COLLECTOR'S ITEM

There are plans to re-release much Twelfth Night material over the next few months, and Cyclops have started with this reissue of the 1991 compilation. The original release saw not only previously available TN masterpieces, but also the classic line-up recording the epic "The Collector" and a new version of "Love Song". To have these two songs alone made the collection a 'must have' for the hardened fan, so why go out ten years later and get the album again?

Originally the compilation started with "Sequences" from the 'Live And Let Live' album. Rightfully viewed as one of their finest pieces, this most visual of songs dealt with a soldier's life in the First World War. Cyclops have already reissued that album, and have dropped the song from this reissue. This has given them a lot of room, and they have replaced it with three other songs.

A Twelfth Night gig started with "The Ceiling Speaks", with both Clive Mitten and Andy Revell providing guitars ? there was no room for bass. Like many TN fans I never thought that a studio recording had been made, but I was wrong!! It was one of four songs recorded in a session for MGM in 1983. This version doesn't capture the raw energy, but it comes pretty close. Next up is "Deep In The Heartland" from the same recordings. Historically this is interesting for the fan as it was reworked to become "Not On The Map" which in turn became "Blondon Fair" (which is also on this release). The other 'new' song is "Last Song", which appears on CD for the first time.

What can be said about the other songs? How can anyone not listen to the power and majesty of "We Are Sane", one of the most epic of songs dealing with control of individual. "Art and Illusion" is the bubbly riposte to the previous more thoughtful number, with Andy Sears making his first appearance. The album starts with Geoff's songs, then into Andy, but finishing with the new recordings featuring Geoff. Unlike Genesis, there isn't such a huge musical shift between the two versions of the band but many fans still favour the Mann.

"The Collector" is one their longest studio recordings, at just over nineteen minutes, and to me epitomises all that was great about the band. Musically it hits many differing areas, and Geoff stretches himself both vocally and lyrically. It has to be one of the longest and most complex Christian songs ever released. And as the gig started with "The Ceiling Speaks", so it always ended with "Love Song". A song that is so full of passion that I can never fail to be moved emotionally when I hear it.

Even before I received the reissue this was an album that I have been playing regularly since its' initial release. The new tracks make it an even better collection and along with 'Live And Let Live' should be in every proghead's collection. Apparently their great studio album 'Fact & Fiction' is going to be next, with many previously unreleased bonus songs. I can't wait.

Originally appeared in Feedback #65, Dec 01