at. File #1 reflects the general Orwellian utopian obsession, which was very pertinent in the pre-1984 years and the continuing cold war. Britain was under Thatcher, and those who did not appreciate the good things she did tended to share the vision of a control-freak bent on bringing Orwell's warnings true. The "Chorus" of "We Are Sane" is incredibly powerful, and the through-composed music appears to freely flow through the next few sections in a blaze of colours from TNs unique pallette - the section following the second "File" is my favourite in this song, a driving concoction of arpeggiated chords and a strong melody, Geoff practically barking out the lyrics. 5/5

Human Being regresses slightly into early Genesis territory, but with TN's driving slant on the style. Geoff's solo voice opens the track uttering a warning to all those who would go against the system. In today's relatively free society it's sometimes hard to recall just what it was like in the UK in the early 1980s, but if you didn't just shut up and go along with it, your life could be made very hard. A sumptuous Genesis-derived riff pushes the verses to the gently flowing chorus - although this is not your simple verse-chorus structure. TN add their usual composed magic and produce a coherent piece of prog as any. 5/5

This City is just incredible, musically, although I'm not keen on the lyrics - which, it has to be said, are not bad - there are no rhymes, just Geoff's thoughts in a kind of verbal painting of a city in decline - just not to my taste. The music almost defies description, it is so beautiful. Just listen and enjoy! 4.5/5

World Without End is not remarkable in itself, but lends a nice musical interlude between the intensity of the sung tracks.

Fact and Fiction, the title track, begins with an infectious prog rhythm - straight 4/4, but broken up superbly to give the effect of a wierd time signature. As with "This City", the lyrics are pure poetry - there are no rhymes. Example;

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

There is a chorus section of sorts which sends shivers down my spine - "Don't make me laugh!", which Geoff sings with absolute passion. 5/5

The Poet Sniffs a Flower is another necessary reflective breather, and was often used as the introduction to "Creepshow", as "Horizons" was an introduction to "Supper's Ready" on "Foxtrot". Creepshow is TN's second masterpiece after "Sequences", and again, you will find no cheesey rhymes in the poetry - I hesitate to use the word "lyrics". These are chilling words of sheer genius set to music to match. There are several stand-out sections in this piece; from "Amanda, so sad..." to "Amandahahahahaha!" is just inspired genius, and possibly inspired by Hammill, but clearly identifiable as TN. Next there is a fantastic pounding musical section following "anymore for any more? no!". Following that is the incredible section about Cyril Has-Or-Might-Have-Been, leading to another pounding! But my favourite is the next section about the mirror. I guess some might find it all very pretentious, but once you've got over the fact that these are better lyrics than Peter Gabriel EVER wrote, it's quite incredible. Geoff used to indroduce this piece live by saying "In this life you become what you want to be, and what you can't be bothered, not become." In short, this piece is an antidote to apathy, if used correctly. 5.5/5

Love Song is a gentle meditation - much required after the intensity of the previous 40 minutes or so.

In short, a perfectly rounded and dynamic album which goes slightly beyond plain "concept" album. Requires deep thought, open mind and repeated listenings infrequently over a period of, say, 70 years.

There is a wide range of dynamic and drama in the structures which throws TNs music beyond the prog that had gone before, and there is much that remains hidden until repeated listens reveal the inner glory of the incredible song structures. This is pure progressive prog at its finest - neo prog seems too much of a negative term to apply to it. However, it is distilled, and, like good single malt whisky, will not be to everyone's taste - especially for the first few listens. I have owned this album since its release in 1982, and every time I hear it, there is something new and rewarding about the experience - but because it is so condensed, it is not an album I would want to have on repeat.

The CD appears to have been remastered in a way that flattens out the bottom end, which is a shame, as the original production was never very strong in the first place due to Twelfth Night's reluctance to sign to a major label. Thus there is a slight amateurish charm in all of TN's recordings.

The range of textures on this album is quite incredible, and ultimately seem to serve Mann's lyrics although really, the two components are inseparable. "Fact and Fiction" is as much a coherent work of poetry as it is a musical masterpiece - so why do I not give it the full masterpiece rating?

I guess that most will buy the CD, which sounds quite flat in comparison to the original vinyl, and that is what I am reviewing here. It sounds like the remaining members of Twelfth Night tried to improve upon their masterpiece in the hope of bringing it up to date and making it sound contemporary. Some of the instruments seem to have been re-recorded, ie "Love Song" at the end. This latter now sounds like a throwaway afterthought, where before it was a fitting Camel-esque meditation which completed an incredibly dynamic concept album.

Utterly recommended despite the bad remastering - great music will always shine through poor production! 4 and a half stars - Essential for any collection of prog.

Anyone who can use a typewriter for percussion is already ok in my book. TWELFTH NIGHT definitely straddled a little-used fence between progressive rock and post-punk/ new wave sounds. They are definitely more GARY NUMAN (Tubeway Army version rather than "Cars") than GENESIS, with the same pounding rhythms and sparse, brittle textures that characterize bands from JOY DIVISION to GANG OF FOUR- sharing with such bands also a political and social discontent in the lyrics.

The themes of nonconformity and alienation tie them in with PINK FLOYD and a few other prog bands of the era, and the length of the guitar solos as well as the duration of the songs bely an interest in exploring further than the punk paradigm normally permitted (ooo, I'm alliterating!), but that's really the extent of the progressive rock influence. This is clearly an early 80s post-punk album, as evidenced by the spartan machine-like drums, the shrill synth pads, the sequenced basslines and unprocessed raw feel of the vocal tracks.

The usual problem with the D.I.Y. punk influence is that the end result sometimes sounds a tad amateurish; that plus the fact that if you don't care for his voice or his message, you're out of luck- there's a lot of it. He rarely stops singing, or talking, long enough for the music to be much more than accompaniment. There are indeed a few impressive moments: "World Without End" is quite nice, if formless, and "The Poet Sniffs a Flower" has an eerie haunting feel, at first. "Creepshow" has a chilling soundtrack to lyrics that compare to "Karn Evil 9"'s sideshow shilling. In the spoken sections he almost sounds like a more coherent Mark E. Smith (THE FALL), but the guitar solo and backing is quite FLOYDian. "We are Sane" and "Fact and Fiction" could sit comfortably in a 1982 playlist between OUR DAUGHTER'S WEDDING and OMD's "Architecture and Morality". "Love Song" is the most accesible sound on the album, with more full production and a relatively conventional form.

Get the picture yet? If you like both minimalist post-punk bands and progressive rock, you may find this worth checking out. It's not wonderfully innovative or creative, and it doesn't reward repeated listenings the way more textural prog will. It is, however, extremely unique and a grand counterpoint to the over-produced, under-inspired commercial releases that the first generation of prog bands were turning out at the time. I'm glad I heard it, I'm glad I have it, but it's not going to be in heavy rotation on my playlist.

Am I missing something? (I seem to be asking that alot lately...) What's all the fuss about? I admit that this is a reasonably listenable album. But that's about as far as I can go... As I've noted in numerous reviews, the success of any neo-prog band (for me) is the degree to which they are able to "filter" their influences and come up with something reasonably new and/or interesting (if not exciting or compelling). Although Twelfth Night is obviously making efforts to do that, they do not always succeed. And even when they do, I find little "inspiring" about what comes out.

Influences include those noted by others - most particularly lots of Floyd, including in "This City" and, especially, the end of "Creepshow," which is a shameless "Wall" rip- off, complete with Gilmour-esque solo. However, there is one influence - a particularly strong one - that no one has mentioned thus far: VDGG, and especially Peter Hamill. Indeed, Mann sounds like Hamill throughout much of the album, though with not quite so much heart-on-the-sleeve "angst". (There is also a strange Morrison-esque/Doors section toward the end of "Creepshow.")

As for "punk" influences, I hear none at all. Nor is it even remotely reminiscent of NWOBHM (there is vritually no metal at all, much less the "heavy" variety). Rather, what I hear is valiant attempts to channel (mostly) symphonic prog for use as a political tool. And while I can't disagree with the politics (which are indeed heavy here), the band simply fails to make a solid, satisfying connection between the two.

Had this album come out 10 years earlier, I would be as effusive as my colleagues and others in singing its praises. However, although it does predate (and presage) Marillion and other later neo-prog bands (and for that it should certainly get credit), its late arrival on the prog scene - and its unfortunate lack of true creativity, both with respect to filtering influences, and in general - leave me no choice but to give it two stars (with possibly an extra half star).

TWELFTH NIGHT is one of the most original bands that emerged in the early Eighties when MARILLION blew new life into the 'clinically dead situation' of the genuine prog rock. They were very different from the GENESIS-inspired groups like MARILLION, PENDRAGON and IQ. The music on the album "Fact And Fiction" (1982) is a captivating blend of rock, punk, new wave and symphonic, topped by the excellent lyrics and moving vocals from the late Geoff MANN, reverent and prime mover. Once I had a talk with him after a concert and we agreed that Margaret Thatcher was both a cold-blooded and arrogant Prime Minister as a perfect inspirator for their music! The match between music and lyrics is the factor that makes the CD "Fact And Fiction" so compelling: aggression, despair, hope, love, hate, madness, politics, these are the basic facts of TWELFTH NIGHT's music and the band succeeded to integrate those elements in a very fascinating and moving way into songs like "We Are Sane", "Human Being", "Fact And Fiction", "Creepshow" and "Love Song". Enjoy biting guitar licks, spectacular breaks, sensational keyboard flights, frequently changing climates and, above all, splendid vocals that give every track an extra dimension. This review is dedicated to the memory of Geoff MANN who gave the prog rock world such a special flavour!

I expected a bit more from that record.I have PALLAS' "Arrive Alive",and I expected this one to sound like that one.Well,that's my problems :-)

OK,I have to say,that I've found it a bit overrated.This is a proto-neo-prog record,it has amazing opening track("We're Sane")and a wonderful closing ballad("Love Song"),but in a whole it is weak.It's filled with poppish new-wave songs("This City","Fact and Fiction"),pretentious epics("Creepshow" and "Human Being") and instrumentals made for who-knows-what("The World..." and "The Poet...",which is nice).This is a good examlpe of Neo-Prog's development,but it has not much to say truly.You can listen to it,but I ain't sure,that you'll leave it for youtself.For genre's fans only

Except for the minor detail that this album was recorded without the usual keyboardsman's participation (bassist Clive Mitten providing all keyboards then), this is classic Twelfth Night at their peak: in fact, "Fact and Fiction" is an authentic masterpiece of 80s neo-prog. Twelfth Night were actually the most primal pioneers of the neo-prog trend, so it is no wonder that they mastered the style and tricks so amazingly and convincingly years before Marillion, Pallas and IQ began to forge their own way towards musical maturity. TN was already there, with their rough rocking sound, stylish keyboard orchestrations, pop sensibility and, most of all, a taste for moderate complexity in the compositions and a sense of poetry and drama in both the vocal department and lyric writing. Geoff Mann, may he rest in peace, was the man who could provide a weird, yet captivating frontman appeal to the instrumentalists' input which combines the frontal energy of post-punk and new wave with the structural sophistication of vintage British symphonic prog. The opener 'We are Sane' is an absolute killer, in many ways a prototype of what TN is all about: the previous overall description that I intended for TN's prog orientation can also be used for 'We Are Sane' specifically. The same goes for 'Creepshow'. Both tracks comprise various musical ideas in well-ordained sequences united in an epic whole: it is also noticeable that these two songs contain the most patent examples of sociopolitical criticism, making anger recycled through a filter of satiric vibe. This is where Mann's peculiar vocal theatricals get in as a natural extension of the characters used as paradigms of sufferers - the oppressed, the failure, the marginal, the underdog. The rhythm duo of Mitten and Devoil is solid enough to enhance the inherent excitement of the tracks, an excitement that finds its most accomplished expression in Revell's guitar leads, riffs and various phrases (very much influenced by Gilmour and the guitar heroes of early 80s heavy metal, yet perfectly adapted into the scheme of neo-prog). 'Human Being' and 'This City' show a more vulnerable side of Mann's disenchanted viewpoints about modern society. The former - bearing a moderately bombastic structure - focuses on the alienated self of urban people, while the latter - poppier, almost like Ultravox-meets- The Chameleons - looks directly into the eye of the monster, the big inhumane industrial city. The eerie instrumental 'World without an End' brings a brief relaxing lapse before the Gary Numan-ish title track, funny and clever, poppish in a lovely way. Things get more ambitious with the segued instrumental 'The Poet Sniffs a Flower', whose first part is based on the interaction between acoustic guitar and synth layers, while the second part finds the band speeding things up splendidly. 'Creepshow', with its dramatic flavors, would have served as a tight closure, but it is then followed by 'Love Song'. This is a magnificent closure, a classical guitar-based ballad in homage of the dream of world peace and universal solidarity. Mann knows how to turn this naïve notion into moving poetry - the final lines are irresistible: "If you find that your open heart / has led you into pain / Take a tip from the Carpenter / Forgive and love again. and again". Before that, Revell's solo created an emotional peak for the song and the album, a perfect climax before the serene ending. While the fade-out softly ends, I will quote Mann one more time: "Nothing more to say" (from the song 'The Ceiling Speaks').

TWELFTH NIGHT were one of the first neo-prog bands to come upon the scene in the early eighties.They were there even before MARILLION.I feel TWELFTH NIGHT deserves a special place in prog history for their music,especially this album "Fact And Fiction". Singer Geoff Mann reminds me so much of Peter Hammill,not in thier vocal tones but in their passion and theatrics.Lyrically Mann was also brilliant like Mr.Hammill.Intelligent,meaningful and often going straight to a persons conscience or heart.These songs had special meaning, even if the music at times sounded "new wave" or "punkish".This was neo-progressive music that wasn't slick or smooth.This had attitude,this got in your face.And Geoff Mann led the way in making sure that you didn't feel too comfortable.He wanted you to look at yourself,to make you feel guilty if you didn't treat your fellow man with respect,dignity and love.He felt so strongly about this that he eventually quit the music business and became a pastor. "We Are Sane" opens with synths,high pitched vocals,and samples.The song doesn't really start until 2 minutes in.Then it's interupted again by samples and synths.This contrast continues.Lots of humour in this one.The actual song is so infectious.We get some robotic vocals 7 1/2 minutes in.The guitar 9 1/2 minutes in is outstanding.Such a fun,progressive tune. "Human Beings" is such a classic tune once it gets going 2 minutes in.Some nice bass in this one,and i like the piano and calm when he sings "human being,human being".The guitar before 5 minutes is a treat.It's so uplifting when he sings slowly 6 minutes in. "This City" opens with synths and the sounds of children playing before Mann comes in singing solemnly.His vocals get very passionate. "World Without End" is a short instrumental featuring waves of synths.Gorgeous. "Fact And Fiction" is a catchy vocal tune with an eighties flavour.It has a spacey ending. "The Poet Sniffs A Flower" is a hilarious title for this instrumental.A nice atmosphere to this one.Synths,acoustic guitar and drums stand out.The tempo picks up 2 minutes in as the sound changes.Guitar a minute later. "Creep Show" is a dark song that is fairly slow paced.Some nice bass in this one.It's really all about the lyrics and the way Geoff delivers them.Check out the guitar,drums and vocals after 10 minutes followed by a wonderful guitar solo.Amazing song. "Love Song" works so well in contrast to what we just heard in "Creep Show".This might be the most beautiful yet convicting song(for me) that i've ever heard.I'd love to just quote the whole song,yet it's Mann's vocals that make this even more meaningful.Even the guitar is emotional before 4 minutes.He sings that "Jealousy is just a parasite,hatred a disease". "Love is an open door". "Respect for human dignity".It ends with "And if it seems that your hoping heart has led you into pain,take a tip from the carpenter,forgive and love again". Thankyou Geoff Mann. R.I.P. brother.